POST HARVEST PROCESSING AND STORAGE

Pitam Chandra

Central Institute of Agricultural EngineeringBhopal

Oct. 05, 2013

FARMER

Agricultural Produce

Self Consumption & Marketing Storage, Processing & Trade

Processing

Tertiary (Ready to Utilize/consume)

Primary (No change in shape, size, form)

Secondary (Transformed into more convenient form to use)

●Cleaning●Conditioning ● Grading ● Packaging ● Storage

●Paddy Rice●Oilseeds Oil● Wheat Flour● Goat Meat● Fibre Fabric

●Cooked Rice●Bread & Biscuits ●Cooked Meat● Ketch UP● Garments

·Processed Products are Packaged, Transported, Stored and Retailed to the Consumers·At Every Stage of Processing Value is Added

A generic flow diagram indicating the linkages from farmers to consumers

PRESENT SCENARIO• Food production in the country is adequate but it is not

accessible to all.

• Inadequate income earned by about 25% population

• High post harvest losses on farm and in the supply chain linking farmers to markets (estimated annual loss of Rs. 60,000 crore)

• Inadequate livelihood opportunities in the production catchments and rural sector

• High level of women and child malnutrition

• Mismatch between agri-exports and agri-imports

• Huge quantities of under-utilized crop residues and processing by-products leading to loss of income and environmental sustainability

• Low levels of agro-processing and value addition

• Acute shortage of trained scientific and academic manpower to propel these programmes commensurate with the country’s needs.

Advantages of Processing of AgriculturalProduce in the Production Catchment

(About 70% Human population and most of the livestock are in Production Catchment)

Fresh, Nutritive and low cost edible Products for Human Consumption

Crop Residue & Byproducts for low-cost Livestock feed resulting into Higher Productivity of milk, egg, meat & fish

Agricultural and livestock wastes for manure and/ or soil amendment & fuel

BetterHuman HEALTH

BetterAnimal

HEALTH

BetterSoil

HEALTH

Positive Attributes of Processing Agricultural Produce in the Production Catchment

Rationale• To reduce post harvest losses • To enhance income and employment generation in farm and rural sectors• To make high quality raw material available to agro-processing industries• To make food accessible to all• To ensure environmental sustainability

Harvest and Post Harvest Loss Assessment

• Indian Council of Agricultural Research instituted the study on All India basis

• The task was to collect authentic data on post harvest losses of agrarian and allied sector produces on all India bases.

• The All India Coordinated Research Project on Post Harvest Technology carried out the task of assessment of post harvest losses of all major crops and commodities at national level.

• The data were collected from Rabi 2005-06 to Rabi 2006-07

Framework of the study• Fourteen out of 15 agro-climatic regions except

the island region were covered• Encompassed about 20% of the rural districts of

the country, numbering 106• Forty six crops and commodities selected for the

study included cereals, pulses, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, plantation crops, spices, condiments, sugarcane, milk, poultry, meat and fishery

• The data for harvest and post harvest losses were collected for one full cycle of the selected commodities.

• Only the quantitative post harvest losses (reduction in weight of edible produce available for human consumption) was assessed.

The estimated post harvest losses on farm and in the supply chain from farm gate to markets and processors are as follows.

Cereals : 3.9% - 6.0%

Pulses : 4.3% - 6.1%

Oilseeds : 2.2% - 10.1%

Fruits & Vegetables : 5.8% - 18.0%

Livestock produce : 0.6% - 6.9%

There is need to reduce the post harvest losses on farm and in the supply chain

Other Observations• High post harvest losses on farm and in the

supply chain linking farmers to markets (estimated annual loss of Rs. 28000 crore at 2005-06 prices). The losses at present would be about Rs. 60,000 crore

• The study indicated that there had been some reduction in the post harvest losses as compared to the values reported in earlier studies.

• For cereals, pulses and oilseeds, the losses in farm operations constituted about two-thirds of the total losses. Therefore, efficient technologies for these farm operations could lead to the reduction of losses

General Approach• Build upon the existing R&D output and results • Further strengthen the R&D programmes • Take them to the stakeholders in a mission mode • Develop appropriate human resource• Assess the impact

Level of processing of whole agricultural produce is about 45%

Level of processing of perishable produce is about 6%

The extent of value addition to agricultural produce is about 20%

processing of agriculture produce is around 40% in China, 30% in Thailand, 70% in Brazil, 78% in the Philippines and 80% in Malaysia

Level of Agro-processing in India

Country Level of processing

USA 80%

Australia 25%

Poland 31%

Germany 33%

Netherlands 12%

India 1.3%

Level of Secondary Processing in Fruits and

Vegetables

Safety and quality of products processed in organized sector are dependent on the quality of primary produce

Therefore, adequate post harvest management and value addition in production catchments are essential for the safety and quality of final products

Research and HRD on Agro-produce Storage

• Data base on agro-produce characteristics and interaction with biotic and abiotic factors

• Design of various storage systems• Operation and management of storage

systems• Interface of renewable energy systems

and storage systems• Active/smart storage systems• HRD on storage technology

Research to bridge the critical R&D gaps

• Technologies for isolation, purification and characterization of the enzymes

• Production of pro-biotics from cheaper substrates • Isolation of bioactive peptides and evaluation of their

efficacy • Non-destructive techniques for quality evaluation of

foods • Rapid quality evaluation of food grains, milk and meat

products • Nano-composites for packaging of foods• Nano-encapsulation, nano-emulsions for fortification of

foods• Bio-packaging of food for cleaner environment

Research in emerging areas of agro-produce processing • Active storage• Cells as factories• Microstructuring• Non-destructive freezing• Pulsed electric fields for agro-processing• Cold atmospheric plasma• Visible and UV radiation treatments• Electrolysis for sanitation• Bio-manufacturing• Nano-particles in packaging• Nutrigenomics

Human Resource Development • Advanced storage technology• Extraction of Bio-active compounds and nutraceauticals from agro-produce, residues and byproducts• Organic methods of shelf life extension and value addition• Nano technology for processing of agro-produce• Rapid methods of quality and safety assessments• Bio-packaging• Bio-sensors• Nutrigenomics

Approach of ICAR in XII PlanPost harvest management, value addition, and utilization of residues and by-products in production catchments to: reduce post harvest losses ensure safety and quality of food products enhance nutritional security through fortification produce high value derivatives from agricultural

produce and by-products increase farmers’ income and generate employment

Consortia Platforms on Secondary Agriculture and Health Foods, are envisaged

A new Discipline in Agricultural Structures and Environmental Management to boost R&D in Storage Engineering

Development of technology for complete value chain from production to consumption including marketing

Post Harvest Technology based entrepreneurship development

Technology commercialization, incubation and Business Development

Development of policy framework for promoting value addition in production catchments

FUTURE THRUST

Integrated Intensive Farming System (IIFS) including rural based post-harvest activities is needed for the overall development of the rural sector.

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