Mysuru: The two-day millet Mela (Festival) began yesterday at Bharat Scouts and Guides ground to create awareness on its nutritious and health benefits on incorporating it as a daily part of our diet.  The festival had several small kiosks where millets of various varieties are being sold. People swelled in numbers to the kiosks. Jaggery, Bamboo rice, Dal, Coconut oils, Snack bars, etc. are also being sold.

A walk through the Mela, will introduce one to several kiosks that grab your attention. Star of Mysore managed to get in close with some of the sellers.

Manu, one of the sellers, had setup his store where he sold Pearl millet, Kodo Millet seed, Kodo Millet rice, little millet rice, barnyard millet, promo millet seed, browntop millet seed, foxtail millet seed, foxtail millet rice, Ragi, etc.

He said, “We have our own farmers who reside all around Karnataka and we concentrate on growing local variety of crops. We sell it in Mysuru near V.V. Mohalla and also have a branch in Bengaluru.”

Pavan Kumar, Owner of Cafe Natural had set up his store where sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, watermelon seeds, flax seeds (all roasted as well as ready to eat seeds) etc. were sold. The crowd turned its attention towards his store as it had Millet banana cake, Millet sweets, Millet choco chip, special homemade chocolates, chikki’s out of the above mentioned seeds as well as snacks like Millet Muffins and Millet nippits. They have their outlets in Sahakaranagar, Bengaluru and Yelankha and plan to open one store in Mysuru very soon.

The audience were treated to a sample millet energy booster drink at a Kisok, which sold ‘Energizer Health Mix,’ which is prepared in Mysuru. The complete health drink which is known as ‘Malt’ is prepared using about nine sprouted grains with a blend of different types of millets. This drink is gluten free and is advisable for pregnant women and people suffering from diabetes and anaemia. Its ingredients consist of Ragi, Red wheat, Horse gram, Green gram, Bajra, Maize, Peas, Bengal gram, groundnut, flax seeds, millets, cloves, cardamom, etc. This energy drink powder costs about Rs. 360 per Kg.

Sunil Kumar, Proprietor, S.R. Organics, aimed to tempt the sweet tooth of the visitors with his store that mainly catered to Chikkis.  People could buy any three varieties of Chikkis for about Rs. 100.  Chiikkis of various varieties like Pumpkin seed Chikki, Sunflower seed Chikki, Musk Melon seed Chikki, Water Melon seed Chikki, Flax seed Chikki, Moringa Leaf Chikki, Sesame Chikki, Foxtail millet Chikki etc. ensured that the visitors stopped to buy and munch on these snack bars as they passed around looking at the various stores of the mela. He also has readymade millet dosa mixes and Papads of Moringa leaf, Jowar along with Chutney powders of different seeds.

CFTRI has displayed a technological advanced machine – “Pedal Operated Millet Dehuller,” which removes the dust as well as the husk from the millet grains. Mohammed Shakeb, Technical Officer, Grain Science and Technology Department, said, “This machine is pedal operated and will be very useful to the rural people. This dehuller can dehusk millets at the rate of 10-12 Kg per hour and its efficiency is about 65 to 75 per cent. This does not require electricity and it also has a Cyclone at the end of the machine which removes the mixture of unhulled and hulled components along with the husk. All types of millets can be dehulled in this machine except Ragi. This is also healthy as it is unpolished and more amount of fibres are thus retained compared to other machinery processes.”

The estimated price of the machinery is around Rs. 25,000 and the operation is very simple.

The millet mela will conclude this evening.