Ms. Poonam Abrol, Research Scholar, College of Community Science from PAU, Ludhiana, explains value addition and processing of millets. (An in-service Research scholar, posted as Programme Assistant at KVK Jammu, SKUAST-Jammu)
Millets, termed as Nutri cereals, are becoming the favourites among farmers as they are climate crops, drought resistant, and grow in infertile soil also. India has a whopping share of 41% in millet production at the global level as per the data in 2020. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization endorses India’s proposal to declare 2023 as International Year of Millets. 9 of the 11 important millet varieties are grown in India. We plan to improve millet production and utilisation to improve farmers’ income and nutritional security among the poor. There is a Rs. 10 Billion turnover in the value addition industry of millets. India also has the largest number of millet research scientists in the world. The major millets like jowar, sorghum, pearl millet, bajra, finger millet, and ragi, and small millets like foxtail millet, little millet, kodo millet, barnyard millet, and brown top millets are grown in India. Kodo millet and little millets are grown in India exclusively.
Why do we talk about millets and go for its promotion? It is because they are smart foods, and the benefits of millet consumption are many, especially with its low glycaemic index, rich minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, the millets prevent lifestyle diseases. The millets are helpful to farmers also because they are short duration crops and are climate and water resilient. The planet is also benefited due to low water and zero carbon prints. Earlier millets were called as poor man’s food. But now with more awareness about its benefits the consumption percentage even among urban population is going up. The IIMR is trying to bring the supply chain to better efficient functioning. The role model of sorghum value chain can be followed for other millets too.
Millets are called nutricereals because they are the powerhouse of nutrients and are better than rice and wheat with more health benefits. They have good potential to contribute to food and nutritional security of the country because of their unique characteristics. They have all the micronutrients, flavin compared to other crops, rich in iron, zinc, calcium, and are gluten free. They help in prevention of cardiac issues, high blood pressure, weight reduction, and many more problems. When millets are value added, they are suitable for urban population. But there is not much progress in value addition of millets due to lack of processing machines. The value addition requires innovative machinery to handle the small millets. Devising machines and recipes are crucial for value addition. The post-harvest processing, value addition, awareness, capacity building for farmers, consumers, and processors, and market linkages can bridge the constraints the producers and traders are facing.
The supply chain has to be developed from the farmers to traders to processors to the retailers and then consumers. Due to nonavailability of processed millet products unlike rice or wheat cereals, farmers fare getting very less price for their unprocessed grains compared to when processing is done. We have to process the millets for better price but there is not many proven industrial process is available to make white products from coloured small millets. When the millets are processed, they help in digesting, and the properties optimise the appearance, taste, and colour of food to meet the needs of the consumers. They are easy to prepare and come with high nutritional value.
There are however a few constraints when going for millet value addition. There is a lack of awareness among people on how to grow the millets, process them, lack of suitable milling machineries, and lack of ready to use products on the shelf. The organoleptic characteristics, high fat content in bran and germ, low shelf life due to oxidative and hydrolytic validity, and lack of suitable processing technologies.
How can we process the millets for optimum usage? Decortication is one such method. We remove the outer layer of the grain, and it can be done by hand pounding and rice dehulling machine for the decortication. Next is pounding done by wooden or metal pestle and mortar. Parboiling is the process of partial cooking of the grain along with husk and bran. The grains are deeply steamed resulting in the grain getting decorticated. Milling is the process of separating bran and erm from the starchy endosperm so that it can be ground into flour or rawa using different types of sieves in the hammer mill. These are the traditional practices of millet processing to get small little grains from the millet spikes. The advanced method is using thresher, millet destoner, and grade aspirator. We separate the stones from the grains, small grains from larger ones, and grade to the very fine grains. Millet pulveriser can be used to make it into a fine powder. We can go for instant products like bakery products, snacks, shakes, flakes, and instant mixes. Traditional products are roti, porridge, cooked grains, sweet and savoury products and popped products. The newer ones are refined flour, husk free malt flour, parboiled grains, extruded products, flakes, health foods, beverages, bakery products, semolina, noodles and papads. We should note that except finger millets, all the other millets need to be de-husked before using. IIMR has also developed various products such as ragi wheat blend based noodles being marketed mostly in Southern states.
There is a good market potential for millet products due to high calcium, non-gluten nature, dietary fibre, and cost benefits. A farmer, Mr. Paramjit Singh has taken up processing of millet biscuits and is earning good income out of it. We can use machines where we put the flour, it will make the cookies, and we can get them baked. We can make malted weaning food, milk based weaning food for children which can be mixed with peanuts, wheat, and other millets. The product when added with peanut get fortified with high protein content. The products can be naturally flavoured with fruits and vegetables to provide adequate nutrition to children. We have to add hot water to upma mix and make ready to eat items.
