Intervention of Post Harvest Engineering for value addition says TNAU VC
Department of Food Process Engineering, Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) organized three days workshop of All India Coordinated Research Project on “Post Harvest Engineering and Technology” during 12-03-2019 to 14-03-2019 at Seminar hall I, RI building of TNAU. About more than 100 scientists participated in the workshop.
Dr. S. Ganapathy, Professor and Head, Department of Food Process Engineering welcomed the gathering and Dr. S. K. Tyagi, PC (PHET), delivered the coordinators report. Dr. S. N. Jha, Assistant Director General, ICAR delivered the inaugural address and high lighted the importance of transferring technologies to farmers.
Dr. B. Shridar, Dean, Agricultural Engineering & Research Institute, TNAU in his special address, explained the overall contribution made by process engineers in reducing postharvest losses through the All India Co-ordinated Research Projects in the last 40 years.
Dr. K.S. Subramanian, Director of Research, TNAU said that nano technology can supplement and compliment food processing in minimizing the postharvest losses of agricultural commodities and also he emphasized the need for developing packaging films using nano technology as an alternative to plastics.
Dr. K. Alagusundaram, Deputy Director of General, Agrl. Engineering, ICAR, New Delhi explained about the super straw management system with the help of ‘Happy Seeder’ to reduce the pollution in Delhi and Punjab. He also insisted on the consortium or value chain mode of research rather than the conventional mode which will facilitate the delivery of benefits to farmers immediately. IFAD has funded Rs. 1000 crore for scaling up the successful technologies from various AICRP – PHET centres and adopting them to North Eastern states. Also he discussed the importance of farm mechanization, establishment of more number of agro processing centres in rural areas to develop the agricultural sector.
Dr. N. Kumar, Vice-Chancellor, TNAU, Coimbatore in his chief guest address, informed the gathering about the current status of postharvest losses in our country. He insisted in developing suitable techniques to extend the shelf life of neera by developing gadgets for easy and quick transportation. Also he mentioned the nutritional importance of dried moringa leaf powder and he suggested to develop suitable processing technique to enhance the quality and shelf life. Furthermore, he listed the importance of developing bio degradable packaging materials from banana as an alternate to plastics. He acknowledged the work done by Bhuvaneshwar centre on flat bed mobile type paddy drier and recommended the adoption of such technology in Tamil Nadu region.
Finally, Dr. P. Rajkumar, Professor, FPE, TNAU proposed a formal vote of thanks.
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