STATUS PAPER ON FINGER MILLET

1. Finger Millet: A “Super-grain” to
Meet Nutritional Insecurity Under
Stressful Environments
Under the guidance
of
Dr. Sarika Yadav
Assistant Professor
ARJUN SINGH
M. Tech (FPOM)
Roll no. 618006
Final Presentation
On Status
of

2. Contents covered so far
are:
 Introduction: what is Finger millet
 Vernacular names of Finger millet
 Finger millet panicles
 Why its important?
 Why Finger millet?
 Health Benefits
 Functional Properties of Finger Millet
 Consumption pattern in India
Contd..
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

3.  Production trends in India
 Post Harvest operations on Finger
millet
 Processing technology
 Reasons for gaps in
commercialization
 Institution and programmes for millet
development in India
 Value added products
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

4. Current Presentation
includes:
 Report Findings
 Conclusion
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

5. Study Findings:
 Millets are still the principle sources of energy, protein,
vitamin & minerals for millions of the poorest people in
African and Asian region.
 97% of the world millets production is in developing
countries
 India is the highest producer since 1956, with 40.56% of
total world production in year 2017 (FAO STAT 2019)
 In India, Finger millet ranks 6th in production after wheat,
rice, maize, sorghum and pearl millet
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

6.  Finger millet is a major crop in Tamilnadu and
Gujarat, minor in Telangana.
 Finger millet found in most of the southern and
central states of India especially wherever annual
rainfall is less than 350 mm.
 It is one of the highly valued crops for its ability to
grow under limited resources, also for its unique
nutrient contents.
 FM has been perceived as a potential “super
cereal” by US National Academies being one of
the most nutritious among all major cereals
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

7.  FM contains ten times higher amount of Calcium
than Wheat, Brown rice and Maize; seven fold
higher Phosphorous than Wheat.
 Richest in Iron among all cereals except Oats
 Least in Fat content and highest in Fiber content,
when compared with all the cereals
 More than 92% of the consumption of Finger Millet
is in rural area
 Bihar has shown highest consumption of FM in
rural area; followed by Karnataka, Maharashtra and
Gujarat
 In India, Karnataka has the highest area under
cultivation i.e. 58.62 % followed by Uttrakhand and
Tamilnadu
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

8.  Area under millets cultivated have shown
a steep decline between 1956 and 2017;
during the same period, wheat & rice
which ere cultivated in less area than
millets have steadily climbed to overtake
millets.
 Primary reason for negligence of Finger
Millet is lack of processed products in
market and unawareness in consumers
about its health benefits
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

9. CONCLUSION
 In the last two decades their importance as food staples,
particularly in Asia, has been declining due to various
factors that include rising incomes, growing urbanization
and government policies favoring the production and
consumption of fine cereals like rice and wheat. However,
the same factors are driving the demand for these crops in
alternative uses like feed, alcohol and processed food
industry (being promoted as health foods).
 With growing health consciousness the demand for Finger
millet and other millets based value added products (flour,
flakes, rawa etc) is rising albeit from a very low base in
urban centers of major growing states of India.
 Additionally, the demand for clean, graded and branded
sorghum grain is finding niches in urban supermarkets.
Contd…ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

10.  To harness the potential of finger millet in emerging
uses supply-side constraints should be over come
through generation and diffusion of appropriate
technologies for different production environments.
 While yield improvement and yield stability should
receive high priority in crop improvement programs to
make millets competitive both at the farm and end use
levels developing varieties with traits suitable for
different uses should also be an important priority of
crop improvement programs to meet end user
requirement.
 With the recent increasing demand for coarse grains in
niche markets such as health foods and gluten-free
substitutes, identifying and developing processing
technologies that increase the shelf-life of finger millet
flour will result in their increased use in processed
products particularly in the urban centers.
Contd…
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

11.  There is a need to establish a link between
health and consumption of millets.
 Even as there is a need to correct policy bias
against millet in particular and rainfed
agriculture in general, there is a need to put in
place institutions and policies linking small-
scale farmers to the new sources of demand,
through innovative institutional arrangements
to ensure that produce of a given quality and
price is delivered to end users.
---------------------------*******------------------------------
-
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20

12. THANK YOU
ARJUN SINGH_M.TECH_NIFTEM_18-
20