I have started making millet flour and ready mixes. Finding buyers is the hard part. Does the millet mission help connect small producers to markets and melas?
2 Answers
Yes, market linkage and promotion are a big part of the millet mission, and as a small producer you should tap it. The programme runs awareness campaigns, recipe and consumption drives, and supports millet stalls and producers at agriculture fairs, melas and exhibitions, which is exactly where you can meet buyers and bulk customers. Working through an FPO, self help group or producer collective usually opens more of these doors, including institutional buyers and government nutrition programmes that source millets. To get connected, ask your district agriculture or horticulture office, your KVK and your state millet or nutrition cell about upcoming millet fairs, buyer meets and exhibition stalls you can join, and register your unit so they include you. Also keep good packaging and clear labelling ready, because buyers at these events judge quickly. Confirm the current calendar of fairs and any stall support with your district office, since these are organised season by season.
Mela mein stall lagane se kaafi naye customer mile mujhe. FPO ke saath gaye the to stall ka kharcha bhi kam pada.