Millet has been known for its various health beneficiary properties. Apart from being a great alternative to gluten based food, millets are loaded with folate and choline and provides important minerals like magnesium, potassium, phosphorus and zinc. In fact millets offers more dietary fiber and antioxidants than most other grains.
Yet it is less preferred in most of the houses, not because of its taste but for its price. Though in its raw form it is extremely inexpensive, but the processing of the grain or the dehusking procedure makes it much more expensive than the regular grains.
Working towards making this grain a staple diet for many, Sharmila Keerthivasan’s latest innovation, a millet de-husker and a winnowing unit.
Sharmila is a Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Coimbatore and a close associate of Nalla Sooru, an enterprise that works towards sustainable development.
“Most of the people knew the benefits of millets, they would come to the store, ask for millets and would compare the pricing with regular grains and let go the millet for cheaper alternatives like rice and wheat. That is when I decided to go into the depth of understanding why is millet a much more expansive grain,. And, when its grown so abundantly in India and at once upon time was a staple diet for many Indians.” As quoted by Sharmila.
Her research gave her an insight into why millet was expensive; it was the process that involved the dehusking of the grain. The machines required a large quantity to be dehusked and it was done at only specific locations, with the demand of the millet being low, it was processed in in limited quantities. Moreover due to its low shelf value, large quantities couldn’t be stored which overall lead to making the millet a more expensive alternative in comparison to the other grains.
It is then Sharmila decided to find an economical option to de-husk the millets, she re-modelled the mixie jar with a capability to chaff the millets without breaking the pod. The innovated equipment when attached to the mixie, makes the de-husking process simple and possible even at homes. With the help of the innovated equipment the regular husked millet which is available at a basic price can be de-husked or processed making it ready to use which brings down the price of the current available processed millet at Rs 120 to a minimum of Rs 30- 50.
And as for the cost of the jar it would be available at a minimum of Rs.500 to be fitted with mixie jar equipment that comes at a price of Rs 2000 to 2500.
“My innovation is to bring healthy options closer to people and make it more affordable” said Sharmila who is currently looking to partner with mixie manufacturers to produce her patented jar in large scale that can fit the mixie equipment and benefit many people with the goodness of millets.