Value addition through processing of agricultural products and its importance
Introduction
As India is an agricultural country, agricultural products account for a large share of the nation's income. As a result of gradual agricultural development, the annual production of foodgrains in India today has reached about 3 million tonnes (2016-17). If we consider other agricultural products as well, this figure is around 200 million tons. Thus we have become self-sufficient in foodgrains. But if we look at the post-production stage, as a result of insufficient storage capacity, scientific approach and ongoing processes in this direction, 12 to 15 tons of grains and 35 to 40 percent of fruits and vegetables do not reach the consumer. Moreover, converting agricultural products into the market in the same way as conventional processed products and distributing them in the market does not provide nutritious returns. Thus, despite the abundant agricultural production, the waste has not been stopped due to improper processing after harvesting and farmers are not getting affordable prices.
Compared to other countries, the rate of processing after harvest in our country is only two percent. Moreover, despite our high position in the world in the production of fruits, vegetables, spices and medicinal crops and oilseeds, our contribution to the world export market is less than one per cent. Moreover, when the new economic policy is to survive in the open market system as a result, we have to convert our agricultural products into quality products and for this we have to adopt a scientific approach and convert our agricultural products into value-added products through processing.
Value Added Benefits:
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High quality products are available. Economic returns are higher. Post harvest losses can be prevented. Storage capacity of products is increased. Products become more affordable, tasty and attractive. Value added units (agro-industries) can increase human employment opportunities. By exporting such products, foreign exchange can also be earned. By getting higher prices for their produce, farmers can improve social and economic standards at the village level.
Thus many benefits can be obtained from value addition. Value addition based on agricultural products is usually done at the physical and chemical level.
Physical value addition:
In general, the physical constitution of farm produce can be changed to a higher value. Such processes as drying, cleaning, grading, curing, peeling, mixing, grinding, sugar, grinding, baking, mixing, fortification, packaging, storage, transport, distribution etc. are also called primary processing.
Drying:
Drying is an important process in crop preparation. Proper drying of the crop prevents it from growing as well as the growth of fungi and bacteria on it. As well as reduces the invasion of germs on grains. If the moisture content is high at the time of harvest and if proper drying is not done, the crop is damaged by fungi as well as organisms. If the moisture content is low, the grains fall from the standing crop and the yield is lost. This way more moisture does not allow proper processing during the mixing process. As well as low humidity creates the possibility of cracking. Resulting in broken grains. Drying of cereal crops can be done in the open sun by hot air or by natural air.
Drying of crops in the sun
Most of the farmers dry the cereals in the open fields in the sun. Thus the crop requires a large space for drying and the labor cost is higher. In addition, open drying causes cracking in the grains due to lack of control over the drying rate of the crop. Also, if it rains, the crop is likely to be damaged. Dust or debris also reduces the quality of the crop. Crops are also damaged by livestock. This system has to bear a loss of about 5 to 12 percent.
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Drying by hot air
In this type of drying the air is heated. Hot air is exposed to cereals. So that the moisture of the crop is blown away. This hot air is introduced into the crop layer for drying at normal pressure or even higher pressure through a blower. Mineral oil, farm by-products or solar energy are commonly used to heat the air. The temperature of the hot air depends on the type of product and its final use.
Drying by natural air
This method has a low drying rate. In this method, the dried grains are dried by passing them through the stored air at a temperature of natural air (RP to 30C). Air is introduced at normal pressure or at higher pressure through a blower. The advantages of this method include less chance of spoilage during drying, maintenance of high quality of cereals, low purchase cost of equipment as well as low energy and labor cost etc. But there are also some disadvantages, the main ones being the irregularity of drying depending on the weather and the low time of drying etc. This method can remove 5% moisture from 10 tons of grain in about an hour under favorable conditions.
Methods for drying
Drying in a thin layer
The crop is dried in layers less than 20 cm thick. The entire surface of the product is exposed to the drying medium and a uniform drying occurs.
Drying in a thick layer
The crop is dried in layers thicker than 20 cm. The drying of the whole crop takes place in different paddocks, not uniformly. Hence the layer that comes in direct contact with air. It dries quickly. This causes excessive drying of the bottom layer. When the top layer does not dry out. The air temperature should be low to eliminate such irregularities. And the thickness of the layer is 35 cm. Should not be kept more than.
Cleaning process:
> The process of removing air by pushing air from the cereal is to remove non-grain items such as vines, leaves, gravel as well as waste. The following methods of cleaning grain are currently in vogue.
The grain is passed through a gravel with different holes. Sometimes the grain is cleaned by hand by hand. When there is more gravel, the grain is washed and cleaned.
The following procedures are used to clean the grain as well as to get a good quality product:
Scraping:
This process is called scraping when large stalks are removed from the grain in the initial cleaning process.
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Sorting
Sorting is the process of sorting the separated grains according to their quality or color, size, shape, density, composition after the process of scraping.
Grading:
Different classes of grains are provided for commercial evaluation or use. This is called grading. For sorting and grading, the process of separating the grains with different specificity, the process of separating the grains by throwing air, the process of cleaning the grains with electric properties as well as color sorting are adopted as required. Demand for this specialty has grown significantly as a result of recent corporate scandals. Even in the processing industries the capacity of different milling machines also depends on the cleaning of the grain. There should be a modern cleaner to clean all types of waste i.e. non-essential substances, immature grains as well as gravel. It should also have units like vibrator sieve, airflow separator, magnetic unit to get more efficiency of grain color.
Collection:
Storing fruits and vegetables in a simple cold storage or in a cold storage that can produce a certain atmosphere can prevent spoilage and prolong storage.
Packaging and transportation:
Effective and good packaging can prevent damage during storage, transportation or other processes, as well as control the amount of damage that can occur, and because of the attractive appearance, delivery is faster and at a higher cost.
Chemical value addition:
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Fruits and vegetables can be processed and preserved with the help of thermal processing. Jams, jellies, pickles, ketchups, sauces, marmalades, juices, pulps or slices can be packed in cans and stored for a long time. So that delicious and nutritious creations are obtained and the amount of waste is also reduced. In the same way, extra income can be generated by separating protein and other elements along with oil from oilseed crops, by extracting volatile oils from spices as well as oil and other chemical elements from rice, corn, rice husk etc. Such agricultural products can be chemically modified and converted into other valuable products.
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