Scientists have been working on millets – developing grain varieties and hybrids, improving aspects of their production and protection, while also taking the learnings from labs to the fields.

Bringing back millets that were once integral to a traditional Indian diet, scientists at Indian Institute of Millets Research in Hyderabad have not just cracked all the science and market for the drought-resistant grain’s modern-day applications but also incubated over 300 startups in the last five years.

The institute, which comes under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), has transferred technologies to commercially produce value-added food products from a wide range of millets – such as sorghum (jowar), finger millet (ragi), pearl millet (bajra), kodo millet (kodo), foxtail millet (kangani), proso millet (cheena), barnyard millet (sanwa), and little millet (sama).

The ICAR-IIMR recently rose to prominence, receiving a mention by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman during the Union budget on account of the International Year of Millets 2023, declared by the United Nations.

The research institute, in its 65th year, is being supported as the Centre of Excellence for sharing best practices, research and technologies with the world in India’s attempt to become a global hub of millets. Making the announcement, Sitaraman said, “We are the largest producer and second largest exporter of ‘Sree Anna’ (millets) in the world… These have been a part of our food for centuries.”

Scientists here have been working on millets – developing grain varieties and hybrids, improving aspects of their production and protection, while also taking the learnings from labs to the fields. From ways and means to prepare a wide range of foods that appeal to younger generations – be it cookies, noodles, pasta, flakes or quick munchies, the scientists have even mastered the preparation of what is called ‘analogue rice’ — that is simply millets that look like rice. A nutrient-rich beer made of Sorghum or Jowar is in the pipeline.

The varieties most suitable for beer production have been identified to prepare beer. A ‘pilot plant’, or a brewery, is in the process of being set up on campus to demonstrate its techno-economic feasibility for commercial production.

“Millets are gluten-free and are not suitable for processing. From our core crop improvement efforts, we have piloted a value chain and mastered backward integration. We have generated about 70 food processing technologies with value additions, developed grades and standards for commercial scale, and also partnered with public and private stakeholders to mainstream millets,” says Dr B Dayakar Rao, principal scientist (agricultural economics) at IIMR and chief executive officer of Nutrihub – IIMR’s Technology Business Incubator. “From an irrelevant crop that farmers grew for their consumption, we are now talking about millets on every plate,” he adds.

At Nutrihub, about 70 food products, from biscuits, muffins, pasta, noodles, cookies etc., and machinery to prepare them, are available for licence and use. The incubator also offers training to staff and allows the incubatees to use the production facilities on campus till they are ready to move out.

Seed funding up to Rs 25 lakh and business linkages too are offered. Nutrihub has also tied up with companies such as ITC, Britannia, Nestle, HUL, Godrej, Haldiram and PepsiCo etc. “Walk in with an intent to start a business, it takes not more than two to three weeks for introducing the brand in the market. Everything from market research to production, packaging and connections is taken care of. We have a unique model and focussed incubator,” says N Krishna Sri Sai, programme manager at Nutrihub.

According to Dr J Stanley, senior scientist (agricultural entomology), analogue rice is one of the premium technologies that will be a market disruptor. “We are so used to eating rice that a meal is incomplete without at least a morsel of rice. Now, we can prepare artificial rice rich in nutrients the same way we prepare pasta and noodles using cold extrusion technology (for ready-to-cook foods). It will look exactly like rice and can fortify further with any additional nutrients that are lacking to make the rice balanced,” says Dr Stanley, adding that a day is not far when biryani and pulao prepared using analogue rice are served in hotels. The scientists are currently working on standardisation of its shelf life, and in a few months will be ready for the market.

Beyond millets for food, the institute is working on millets for cattle feed and has tied up with about 15 companies for mass production and sale. Ethanol-blended fuel from sorghum is another area of growing research. Dr Dayakar, a member of the Core Committee for International Year of Millets, 2023, and a nodal officer for the National Millet Mission, feels that a boost in demand for millets is bound to cause a shortage of supply. A sudden push in the promotion of millets now and increased vigour for exporting value-added products have to be supported by the increased area under cultivation.

“The country is in a transition period. Only by management of crops at the farmer’s level can we achieve the true potential of millets. Prices will come down gradually when the area under cultivation is increased. And it is the FPOs (farmer producer organisations) that are going to play a major role,” says Dr Dayakar, adding that IIMR is modelling 30 plus FPOs from six states for vertical integration and farmgate value additions so that they may become agencies for aggregation and primary source of procurement for the startups or industry. The institute, according to him, will play a crucial role at the farmgate level by providing SOPs for the procurement of quality products for better prices to farmers. #newshyd