Compendium_SS_ED.pdf

भारत सरकार
क
ृ िष अनुसंधान और िश ा िवभाग एवं
भारतीय क
ृ िष अनुसंधान प रषद
क
ृ िष एवं िकसान क ाण मं ालय, क
ृ िष भवन, नई िद ी 110 001
ि लोचन महापा , पीएच.डी GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
एफ एन ए, एफ एन ए एस सी, एफ एन ए ए एस DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION
सिचव एवं महािनदेशक AND
TRILOCHAN MOHAPATRA, Ph.D. INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH
FNA, FNASc, FNAAS MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
SECRETARY & DIRECTOR GENERAL KRISHI BHAVAN, NEW DELHI 110 001
Tel: 23382629; 23386711 Fax: 91-11-23384773
E-mail: dg.icar@nic.in
MESSAGE
I am happy to know that ICAR-Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and
Technology (ICAR-CIPHET) is organizing 21-day Summer School on Competency Skill
Development in Post-Harvest Processing and Value Addition for start-ups/ Agri-Enterprise
during 5-25 September, 2017.
Developing skills and competencies among the youth population is posing a serious
concern for educators and curriculum developers in India. Ironically, the country which has an
advantage of being a young nation, has a vast majority of students drop out at various stages of
school education and at the same time are usually benefit of employable skills and
competencies.
There are some initiatives taken by government in this regard such as the Pradhan
Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yoiana (PMKVY) which is the flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill
Development & Entrepreneurship (MSDE) with the to enable a large number of Indian youth to
take up industry-relevant skill training that will help them in securing a better livelihood.
Individuals with prior learning experience or skills will also be assessed and certified under
Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL). Other scheme such as Mega Food Park aims at providing
a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers,
processors and retailers so as to ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastage,
increasing farmers' income and creating employment opportunities particularly in rural
sector. The Mega Food Park Scheme is based on "Cluster" approach and envisages a well-
defined agree/ horticultural-processing zone containing state-of-the art processing facilities
with support infrastructure and well-established supply chain.
It is important to identify the operations and channels where value addition can be
done and enable improvements in technologies to save valuable produce and get better returns
for the farmers and other stake holders.
I am sure this summer school will provide a platform for the participants to share,
discuss and acquire knowledge of establishing agro based enterprises, ways to increase
employment opportunities and to double farmer's income.
I wish the summer school a great success.
(T.MOHAPATRA)
Dated the 5th
September, 2017
New Delhi

Hkkd``vuqi&dsUnzh; dVkbZ&mijkUr vfÒ;kaf=dh ,oa izkS|ksfxdh laLFkku
(vkbZ-lh-,-vkj-] Hkkjr ljdkj)
Mkd?kj ih-,-;w- yqf/k;kuk 141 004 (iatkc)
ICAR-CENTRAL INSTITUTE OF POST-HARVEST ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY
(I.C.A.R., Government of India), AN ISO 9001-2008 Certified Institution
Behind Radha Swami Satsang Ghar, Humbran Road, Ludhiana – 141008 (Punjab)
Corresponding Address - PO: PAU, Ludhiana–141 004 (Punjab), INDIA
Email:director.ciphet@icar.gov.in
ciphet.director@gmail.com
Web: www.ciphet.in
Tele : 0161-2308669 (O)
0161-2313103 (O)
Fax : 0161-2308670
Gram: CIPHET, Ludhiana
Message
Skill building can be viewed as a device to improve the efficacy and contribution of
farmers to overall production. It is an important ingredient to push the production possibility
front line outward and to take growth rate of the economy to a higher route. Turning towards
modern approach, various technologies such as smart sensing and monitoring, smart control,
analysis and planning along with redefining industrial boundaries, working on real time
basis can also be practiced to pacify the boundaries.
The studies conducted by ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana on value addition and
assessment of post-harvest processing of major crops are the remarkable approach. These
studies have also helped in identifying the innovative techniques to reduce the losses during
food processing operations.
The summer school on “Competency Skill Development in Post-Harvest Processing
and Value Addition for Start ups/Agri enterprise” organized by ICAR-CIPHET is a timely
action to sensitize the human resources to work on post harvest processing and its value
added products.
I am sure that the participants and other researchers will be benefited now and in
future as well. I congratulate the entire organizing team of ICAR-CIPHET for their efforts. I
wish that the Summer School is a great success and able to fulfil its objectives.
R.K.GUPTA
vkj-ds- xqIrk
funs’kd
R. K. Gupta
Director

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
It is a privilege to extend our sincere thanks to Education Division, Indian Council of
Agricultural Research, New Delhi for approving this winter school. We are thankful to
K. Alagusundaram, DDG (Agric. Engg) for inspiration and support and giving us
opportunity for organizing the capacity building programme. Thanks are also extended
to Dr. Kanchan K. Singh, ADG (Engg) for support and motivation to conduct the
programme.
We express our sincere thanks to Dr. R. K. Gupta, Director ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana
for unending support, constant encouragement and valuable guidance to conduct this
school. His moral support with constant monitoring helped us at all stages of this
programme. We are grateful to Dr. R K Singh, Project Coordinator, PET for unlimited
support, constant inspiration, valuable advice and inspiring us to apply for this capacity
building programme. His thoughtful and inventive ideas were crucial for planning and
implementation of this programme. Thanks are also extended to Dr. S. K. Nanda, Head
FG&OP Division for his guidance and critical inputs.
We express our sincere thanks to the scientists of ICAR-CIPHET, Experts from
different organizations (PAU and MSME) and i/C Head, HCP Division, ICAR-
CIPHET, Abohar for providing the lecture notes in time, and other facilities for smooth
conducting of this winter school.
We are indebted to all technical, administrative and supporting staff of ICAR-CIPHET,
Ludhiana for their hard work in purchase of materials, and timely support in compiling
the compendium.
We express our sincere thanks to Dr. S D Kulkarni (Ex PD SPU) CIAE, Bhopal, Dr R
P Katchru (Ex ADG, PE), Dr. SM Illyas (Ex Director, ICAR- CIPHET), and Sh
Ravinderjit Singh, CEO Agrinnovate for delivering guest lecture in this Summer
School.
We express our gratitude to Dr. Ashok Kumar (ADR), Er. MS Alam (SRE) and i/C
Vehicle Section, PAU for extending his services for demonstration of APC, Pilot plant,
PFE division and other facilities at CoAE, PAU Ludhiana.
Finally, we would like to thank everybody who helped us to the successful realization
of this winter school, as well as express my apology for not mentioning their names
personally.
RANJEET SINGH
V E NAMBI
INDORE NAVNATH

ICAR Sponsored Summer School
Competency Skill development in Post-Harvest Processing and Value Addition for
start-ups/ Agri-Enterprise
(05-25 September, 2017)
CONTENTS
1. Entrepreneurship development of women’s for income and
employment generation through agro processing…………………………………….1.
Dr. S D Kulkarni
2. Entrepreneurship challenges and opportunities………………………………………9.
Dr. Gagandeep Banga
3. Agro-processing and value addition
for entrepreneurship development…………………………………………………..16.
Dr. R P Katchru
4. Development of APC in rural India ………………………………………………...30.
Dr. M S Alam
5. Model agro processing centers for KVK: a case study…………………………….42.
Dr. Ashok kumar
6. Tea processing industry: an exclusive opportunity for
sustained profitability and higher income generation………………………………50.
Er. D Saha, Er. Indore Navnath and Dr. Pankaj kumar
7. Role of msme for development of entrepreneurship………………………………..56.
Sh. Neeraj Arora
8. Entrepreneurship development through
groundnut/soy-based products……………………………………………………...61.
Dr. D N Yadav
9. Progress and prospects of apiculture in India………………………………………67.
Dr. P Chhuneja and Dr. Ranjeet Singh
10. Role of co-creation in agricultural marketing………………………………………74.
Dr. L M Kathuria
11. Business strategies for fisheries based enterprise…………………………………..78.
Dr. A Muzaddadi, Er. Indore Navnath & Er. Akhoon Asrar B.
12. Financial analysis of business and intellectual property evaluation ………………92.
Dr. Khushdeep Dharni
13. Regional trade and rural livelihood by establishment
of small food processing enterprise………………………………………………..103.

Dr. Ranjeet Singh and Er. Neha Nagda
14. Utilization of plastics in rural sector
for sustainability and livelihood…………………………………………………..109.
Dr. R K Singh, Er. Indore Navnath & Dr. Saurabh Singh
15. Food quality and safety issues for agro-based enterprise…………………………118.
Ms. Surya and Dr. Manju Bala
16. Dairy based enterprise…………………………………………………………….122.
Dr. Amandeep Sharma
17. Project proposal preparation on agri-business…………………………………….126.
V Chandarsekar
18. Emerging avenues of entrepreneurship for employment
in agro-processing sector…………………………………………………………134.
Dr. Anil Dixit & Dr. Sandeep Man
19. Entrepreneurship development through
animal products processing………………………………………………………..141.
Dr. Manish Kumar Chatli
20. Food testing for agro-based products for marketing………………………………147.
Dr. Manju bala, Ms. Surya Tushir & Dr. S.K. Nanda
21. Extrusion technology based rural enterprise for snack foods
using fruits and vegetable…………………………………………………….…..154.
Dr. Mridula D
22. Entrepreneurial development in quarantine based grain
disinfestations for startups………………………………………………………...166.
Er. Akhoon Asrar B & Er. Indore Navnath S.
23. Extension strategies for agri-business setups……………………………………..173.
Dr. Renu Balakrishnan, Dr. AMurai, Dr. K Bembem,
Er. Y Kalnar & Dr. V Kumar
24. Agriculture residue and processing
by products: prevalent and potential uses………………………………………....182.
Dr. Sunil Kumar, Dr. Ramesh Kumar & Dr. R Srinivasan
25. Improved food processing technologies
and products for start-ups …………………………………………………….…..189.
Dr. Poonam Aggarwal
26. Establishment of oil based enterprise for rural livelihood………………………...194.
Dr. S K Tyagi, Er. Akhoon Asrar B.& Er. Indore Navnath S.
27. ICT model for successful enterprise………………………………………………199.
Dr. V E Nambi & Er. Indore Navnath S.
28. Transportation and cold chain management of perishables………………………211.
Dr. Ranjeet Singh, Er. Indore Navnath S & Er. Yogesh Kalnar

