India is the world's second largest producer of Rice, Wheat and other cereals. The huge demand for cereals in the global market is creating an excellent environment for the export of Indian Cereal Products. Now, seeing the huge demand in the global market and country's surplus production, Country has lifted the ban, but only limited amount of export of the commodity are allowed. The allowed marginal quantity of exports cereals could not make any significant impact either on domestic prices or the storage conditions.
The important cereals are; wheat, paddy, sorghum, millet (Bajra), barley and maize etc. According to the final estimate for the year 2011-12 by Ministry of Agriculture of India, the production of major cereals like rice, maize and bajra stood at 105 million tonnes, 21.76 million tonnes and 10.28 million tonnes respectively. India is not only the largest producer of cereal as well as largest exporter of cereal products in the world. India's export of cereals stood at Rs. 52567.81 crore during the year 2012-13. Rice (including Basmati and Non Basmati) occupy the major share in India's total cereals export with 64.40% during the same period. Whereas, other cereals including wheat represent 35.60% share in total cereals exported from India during this period. The major importing countries of India's cereals during the period were Iran, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, UAE and Bangladesh.
The term ‘Grain’ normally applies to the genera and species of the grass family (Poaceae) and includes the pseudocereals and other cereal grains. Primary milling of grains is the considered to be the important activity in the grain-processing segment of the industry. Currently India is one of the largest producers of cereals and grains, with the long grained basmati rice leading the rest. Besides in the country we cultivate variety of millets.
Mission, Vision, Objective
Our Vision is a world in which the poor, especially women and children, are healthier and more food-secure as a result of consuming more affordable and widely available grain legumes, enriching their diets with more protein, oil and micronutrients. We also envision more sustainable and remunerative smallholder farming systems as a result of increased grain legume cultivation, particularly through soil nitrogen enrichment, increased land cover reducing land degradation, improved fodder quality improving the health of the family’s livestock, and increased income from market sales of grain and fodder that enhances economic sustainability and resilience.
Our Mission is to increase the production, value and nutritional quality of grain legumes cultivated in the poorest regions of the world, thereby reducing the poverty, hunger, and malnutrition of smallholder farm families while improving the sustainability of their farming systems. In more specific terms, we pursue this mission through the objectives described below. Grain Legumes improves the productivity and stability of these crops in diverse farming systems. Grain Legumes enables partners and farmers to ease productivity constraints, overcome barriers to technology adoption and use, and manage threats to production. New varieties with higher and more reliable yields are reaching more farmers, particularly those cultivating marginal lands. Enlarged harvests are improving household food supplies and incomes.
Activities
Major activities of the centre are:
- Assistance to food industries based on grains (cereals, millets, pulses).
- To give solutions to the problems of grain exporters.
- Skilling through training across the global with the focus to cater Asiatic region.
- Collaboration at national and international level.
- Novel process and products with grain, legumes and coarse grain.
- Design and development of wide range of equipment such as mini-mills, versatile mills, hand operated mills and hullers for grain processing industry.
- Processes development for ready mixes for many popular and traditional foods.
- Basis research on the grain chemistry and quality of cereals and pulses and their products.