EEI, Hyderabad and MANAGE in collaboration organized 3 day training programme on Nutri Cereal processing and Value addition from 15th to 17th March 2022

Millets are the small grains cultivated in low-fertile land, mountainous, tribal and rain-fed areas of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. Due to several reasons such as change in consumption pattern, dietary habits, unavailability, low yield, less demand etc the area under millet cultivation is slowly declining. As a result of this, nutrients like protein, Vitamin-A, iron and Iodine levels fell in women and children. As the Millets are a rich source of Protein, Fibre, Minerals, Iron, Calcium and have a low glycemic index, the Government has notified millets as nutri-cereals in April, 2018. The National Year of Millets was celebrated in 2018. To create domestic and global demand and to provide nutritional food to the people, Government of India had proposed to United Nations for declaring 2023 as International Year of Millets (IYoM). In order to reduce the malnutrition in the country Central and state governments are promoting millets by extending huge support in the form of fund, subsidy, technical advices, marketing facilities, infrastructure etc through many schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman (PM POSHAN) Scheme, National Food Security Mission, Poshan Abhiyaan, PM FME (Pradhanmantri Micro Food Enterprises) and through NITI Aayog, APEDA etc. Keeping in view of malnutrition problem prevalent in many parts of India and efforts made by government for promotion of nutri cereals, EEI, Hyderabad and MANAGE felt an urgent need to build the capacities of Extension workers on Processing and Value addition of Nutri cereals. Hence a 3 day online Training programme on Nutri Cereal processing and Value addition was organized from 15-17th March 2022. 47 officers belonging to 10 states and 1 Union territory viz., Telangana, Andhrapradesh, Tamilnadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Chattisgarh, West Bengal, Maharastra, Odisha and Andamans from State departments of Agriculture, Marketing, Forestry and Animal husbandary sectors, and KVK Scientists from ANGRAU, Andhrapradesh and Kerala and also officers from SAMETIs, took part in the training. Role of nutri cereals in human health and well being, value addition and incorporation of nutri cereals in daily diets, entrepreneurship potential, production and processing technologies, alternative industrial uses, packing, branding, labeling in nutri cereals, role of FPOs in promotion and marketing, strategies for nutri cereal promotion, supply chain management and scope of nutri cereals in crop diversification are some of the important sessions covered in the programme. Speaking on the valedictory Dr. M. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Director, EEI has informed the partcipants that Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, in the year 2017, had decided to start distributing millets under Public Distribution System (PDS) to improve nutritional security, subsequently millets viz. Jowar, Bajra, Ragi were distributed through PDS across the country. He suggested the participants to organize several trainings, field days, exposure visits, millet melas, millet food festivals to popularize nutri cereals. He also suggested trainees to organize capacity building programmes on cooking various millet recipes and organise competitions among women for encouragement of consumption of nutria cereals