EMPOWERING MILLET STARTUPS

Have you ever heard of edible cutlery made from millets? Or millet milk, as an alternative to dairy milk? Well, these and many interesting business ideas are a part of the book called MILLET BUSINESS IDEAS. Written by Tapas Chandra Roy, a Certified Millet Advisor and the winner of ‘Global Sustainability Award 2022’ by GCPIT, the book is a goldmine for those startup founders who are exploring the millet business space and want to have a 360 degrees idea about this superfood before jumping into this sector.

This book is packed with information about the unique businesses several startup founders are running, the policy support given by Government of India, the exceptional opportunities in this sector, the challenges & how to overcome them and the nutritional values of millets.

In the initial chapter, by raising the curtain on the types of millets available in India, the author walks the reader through the nutritional values they pack. An interesting topic is covered in Part 1- Chapter 4, which lists the myths and beliefs about millets. It helps the reader to take a fresh look at this super grain.

Part 2 of the book scans the current millet trends, starting with value chain analysis of millets to consumption trends and institutional initiatives.

Did you know that there is a whole millet-based hotel industry and cloud kitchens? Yes, there is! In Part 3 of the book Roy mentions the story of young-agri-entrepreneur Chittem Sudheer, who founded ‘Vasena Poli’. Sudheer’s nutrition packed conical millet idlis were tweeted by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu when he tasted them during his visit to Vishakhapatnam. Part 3 of the books is particularly relevant for entrepreneurs who want to establish themselves in millet business. It gives a list of new ideas that some of the startup founders are already working on, along with their success stories.

Chapter 6 in Part 3 focuses on processing units of millets. Here the author makes keen observations, suggesting why/how a millet processing unit should focus on retaining the bran, while removing the husk.

The author writes – “The more the husked grains are rubbed or impacted against the metal surfaces of the machines, the brand gets more damaged. So, it is important to design our millet processing machines in such a way that the bran layer gets less damaged.

Roy’s book sets the blueprint for an entrepreneur, giving every detail of this millet superfood industry.

Part 4 of the book details on how to grow your millet business digitally. It discusses the tools needed and the various social platform to be used for leveraging the business. After all, having an online presence to build a brand is requisite for entrepreneurs.

Various government initiatives to support the growth of this sector is mentioned in Part 5. And lastly Part 6 walk you through the challenges of this sector, and how one can overcome them.

Roy’s book is easy to navigate with concise, well laid out information. There is something for everyone in this useful millet guide book. This is a must have book for all those who are health conscious and want to include this ancient superfood in their daily meals. For those B. Sc Agriculture students who want to get into agri-entrepreneurship after the completion of their course, this is a good book to possess.

MILLET BUSINESS IDEAS – ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tapas Chandra Roy is a Certified Farm Advisor on Millets and has been recognized by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) and Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR), Hyderabad.

Currently, he is working as Block Agriculture Officer-cum-Deputy Project Director, ATMA in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Government of Odisha.

Roy is an agriculture graduate and did his MBA (Agri-Business Management) from Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Co-operative Management (VAMNICOM), Pune.

He is promoting Millets from ‘Farm to Plate’ so that this nutrition loaded superfood reaches across the country. Therefore, his mission is to take the millets to millions. With a vision to reach millions, Roy is looking after the implementation of Odisha Millet Mission at the ground level. To achieve the  ‘Millet Mission’ target, he is helping farmers from sowing to harvesting by imparting training and providing advisory services.