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Thanks to the International Year of the Millets, 2023 witnessed a surge in demand, not only in the Indian domestic markets but also on the export front.
In the five-year-period up to 2022-23, millet exports rose by 37.68% to notch up a figure of $57.14 million, The Economic Times has reported.
The millet basket in India consists buckwheat, ragi, jawar, bajra, amaranth and canary seeds.
In the first half of the current financial year, millet exports stood around $30 million.
India is one of the top millet producers of the world, securing the number one position in 2021. That year, India accounted for 20% share of global production, with the US and Nigeria coming next.
In order to boost the demand for millets, which is more suitable to cultivate in arid regions, The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) organised food sampling and tasting sessions in supermarkets and malls around the world. The health-conscious brigade has also campaigned that consumption of millets is good for the health, especially for getting rid of fat and management of blood glucose levels.
Responding to the rise in demand even from an increasing number of the urban consumers, Indian companies are offering salads, dessert, khakhra, cake bhujia, biscuits made from millets.
Ready-to-eat breakfast cereal mix, biscuits, cookies and snacks, and ready-to-cook mixes such as dosa, idli and khichri have emerged as the best-selling items for the export market. About 200 startups are in the business of producing millet-based products.
There are 500 stock keeping units of millet-based food products in the country, according to officials.
Gluten-free and vegan-friendly snacks made from domestically sourced millets are also in demand.
“The export of food preparation based on millets has increased 15% since last year,” said an official requesting anonymity.
This official also said that new HS code (tariff classification) for value-added products of millets is being introduced. This will help the administration and industry to track export and import numbers for millets more efficiently.
Kolkata-based FMCG major ITC is pursuing a blue-print to put together millet items suitable for every occasion, age and format. It includes items such as multi-millet mix and ragi flour. The company revealed it in its Q2 results for FY24.
Incidentally, a rise in the demand for millets both of the domestic and export sector has triggered a rise in the price of the crops in the wholesale markets across major producer states such as Rajasthan and Maharashtra.