Raipur: The country’s largest millet processing industry is going to open in Chhattisgarh soon. Under the state government’s Millet Mission in collaboration with Avani Ayurveda Pvt Ltd, a processing unit has been established in Nathiya Nawagaon of Kanker district for the value addition and packaging process of Kodo-Kutki-Ragi. In this unit, rice,porridge, semolina, flour vermicelli, pasta, soup mix, biscuits, cookies, and laddus will be made from Kodo-Kutki-Ragi.
Established by Avani Ayurveda Pvt Ltd, the annual processing capacity of this unit will be 10 to 12 thousand tonnes. About 35 to 40 tonnes of Kodo-Kutki-Ragi would be required per day for the said processing unit. Raw material for this unit will be provided by Chhattisgarh State Minor Forest Produce Co-operative Federation, for which an MoU has already been signed between Chhattisgarh Government and Avani Ayurveda. Subsidy will also be provided by CSIDC to encourage this unit established under Millet Mission of Chhattisgarh Government.
An MOU has also been signed between IIM Raipur, Hyderabad and Avani Ayurveda Pvt Ltd and district administration North Kanker for setting up this unit and to provide technical know-how,equipments,seed bank and training. More than 100 people will get direct and indirect employment from this processing unit and thousands of farmers of Chhattisgarh state who produce kodu kutki ragi will also be benefited through this. With the increase in demand,farmers will also get a fair price for their produce.
Meanwhile, millets are produced in more than 20 districts of Chhattisgarh and the establishment of this unit will provide employment to women groups and youth as well. It is worth mentioning that Millet Mission has been started from the year 2021 with the objective of promoting the production, processing and use of millets in the state of Chhattisgarh. Traditionally, Kodo, Kutki and Ragi have been cultivated in the state, but due to no policy or program for its procurement and processing, the farmers were not getting its benefits.
