A good specification for chickpeas or millets defines exactly what the product is, then sets clear limits for the defects that matter, and says how each one is tested. It also covers processing, packing and documents.
Write it before you request samples. Suppliers then quote and sample against the same document, and you can compare offers fairly.
Chickpeas and millets need slightly different specs. Chickpeas are judged heavily on size, colour and cooking quality. Millets are small, so foreign seeds, stones and dust are harder to remove and need tighter attention, and milled forms add microbiology and shelf-life limits.
Describe the product
- Product and type: for example kabuli or desi chickpea, or the millet species such as pearl millet, sorghum, finger millet or foxtail millet.
- Form: whole, split, dehulled, flour, flakes or puffs.
- Crop year and origin.
- Size or count: for kabuli chickpeas, the count or size range. See the size counts used for kabuli chickpeas.
- Colour and appearance, with reference to an approved sample.
- Processing: machine-cleaned, sortex-cleaned, polished or unpolished.
Set the quality limits
Any figure here depends on product, grade, use and your market. Supplier standard sheets give a starting point, but set your own limits based on what your process and customers need.
- Moisture: a maximum percentage suited to the product and transit time.
- Foreign matter: stones, mud, straw and dust.
- Other edible seeds and weed seeds.
- Damaged, discoloured and shrivelled seeds.
- Broken and split seeds, for whole-seed products.
- Weevilled seeds and live insects, with live insects not allowed.
- Mycotoxins such as aflatoxin and ochratoxin, at the limits of your market.
- Pesticide residues within your market's MRLs.
- Microbiology, for ready-to-eat forms such as flakes, puffs and flour.
- Gluten limit and segregation, if millets are sold as gluten-free.
Say how it will be checked
For each limit, name the method and who tests it. State how samples are drawn from the lot and how many bags are sampled. Agree which lab's result decides a dispute. Without this, a supplier's lab and yours can both be right and still disagree.
Tolerances are explained in what tolerances to include for moisture, purity and foreign matter, and the full method in how to write a good agri product specification.
Packing and documents
- Bag type, net weight, liner and marking.
- Fumigation method and certificate, if needed.
- Phytosanitary certificate and certificate of origin.
- Lab reports for the actual lot.
- Shelf life and production date.
- Certificate of analysis from the processor, with the lot number matching the bag marking.
How we help
We draft the spec with you, agree it with the processor and test approval and pre-shipment samples at NABL-accredited labs. Ask for a free sourcing review and we will start with your chickpea or millet spec.