The CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram, will come up with a comprehensive plan to promote production and value-addition of millets on sustainable lines by the year-end, according to C Anandharamakrishnan, Director.

He was addressing a session of the Millet Conclave titled ‘Shree Anna’, a One Week One Lab programme launched by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). The Millet Conclave is an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology, that showcases achievements of each of the 37 constituent laboratories of CSIR.

Critical hurdles

The cultivation, value-addition and promotion of millets faces critical hurdles, and CSIR-NIIST has been working to address these issues, Anandharamakrishnan said. Extension of field-level technology to augment production and scientific processes for value-addition and shelf-life need to be addressed urgently. A database to take promotional projects forward is essential. Since millet cultivation remains complex and labour-intensive, field-level machines are vital to scale up production, he said.

Ajith Kumar Shasany, Director, CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow, said world-class facilities offering food processing technologies should be created to achieve quality produce, benefiting both the farming sector and industry.

Also read: FSSAI notifies comprehensive group standards for millets

Quality, taste, shelf life

M Loganathan, Director (i/c), National Institute of Food Processing Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Thanjavur, said apart from providing institutional support to farmers, the creation of incubation facilities is also vital. “Quality, taste and shelf life are three key parameters for the commercial success of millet products, for which a growing market is available in India and abroad,” he said. Ashok S Alur, Director, Centre of Excellence for Farmer Producer Organisations, University of Horticultural Sciences, Bengaluru, said this is the opportune time for India to augment and mainstream millet production and consumption. If scientists, promoters and policy-makers come together to support farmers, India could emerge as a major global millet cultivation hub.

Panel discussion

A panel discussion on promoting millet cultivation and value-addition, included Lalita Goyal, Senior Principal Scientist, Directorates-Interface-CSIR, New Delhi; Meera MS, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru; Vikram Sankaranarayanan, Director, Borne Technologies, Coimbatore; KP Sudheer, Head, RAFTAAR, KAU, Thrissur; and MG Malleshi, Chief Scientist (Rtd), CSIR-CFTRI. The speakers included S Nagesh, Chief, Agriculture Division, Kerala State Planning Board; Jimmy Jose, Head-HR & Corporate Communication, Synthite Industries; Deepthi Nair, Director, Coconut Development Board; Ramesh Babu N, Scientist, Spices Board; and Shrinivasan Ramasamy, CEO, Apex Coco and Solar.

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