CIAECIAECIAEVolume 23 No. 3 & 4

Modernizing agriculture through engineering interventions

July-December 2014

NEWSNEWSNEWSwww.ciae.nic.inwww.ciae.nic.inwww.ciae.nic.in

Indian agriculture during the past six decades has gone through various

stages of modernization. Production has increased many-folds to sustain

the increasing population through improved input supply system. High

yielding varieties, fertilizers, agro-chemicals and irrigation were the

forerunners in the input supply management system. Engineering inputs

like tractors and machinery played a limited role. With labour becoming

scarce, various socio-economic factors in post-liberalization era are

contributing to labour scarcity for seasonal agricultural activities. Due to

this and other reasons, engineering interventions in agriculture are

becoming essential for reducing the cost of production and drudgery while

improving the livelihood opportunities and sustainability of income and

environment through appropriate mechanization, post-production

technologies and energy management. Farm mechanization is moving towards a level of maturity pushing the annual sales of

machinery to over Rs. 80,000 crore. Use of high capacity and energy efficient farm implements are more important in order to

enhance efficiency and timeliness of agricultural operations. But the cost of such machinery is increasing and becoming

unaffordable by small holders in many cases. By sharing of the cost of implements through

innovative arrangements, the cost required to be invested by farm holders can be made

affordable. In the recent past, custom hiring of agricultural machinery is seen as such

arrangement which can promote mechanization of agricultural operations on small farms.

CIAE is providing training to entrepreneurs, sponsored by the State Government of Madhya

Pradesh for establishment and operation of agricultural machinery custom-hirint centres. To

make the cost of machinery affordable and to make them available to all farmers, Govt. of India

has now launched a credit-linked subsidy scheme for establishment of farm machinery banks

and hi-tech high productive equipment hub for custom hiring. In order to substitute the import of

high-tech precision machines available in developed countries research and development

efforts are being made on high priority to make such machines available indigenously.

In this endeavor, agricultural engineering profession in general and CIAE in particular is playing

an important role. Some recent noteworthy developments in this direction are reported in this

issue of the Newsletter. The newly developed universal tractor mounted ultrasonic sensor

based pomegranate spraying system saves 25-30% liquid using turbo nozzles and 45-50%

liquid when using hollow cone nozzles. The tractor rear mounted turmeric rhizome ridger

planter consists of three ridger bottoms and planting mechanisms for planting on one side of

the ridges in one pass. Using this planter, three rows can be planted at a time at the required

spacing. In order to minimize drudgery in cassava harvesting, a tractor operated cassava

harvester has been developed that saves about 40% cost of harvesting in comparison to that of

manual harvesting. Efforts have been made to develop probiotic soy-cheese spread and multi-

nutrient extruded snacks rich in protein and minerals.

DIGEST

Tractor drawn turmeric rhizome planter........................... 2

Drip irrigation system for paddy..................................... 3

Two machines developed by CIAE licensed to TAFE......... 4

PG Cell created........................... 5

KVK Activities........................... 6

DoAC sponsored training........... 7

NAAS silver jubilee symposium................................. 8

Visit of Union Agriculture Minister....................................... 9

Swachch Bharat abhiyaan......... 10

World Food Day........................ 11

Awards..................................... 12

Publications............................. 13

Dr Chandra superannuates........ 14

Dr KK Singh joins as Director.................................... 15

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

CIAE News 2

Tractor drawn turmeric rhizome planterA tractor rear mounted turmeric rhizome ridger planter developed by AICRP on FIM (Coimbatore centre) consists of 3 ridger bottoms and planting mechanism for planting on one side of the ridges in one pass. The planting mechanism includes rhizome hopper, cup feed seed metering mechanism, rhizome metering shaft, shoe type furrow opener and spike tooth ground wheel with chain sprocket drive for transmitting power from ground wheel to rhizome metering shaft. Three rows can be planted at a time at the required spacing. The row to row spacing of the planter is adjustable. The effective field capacity of the unit is 0.15 ha/h and its cost is about Rs 45000/-.

Pomegranate spraying system based on ultrasonic sensors The universal tractor mounted ultrasonic sensor based pomegranate spraying system has been designed and developed by AICRP on FIM (Kharagpur centre). The sensor, programmer and non-return valve have been attached to the existing ASPEE air assisted spraying system and evaluated at MPKV Rahuri pomegranate research farm. In order to make the pomegranate sprayer independent of operating speed, a ground wheel with proximity sensor has been attached to the spraying unit. The spraying system has been tested with and without sensor with attachment of turbo and hollow cone nozzles. The effective field capacity and number of plants covered have been observed as 0.88 ha/h and 1370 plants/h, respectively. The application rate is maximum (500 l/ha) for turbo nozzles without sensor and minimum (200 l/ha) for hollow cone nozzle with sensor. The discharge rate is maximum (440 l/h) for turbo nozzles without sensor and minimum (175 l/h) for hollow cone nozzle with sensor. The percentage saving of liquid is 25-30% with turbo nozzles and 45-50% with hollow cone nozzles.

Software for estimation of top dressing dose of nitrogen An android app (version 1.02) and an online web app has been developed to estimate top dressing dose of nitrogen fertilizer based on normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) values obtained through green seeker sensor for rice and wheat crop. A multilingual version (English, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi) of these applications has been developed. The app has options for four languages viz. English, Hindi, Marathi and Punjabi, which can be selected by user, for convenience of use and is also compatible with android 4.2.