29. Entrepreneurship in food processing……………………………………….….…220.
Dr. Mahesh Kumar
30. Active packaging of horticultural produce………………………………….……226.
Dr. Ranjeet Singh, Er. Indore Navnath S. & Er. Akhoon Asrar B
31. Agri business incubation center for budding entrepreneurs……………………...230.
Dr. Ranjeet Singh, Ms. Alka Sharma & Er. Neha Nagda

ICAR
Summer School
05-25 Sept., 2017
Competency Skill development in Post-Harvest Processing and Value Addition for start-ups/ Agri-Enterprise
ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR WOMEN IN AGRICULTURE THROUGH
AGRO PROCESSING
S.D. Kulkarni
Ex- P. D., Soybean Processing and Utilization Centre
ICAR - Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal
Introduction
Food requirement of India is growing with growing population. Nearly sixty per cent population
of India lives in villages and is dependent on agriculture. Value addition to agro produce through
processing at rural level is of significance in making available the food at a cost affordable by
poor. Affordability being associated with financial position, the priority remains in favour of
providing employment opportunities to needy in rural areas. Women being equally sufferer in
nutrition security they need attention on account of strengthening them by providing economic
avenues. Primary processing of agro produce in rural area can generate gainful employment to
rural women who are otherwise involved in agro processing related activities at farm and in
kitchen. Women based agro processing enterprises thus becomes the need of the hour. On
October 15th of each year the United Nations’ International Day of Rural Women celebrates and
recognizes women’s importance in enhancing agricultural and rural development worldwide. Dr.
MS Swaminathan indicated, “Sustainable food security will be only a dream without the
participation of women”. Value addition amounts to enhancement in about 25 – 50 % in
economic returns. Processing of agro produce forms one such opportunity for women besides
providing employment in shed. If taken up at rural level, it is an effective tool to appreciably
overcome the problem of rural unemployment. Socially, issues like food and nutrition security,
income opportunities, poverty alleviation, and gender issues play an important role. Rural
unemployment and migration to urban areas were not only due to increasing population but also
because of inability to generate gainful employment in rural areas. Decreasing employment
opportunities in rural areas and shifting the balance of trade in favor of the cities is leading to
urbanization. The need is to evolve viable agro-processing system in the vicinity of production
catchments to develop rural trade and accelerate the employment generation. Such units can be
manned by women or owned by women groups for the best work input on account of product
quality and hygiene.
Entrepreneurship
Enterprise is an activity which engages the individual in gainful economic advantage whereas
entrepreneurship is an act of being enterprising. Entrepreneurship is to i) generate self

2 | ICAR Summer School on “Competency Skill development in Post-Harvest Processing and Value Addition for start-ups/ Agri-Enterprise”

employment and income generation opportunities, ii) provide employment to needy and iii)
derive satisfaction of doing something useful / meaningful to the society. Women are not
generally encouraged in enterprise establishment by the family mainly because of Family issues,
fear of diversion of attention, possible problems in continuity and lack of experience.
Considerations for the success of the activity include:- product and activity identification, market
search, technology base, proper equipment support, infrastructure, finance and product out lets.
If any one of these happens to be the weak link, enterprise is bound to fail. We find less number
of rural women in entrepreneurship mainly because they generally do not have: i) easy access to
outside world and worldly matters to a desired extent, ii) proper encouragement for doing extra
activities, iii) enough exposure for taking independent decisions, iv) risk taking ability (generally
believed by men) and v) direct initiative guidance for involving in activity.
Involvement of Women
Rural women are mostly involved in postproduction agriculture activities like processing of
cereals, pulses and oil seeds to the extent of 20 to 80 per cent. This aspect further clarifies the
scope for women entrepreneurs in agro processing on tiny scale for revenue and employment
generation in rural areas and towns with technical and financial empowerment. Women with
little access to resources can find income opportunities in handling, processing and trading
products in cluster of villages or towns. Empowering the rural women / population with agro
processing units for primary processing would ensure availability of good quality processed
material at relatively low cost. In the form of self help groups (SHGs), women may get good
opportunity for supply of primarily processed food raw materials to Mid-Day-Meal programme
activity in rural / urban areas. While Planning for women based agro processing enterprise
generally, technological inputs are ignored and experience of someone who is either in line or in
relation is given consideration and low cost –improper equipment set –up is selected. Result is
then low recovery of end product, more energy inputs, low profitability and thereby slow
progress. Role of Technology / R & D Institutions for women is to serve as a source of guidance
for: profit maximization through legitimate means, sources of good quality process equipment,
raw material storage methods, end product preservation and packaging, product shelf life and
related issues and training and pilot scale production support
Agro Produce Processing
Primary processing of food raw materials like pulses, oilseeds and cereals used to be a cottage
scale rural activity providing employment and primarily processed food raw materials to local
people. Rural processing units have almost disappeared. The trend needs to be reversed for
ensuring economic growth of rural India.Agro processing activities in production catchment, at
least to meet food requirements of local population, 60 % population in villages means total food
requirement of country’s need is in the villages. If multiplied can develop a countrywide network
and provide employment to needy. Another achievable target is minimization of Postharvest
Losses and thereby improvement in food security of population. The by- products generated shall
be useful either for cattle feed or food purposes and the waste can find a place in the field
thereby minimizing pollution load of the town / cities.


Cottage scale processing
At present post-harvest loss account for 10 - 15% while value-addition is only 7%. Value-
addition in the production catchment is of paramount importance to convert losses into earnings
with due scope to by-products. Basic unit operations involved in value addition are raw material
cleaning/ grading, washing, drying, decortication, shelling, mixing / blending, grinding, oil
expression, packaging, material handling, etc. Machinery for most of these/ other operations for
processing many commodities at cottage, small, medium and large scale industry level are
commercially available. Primary processing of cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits and vegetables can
be conveniently taken up for value addition and income generation. Primarily processed products
can be used for local consumption. The suitable packaging systems can be adopted for this
purpose. The direct employment potential is estimated to about 54000 persons annually with an
investment of Rs. 1000 Crore in large food industry where as the same investment in cottage
scale agro processing enterprises can generate 4 - 5 times more employment. This depicts the
large potential for employment through cottage scale units for women and rural youth in villages.
The raw material
Agricultural produce can be categorized in i) Perishable: Shelf life of 1 or 2 days at room
temperature e.g. fruits, vegetables, milk, etc., ii) Semi perishable: Have a longer shelf life and
can be kept for a couple of weeks e.g. potato, onions, garlic, etc. and iii) Durables: Can be stored
for several months e.g. cereals, pulses, oilseeds, spices, etc. India produces variety of food raw
materials and depending on the capacity and expertise of the entrepreneur these can be selected
for activity establishment in rural areas. India – Major Agro produce consists of:-
Food grains 272 mt,
Pulses 20.75 mt
Oil seeds 35.00 mt
Fruits & vegetables 287 mt
Spices 7.0 mt
And these or either of these depending on local availability can be considered.
Product Profile: The following range of products can be considered depending on raw materials
and food habits.
i) Cleaned and graded food raw materials(whole grains) such as Bengal gram, peas,
groundnut kernels, etc.ii) Split pulses (dal) of pigeon-pea (arhar), Bengal
gram, green gram, black gram, lentil, etc.
iii) Flour and grits of wheat, maize and sorghum and Bengal gram flour (besan).
iv) Spice powder such as powder of coriander, turmeric, black-pepper and chillies.
v) Oil expelling and decorticated oil seeds
vi) Fried products like Namkin, fried dals, peas, nuts,etc.
vii) Fried and puffed products:- Puffed rice, sorghum & corn.


viii) Conventional ready to eat products like Sattu, etc.
ix) On-farm primary processing of fruits and vegetables (proven in the
Maharashtra State), Pack-houses for fruits and vegetables to serve as a base unit
for cold chain
x) Soybean processing for soyflour, soy milk, soy nuts, etc.
Other opportunities include:-
i. Nutri Cereals in Public Funded Nutrition Programme. Incorporation of millets and
soybean in public funded nutrition programmes may help establish rural enterprises
to supply processed raw material
ii. Snack foods market: Growing at 20 per cent per annum. Rural sector may provide
good enterprises
iii. Organic Foods – The farmer is the backbone of the organic crop production. If
organically produced raw material is organically processed and supported with
certification then it may fetch good returns. Need is to protect the interests of the
farmer in organized way. The value addition of very high order is expected in
production to consumption chain of organic food raw materials and product .
iv. Value Addition to Minor Forest Produce: Primary processing of minor forest
produce - almost untouched area. Heavy economic exploitation of tribal people -
exchange of material with salt.
v. Agro processing activities for disabled persons – women and men is considered as a
livelihood source for them.
Soybean Processing – Enterprise
People mix raw (unprocessed) soybean with cereals, mill and use it for food purpose. This
approach is not recommended owing to the presence of anti-nutrient factors in soybean. A
simple domestic method suggested consists of 30 min boiling of soy splits in boiling water,
drying and using in proportion of 1: 9 with cereals for preparation of roti, chapati, poori, etc.
How to use soybean for food ?: Soybean can be very easily processed for Full fat Soy flour at
domestic level. Two approaches are suggested as follows giving Sequential steps.
Hot Water Blanching
* Cleaning of soybean to remove impurities, immature and damaged grains
* Drying in sun or oven
* Dehusking / spliting by adjusting clearance in commercial chakki as is done in Bengal gram dal
making
* Taking one kg dal to 3 liters of water as proportion, first boil water and then add soy dal to it
and continue boiling for 30 minutes
* Drain the water after boiling and dry the splits
* Processed soy splits are ready for :
* mixing with cereals in the proportion of 1 kg dal and 9 kg cereal (wheat, Jowar or bajra, etc.)
for milling to get protein enriched cereal flour


