Upcoming Events

Course Dates: 19 January 2026 – 30 January 2026

About the course:

It is increasingly being recognized that millets are traditional crops that may become foods of the future.  They are friendly to environments and considered to do well in drought-like conditions, according to Food and Agriculture Organization. Millet farming directly results in preserving and conserving biodiversity. This is one reason why women farmers, with their ecological acumen and their close association with climate protection, are best suited to be ambassadors of millet cultivation. With the creation of incentives toward promoting the woman farmer, these goals of millet cultivation and sustainable development, especially those related to agriculture and sustainable production and consumption, can be achieved. Therefore, boosting millet cultivation will empower the average farmer and achieve the objectives of enhancing incomes and improving crop diversification.  They also contribute towards diversifying the rural markets as well as the consumption/food baskets.  A sustainable way to increase millet consumption is to invest in small scale processing of these crops; empower women farmers and self-help groups (SHG), by equipping them with advanced packaging techniques, agro-marketing, financial literacy and other entrepreneurial skills. Grassroots workers like the anganwadi and ASHA workers can be further involved as nutrition ambassadors and entrepreneurs in the millet revolution. Dedicated programmes with proper training and capacity-building initiatives that urge farmers toward diversification via millets can be a timely method empower women and youth, increase consumption as well as double the incomes of the households

Course Topics:

• Millet Food processing industry: A snapshot of global & African scenario
• Principles of business management, Marketing management 
• Rural entrepreneurship & business opportunities for Women & youth
• Food processing technologies & entrepreneurship development
• Business Communication & IT platforms for SMEs
• Prevailing food formulations in Millets.
• Trends in Food Products Packaging 
• Making the Pitch
• Rural Entrepreneurship and Food Processing Technologies for Africa
• Technology based Entrepreneurship Development and Business Plan Preparation
• Business Plan Preparation
• Intellectual property Rights, Technology Transfer & Compliance
• Communication skills for better client engagement
• Networking and mentoring for effective client servicing
• Entrepreneurial Journey (interaction with entrepreneurs)
• Visits to processing facilities and Technology Business Incubators in Hyderabad.

Course Impact: 

• o    Food technologists, agriculture experts, women entrepreneurs and community science are aware of food processing and entrepreneurship opportunities for women and youth
• Women and youth understand the steps for becoming successful entrepreneurs
• Networking fostered with key departments and specialists
• Improved nutrition, empowered women and youth as change agents for sustainable development

Target Participants: Government officials, Field level functionaries in different departments - agriculture, women and child welfare, rural health ministries, agri-business, among others.  Functionaries can be from countries in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Food science / food technology / business management / agriculture experts.

Educational qualifications: University degree in science, engineering, law, management, business management, economics, social studies, etc.

Work experience required: 2 to 3 Years of experience.

Deadline to apply for the course: 12 Jan. 2026 

Guidelines to Apply for the Course:

• Create a login to apply for the course and furnish all the requisite information. Submit the application online and download the submitted application form
• Take a printout of the submitted application form, get appropriate signatures at all the signature placeholders throughout the application form including the English proficiency certificate, medical report, candidate undertaking form and the Employer nomination form.
• Scan the complete application document and submit the physical copies of the application form including the undertaking form and the employer nomination form to the Indian High commission in your country and e-mail the scanned copy of the executed application form to Dryland[dot]Academy[at]icrisat[dot]org with copy to vishwambhar[dot]duche[at]icrisat[dot]org

Please note that we have very limited seats for the course and the eligible applications will be shortlisted by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India on First Come First Serve basis. Therefore, if you are interested, we recommend that you submit your application immediately without any delay.

In case you face any technical difficulties in applying for the course, such as portal issues, login issues or any website related errors, please screenshot the errors and email to help[at]itecgoi[dot]in & cc: Dryland[dot]Academy[at]icrisat[dot]org, vishwambhar[dot]duche[at]icrisat[dot]org