Food grade or feed grade: the first decision

Pearl millet from the same fields is sorted into two streams that trade at very different prices.

A bajra quotation without a stated end use cannot be compared with any other. Two offers that look far apart in price may simply be food grade and feed grade. State whether you are buying for human consumption, poultry and livestock feed, or bird seed at the top of the enquiry, and specify colour and damage limits to match.

Green bold grain and the Gujarat summer crop

Buyers in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Oman and Yemen generally pay for bold grain of good green or grey-green colour. Colour indicates careful harvest and drying; spotted or brown grain is sorted toward feed.

Most Indian bajra is a kharif crop, sown with the monsoon from June and harvested from September into November. Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan also grow a summer crop, sown in late winter and harvested in May and June under irrigation. Harvested in dry weather, summer bajra is known for bold grain and good colour, and it gives buyers a second supply window in the first half of the year.

If colour and boldness matter to your market, specify them explicitly — a thousand-grain weight or a retained-sieve requirement for boldness, and a colour reference sample — and ask which crop the lot comes from. Kharif grain harvested in a wet autumn and summer grain harvested in dry heat can look quite different on arrival.

Ergot: the hazard specific to this crop

Pearl millet is susceptible to ergot, a fungal disease in which infected florets produce hard, dark sclerotia instead of grain. The sclerotia contain alkaloids that are toxic to people and to animals. Infection develops when rain and humidity coincide with flowering, so risk varies by season and district.

This is the parameter a standard grain specification most often leaves out, and it matters to every buyer — food importers for consumer safety, and feed and bird seed buyers because ergot alkaloids harm livestock and birds.

Specify an ergot sclerotia limit as a named line, confirm your destination’s rules on ergot sclerotia or alkaloids for the intended use, and ask how the lot was cleaned. Sclerotia differ in density from sound grain, and gravity separation and optical sorting remove them far more reliably than sieving alone. A supplier who can describe the cleaning line is telling you something useful.

Aflatoxin

Pearl millet can also carry aflatoxin where grain is harvested wet or stored damp. Specify aflatoxin against your destination’s limit, with the sampling plan named in the contract — contamination distributes unevenly through a grain lot, as with maize and groundnuts.

Whole grain or flour: why the form matters

Bajra contains more oil than wheat or rice. Once the grain is milled, that fat begins to break down, and flour develops rancid, bitter flavours within weeks. Whole grain, by contrast, stores well.

For most importers the right answer is to buy whole grain and mill close to the point of sale. If you need flour — for retail packs or for a manufacturer without milling capacity — specify the milling date, barrier packaging, a realistic shelf life agreed in writing, and a transit and stock-turn plan that respects it. Flour quoted without a milling date is a shelf-life risk you are taking on without knowing it.

Reference specifications

Market notes

• Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The largest and most consistent buyers, for both food and feed. Green bold food grade commands the premium.
• Libya, Yemen and Tunisia. Established buyers. For Libya and Yemen, confirm port operating conditions, shipping routing and payment arrangements before contracting.
• Namibia. A heavy buyer by shipment count, where pearl millet is a staple grain in the north and imports rise when the local crop is short.
• Japan. Bird seed and health food channels, with pesticide residues assessed under Japan’s positive list system.
• Nepal. Served overland through border crossings as well as by rail, which changes the packing and documentation from sea freight.

Documentation

• Importer Exporter Code from DGFT; APEDA registration; FSSAI licence
• Certificate of analysis: moisture, foreign matter, other grains, damaged and discoloured, weevilled, ergot sclerotia, colour and boldness, with test date
• Aflatoxin report stating the sampling plan; pesticide residue report against destination limits
• Phytosanitary certificate matching destination import conditions
• Fumigation certificate stating method, dosage and exposure
• Weight and quality certificate from an independent surveyor for bulk and large container programmes
• Certificate of origin; preferential origin documents where applicable
• Declaration of intended use (human consumption or feed) where the destination distinguishes them
• Commercial invoice, packing list and bill of lading declaring HS 1008.29 — confirm the eight-digit national sub-heading with your broker

Packing, loading and transit

Origin

Rajasthan is India’s largest millet-producing state, with Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh also significant for bajra. RNG Agro Exports is based in Rajkot, within Gujarat’s bajra belt, which gives direct access to both kharif and summer crop grain.

How to qualify an Indian bajra supplier

1. State the end use — food, feed or bird seed — before discussing price.
2. Ask for an ergot sclerotia result on a recent lot and how the cleaning line removes sclerotia.
3. Ask which crop the lot comes from, kharif or summer, and request a colour reference sample.
4. Agree the aflatoxin sampling plan in writing before the first order.
5. If buying flour, ask for the milling date and agree shelf life in writing.
6. Agree independent surveyor inspection at load port, naming the surveyor.
7. For Libya and Yemen, confirm shipping routing and payment arrangements before the first shipment.

Frequently asked questions

Food grade or feed grade?

The same crop in two commercial streams, priced well apart. Food grade is clean, bold, well-coloured grain; feed grade tolerates more discoloured grain and wider limits. State end use at the start of any enquiry.

Why does ergot matter?

Pearl millet is susceptible to ergot, whose sclerotia contain alkaloids toxic to people and animals. Specify a sclerotia limit, confirm destination rules and ask how the lot was cleaned.

Why does bajra flour go rancid?

Bajra carries more oil than wheat or rice, and milled flour turns rancid within weeks. Buy whole grain and mill near the market where possible; if buying flour, specify the milling date and shelf life.

What is summer bajra?

An irrigated crop grown mainly in Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan, harvested in May and June in dry weather, known for bold grain and good colour.

How much loads into a container?

Around 25 MT in 50 kg bags in a 20-foot container, weight limited.

What is the HS code?

HS 1008.29 for millet other than seed. Confirm the eight-digit national sub-heading with your broker.

• The same crop in two commercial streams, priced well apart. Food grade is clean, bold, well-coloured grain; feed grade tolerates more discoloured grain and wider limits. State end use at the start of any enquiry.
• Pearl millet is susceptible to ergot, whose sclerotia contain alkaloids toxic to people and animals. Specify a sclerotia limit, confirm destination rules and ask how the lot was cleaned.
• Bajra carries more oil than wheat or rice, and milled flour turns rancid within weeks. Buy whole grain and mill near the market where possible; if buying flour, specify the milling date and shelf life.
• An irrigated crop grown mainly in Gujarat and parts of Rajasthan, harvested in May and June in dry weather, known for bold grain and good colour.

A bajra quotation without a stated end use cannot be compared with any other. Two offers that look far apart in price may simply be food grade and feed grade. State whether you are buying for human consumption, poultry and livestock feed, or bird seed at the top of the enquiry, and specify colour and damage limits to match.