OR
* milling in chakki and soyflour obtained can be mixed with cereal flour in the proportion of 1
soyflour : 9 wheat flour to get protein enriched cereal flour.
Soaking and Steaming
* Cleaning of soybean to remove impurities immature and damaged grains
* Cleaned soybean is soaked for 2-3 hours in clean potable water in the proportion of 1 kg
soybean into 3 liters of water and husk is removed by gentle hand-rubbing.
* After soaking, the water is drained and the soaked soybean are steam cooked in pressure cooker
upto 6-7 whistles
* The steamed/cooked soybean be dried in shed by spreading in a tray for about one hour for
removal of surface moisture.
* Sun drying of shed dried soybean for about 8-10 hours.
* Processed soysplits are ready for :
* mixing with cereals in the proportion of 1 kg dal and 9 kg cereal (wheat, Jowar or bajra, etc)
for milling to get protein enriched cereal flour
OR
* milling in chakki and soyflour obtained can be mixed with cereal flour in the proportion of 1
soyflour : 9 wheat flour to get protein enriched cereal flour.
Uses of Full Fat Soyflour:Protein enriched soyflour can be used for preparation of chapati, poori,
paratha, etc. and in bakery products. Alternatively the soyflour can also be mixed with besan in 1:1
proportion and used in preparation of conventional snack foods likesev, chakli, pakoda, ladoo, etc.
The shelf life of soyflour sealed in polythene packet is upto 2 months. However, after opening of the
packet, it should be consumed within 15 days. Soy products suggested for women based soy food
enterprises are full fat soy flour, soy milk and soy paneer, soy nuts, soy sattu, soy chakli, soy laddu,
soy based bakery products – biscuits, bun, cake, etc.
Equipment Selection
Equipment identified should be easy to operate and repair even for semi-skilled operator.
Equipment should give good product quality and recovery with low energy requirement, noise
and dust pollution and drudgery. The equipment set-up should be suitable for women operators.
Variety of processing equipment suitable for cottage / small-scale processing are commercially
available. The selection of processing equipment shall depend on the type of food raw material
produced in the area and also on food habits of the local population (Table 1).
Processing Unit Capacity
The capacity of about 100 - 200 kg per day is enough of which about 50 per cent capacity may
be used on custom hire like done by flour mills (attachakkies). A cottage scale unit for four to
five products can be started at an initial investment of Rs. one lakh to earn, depending on type of
activity, up to 20 - 45 thousand Rupees per month.
Table 1. Indicative list of cottage scale food processing equipment


Equipment Qty Cost.Rs.
/Unit
Equipment Qty. Cost
Rs./Uni
t
Grain Cleaner 1 25000 Hand operated ground nut
decorticator
1 1500
Multi purpose grain mill
(without electric motor)
1 16500 Balance for weighing of
products.
1 2500
Dal mill without electric
motor
1 25000 Hand operated grain
cleaner
1 2500
Dal polisher (Without electric
motor)
1 5000 Electric motors 2 of 0.5
hp, 1 each of 1 hp and 2 hp
2 10000
Grain flour separator(without
electric motor)
1 26000 Total cost Rs. 114000
Cottage Scale Processing – Some Aspects: The activity is bound to give relatively low
recovery of end product compared to large scale unit. However, proper approach can help
minimize the losses.
Disadvantages:
 low recovery due to non-availability of efficient machine
 non availability of skilled workers
 lack of repair facilities in rural areas
 high energy input needs
Advantages:
 Employment generation locally
 checking migration to cities
 local processing
 farm income supplementation
 low transportation costs
 nil or minimum adulteration
 ease of waste disposal
 pollution control
 proper by-products utilization
Operational Problems
In many rural areas, a problem of electricity may have to be faced by the entrepreneurs; however,
reorienting their activities matching to the availability in the respective areas may be of help in
regular execution of the activity.
The Support
The following minimal support is required for women group to establish the agro processing
activity-


i. Identification of proper activity.
ii. Specialised Training for technical knowhow and selection of processing equipment
iii. Financial support – soft loan.
iv. Govt. Regulatory support of FSSAI, BIS, etc.
v. Plant layout, plant management, raw material stocks, by-products separation and use
vi. Waste disposal, plant hygiene, pollution control (dust and noise)
vii. worker and product safety, financial management, etc.
Policy Issues
The following policies are needed to ensure proper activity establishment:
 Encouragement schemes of Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Department
of Agricultural and Co-operation (GOI) with a provision of soft loan for women / farmer
owned cottage to small units in production catchment.
 Identification of dedicated agency like KVIC and or lead bank for financing of agro
based cottage to small scale enterprises in rural areas.
Approach
 Group activity to reduce financial load and enhance market base
 Training of upcoming entrepreneurs
 Selection of proper equipment-setup and prime mover
 Sequencing of operations to match electricity availability schedules
 Custom hire of facility -i) Bulk ii) individual processing
 Initially a shed and space is hired for the activity. However, the construction of a shed is
recommended for housing of equipment only after attaining the confidence in the
activity.
The Market
Some of the ready market options are: - Consumers in rural areas - the first direct clients, rural
cooperative societies and retailers in towns. Institutional markets like hotels and large canteens.
Farmers willing to process their produce on custom hire. State Govt. and established women
organizations and NGOs of repute may be of added significance. Now, the young Indian
Consumer -n favour of packed / junk food- at any cost. However, the mid-age group and above -
keenly inclined for primarily processed pure health promoting food options. Locally processed
food products are to have very good quality mainly because processing of fresh / quality raw
material.
The Need
 Policy development to explore the huge employment generation potential of rural cottage
scale food processing sector
 Involvement of women be given due importance in agro processing.
 Nodal Institutions be identified to extend technical support for agro processing activity.
 Equipment and technologies developed at research organizations like ICAR, CSIR, etc.
be made available for commercial application.
 Schemes of MoFPI and State Governments for women / farmer.


 Identification of dedicated agency like KVIC and or lead bank for soft loan financing of
agro based cottage to small scale enterprises in rural areas.
Conclusions
The following conclusions are drawn-
 Involvement of women in agro produce processing has a vast scope provided all the
aspects related to such activities are given due consideration
 The need is of proper policy development and execution in favour of unemployed
persons / farmers and women of the area.
 The cottage scale agro –forest produce processing in hills can serve as one of the road
map for improvement in income and employment generation and food security.
 Women may have significant role in properly designed agro processing activity
 Disabled women may also be beneficiary in agro processing activities in rural areas.
References
Gite L.P. 2014. Research Highlights of All India Coordinated Research Project on Ergonomics and
Safety in Agriculture. Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering Bhopal. Technical
Bulletin No.CIAE/2014/176.p 44.
Gupta RK and Kulkarni SD 1999 A viable agro processing system for rural threshold.
KhadiGramodyog45(12):626-628.
http://agricoop.nic.in/, (Seen on 9.3.2015)
http://mospi.nic.in/mospi_new/upload/disablity_india_statistical_data_11mar2011/Chapter%204-
Dimension_Disability.pdf(Seen on 5.3.2015)
http://eands.dacnet.nic.in (Publication: Agriculture at Glance, 2013, pp. 24 -89 - Seen on internet).
Kulkarni, S D 2004.Soyfoods for nuritional and health benefits - an opportunity for Indian
population. Soya Update 1(7):9-11.
Kulkarni SD. 2005. Process technologies and equipment for production catchments - approach for
employment generation in rural area through agro processing. Indian Food Industry. 24(3) :
62-64.
Kulkarni, S.D. 2008. Potential of supplementing soy foods with edible minor forest produce for
nutrition and health benefits to consumers INProcessing Technologies for Value Addition of
Minor Forest Produce in Tribal Areas : A Step in Rural Development. Ed. RK Gupta & RT
Patil. Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana 141004,
India. Pp 106 -110.
Kulkarni S.D. 2013. Empowerment of disabled persons for income generation through agro
processingIN Souvenir, National Symposium on Disability Management in Agriculture and
Farming, Organized at New Delhi during Feb. 1 – 4, 2013.pp.34-46.
Kulkarni SD. 2015. Agribusiness options for persons with disabilities in rural India. IN Souvenir
National Workshop (23 & 24.3.2015) on Sustainable development in Agribusiness for
Persons with Disabilities in Rural India organized by Society of Disability and
Rehabilitation Studies New Delhi and RAU Pusa, Samastipur. pp.13-22.


