HYDERABAD: While presenting the Union Budget 2023-24, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the Centre would support the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad, as the Centre of Excellence for promoting its technologies and best practices in millet farming at an international level. Over the last twelve years, the IIMR has been on a mission to address various aspects of millet farming — from seed to post-harvest technologies.
Speaking with the TNIE, B Dayakar Rao, principal scientist and nodal officer at the Centre of Excellence on Millets, expressed confidence in taking its initiatives to the next level. “The institute will assert itself as a world leader in building the best technologies, which will be relevant to the domestic and international stakeholders who are willing to learn,” he said.
Dayakar Rao, who is also the CEO of Nutrihub Technology Business Incubator, IIMR-ICAR, added that in view of the International Year of the Millets being observed this year, the Centre was giving due recognition to the institution and its efforts.
Explaining how the institution reached where it is today, he said that seed was the most important part of the production system. Its vital component was its availability, with a traceability system in place. To address this, he said, seed banks were established. The demand and supply balance was established by mapping various areas where seeds were available.
“We identified the best cultivars suitable for different specialised products with the high protein used in baking, flaking, or popping. There is a lot of qualitative information on various millets like Jowar Bajra and Ragi, their products and the technologies involved,” he said.
He added that the supply chain was very important. “We have established information for vertical integration, market linkages, packing, branding and so on. Our one-stop solution has taken a lot of time and effort to reach here,” he added.
He said that the best cultivation practices, capacity building and strengthening of the processes were in place. The next-level effort would concentrate on millets’ primary and secondary value addition, with even more emphasis on the minor millets.
Five years ago, Nutrihub, which promotes innovation, technology and business, was established by IIMR in Rajendranagar. According to Rao, more than 600 startups in the millets domain have received assistance, with Nutrihub incubating more than 300 startups.