AICRP Details

AICRP - Small Millet

AICRP 2022-23
AICRP 2021-22
AICRP 2020-21
AICRP 2019-20

The All India Coordinated Research Project on Small Millets (Formerly -All India Coordinated Small Millets Improvement Project – AICSMIP) dealing its research in 14 centres along with many voluntary centres covering the major small millet growing areas including the tribal and hill regions in the country. Out of these 14 centres 12 were based in the SAUs. They are Coimbatore of TNAU in Tamil Nadu, Nandyal and Vizianagaram of ANGRAU in Andhra Pradesh, Dindori and Rewa of JNKVV Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh, Ranchi of BAU in Jharkhand, Berhampur of OUAT in Odisha, Ranichauri of UUH&F in Uttarakhand, Dholi of RAU in Bihar, Mandya of UAS, Bangalore in Karnataka, Jagdalpur of IGKV in Chhattisgarh and at Kolhapur under MPKV in Maharashtra. The centre at CFTRI, Mysore in Karnataka is exclusively working on grain processing, quality and value addition. The Project Coordinating Unit, Bangalore is recognized as National Active Germplasm Site (NAGS) and looking after Evaluation, Characterization, Documentation and Supply aspects of small millets at the National Level.

Objectives

• To coordinate and monitor research in different centres and to organize research relevant to regional needs.
• To evolve improved varieties and refine production and protection technologies and at the same time minimizing the cost of production.
• To exploit the available genetic potential and thereby enhance the productivity
• To conserve, evaluate and document the genetic resources and to promote their utilization in the research programme in different states.
• To strengthen research in value addition and grain processing for expanding utility by finding alternative uses.

AICRP-Small millet centres

• Berhampur (Odisha)
• Dindori (MP)
• Dholi (Bihar)
• Jagdalpur (Chattisgarh)
• Kolhapur (Maharashtra)
• Mandya (Karnataka)
• Nandyal (AP)
• Ranchi (Jharkhand)
• Ranichauri (Uttarakhand)
• Rewa (MP)
• Vizianagaram (AP)
• Athiyandal (TN)
• Mysore (Karnataka)
• Waghai (Gujarat)

Major research achievements:

• AICRP on Small Millets maintains one of the largest collections of germplasm (15,861 accessions) up to 2012, including 8001 accessions of finger millet, 2766 of foxtail millet, 1538 in kodo millet, 939 in proso millet, 1629 in little millet and 988 in barnyard millet.
• Till 2012, Twenty two varieties in different small millets- eight in finger millet, five each in kodo and proso millets, three in little millet and one in barnyard millet were evolved and released for cultivation in different regions of the country.
• The package of practices for cultivation of different small millets has been developed for different regions of the country.
• Remunerative cropping systems involving different pulse crops in millet for different regions have been evolved.
• Management practices for aberrant weather conditions for mitigating early, mid and late season drought have been worked out
• Chemical measures to control diseases viz. blast in finger millet, head smut in kodo millet, rust and green ear in foxtail millet and grain smut in little and barnyard millets have been evolved
• Technology to mitigate the menace of shoot fly in little, barnyard, kodo and proso millets has been developed
• Technologies of value addition to small millets include: malted flour from finger millet, infant food, decorticated ragi, flakes from small millets, expanded ragi, ragi seed coat based foods, extruded foxtail millet, ready to eat snack(muesli) from flaked millets, health beverage from malted finger millet and entrel foods