ICAR
Summer School
05-25 Sept., 2017
ENTREPRENEURSHIP: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
Gagandeep Banga
Professor School of Business Studies
Punjab Agricultural University Ludhiana
Entrepreneurship is the process of starting a business or other organization. It is the tendency
of a person to organize the business of his own and to run it profitably, using all the qualities of
leadership, decisions making and managerial caliber etc. The term “entrepreneur” is often used
interchangeably with “entrepreneurship”. But conceptually they are different. In a way,
entrepreneur precedes entrepreneurship. It is concerned with the development and co-ordination
of entrepreneurial functions. The entrepreneur develops a business plan, acquires the human
and other required resources, and is fully responsible for its success or failure. Entrepreneurship
operates within an entrepreneurship ecosystem. Entrepreneurs are leaders willing to take risk and
exercise initiative, taking advantage of market opportunities by planning, organizing, and
employing resources, often by innovating new or improving existing products.
Importance of Entrepreneurship:
Entrepreneurship being an intangible factor is the moving force and development is the
consequence. It has an important role in the context of a developing nation like India which is
confronted with major socio-economic problems. Entrepreneurship can play an important role
not only in the industrial sector of a country but in the farm and service sectors also.
India is being attacked by baffling problems of over population, unemployment, under-
employment, poverty and the like. Entrepreneurship is consistently equated with the
establishment and management of small business enterprises and setting up these units is the
solution to these baffling problems. Concentration of economic power, regional imbalances,
exploitation by monopolists, and many other giant problems find their solutions in the
development of small scale industry which is another name of entrepreneurship in the developing
countries.
Features of Entrepreneurship:
The main features of entrepreneurship are:
(i) Economic Activity: Entrepreneurship is an economic function as it involves creation and
operation of enterprise. All important changes in the economy are set off by an entrepreneur and
these changes slowly work themselves through economic system, in the form of business cycle.
(ii) Innovative Activity: According to Schumpeter, Entrepreneurship is essentially a creative
and an innovative activity. There are five ways of being innovative.
(a) The introduction of a new good ;


(b} The introduction of a new method of production ;
(c) Opening of a new market ;
(d) The conquest of a new source of supply of raw-material ;
(e) The creation of a new organization of an industry.
(iii) A Function of High Achievement: McClelland identified two features of entrepreneurship,
(a) doing things in a different and better way; (b) decision making under uncertainty. People
having high need for achievement are more likely to succeed as entrepreneurs. McClelland
stressed that entrepreneurs are highly motivated by challenging and competitive work situations.
(iv) Creative and Purposeful Activity: Entrepreneurship is virtually a creative, and purposeful
activity. Earning profit may not be the sole objective but introduction of something creative and
new is the purpose of entrepreneurship. The benefit of this creativity must be enjoyed by people.
(v) Entrepreneurship is an Organizing Function : The function of entrepreneurs is to combine
the productive factors i.e., land, labour and capital, and produces a product. By selling the
product in the market, he pays interest on capital, rent on land, wages to labourers and what
remains is his profit.
(vi) Entrepreneurship - A function of Risk-Bearing : Richard Cantillon defined entrepreneur
who buys factors of production with a view to sell it at uncertain prices in future. He introduced
elements of direction and speculation into the function of entrepreneurship.
Entrepreneurship is a dynamic and multi-dimensional concept. It is both an art as well science. In
short, Entrepreneurship is what entrepreneurs do. The central task of the entrepreneur is to take
moderate risk and invest money to earn profits by exploiting an opportunity. For this he must
possess far-sightedness to perceive an opportunity so that he can exploit it well in time.
Qualities of a Successful Entrepreneur
Successful entrepreneurs should possess the following qualities:
1. Perseverance
All start-up businesses face many problems. It requires drive and energy to overcome these
problems. Most people will fail at some time. Successful business people are not deflated by
failure but become even more determined to succeed in the future.
2. Self-confidence
This must be unshakeable even when faced with failure. Self-confident people do not dwell on
failure. They maintain their belief by accepting that there are some factors beyond their control.
3. Initiative
Obstacles may be overcome by a pro-active approach. Entrepreneurs anticipate problems and
solve them in pragmatic way. They enjoy taking responsibility and have self-imposed standards.
4. Internal Locus of Control
This is the belief that results are determined by your own efforts and behavior. Successful people
know that if they work hard and make good decisions they will succeed in the end.
5. Tolerance of Ambiguity


This is the ability to accept that not everything is black or white. It is the ability to resolve
problems where behavior or information is contradictory. A good leader will enjoy the challenge
of understanding both sides of the argument and settling on the best outcome for the business.
6. Low fear of failure
A low fear of failure allows you to take moderate risks and make quick decisions.
Procrastination, caused by excessive fear of failure, will lead to missed opportunities.
7. Use of Resources
It is the ability to get the most out of the resources available. All businesses have resources such
as people, information and equipment. A good manager will juggle these resources, use feedback
and delegate effectively to ensure that profits are maximized.
8. Clear Goal Setting
Successful entrepreneurs are driven to achieve ambitious targets. They tend to perceive money as
a measure of their success and not as their end goal.
9. Commitment to Others
The determination and ability to keep promises. This includes promises made to customers,
suppliers and, most importantly, employees. People want to do business with owners they can
trust. Employees want to work for employers that are honest.
10. Communication ability
The ability to influence, convince and inspire. Successful entrepreneurs can tell a story and make
it believable. They have natural integrity and charisma.
Other softer qualities, such as commitment to others and communication are increasingly
important in today's business world. Employees are motivated, not by money or fear, but by
leaders that they respect and trust. Modern, successful entrepreneurs are straightforward in all
their dealings with customers and suppliers. They are loyal to their employees and demand
integrity in return. They value their employees ability to work in a team just as highly as
individual achievement.
Challenges and Opportunities
Entrepreneurship has gained greater significance at global level under changing economic
scenario. Global economy in general and Indian economy in particular is poised for accelerated
growth driven by entrepreneurship. Admist environment of super mall culture we find plenty of
scope for entrepreneurship in trading and manufacturing.
Economic structure is very dynamic and extremely competitive due to the rapid creation of new
firms and the exit of 'old' stagnant and declining firms Redefining entrepreneurship and
innovation Succeeding as an entrepreneur and an innovator in today’s world is vastly different
from what it was earlier. Organizations will face seven trends in the next decade as they flight to
survive, grow and remain competitive.
 Speed and uncertainty will prevail.
 Technology will continue to disrupt and enable.
 Demographics will dictate much of what happens in business.
 Loyalty will erode.


 Work will be done anywhere, anytime.
 Employment as we know it will disappear.
Challenges
Five major challenges that small business owners will face in the coming years are:
•Strengthening the Overall Economy: Small businesses continue to struggle in the economic
downturn, and it will be important for policy leaders to get the economy moving again. Small
businesses will be a large part of that, as entrepreneurs will spur new innovation and employment
in the coming years. These firms will continue to be the job generators that we have become
accustomed to. Industries will recover from the downturn in different ways, and some industries
have clearly been hit harder this time than in past business cycles.
•Taxes and Regulation: Business conditions have a fundamental impact on entrepreneurial
activity, and small business owners frequently cite tax and regulatory policies as a concern.
Moving forward, it will be important for policymakers to consider the impact of taxes and
regulations on small business owners and would-be entrepreneurs.
•Cost and Availability of Health Insurance: Health insurance premiums have risen substantially
in this decade. It is also well-documented that employees at smaller firms are less likely to be
offered health care coverage. Finding ways to control the cost of providing health insurance to
employees and increasing coverage will remain a priority for our leaders.
•Attracting and Retaining a Quality Workforce: Small businesses must compete for labor with
their larger counterparts. This is more difficult in light of the disparity in total compensation,
especially benefits, and the result is greater employee turnover. Demographic trends in the
coming years might also exacerbate these challenges.
•Global Competition: The government has worked to increase the ability of our firms to compete
overseas by lowering trade barriers. There are also some structural disadvantages that work to
make our products less competitive, and many companies have reduced their costs by
outsourcing some processes and tasks abroad. These strategies are necessary for survival in a
global marketplace.
Opportunities
Five opportunities that small businesses will hopefully pursue in the next decade are:
•Increased Investments in Technology and Innovation: There are strong linkages between
innovation and new firm formation, and policymakers fully understand that risk-taking
entrepreneurs have positive impacts on regional economic development. Small businesses are
leading the way toward new inventions, processes, and products. Such innovations are vital to
our economic growth, and they will provide the tools to make our economy more competitive in
an increasingly globalized marketplace.
•“Economic Gardening” and Grooming Local Entrepreneurs: “Economic gardening,”
means that governments are luring big businesses to their town to promote local small


businesses and spending money in grooming existing firms so that they can ultimately lead to
greater payoffs in terms of job creation.
•Pursuing New Markets Overseas: One of the strengths in our current economic climate is the
export sector, and international trade represents an opportunity for small businesses.
Entrepreneurs have yet to fully tap the potential for growth in the export arena.
•Promoting Business Ownership among Selected Demographic Groups: Women and
minorities have been extremely entrepreneurial over the past few years—a trend that is expected
to continue. Policymakers should find ways to promote greater business ownership among each
of these groups.
•Advanced Education and Training: Education and training are important as there are strong
linkages between entrepreneurship and human capital. Moreover, small business owners devote
significant resources to training their workforce. These firms are able to increase their labor
productivity and reduce their labor turnover. In this way, small business owners should look at
education not just as a means of retraining their workers, but also as methods of building new
skills, developing new human talent, and preserving employee morale.
Women Entrepreneur:
Women entrepreneurs have been making a significant impact in all segments of the economy in
India, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Australia and the United States. The areas chosen by
women are retail trade, restaurants, hotels, education, cultural, cleaning, insurance and
manufacturing. With the spread of education and new approaches/awareness, women
entrepreneurs are achieving higher level of 3E’s, namely: (i) Engineering (ii) Electronics (iii)
Energy.
Opportunities :
 Improved risk taking ability.
 Governments of nations withdrawn some restrictions
 Technology and inventions spread into the world.
 Encouragement to innovations and inventions.
 Consideration increase in government assistance for international trade.
 Establishment of other national and international institutes to support business among
nations of the world.
 Benefits of specialization.
 Social and cultural development
Challenges:
 Problems of raising equity capital
 Difficulty in borrowing fund.
 Problems of availing raw-materials.
 Problems of obsolescence of indigenous technology
 Problems of TRIPS and TRIMS.
Some psycho-social factors that impede the growth of women entrepreneurs are:
 Poor self-image of women


