In Tiruvallur district, millet including finger millet, pearl millet, sorghum and maize is cultivated in 947 hectares with the production of 2683 tonnes. The present study was conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tiruvallur to assess the impact of vocational training programes on value addition in millets on commercial scale and for self-employment. The data revealed that just after completion of training, a maximum of beneficiaries had gained a medium level of knowledge of about 60.46% and percentages of low level and high level of knowledge were 3.87% and 35.65% respectively. Adoption analysis after training indicated that 29.03% have started small scale production of value added products in millets and spice mixes. One notable challenge was the limited availability of resources and infrastructure for scaling up commercial millet production. Additionally, the socio-economic constraints of the farmers, such as access to finance and market linkages. Thus, it can be inferred that exposure to training had increased the knowledge of participants regarding value addition in millets and the technical support through KVK is being facilitated to the farmers and rural youth of Tiruvallur district.

Millet, Value Additional, Entrepreneurship Development Program, Women Empowerment, Rural Youth and KVK Training

There is a tremendous potential for value addition and marketing of value added products of millets and an increasing demand for quality value added products at a competitive rates both in the domestic and export markets. Hence commercial production of value added products in millets is being emphasized to the farmers through training conducted by Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Tiruvallur which shown better influence on the farmers and rural youth to practice commercial production and marketing of value added products as agriculture allied activity to increase their income which in turn improves their standard of life.

V.A. Vijayashanthi, S. Arul Prasad, M. Senthilkumar, P. Yogameenakshi, K. Sivagamy, C. Tamilselvi, T.L. Preethi and S. Banumathy (2023). Economic Upliftment through Millet Value Additional Training for farmers and Rural Youth of Tiruvallur district Tamil Nadu. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(11): 270-274.