Milling is the process of separating bran and germ from the starchy endosperm to make into flour. The product contains protein and starch and fibre digestibility. They have high levels of magnesium, iron, dietary fibre, zinc. The shelf life of millet biscuit is 6 months, bread 6 days, and cakes 4 days when packed in MET packs. Puffed millets are ready to eat snacks and are rich in protein and can be served as inflight snack with a shelf life of 2 months. We can also make sorghum puffs, foxtail, and pearl millet puffs. Flaking is done to get the unique flakes which are low in glycaemic index and are ideal for diabetic patients and lifestyle diseases, apart from celiac patients. We can also make ready to eat vegetable pulao and upma from the millets. It is important to develop recipes for midday meals for school children to get them nutritional food with different recipes.
Traditional millet weaning food is mentioned even in Yajurveda on foxtail, barnyard, and black finger millets. Since ages, millets have been consumed largely by tribal population. The value added products in millets can be prepared by startups which can increase income generation. Revenue from sales of millets across globe has been put at US $ 10 thousand million in 2017 and has gone to US $ 13500by 2022. The growth is expected to go higher in the coming years. The main driving factor behind cultivating millets and selling value added products is to increase the health consciousness across the globe, nutrition security, food security, and to curtail diseases. Indian companies like Britannia, Nutrichoice and ITC are preparing millet based products such as breakfast cereals, cookies, flakes etc. Indian institutes like IIMR, ICAR, and agriculture and allied sector are indulging in promotional activities such as trade fairs, road shows, and exhibitions to showcase millet processing technologies. Training on millet value addition is also provided by KVK, ICAR, and state agriculture universities by using incubator units. The incubator centres have all the programs to provide the skills for processing and value addition of the millets. Startup programs are done by all institutes. Agriculture Skill Council of India provides the skills needed for processing and value addition of millets. Let us celebrate the International Year of Millets in 2023.
What is the definition of value addition in context of millet processing? How does the value addition enhance the nutritional profile of millet based products?
Value addition of a product means to put value in the product to increase the earnings of the farmers by making healthy products by processing them using machinery than selling them unprocessed. Products such as cereals, flour, rawa, ready to eat mixes, bakery products and cookies are some such value added products of millets. We use machinery or technical processes to put value in the products. We can prepare rawa, flour, biscuits or cookies to add value to millets. The enhanced protein content in the millets after processing makes it digestible, palatable, and healthy. Since it is a hard substance, it cannot be eaten in the raw form. So we enhance the grains by fortifying with other substances such as peanuts and sugar or jaggery. These also enhance the nutritive value of the millets.
How does processing affect the shelf life of the millet products? Can you explain the role of value addition creating diversified millet products for the market?
Some of the processes like milling, puffing, and baking increases the shelf life of the millets. The millet biscuits have shelf life of 6 months, bread can be consumed for 6 days, and cakes for 4 days when packed in airtight containers. Puffing of foxtail millet can increase the shelf life by 2 months more. Baking and flaking can also increase the shelf life of the products. So the shelf life increases. Traditionally we use rice and wheat for cereal products, and so diversification can be done using millets by following methods such as using exuded millet products. We can thus reduce the usage of traditional cereals like rice and wheat. We can thus enhance the nutritive value and go for sustainable livelihood from these millets as they are easy to grow, do not need much water and care. So we can diversify and get substantial income from millets.
What challenges and opportunities are associated with processing millets for value added products? How can small farmers or entrepreneurs incorporate value addition in their millet processing ventures?
We lack awareness as people do not understand the value. We do not have suitable milling machines for the products. We do not know the diversification methods. We are not much aware of the nutritional value of the millets. These are the major constraints. But people who are aware of the nutritive value of the millets and products will grab them and replace with rice and wheat. They can leverage with state agriculture universities as they have agriculture incubator centres and machineries. Since farmers cannot purchase the machineries on their own, they can go to these places for production of millets and get finished products, package them to sell on their own through marketing channels.
How does value addition contribute to reducing post-harvest losses in millet production?
When we produce millets, we can use them for value addition. After de-husking, the husk is used for fodder. We can reduce the post-harvest losses by using their straw, bran, and other things for making products such as fodder and snacks.
Please let us know about yourself and how you got interested in this subject.
I am a Programme Assistant posted in Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jammu under State Agriculture University SKUAST- Jammu. Presently, pursuing PhD from the College of Community science and my specialization is Extension Education and Communication Management, Promoting Agri- entrepreneurship is my research area, and I am working with the entrepreneurs and farmers who go for cereals and millet cultivation and their processing.