 Inadequate motivation
 Discriminating treatment
 Faulty socialization
 Role conflict
 Cultural values
 Lack of courage and self-confidence
 Inadequate encouragement
 Lack of social acceptance
 Unjust social, economic and cultural system
 Lack of freedom of expression
 Afraid of failures and criticism
 Susceptible to negative attitude
 Low dignity of labour
Rural Entrepreneur
Indian rural economy is also experiencing entrepreneurial behavior. Aim of most farmers is to
earn profits from farming as from any other business. A farm business necessary requires
deliberate decision and proper investment, after assessing risk and available resources to
maximize profit. Therefore entrepreneurship is not simply adoption of new activity but it is
transformation of a person from traditional to modern. India is known as “Home of spices” and is
in fact the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices in the world. Organizations will
face following trends in the next decade as they flight to survive, grow and remain competitive.
 Speed and uncertainty will prevail.
 Technology will continue to disrupt and enable.
 Demographics will dictate much of what happens in business.
 Work will be done anywhere, anytime.
 Employment as we know it will disappear, it will take a new form.
Opportunities for Rural Entrepreneurs.
 Schemes for Rural Development
 National Rural Employment Programme
 Regional Rural Development Centers
 Entrepreneurship Development institute of India
 Bank of Technology
 Rural Innovation Funding
 Social Rural Entrepreneurship.
Challenges For Rural Entrepreneurs
 Growth of Mall Culture
 Poor Assistance
 Power Failure
 Lack of Technical know how
 Capacity Utilization


 Infrastructure Sickness
Present Entrepreneurial Scenario
Mr. Ratan Tata had clearly articulated to us his ‘vision’ for Tata Motors. The company has very
successfully launched its passenger cars- ‘Indica’ and ‘Indigo’ and recently in January’ 2008
they have set a benchmark in the history of four-wheeler industry all around the globe by
offering their masterpiece ‘NANO’ to be the world’s cheapest car worth 1 Lac rupees only. The
company has also taken over the business of Corus, a giant in the steel industry. Philips, Sony,
Honda, Ford provide the signposts of entrepreneurship today for all to emulate. Some of these
have come up only in recent years and from small beginnings. In India, too, one sees glimpses of
such entrepreneurship. ICICI’s experience tells a great deal about entrepreneurship – good as
well as not so good. Indian firms like Tata Steel & Motors, Indian Oil Corporation, Reliance
industries Infosys Technologies, Moser Baer, Bharti Tele-ventures etc. will keep on dominating
the corporate world in the future also.


ICAR
Summer School
05-25 Sept., 2017
AGRO-PROCESSING AND VALUE ADDITION FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
DEVELOPMENT
R P Katchru
Ex ADG Process Engineering, ICAR-New Delhi
Agro processing could be defined as set of techno- economic activities
carried out for conservation and handling of agricultural produce and to make it
usable as food, feed, fibre, fuel or industrial raw material. Hence, the scope
of the agro-processing industry encompasses all operations from the stage of
harvest till the material reaches the end users in the desired form, packaging,
quantity, quality and price. Ancient Indian scriptures contain vivid account of the
post harvest and processing practices for preservation and processing of
agricultural produce for food and medicinal uses. Inadequate attention to the
agro-processing sector in the past put both the producer and the consumer at
a disadvantage and it also hurt the economy of the Country. Agro-
processing is now regarded as the sunrise sector of the Indian economy in view of
its large potential for growth and likely socio economic impact specifically on
employment and income generation. Some estimates suggest that in developed
countries, up to 14 per cent of the total work force is engaged in agro-
processing sector directly or indirectly. However, in India, only about 3 per cent
of the work force finds employment in this sector revealing its underdeveloped
state and vast untapped potential for employment. Properly developed, agro-
processing sector can make India a major player at the global level for marketing
and supply of processed food, feed and a wide range of other plant and animal
products.
TRENDS IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION
At the start of the twentieth century, Indian agriculture was in a stage of
subsistence. By the year 1925-26, the total area under some major crops in
undivided British India was: r ice – 32 mha, wheat – 9.6 mha, sorghum – 8.2 mha
(Royal Commission on Agriculture (1928). The yields were very low. In the
year 1950-51, India produced only 50 million tonnes of food grain and a
variety of other crops.
By the year 2000-2001, India started producing about 700 million tonnes (Mt) of
biological materials per year including food grains, oilseeds, fruits,


vegetables, sugarcane, milk, eggs, meat, fish, tea, coffee, fiber crops, floricultural
produce, forest produce and so on. The country has diverse agro-climatic
conditions and consumer preferences and hence it produces a vast variety of
agricultural and livestock materials. India holds a major share for some of these
products in the global context. However, their market potential is not being
fully realized due to poor post harvest management and inadequate
infrastructure and programme for processing of agro-produce.
EXTENT OF POST HARVEST LOSSES
On account of poor post harvest management, the losses in farm produce in India
have been assessed to be of a very high order. Various studies have estimated post
production losses in food commodities to the tune of Rs. 75,000-1,00,000 crore
per annum. It is also estimated that the extent of losses could be brought down to
less than 50 per cent of the existing level on proper transfer and adoption of agro
processing technology. For reducing the rest of the losses, new initiatives need
to be called for. Hence, it would be in the long term interest of the economy to
invest in developing suitable infrastructure such as proper grain storage structures,
cold stores and processing systems to avoid the losses.
GROWTH OF AGRO PROCESSING SECTOR
Starting with a small number of processing facilities in 1950-51, a fairly well
spread network of processing facilities has developed in the Country. Various
estimates suggest the number of processing units in 2000-2001 as: atta chakkis and
small hammer mills - 2,70,000, rice hullers - 90,000, rice shellers - 11,000, huller-
cum- shellers - 12,000, modern rice mills - 30,000, bullock/ electricity operated oil
ghannis - 2,00,000, oil expellers - 55,000, dhal mills - 12,000, roller flour mills -
700, rice flaking and puffing units - 2,000, bakery units - 54,000, solvent
extraction plants - 700, vanaspati plants- 100, fruits and vegetables processing plants
- 5,000, dairy plants - 450, cold storage units - 3,000, licensed units in organized
sector for meat processing - 165, pork processing units – 144, fish processing units -
18 and so on. Major problems faced by these units have been: (a) low capacity
utilization, (b) poor recovery of the finished product from the raw materials, (c)
problems of arranging adequate working capital and its management, (d) low
product quality and (e) unreliable assured power supply. Strong R&D support will
have to be continued to overcome these and many other problems to ensure that
our agro-processing technology becomes competitive at the global level. As
stated earlier, in spite of the problems, agro-processing technology in India
has continued to make steady progress towards modernization.
CROP AND COMMODITY WISE STATUS OF AGRO-PROCESSING
INDUSTIRES AND PROBLEMS
The commodity-wise growth of agro-processing industries in the country
during the years 1950 to 2000 has been as given below.


Rice Processing Industry
Starting with 20.6 Mt of rice production during 1950- 51, the country has come a
long way to produce about 89.48 Mt of rice in the year 1999-2000. Similarly, in
processing sector, the technology has undergone significant changes. Earlier,
hand pounding, pedal operated system and Engleberg huller units were
common for milling of paddy. By the year 1998-99, there were nearly 30,000
modern rice mills using rubber rolls for paddy dehusking. Of these, more than 5,000
are large rice mills with parboiling facility and nearly 100 have colour sorters for
removal of discoloured rice for export market. Innovations in rice processing
include improved process of parboiling developed at IIT, Kharagpur; CFTRI,
Mysore; PPRC, Thanjavur and other R&D centres. Starting from sun drying, the
technology for drying of paddy now includes use of a variety of driers, specifically
for parboiled paddy. Continuous flow LSU type driers have been most commonly
used units followed by tray driers (batch type). Thermic fluids are used as medium of
heat transfer for heating the air used for drying in a large number of rice mills. Though
efforts have been made to improve the rice hullers, limited success was achieved
in improving their performance with respect to reduction in broken percentage.
Rubber roll technology for dehusking has now been well established. Efforts are
ongoing to find use of tafflon to replace rubber rolls for economy. Several types of
rice bran stabilizer have been designed and tested. Chemical method developed
at CFTRI, Mysore; steam h e a t i n g at IIT, Kharagpur, electrical heating method
developed at Pantnagar could find limited applications in Industry. Stabilization
through extrusion technology has also been tried with limited application of
expanders. Among most common value-added products of rice include puffed and
flaked rice used as snack foods. Rice and wheat form the major part of government
operated procurement system and storage. In the month of March 2001, the total
stocks of rice and wheat in FCI/ CWC and other government owned godowns were
about 35 million tonnes for the public distribution system, for processing
industry and for future use. Significant achievements have been recorded in
packaging technology for milled rice for ready-to-cook applications in domestic
market and export. Quick cooking rice has been developed at DFRL, Mysore and
CFTRI, Mysore. The technology is being used for making available food
supplies to defence personnel in boarder areas under war or war like situations. Rice
is partially cooked and packed under highly sanitary conditions. It is autoclaved
and supplied for safe use upto 6 months of period. Rice bran oil is a common
form of edible oil besides its application in industry specifically as soap stock. For
utilization of rice husk, a number of efforts were made at GBPUA&T, Pantnagar;
PAU, Ludhiana; CFTRI, Mysore; IIT, Kharagpur; TNAU, Coimbatore; PPRC,
Thanjavur and other R&D laboratories. Its application as sources of furfural, high
grade silicon, insulation material, particle board and as source of fuel have been well


