Where Ragi Is Grown
Karnataka dominates, with Tumakuru, Hassan, Mandya, Chitradurga, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Chikkaballapur and Kolar the main districts. Tamil Nadu grows ragi in Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Salem; Uttarakhand grows mandua on terraced hill fields; and Maharashtra grows nachni in Kolhapur, Ratnagiri and Nashik's tribal belts. Andhra Pradesh, Odisha (Koraput) and Jharkhand also grow it.
How Ragi Is Grown
Ragi is either broadcast or transplanted from nurseries, mostly as a rain-fed kharif crop on red soils. It is extremely hardy and the grain stores for years without insect damage, which is why farming families traditionally kept ragi as famine insurance. Popular varieties such as GPU 28, GPU 48 and ML 365 come from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru. The tiny grain is cleaned, milled into flour, or sprouted and dried to make ragi malt.
Season Calendar
Kharif ragi
Sown July–August, harvested November–December.Summer (irrigated) ragi
Sown December–January, harvested April.Arrivals
December to March in the Karnataka and Tamil Nadu markets.Ragi Mandis
- Tumakuru APMC, KarnatakaMajor ragi marketAboutExplore
- Hassan and Arsikere, KarnatakaRagi trading marketsAboutExplore
- Bengaluru (Yeshwanthpur) APMCWholesale ragi for the cityAboutExplore
- Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri, Tamil NaduTamil Nadu ragiAboutExplore
Government Procurement
Karnataka buys ragi from farmers at MSP and distributes it through ration shops in the south of the state, making it one of the few millets with large-scale public procurement.
Uses, Quality and Price Drivers
In Karnataka ragi is eaten every day as ragi mudde (balls), rotti and ambli (porridge). Sprouted and dried ragi makes ragi malt, widely used as a weaning food for babies and a drink for the elderly. Ragi flour now goes into dosa and idli mixes, biscuits, noodles, pasta and health mixes sold nationwide.
Traders judge ragi by colour (deep brick-red is preferred), cleanliness, freedom from stones and soil, and moisture. Because the grain is tiny, careful cleaning and de-stoning is the main quality step before milling. Ragi stores for years, so prices move slowly; they rise after a poor monsoon in South Karnataka and when the state government's procurement price is well above market rates.
Exports
Ragi flour, ragi malt and ragi snacks are exported to the Gulf, the USA, the UK and Singapore, largely for the Indian diaspora, and finger millet is gaining attention abroad as a gluten-free, calcium-rich grain.
Brands, Processors and Online Sellers
- Soulfull (Kottaram Agro Foods Pvt Ltd)Bengaluru · ragi bites and millet foods; owned by Tata Consumer ProductsAboutExplore
- Slurrp Farm (Wholsum Foods Pvt Ltd)Ragi foods for childrenAboutExplore
- 24 Mantra Organic (Sresta Natural Bioproducts Pvt Ltd)Organic ragi flourAboutExplore
- Pro Nature Organic Foods Pvt LtdOrganic ragiAboutExplore
- Manna Foods Pvt LtdChennai · ragi and health mixesAboutExplore
Research and Technology
- University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru (UAS-B)GPU and ML ragi varietiesAboutExplore
- ICAR – Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR)Hyderabad · millet processing and incubationAboutExplore
Ragi by State
Tap a state for its districts, markets, government buying and buyers.
Processed Products
Related: Wheat · Basmati Rice · Non-Basmati Rice · Maize · Bajra · Jowar · Ragi · Barley · Soils.in for farmer help · FoodProcessingIndustries.in · Bajra · Jowar
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