Assessment of Improved Small Millet Impact Huller prototype (SMF-V2)by processors & experts

Small Millet Foundation (SMF), an associated organisation of DHAN Foundation, has organized aone-day demonstration cum assessmentprogrammeof SMF-V2 developed by it at their Krishnagiri Office in Tamil Naduon 21/08/2018. SMF-V2 is a compact, energy efficient, portable, gender friendly small millet huller developed by SMF as a follow up of Scaling up Small Millet Post-harvest and Nutritious Food Products Project supported by International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and Global Affairs Canada (GAC) under Canadian International Food Security Research Fund. The participants included Mr. Dinesha Kumar of Earth 360 Eco Ventures Ltd., Kadiri, Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Jayaraman, an experienced processor from Thoppur, Tamil Nadu, Mr. Pete Bakos who originally hails from Australia and has been involved in designing and fabrication of agricultural machines, Mr. P. Janakan, a young processor running Mahilam Foods, Rasipuram and Mr. P. Rajamurugan of Nallasoru who has been involved in promoting consumption of small millets. SMF team comprising Mr.M.Karthikeyan, Chief Executive of SMF, Mr. P.Saravanan, Team Leader and Project Executives Mr. G. Karthikeyan & Mr.T.Paramasivam assisted in the assessment of the machine.

Assessment of the SMF-V2 covered 1) Structural Features, 2) Performance & 3) User friendliness. After taking trial runs with kodo, little and barnyard millets, the following were the observations and comments by the assessment team:

The participants appreciated the hulling efficiency of the equipment, particularly that of barnyard millet. They observed that barnyard millet is the most difficult one to hull and this machine has processed it quite well. Mr.DineshaKumar shared that SMF-V2 will revolutionise the millet processing field as it meets the need for efficient and affordable processing equipment that runs under the prevailing power availability in the rural areas and can aid in improving household and community level consumption; it will help the people to add value to their own produce locally.Mr. Jayaraman said that at his place everyday about 15 people bring 10-20 kg or even less to be processed for their own consumption, which he finds it difficult to process with the existing machines at his place. But SMF-V2 will be ideal for processing such lower quantities and it will help in serving the local people. Mr. Janakan found this machine to be user friendly requiring less monitoring of labour. They also observed that the output had less broken kernals and bran retention was appreciable.

Mr. Pete Bakos felt that it is a good start in the direction of development of efficient huller. He observed that the machine can be made even better by making some minor refinements like incorporating retainer teeth for gears for precision input flow, and increasing the stability of the equipment. The participants shared the need for endurance testing of the equipment.