demonstrated. However, rice husk is being used only as source of fuel in rice mills,
in making particle boards, in poultry houses as bedding material and in land fills.
Similarly, paddy straw has found limited applications as cushioning material in
packaging of fruits and for preparation of soft boards. It is extensively used as cattle
feed in many parts of the country. The upcoming areas in rice processing R&D
include high capacity dehuskers and more efficient polishers improved technology
for storage of paddy and rice, on- farm/community level drying of paddy,
mechanical handling systems for grain markets and millers, cold storage of rice
and down stream products, products diversification in the form of flakes, puffed rice,
snacks, bakery items, quick cooking and ready-to-eat rice etc. The recovery of
brown rice as obtained from the hullers, shellers, and modern mills could be in the
range of 62-64, 65-67 and 68-70 per cent, respectively. The potential yield of rice is
70-72%. The need is therefore, to promote modern rice mills and develop milling
technology for fine rice. If all paddy is milled in modern rice mills, 3 million tones of
additional rice worth Rs.15,000 million could be obtained.
Wheat Processing Industry
Wheat is a major crop of India. In the year 1950-51, the country produced 6.5 Mt
of wheat, that has increased to 76 Mt by the year 2000-2001. India has emerged as the
second largest producer of this cereal in the world. Wheat contains 12% bran, 3%
embryo and 85% flour. It is mainly processed for flour (atta), maida, suji and dalia.
In last 50 years, harvest and post harvest technology of wheat has advanced
substantially. The most significant development has been the use of self
propelled harvester combines used for harvesting and threshing of wheat. From a
small figure of about 20-30 combines during 1950-51 imported from USSR by the
State Farm Corporation of India, the number has now grown to nearly 6,000
combines. In the year 1998-99, there were about 27 lakh atta chakkis (7.5-10 kW
rating) and 700 roller flour mills in the country. This number has risen from 53,000
atta chakkis and 200 roller flour mills in 1971-72. The figures were much lower 50
years back. The industry could grow on account of R&D inputs starting from the
design and development of a variety of threshing machines. Mud bins, wooden
plank and mud plastered bins, gunny bags and metal bins have been in use by the
farmers for storage of wheat for food and for seed purposes. The traders and
government agencies use gunny bags and go down type structures for storage of
wheat. For transit level storage, CAP structures have been in use. Metal bins have
gained popularity among farmers in the capacity range of 0.2-1.0 tonne of grain
storage. As wheat is usually harvested at low moisture content, drying has not been a
major problem except for untimely rains. A number of commercial organizations
have been offering processing units for handling, cleaning, grading, drying, storage,
treatment and bagging of wheat for seed and food applications. Wheat is now
increasingly being used in the form of bread, biscuits, suji and atta. Wheat flakes and


puffed wheat as breakfast cereals has been gradually picking up. In the area of
wheat milling, Central Food Technology Research Institute, Mysore; Central
Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal and a number of other R&D institutions
have developed mini flour mills for higher efficiency in small scale. Traditionally
used smaller size atta chakkis may face problems of declining clientele. Better
mechanized chakkis (with lower pollution level and better energy efficiency) are
likely to increase in number. The number of roller flour mills is also likely to
increase steadily, however, majority of the mills may continue facing the problems of
low capacity utilization and working capital constraints. These units would need to
function through vertical integration of operations for sustaining profitability
and achieve cost reduction through appropriate automation and
computerization. Increase in demand is also expected in grain handling machinery,
silo systems in grain markets and seed processing machinery. Trends in
consumer preferences suggest increasing demand for baked products. Demand for
bread is likely to grow faster than the demand for biscuits. Presently bread is
consumed mostly in large cities. Its consumption is expected to grow in smaller towns
also. States with higher per capita income would continue to lead in the
consumption of baked products. Among diversified products, full bran wheat
bread has also been gaining popularity.
Processing of Coarse Cereals
Production of coarse cereals has risen from 15.4 to 32.0 Mt between 1950-51 and
2000-2001. The growth has not been as rapid as in case of wheat and rice. It is
because of low profitability of these crops for farmers. Till 1950s, we were dependent
on manual methods of harvesting of these crops, bullock treading, storage in mud bins
and gunny bags and milling by manual chakkis or water mills. By the year 1998-99,
power operated equipment were available for all operations including threshing,
pearling and milling. For storage of coarse cereals, metal bins have been designed at
IGSI, Hapur; CIAE, Bhopal; CFTRI, Mysore; PAU, Ludhiana and several of the other
R&D Centres. For drying of freshly harvested HYV sorghum or maize, hot air driers
using agriculture residue as a source of fuel are now in use. Technology has also been
developed for production of value-added products from coarse cereals such as
extruded snacks developed from ragi at CFTRI, Mysore; ragi based snacks at UAS,
Bangalore and IIT, Kharagpur; corn products at GNDU, Amritsar; ready- to-eat
traditional foods with storage life of 6-9 months at DFRL, Mysore and sorghum-
soybean fortified foods at IIT Kharagpur. The trends indicate that coarse cereals are
now increasingly used as cattle feed, speciality/ occasional foods, and industrial
products such as starches. Efforts are required to develop high yielding varieties
of coarse with desired characteristics for different uses and to explore new food
uses. Safe storage of the flour produced from most of the coarse cereals has been a
problem due to its high degree of perishability.


Processing of Pulses
India produced 8.4 Mt of pulses in the year 1950-51. The production grew to a
level of about 14 Mt by the year 2000-2001. Starting with nearly 500 dhal mills in
the country in 1950-51, there were about 15,000 dhal mills of 100-500 TPD
capacity in the year 2000-2001. Pulses were generally stored in gunny bags or in small
tin containers under straw cover during 1950s. By the year 2000-2001, metal bins
and gunny bags (with profilectic treatment by insecticides) were in use.
Research at CIAE, Bhopal; CFTRI, Mysore; JNKVV, Jabalpur and GBPUA&T,
Pantnagar has revealed that pulse grains need to be stored at 20-22 degree Celsius in
partially airtight containers at 8-10 per cent moisture content for long duration
storage. A number of plant based mild insecticides and insect repellents (such as,
neem seed powder) have been developed for safe storage of seeds.
In the area of milling of pulses, CFTRI developed a dhal mill that has the
advantage of not being dependent on natural sun shine. It involves subjecting the
pulse grain to high temperature (120 degree Celsius) for short time and the dehusking
by carborundum rollers resulting in higher dhal recovery. For small entrepreneurs in
rural areas, dhal mills have been designed at CIAE, Bhopal; PDKV, Akola; IIPR,
Kanpur, TNAU, Coimbatore; GBPUA&T, Pantnagar and CFTRI, Mysore. These
units in specific regions have gained popularity as these are low investment
machines which can be owned and operated with low risk. In a number of dhal
mills, improved machinery including cleaners, graders, magnetic separators,
washers, driers, polishers, colour sorters and packaging systems are being used. With
complete phasing out of hand operated dhal chakkis, commonly used during
1950s, the technology has turned fully mechanized and more-and-more urban based.
There is a need to evolve more efficient machines and processes for pre-treatment of
the grain, dehusking, sorting, polishing and packaging in order to improve dhal
recovery and consume less energy. Also, there is a need for product diversification
and development of technology for quick cooking and ready-to-eat dal.
Oilseeds Processing
Besides, animal based fat specifically obtained from milk and milk products,
edible plant oils have been the major source of oils and fats for most of the population
in the country. In the year 1950-51, the country produced 5.2 Mt of oilseeds.
Production by the year 2000-2001 had increased to 24.5 Mt. In the year 1950-51,
most of the oilseeds were crushed in either bullock operated oil ghanies or a few
mechanical oil expellers. Both of these resulted in high volume of edible oil left in the
cake. By the year 2000-2001, there were nearly 2.5 lakh oil ghanies, 60,000 oil
expellers and 700 solvent extraction plants. Besides, there were 200 oil refining units
in the country and 100 units for production of hydrogenated oil (Vanaspati). Per
capita availability of edible oils is still very low at 8.0 kg per capita per year in the
country. Out of this, 2 kg/capita is imported oil. R&D Institutions in the country


have been working on pre-treatment of oilseeds for higher recovery of oil. Steaming
has been found as one of the most useful methods for pre-treatment. On
mechanical oil expellers, a number of Institutions including CFTRI, Mysore;
CIAE, Bhopal; RAU, Udaipur; OTRI, Anantpur; HBTI, Kanpur and KVIC, Mumbai
have done significant work on mechanical oil expellers. KVIC tried to improve the
design of bullock operated oil ghanies to make them suitable for operating on 1.5
kW electric motor. Hence, the capacity of these units has improved significantly.
These units produce pungent oil that is beingtraditionally liked by the consumers.
The oil produced from ghanies is also being mixed with oil obtained from mechanical
oil expellers to produce pungent oil. In the area of solvent extraction of oil from
traditional and non- traditional oilseeds, a large number of researches have been
done. A number of chemical solvents have been tried. However, for reasons of
economy, food grade hexane has been accepted commercially for solvent
extraction of edible oil. Work done at different R&D Institutions also reveals that
for long duration storage, oilseeds need to be put in metal containers with limited
aeration. Hence, metal bins designed at IGSI, Hapur; CIAE, Bhopal; GBPUA&T,
Pantnagar and other centres have become popular. Due to shortage of edible oil in the
country, efforts have also been directed to obtain edible oil from non-traditional
sources including rice bran and oil palm. On refining, the quality of these oils has
been reported satisfactory for edible purposes. In the area of packaging of edible oils,
significantly rapid growth has been recorded specifically in commercial sector.
Polypacks and plastic containers have gained popularity over traditionally used
metal containers about 30-35 years ago. The future areas of research include
application of bio-technology for enhancing yield of edible oil from different
oilseeds, application of de-oiled cake for food purposes through protein isolation and
health applications of edible oil for treating various physiological disorders.
Production of oilseeds is 24.5 million tonnes. Out of the total production, 7% is used
for seed, 8% for food, and 85% for oil extraction. Export of meal/oilseeds cake has
been worth Rs. 15,000 million. Refinement of meal/ cake for food products
development could be of high importance. Oil expeller with lighter weight, high
energy efficiency and capable of extraction up to 90% oil and above needs to be
developed for decentralized oil milling. Hydraulic press, batch solvent
extraction, extrusion-expelling and physical refining, also need to be considered and
tried. Besides other oilseeds, soybean has gradually become an important crop of India.
Its production is around 5.3 million tonnes. Soybean is a special legume. It has 40%
protein and 20% oil. India has 154 solvent extraction plants and 60 soyfood units.
Average recovery is 17.7% for oil and 82.4% for meal. Soymeal contains about 48%
protein. Its export has been worth Rs.15,000 million/ year. Soy foods are nutritious
and economical and must be promoted. A strategic plan for expanded and
diversified use of soybean for food and feed in India for the next 25 years should be


