6 January 2026, Hyderabad
In a move aimed at advancing technology-driven interventions in the millet sector, ICAR–Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Borne Technologies today.
The MoU was formalized in the presence of Dr. C. Tara Satyavathi, Director, ICAR–IIMR, marking an important milestone in leveraging digital and mechanization-based innovations to strengthen post-harvest management, value addition, and market access for millets.
The presence of Ms. Subalakshmi Sankaranarayanan as Chairperson was noteworthy in the context of the International Year of Women in Agriculture, reflecting the partnership’s focus on inclusive and gender-responsive development. The collaboration is expected to indirectly empower women farmers, women-led FPOs, and women entrepreneurs by improving access to digital technologies, market opportunities, and enterprise support. The participation of senior leadership from both organizations underscored their shared commitment to farmer-centric, market-driven, and inclusive agricultural interventions.
The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between ICAR–Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad, and Borne Technologies Private Limited, Coimbatore, aims to strengthen millet value chains with a strong emphasis on post-harvest management, processing, and enterprise development. The collaboration seeks to jointly promote millets through technology-led interventions that support Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) at the farm-gate level. The post-harvest machines developed by Borne Technologies have been scientifically tested and performance-evaluated by the ICAR–Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal. The successful testing and validation have confirmed the machines’ efficiency, safety, and suitability for adoption by farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).
A key focus of the MoU is the joint promotion and deployment of post-harvest machinery to reduce drudgery, minimize losses, and improve product quality and market readiness of millet-based produce. Both organizations will provide technical support and backstopping to FPOs for the adoption of suitable processing technologies, enabling them to move up the value chain through aggregation, processing, and branding.
In addition, the collaboration is expected to strengthen millet-based enterprises, enhance income opportunities for FPOs and rural entrepreneurs, and support sustainable, market-oriented millet value chains across millet-growing regions.
The MoU signing ceremony was attended by senior scientists and key stakeholders from both institutions.
(Source: ICAR–Indian Institute of Millets Research, Hyderabad)
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