Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI), which has made the socio-economic development of the North Eastern region one of its primary technology objectives, has developed post-harvest technologies for cutting down huge losses in agricultural produce.
CSIR-CMERI Durgapur director prof. Harish Hirani, who gave an expert talk on post-harvest technologies and its potential to change the agro-economy of Nagaland and the North Eastern States in a virtual event organised by MSME-DI, Dimapur on August 5, 2021, said that the North-Eastern states had tremendous geographical advantages in terms of farming and agriculture.
He said that there was abundance of harvest for cash crops in the north-eastern states. Prof Hirani also said that the states have hidden exotic crop potential such as Tung, adding that Tung oil was currently being imported from China for therapeutic purposes.
CSIR-CMERI director said that due to non-availability of suitable harvesting technology, export potential crops such as Tung (which is toxic in nature) was not properly augmented.
He also said that despite India being the largest producer of ginger, there was wastage of almost 45% owing to the lack of the processing technology.
Prof Hirani said that skilling initiatives in the region to equip the farmers with the latest advancements in farm mechanization technologies was very poor.
In the recent years, he said CSIR-CMERI has made the socio-economic development of the North Eastern region one of its primary technology objectives.
In this regard, he said a three-pronged attitude has been adopted—increasing the shelf-life of the harvest, skill development of the farming community and reduction in manual handling of toxic crops.
Prof. Hirani said CSIR-CMERI was also encouraging the transfer of technology to MSME clusters, which could license the technology through a distributed-capital model.
Also, participating in the virtual programme, MSME-DI, Dimapur joint director, Tali Longchar, appreciated the sustainable socio-economic impact analysis and the innovative mindset of Prof. Hirani.
He said that post-harvest intervention initiatives of CSIR-CMERI had the potential to hugely improve the agro-economic scenario of the region by improving the income of the farmers.
The programme was attended by representatives of numerous NGOs, National Tool Room and Training Centre, Dimapur and entrepreneurs of the region.
CSIR-CMERI has developed the Ginger Processing Technology, which comprises of the Rotary Drum Washer with a capacity of 500 kg/hr and automated capability, slicing unit and the cabinet dryer with a capacity of 50 kg/batch and a batch-time of 4-5 hours with 85-90% moisture reduction capability. Another semi-automated ginger processing technology facilitates the automation of the process from washing unit to the slicer unit.
The CSIR-CMERI developed bio-mass fuelled fish dryer and the hybridized fish dryer (i.e. Solar Powered/Bio-Mass Fuelled) has opened up avenues for the Fish Farmers of the region in terms of improving the shelf-life of the produce. CSIR-CMERI has also developed Technologies for creating briquettes from Bio-Mass, either with or without binders.
CSIR-CMERI has also developed three variants of Cold Storage Systems.