made and implemented. This crop has a great potential to enhance nutrition and health
of the people and alleviate poverty.
Processing of Fruits and Vegetables
Joint effort of R&D institutions, farmers, government agencies and the trade has
resulted in India emerging as a major producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.
In the year 2000-2001, the country produced about 45 millions tonnes of fruits and
80 millions tonnes of vegetables. It was next to China in production of
vegetables and topped in production of fruits. However, the growth in post harvest
sector has not kept pace with the production. Even during the year 2000-2001, there
were only 6,000 fruits and vegetable units in the country that had grown from a figure of
about 1,000 during 1950-51. Less than one per cent of the total produce was
processed, though the installed capacity of the processing industry has grown
steadily from 0.27 Mt in 1980 to about 3 Mt in 2000-2001. Significant developments
in technology include better understanding of the process of ripening of fruits,
optimum harvesting time, pre-cooling of freshly harvested produce, cold storing
of the raw fruits and vegetables, sorting, cleaning, waxing, packaging
technology for fruits. At CFTRI, DFRL, IIHR, Bangalore; IARI, New Delhi;
GBPUA&T, Pantnagar; IIVR, Varanasi and HPKV, Palampur; a number of
technologies have been developed. Most significant work has been recorded in the
technology for ripening of the fruits under controlled conditions. Production of juices
and value-added products including jams, jellies, pickles, canned products etc. has
become a commercial success. The industry using indigenous technology includes
units engaged in juice extraction, concentration of juices, canning and production of
several of the products like jams, jellies, canned fruits, dried vegetables etc.
Technology is still being imported for establishment of large scale exported oriented
units for production of items like banana paste, concentrates of various fruit juices,
sorting, cleaning, washing, waxing and packaging of raw fruits and vegetables. By the
year 1998-99, share of different products in the total processed fruits and vegetables
was; pulp and juice 27%, jams and jellies 10%, pickles 12%, ready- to-serve
beverages 13%, syrups 8%, squashes 4%, tomato products 4%, by canned
vegetables 4% and other products 18%. The industry has been facing problems of
low capacity utilization, technological obsolescence and marketing. It has to work
under the constraints of high fluctuations in raw material quality and fluctuating
market price, poor technology for handling and storage, inadequate R&D support for
product development, high cost of energy and uncertainty in availability of adequate
quantity for processing purposes, inadequate and expensive cold chain facilities
and varying requirement of processing conditions from one material to another.
Future R&D has to focus on the issues of economically producing value-added
products and productdiversification, besides the issues mentioned above.
Sugarcane Processing Industry


Sugarcane production was 310 Mt in the year 2000-2001. About 80% of the cane
produced is milled, about half for the production of refined white sugar in the
organized sector with the sugar mills located in the production catchments in
public, private and cooperative sectors and about 42% for the production of
Jaggery and Khandsari. Based on sugar recovery, minimum price scheme has
been introduced. Mills have loose tie-up with the growers, some of them provide
critical input support to the growers. Apparently, it is working well. But there have
been cases where farmers burnt their crops in the absence of remunerative prices. For
Jaggery, canes are crushed, clarified and concentrated. Gur as sweetener has
better nutritional profile than white sugar. It is possible to refine the process and
the product for greater competitiveness and realize export potential specially where
people of Indian origin are located. Energy efficient furnaces,concentration pans,
clarificants, moulds and storage are needed for Gur. Khandsari units used open pan in
place of vacuum pans for concentration and the sugar obtained is of lower quality
compared to white sugar from mills. Sugar recovery in Khandsari is much lower.
These units depend on grid supply or diesel generators for
mechanical/electrical power or both when grid power or both when grid power
supply is erratic and diesel gensets are kept as standby power sources. This
increases the cost of production of Khandsari. Bagasse, tops, dry leaves and molasses
are by-products. Modern sugar mills with co-generation meet their entire energy
needs, both thermal and electro mechanical from these bagasse fired boilers – steam
turbine units. They feed extra power to grid or save 15-20% bagasse for the use as
feedstock or paper making. Jaggery promotional and regulatory measures have been
taken by the Government to improve quality and production. Large number of sugar
mills is using outdated processes and equipment, some of them not only use entire
bagasse but also use wood.
Cotton P r o c e s s i n g Technology
Cotton is a natural textile fiber. Traditional cotton textile industry could not face
onslaught of modern high speed spinning, weaving and surface finish technologies.
Small scale textile industry supported by Swadeshi and Khadhi and Village Industries
Commission face serious labor problems also. Cotton seeds are valued as feed and
oilseed and the stalks are used as fuel. However, stalks yield excellent paper and
pulp, particle boards and microcrystalline cellulose (MCC). Cotton hulls also yield
good particle board and furfural. Cotton willow dust can be used for production of
bio-gas. Cotton wastes can be used for mushroom production. There is scope for
income and employment generation if cotton stalks are utilized for pulp and paper
making.
Processing of Jute
Jute has the distinction of having ushered India into industrialization era. Both
jute production and manufacture of jute-based products are highly labour


intensive, concentrated mostly in Eastern India. Mini jute carding and spinning mills
have now been developed which allow decentralized production of utility items from
jute but these are not popular yet. For each tonne of jute, 2-3 tonnes of jute sticks are
produced. Chemically these resemble hardwood. Sticks are traditionally used as
fuel wood and low cost structural material. Jute sticks yield excellent particle boards
and the technologies are now fully commercial. Jute sticks are a good feedstock for
paper pulp. The sticks can also be used as fuel for steam and power generation.
Processing of Animal Produce
Meat and poultry production in India has been about 4.6 Mt per year with goats
and sheep contributing 54%, buffalo and cattle 26%, poultry 13% and pig 7%. It is
mostly used fresh. Efforts are on to developinfrastructure for export of both fresh
and processed meat and poultry. Production is essentially decentralized and rural based.
Poultry has done well remaining in rural sector and developing network of marketing
in distant remunerative markets. Hygiene in slaughter houses and use of blood, viscera
and other wastes is not satisfactory. The meat from culled birds, goats and buffaloes is
tough textured, better suited for processed meat products. However, there is no
tradition of using processed meat products in India, yet.
Fish & Fish Products Processing
India, with its 7,500 km long coastline and an exclusive economic zone of
2.02 million square km; 191,024 km of rivers & canals and 4.4 million hectares of
reservoirs and fresh water lakes has an enormous potential for fisheries. In 1999,
the country had an estimated 1,81,284 traditional fishing crafts; 44,578 motorized
traditional crafts, 53,684 mechanized fishing boats and about 200 deep-sea vessels in
operation. Fish processing in India is done almost entirely for export. Open sun
dried fish and fish meal are the only major exceptions. At present India has –
freezing units,- cold stores, - ice plants, - canning units and – fish meal plants.
Capacity of most of these processing and storage units in small when compared to the
facilities in fish processing industry in technologically advanced countries. The total
fish processing and storage facility in India grossly is inadequate compared to the
potential for fish production and processing. Inland fisheries need low cost palletized
feeds and special containers to transport fingerlings and fish. More rearing ponds
are needed. Techniques to reduce seepage loss of water have to be introduced.
Obsolete fishing gear needs replacement with better gear. Extensive network of
refrigerated handling, transport, storage and retailing has to be put in place. Also, we
have to make better use of fish waste and by-products.
Processing of Commercial Crops
The commercial crops include spices, condiments and crops such as gorgon nut
(makhana), water chestnut, bettle leaves, tobacco etc. Post harvest operations of
these crops are highly energy intensive and there is a scope for reducing energy
consumption and improvement of quality through proper cleaning, grading,


drying/dehydration, milling, grinding and other operations. India has been a leading
producer, consumer and exporter of spices like black pepper, cardamom, chilies,
spice oils and oleoresins. It produces about 3.0 Mt of spices valued at over Rs.
60,000 million. About 7% of the total production is exported. Contribution of R&D
to PHT of spices includes equipment and processes for cleaning, grading and packaging
of whole spices and production of value-added products such as oleoresins and spice
oils. Institutions like CFTRI, DFRL, Indian Institute of Spices Research and some
of the SAUs including TNAU, Coimbatore have contributed significantly to this
development. Projected world trade in spices in 2001 AD was estimated to about 6.25
lakh tonnes, valued at US$ 3 billion and projected export from India at that time was
about 10% of the world trade. To achieve and maintain India’s share in the trade, the
quality of spices and their products will have to be improved. New products like
dehydrated pepper, freeze dried green pepper, ginger candy, ginger beer/in-brine/
squash, ginger flakes have to be developed. Development of internationally
accepted quality products, packed under hygienic conditions need attention in
this context. Similarly, in the area of PHT of other crops, contribution of R&D
basically has been on raw materials refinement, product qualityenhancement and
diversification.
Processing of Plantation Crops
Plantation crops contribute substantially to the national economy with export
earning of Rs. 12.4 billion. Coconut alone contributed Rs. 1.72 billion by way of
exports during 1996-97. However, the coconut based industry in India has been in
the infancy stage. There is considerable scope of product diversification, viz.
production of coconut milk and milk powder, coconut cream, shell powder, shell
charcoal etc. Coconut wood utilization needs more attention. In case of other crops,
financially viable technologies for product diversification need to be developed.
Such products are arecanut fat, tannin, areuline, other chemicals from arecanut,
honey/ chocolate coated or salted kernels from cashewnuts and value added products
from by-products. The post harvest operations in these crops need to be
mechanized. Though the technology has been developed for desiccated coconut,
coconut cream and other products, it needs refinement. At CPCRI, Kasargod, a
coconut dehusker has been developed for manually opening the nuts. Another
motorized unit is under development. Copra drier using LDPE cover and batch type
hot air copra drier using agricultural waste as source of fuel have also been developed
at CPCRI, Kasargod; KAU, Thrissur and TNAU, Coimbatore. In case of the
plantation crops like oil palm, necessary efforts are required for processing and
value addition, especially with regard to quality of products, energy inputs,
packaging etc. to meet the international quality standards and to reduce the cost of
production. Processing of cocoa beans at small scale also needs attention.
Processing of Medicinal and Aromatic Products