Millets, termed as Nutri cereals, are becoming the favourites among farmers as they are climate crops, drought resistant, and grow in infertile soil also. India has a whopping share of 41% in millet production at the global level as per the data in 2020. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization endorses India’s proposal to declare 2023 as International Year of Millets. 9 of the 11 important millet varieties are grown in India. We plan to improve millet production and utilisation to improve farmers’ income and nutritional security among the poor. There is a Rs. 10 Billion turnover in the value addition industry of millets. India also has the largest number of millet research scientists in the world. The major millets like jowar, sorghum, pearl millet, bajra, finger millet, and ragi, and small millets like foxtail millet, little millet, kodo millet, barnyard millet, and brown top millets are grown in India. Kodo millet and little millets are grown in India exclusively.
Why do we talk about millets and go for its promotion? It is because they are smart foods, and the benefits of millet consumption are many, especially with its low glycaemic index, rich minerals, vitamins and antioxidants, the millets prevent lifestyle diseases. The millets are helpful to farmers also because they are short duration crops and are climate and water resilient. The planet is also benefited due to low water and zero carbon prints. Earlier millets were called as poor man’s food. But now with more awareness about its benefits the consumption percentage even among urban population is going up. The IIMR is trying to bring the supply chain to better efficient functioning. The role model of sorghum value chain can be followed for other millets too.
Millets are called nutricereals because they are the powerhouse of nutrients and are better than rice and wheat with more health benefits. They have good potential to contribute to food and nutritional security of the country because of their unique characteristics. They have all the micronutrients, flavin compared to other crops, rich in iron, zinc, calcium, and are gluten free. They help in prevention of cardiac issues, high blood pressure, weight reduction, and many more problems. When millets are value added, they are suitable for urban population. But there is not much progress in value addition of millets due to lack of processing machines. The value addition requires innovative machinery to handle the small millets. Devising machines and recipes are crucial for value addition. The post-harvest processing, value addition, awareness, capacity building for farmers, consumers, and processors, and market linkages can bridge the constraints the producers and traders are facing.
The supply chain has to be developed from the farmers to traders to processors to the retailers and then consumers. Due to nonavailability of processed millet products unlike rice or wheat cereals, farmers fare getting very less price for their unprocessed grains compared to when processing is done. We have to process the millets for better price but there is not many proven industrial process is available to make white products from coloured small millets. When the millets are processed, they help in digesting, and the properties optimise the appearance, taste, and colour of food to meet the needs of the consumers. They are easy to prepare and come with high nutritional value.
There are however a few constraints when going for millet value addition. There is a lack of awareness among people on how to grow the millets, process them, lack of suitable milling machineries, and lack of ready to use products on the shelf. The organoleptic characteristics, high fat content in bran and germ, low shelf life due to oxidative and hydrolytic validity, and lack of suitable processing technologies.
How can we process the millets for optimum usage? Decortication is one such method. We remove the outer layer of the grain, and it can be done by hand pounding and rice dehulling machine for the decortication. Next is pounding done by wooden or metal pestle and mortar. Parboiling is the process of partial cooking of the grain along with husk and bran. The grains are deeply steamed resulting in the grain getting decorticated. Milling is the process of separating bran and erm from the starchy endosperm so that it can be ground into flour or rawa using different types of sieves in the hammer mill. These are the traditional practices of millet processing to get small little grains from the millet spikes. The advanced method is using thresher, millet destoner, and grade aspirator. We separate the stones from the grains, small grains from larger ones, and grade to the very fine grains. Millet pulveriser can be used to make it into a fine powder. We can go for instant products like bakery products, snacks, shakes, flakes, and instant mixes. Traditional products are roti, porridge, cooked grains, sweet and savoury products and popped products. The newer ones are refined flour, husk free malt flour, parboiled grains, extruded products, flakes, health foods, beverages, bakery products, semolina, noodles and papads. We should note that except finger millets, all the other millets need to be de-husked before using. IIMR has also developed various products such as ragi wheat blend based noodles being marketed mostly in Southern states.
There is a good market potential for millet products due to high calcium, non-gluten nature, dietary fibre, and cost benefits. A farmer, Mr. Paramjit Singh has taken up processing of millet biscuits and is earning good income out of it. We can use machines where we put the flour, it will make the cookies, and we can get them baked. We can make malted weaning food, milk based weaning food for children which can be mixed with peanuts, wheat, and other millets. The product when added with peanut get fortified with high protein content. The products can be naturally flavoured with fruits and vegetables to provide adequate nutrition to children. We have to add hot water to upma mix and make ready to eat items.
