Processing technology and machinery suited to small millets are not readily available. Hence much of the millets consumed are processed at household level by following a tedious method involving considerable drudgery. Increasing urbanization and decreasing time for domestic chores in rural households are discouraging traditional processing of millets. In the absence of specialized processing machineries for millets, it is processed in wheat or rice processing systems.

Ragi is not husked and directly milled in the roller flour mill used for wheat milling. Much of the husk is sieved out from the flour. All other small millets require de-husking, de-branning (decortication) and milling since husk and bran are tightly bound with number of layers on the endosperm. Cone polisher, centrifugal rice sheller and rice polisher (50kg/hr to 200kg/hr) are also used to dehusk and polish these millets. The separation of the unhusked grain poses a serious problem during the milling process since there is only little variation in size and specific gravity of husked and unhusked grains.

The parboiling of millet increases the shelling efficiency with less breakage. The grain recovery from these machineries is low varying from 63 - 79%, with 16 - 29% husk and 5 - 9% bran. The polished grain called 'millet rice' is either used directly or further milled in plate or hammer mill to semolina or flour. These processing add value to these millets three to four-fold and make them acceptable to the elite urban consumers as niche food or health food.