Entrepreneurship in the Rice Milling: A Case Study

Abstract

Rice milling is as old as cultivation of paddy and hence it is regarded as one of the oldest food processing industries in India. What has started as hand pounding industry has passed through a few distinct stages like Huller mill, huller cum sheller mill, rubber roll sheller mill and modern mill. Rice milling industry is heavily raw material based. It is also a labour intensive industry. This industry supplies mass consumption commodity for which demand from the low and middle income groups has always been very high. It consists of a large number of mills having obsolete technology. The rice milling industry in the study area is characterised by the existence of three types of mills names a) colly mills b) agent mills c) commercial mills. The study concentrates on the commercial mills for, it is with reference to these mills that the role of entrepreneurs becomes relevant.