Milling is the process of separating bran and germ from the starchy endosperm to make into flour. The product contains protein and starch and fibre digestibility. They have high levels of magnesium, iron, dietary fibre, zinc. The shelf life of millet biscuit is 6 months, bread 6 days, and cakes 4 days when packed in MET packs. Puffed millets are ready to eat snacks and are rich in protein and can be served as inflight snack with a shelf life of 2 months. We can also make sorghum puffs, foxtail, and pearl millet puffs. Flaking is done to get the unique flakes which are low in glycaemic index and are ideal for diabetic patients and lifestyle diseases, apart from celiac patients. We can also make ready to eat vegetable pulao and upma from the millets. It is important to develop recipes for midday meals for school children to get them nutritional food with different recipes.
Traditional millet weaning food is mentioned even in Yajurveda on foxtail, barnyard, and black finger millets. Since ages, millets have been consumed largely by tribal population. The value added products in millets can be prepared by startups which can increase income generation. Revenue from sales of millets across globe has been put at US $ 10 thousand million in 2017 and has gone to US $ 13500by 2022. The growth is expected to go higher in the coming years. The main driving factor behind cultivating millets and selling value added products is to increase the health consciousness across the globe, nutrition security, food security, and to curtail diseases. Indian companies like Britannia, Nutrichoice and ITC are preparing millet based products such as breakfast cereals, cookies, flakes etc. Indian institutes like IIMR, ICAR, and agriculture and allied sector are indulging in promotional activities such as trade fairs, road shows, and exhibitions to showcase millet processing technologies. Training on millet value addition is also provided by KVK, ICAR, and state agriculture universities by using incubator units. The incubator centres have all the programs to provide the skills for processing and value addition of the millets. Startup programs are done by all institutes. Agriculture Skill Council of India provides the skills needed for processing and value addition of millets. Let us celebrate the International Year of Millets in 2023.
What is the definition of value addition in context of millet processing? How does the value addition enhance the nutritional profile of millet based products?
Value addition of a product means to put value in the product to increase the earnings of the farmers by making healthy products by processing them using machinery than selling them unprocessed. Products such as cereals, flour, rawa, ready to eat mixes, bakery products and cookies are some such value added products of millets. We use machinery or technical processes to put value in the products. We can prepare rawa, flour, biscuits or cookies to add value to millets. The enhanced protein content in the millets after processing makes it digestible, palatable, and healthy. Since it is a hard substance, it cannot be eaten in the raw form. So we enhance the grains by fortifying with other substances such as peanuts and sugar or jaggery. These also enhance the nutritive value of the millets.
How does processing affect the shelf life of the millet products? Can you explain the role of value addition creating diversified millet products for the market?
Some of the processes like milling, puffing, and baking increases the shelf life of the millets. The millet biscuits have shelf life of 6 months, bread can be consumed for 6 days, and cakes for 4 days when packed in airtight containers. Puffing of foxtail millet can increase the shelf life by 2 months more. Baking and flaking can also increase the shelf life of the products. So the shelf life increases. Traditionally we use rice and wheat for cereal products, and so diversification can be done using millets by following methods such as using exuded millet products. We can thus reduce the usage of traditional cereals like rice and wheat. We can thus enhance the nutritive value and go for sustainable livelihood from these millets as they are easy to grow, do not need much water and care. So we can diversify and get substantial income from millets.
What challenges and opportunities are associated with processing millets for value added products? How can small farmers or entrepreneurs incorporate value addition in their millet processing ventures?
We lack awareness as people do not understand the value. We do not have suitable milling machines for the products. We do not know the diversification methods. We are not much aware of the nutritional value of the millets. These are the major constraints. But people who are aware of the nutritive value of the millets and products will grab them and replace with rice and wheat. They can leverage with state agriculture universities as they have agriculture incubator centres and machineries. Since farmers cannot purchase the machineries on their own, they can go to these places for production of millets and get finished products, package them to sell on their own through marketing channels.
How does value addition contribute to reducing post-harvest losses in millet production?
When we produce millets, we can use them for value addition. After de-husking, the husk is used for fodder. We can reduce the post-harvest losses by using their straw, bran, and other things for making products such as fodder and snacks.
Please let us know about yourself and how you got interested in this subject.
I am a Programme Assistant posted in Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jammu under State Agriculture University SKUAST- Jammu. Presently, pursuing PhD from the College of Community science and my specialization is Extension Education and Communication Management, Promoting Agri- entrepreneurship is my research area, and I am working with the entrepreneurs and farmers who go for cereals and millet cultivation and their processing.