The plant based pharmaceuticals, herbal medicines, perfumery, cosmetics,
fragrances and food flavour industries have recorded a phenomenal expansion in last
50 years and as a result, this sector figures in high annual growth rate industries in agri-
business. The market for plant based pharmaceuticals in the year 1994 was
estimated to range between US$ 32-43 billion. The world essential oil production at
raw materials level was estimated to be about Rs. 32 billion of which 55-60% goes
to food flavours, 15-20% as fragrances and the remaining is broadly used as
starting raw material for isolation of aromatic chemicals. In terms of market share in
production value, India is sliding downwards and presently stands at sixth rank
with only 6% share in world trade. The R&D work on PHT of medicinal and
aromatic plants had been confined to the IBRI, Lucknow and a few of the CSIR and
ICAR laboratories. The thrust has been harvesting of the plants, curing/drying, and
extraction of the medicinal and aromatic substances. The export earnings could be
increased by innovations in the field of post harvest technology for increasing
productivity and improving quality. In case of medicinal plants, studies need to be
conducted to develop testing procedures/analytical facilities to meet stringent
international standards.
Apiculture Produce Processing
Bee-keeping i.e., rearing the bees in artificial hives to produce honey and other
products offers an immense potential for providing employment to rural folk in India
where many evergreen and moist deciduous forests, orchards etc. constitute good
bee keeping areas. The unique feature of bee keeping is that the capital
investment required is small and unlike many other industries, it does not need raw
material in usual sense as nature offers the same in the form of nectar and pollen. The
equipment required, viz; bee boxes of standard sizes, honey extractor smoker, hive
tools etc. have been researched and improved in design and these can be
manufactured even in small rural carpentry and black smithy shops. Improved bee
hives have been developed which make honey production much easier than the
traditional long hanging hives. In general, equipment like smoker, comb foundation
sheet machine, honey extractor, queen excluder, honey tank and uncapping
equipment have been developed by R&D organisations namely, KVIC, Mumbai; PAU,
Ludhiana and IARI, New Delhi. There is need for R&D to develop suitable
equipment in this reference and for product diversification. Good work has also
been reported by GNDU, Amritsar in improving quality of honey through proper
processing and measuring that could be used by processing industry.
Processing of Traditional Foods
India has a very strong base of traditional food products, which have been
developed under varied agro- climatic, geographical and socio-cultural situations over
the centuries. Besides, conventional chapaties, these may include expended,
puffed, flaked, extruded,fermented products, sweets, instant mixes, breakfast


foods, bakery products, beverages, health and special foods. The production of
traditional foods during 1996-97 has been estimated nearly 30 times more than that of
all western style high cost processed foods in the Indian market. There is an urgent
need to upgrade the conventional foods technology so that the industrial
manufacturing of products can be promoted and the scope of marketing expanded.
There can be substantial domestic and export demand for traditional foods.
Production of Bikaneri Bhujia for export and frozen Idli for domestic markets are
some of the successful examples. A chapatti making machine developed at CFTRI,
Mysore for defence canteens and hotels is a fine example of modernisation of
traditional food sector. Similarly, long life chapatti and parotha technology
developed at DFRL, Mysore has been a success story for providing food of
liking for many defence personnel working in remote and frontier areas.
Technologies during last 50 years have also been developed for gulabjamun mix,
idli and dosa mixes and a variety of other food items to suit to Indian palate. R&D
has contributed significantly in rapid growth of processing units and trade in
traditional food sector however much more needs to be done.
SWOT ANALYSIS OF AGRO-PROCESSING INDUSTRY
INFRASTRUCTURE IN INDIA
Strengths
1. Round the year availability of raw materials.
2. Social acceptability of agro-processing as important area and support
from the central government.
3. Vast network of manufacturing facilities all over the country.
4. Vast domestic market.
Weaknesses
1. High requirement of working capital
2. Low availability of new reliable and better accuracy instruments and
equipments
3. Inadequate automation w.r.t. informationmanagement.
4. Remuneration less attractive for talent in comparison to contemporary
disciplines.
5. Inadequately developed linkages between R&D labs and industry.
Opportunities
1. Large crop and material base in the country due to agro-ecological variability
offers vast potential for agro processing activities.
2. Integration of developments in contemporary technologies such as
electronics, material science, computer, bio-technology etc. offer vast scope for rapid
improvement and progress.
3. Opening of global markets may lead to export of our developed technologies
and facilitategeneration of additional income and employment opportunities.


Threats
1. Competition from global players
2. Loss of trained manpower to other industries and other professions due to better
working conditions prevailing there may lead to further shortage of manpower.
3. Rapid developments in contemporary andrequirements of the industry
may lead to fast obsolescence.


ICAR
Summer School
05-25 Sept., 2017
DEVELOPMENT OF APC IN RURAL INDIA
M S Alam
Division of Processing and Food Engineering
Punjab Agricultureal Unviersity Punjab
An agro-processing industry or centre refers to the subset of manufacturing that processes
raw materials and intermediate products derived from the agricultural sector. Agro-processing
industry thus means transforming products originating from agriculture, forestry and fisheries. A
very large part of agricultural production undergoes some degree of transformation between
harvesting and final use. The industries that use agricultural, fishery and forest products as raw
materials comprise a very varied group. They range from simple preservation and operations
closely related to harvesting to the production, by modern, capital-intensive methods, of such
articles as textiles, pulp and paper. The potential for agro-industrial development in the
developing countries is largely linked to the relative abundance of agricultural raw materials and
low-cost labour in most of them. The most suitable industries in such conditions make relatively
intensive use of these abundant raw materials and unskilled labour and relatively less intensive
use of presumably scarce capital and skilled labour. The Punjab state has an agrarian economy,
the growth of which has been slowed down in recent years. The reasons are decrease in size of
land holdings, high input based high productivity of major crops, which has led to lower
productivity. Further, there is rise in inputs (labour, fertilizer and agro chemicals) compared with
output prices and increase in farm investment in irrigation and farm machinery. Thus, farming
alone no more seems to be a viable and remunerative venture for small and medium farmers,
unless properly espoused with value addition through efficient primary processing operations
carried out, in the production catchments itself, by the farmers transformed into processors.
Farmers are willing to establish the new APCs after getting knowhow about the installed APCs
by our centre and other inspirational installed APCs in Punjab. The importance of the sector was
realized leading to diversification from grain trading to processing. The Punjab state played a
leading role in the green revolution. Due to the increased agricultural production, there was a
need to establish agro processing complexes (APCs) in Punjab. Since 1980s, the Post Harvest
Engineering and Technology scheme (earlier PHT) in PAU Ludhiana has been the role model in
the country in realization of the concept of establishing agro processing complexes for value
addition in post harvest losses, income and employment generation in rural areas, thereby
causing reduction in urban pull for rural youths and achieving diversification concepts in
agriculture. With the advent of these complexes especially in rural areas, the generation of faith
of the rural people towards appropriate modernization in the area of post harvest technology has


taken place. The concept of APCs was to process the grains at the village level to substantially
enhance the income of the farmers. Moreover, the primary processed products from wheat,
paddy, oilseeds, pulses etc are of daily use in every household. So there lies a great potential for
the primary processing of these durable food grains. These agro processing complexes have been
found to be technically feasible, economically viable and socially acceptable models. These
farmers who have established these complexes have earned to such an extent that they have
given up farming and associated their family members in the processing activity. These
complexes consist of two or more machines for processing at farm/village level. The machines
are mini rice mill, baby oil expeller, small atta chakkies and large atta chakkies with scouring
machine, masala grinder, penja, cleaner and feed mill along with construction and installation
costing approximate Rs. 20-25 lakhs. A desired covered space of approx. 200-300 sq.yard is
required for the installation of all these machines. Small scale level improved machinery for
processing of these crops are available in the main industrial cities of Punjab i.e Ludhiana,
Batala, Rajpura, Khanna etc. The APC’s installed by the farmers/rural youth under the guidance
of PAU directly/indirectly and are being running successfully in different parts of state. The state
has a lot of potential for installing similar units all over Punjab. Presently 25-30% subsidy on
machinery is provided by KVIC.
The following advantages have been experienced through APC’s in rural areas:
 Employment generation in the production catchments
 Migration check of unemployed rural youth to urban areas
 Processing of farm product locally
 Increased farm income
 Reduced transportation costs of raw materials/products
 Adulteration free product
 Ease of disposal of waste
 Minimizes pollution from agro-processing in cities
Agro processing models for different regions have been developed keeping in view the
production of major crops/production trends in the region, potential for accepting the locally
processed material/status of existing agro processing centres in the region.
The following agro industrial models have been developed which may be adopted in
specific areas depending upon the crop produce of the area:
Agro Industrial Model – I Atta Chakki, mini rice mill, penja, grinder
Agro Industrial Model – II Atta Chakki, baby oil expeller, mini rice
mill, grinder
Agro Industrial Model – III Atta Chakki, mini rice mill, baby oil
expeller, penja, grinder
Agro Industrial Model – IV Mini rice mill, baby oil expeller, grinder
Agro Industrial Model – V Atta Chakki, baby oil expeller, penja,
grinder
Agro Industrial Model – VI Atta Chakki, penja, cotton gin and grinder

Compendium_SS_ED.pdf

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Similaire à Compendium_SS_ED.pdf

Similaire à Compendium_SS_ED.pdf (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Compendium_SS_ED.pdf