Women Empowered with Millet-based Bakery Training

Udaipur: A five-day women’s training program on ‘Processing, Value Addition, and Export of Millets’ concluded on Saturday at the Directorate of Extension Education, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology (MPUAT). The program was organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, Hyderabad, in collaboration with MPUAT.

Thirty women from the districts of Banswara, Rajsamand, and Udaipur participated in the training under the Scheduled Caste Sub-Plan (SCSP) skill development program. They learned to prepare a variety of millet-based bakery items, including ragi cakes, jowar donuts, oats cookies, jowar bread, bajra laddus, jowar papad, kangni namkeen, bajra paratha, jowar naan, and millet brownies, among others. Expert trainers Valentina and Vijaylakshmi taught them to make cakes, cookies, and sweets, while Hazarilal focused on teaching naan and noodles.

Dr. Hemlata Sharma, Head of the Department of Plant Genetics at MPUAT, educated the participants about the nutritional value of millets, urging them to incorporate them into their daily diets.

During the closing ceremony, Dr. I.J. Mathur, former Director of the Directorate of Extension Education, encouraged the participants to take the skills they had learned and start commercial-level production of these bakery items. He emphasized that while coarse grains like millet, sorghum, and ragi were once considered food for the poor, they are now sought after by the wealthy due to their health benefits. He urged the women to create groups and start small businesses with these products.

Dr. Gopal Lal, Joint Director of ICAR's National Academy of Agricultural Research Management, emphasized the growing demand for millets and the importance of building self-confidence among rural women to start their own businesses. 

Dr. R.L. Soni, Director of the Directorate of Extension Education, MPUAT, also encouraged the women to first use millet-based products themselves and share them with their neighbors before starting large-scale production. 

The participants were provided with free kits including a three-jar mixer and a potato chips maker, along with a millet recipe booklet. The training was also broadcast nationwide on 'Aastha' channel.