Conservation agriculture (CA) in vertisol through draught animal power Soybean crop was grown during Kharif season after wheat and the harvested field had a straw density of 3.5 ton/ha. The total cost and energy expenditure during no, minimum & conventional agricultural practices have been calculated to be Rs 5832/- and 4604 MJ/ha, Rs 6693/- and 4667 MJ/ha and Rs 7769/- and 5084 MJ/ha, respectively. It has been

Screenshots of Nitrogen rate calculator Android App (Version 1.00)

Screenshots of language selection screen of Nitrogen rate calculator (a) Android App (Version 1.02) and (b) Webapp

(a) (b)

3 July-December 2014

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

observed that CA with no-tillage practice saves 25% cost and 10% energy as compared to conventional tillage. Using conservation agri-culture, the farmers save not only the cul-tivation cost and energy expenditure during farm operations but also im-prove the soil quality by means of increasing soil organic carbon, nutrient availability, water infiltration, soil micro fauna and flora and decreasing the soil erosion, water runoff, soil acidity and salinity, etc resulting better crop yield.

Adoption of drip irrigation system for paddy under system of crop intensification Feasibility trials have been carried out on adoption of drip irri-gation system for paddy (PS 5 variety) crop under system of crop intensi-fication. System of Crop Intensification with drip emitters spaced at 20 cm results significant yield and yield attributing para-meters viz: productive tillers (26.47), number of grains per panicle (161.75), panicle length (27.52 cm), panicle weight (3.41 g), sterility (6.33%),grain yield (70.65 q/ha) and harvest index (61.93). By applying about 1,111 litres of water 1 kg of paddy can be produced with the highest energy productivity of 0.90.

Ventilated polyhouse and shadenet house for improved growth of capsicum crop The performance of capsicum crop (variety: Swarna) in open field and covered cultivation has been evaluated. The study reveales that under forced ventilated polyhouse the crop yield (5.15 kg/plant) increases by 9.3 times over open field cultivation (0.55 kg/plant) and about 4 times over cultivation

under white colour shade net - 50% shade factor (1.71 kg/plant). Crop duration also extends by 43 days under forced ventilated polyhouse and 30 days in shade net in comparison to open field cultivation.

Tractor operated cassava harvesterIn India, harvesting of cassava is presently done manually by loosening the soil with crowbar, if the soil is compact. The plant is pulled up gently without dragging the roots. This process is a tedious work and requires about 40 man days/ha. A tractor operated cassava harvester developed by AICRP on FIM (Coimbatore Centre) consists of main frame, shanks, digging blade, hitching frame and depth adjustment wheels. It has been designed for both two rows and single row operation. The shank has been designed as a bent leg plough

owith an angle of 150 to dig cassava tubers. The blade angle oof 5 has been provided for easy penetration into the soil. The

row spacing could be altered by moving the shanks in the main frame. The depth wheels have been provided to adjust the depth of operation. The harvester has been tested in association with M/s. SPAC Tapioca Products Limited, Anthiyur. The unit works well with two rows in sandy soils and with single row in heavy soils at optimum moisture content. The field capacity has been 0.08 ha/h for single row and 0.17 ha/h for two rows. The undug tuber has been observed as 2.5% and damage to tubes is less than 1%. The cost of operation of cassava harvester is Rs. 2380/ha and it saves 40% in cost as compared to manual harvesting.

Assessment of hearing impairment of tractor driversThe work on Audiometric profile of tractor drivers & office workers has been carried out to estimate their hearing impairment and damage. The average of hearing threshold levels of office workers at the audiometric test frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kHz did not exceed 25 dB(A) to cause hearing handicap of both the ears. However, average hearing threshold levels exceeded 25 dB(A) at the audiometric test frequencies of 0.5, 1, 2, 3 and 4 kHz for both the ears of tractor drivers. The mean hearing threshold levels for tractor drivers (7%) were higher than those for office workers (0.2%). The detailed audiometric analysis of office workers indicated that

Zero-till condition

Minimum till condition

Conventional practice

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT/ TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

4

the office workers had no excess risk of hearing impairment. However, the average estimated excess risk of hearing impairment with different models ranges from 3.2-7.0% for tractor drivers. Hearing damage at 2, 3 and 4 kHz is expected to occur sooner than hearing losses at lower frequencies (0.5, 1 or 1.5 kHz) in tractor drivers.

Vermicelli making machineA v e r m i c e l l i - m a k i n g machine of 50 kg/ h capa-city has been developed to prepare soy fo r t i f ied vermicel l i us ing 20% defatted soy flour and full fat soy flour (FFSF) with 80% refined wheat flour. Protein content of FFSF fortified vermicelli has been estimated to be in the range of 14 to 17 % that could be consumed as as a high protein snack.

Image processing protocols for determination of phynomic traits of panicles of rice cropBending of rice panicle due to its own weight is envisaged as a varietal charac te r i s t i c whose measurement is very diffi-cult using conventional methods. Image proce-ssing software has been developed for analysis of features from rice panicle. The complete protocol requires that image of rice panicle is taken using any digital camera while the panicle is kept in standing position. The image is read in the software and the user gives inputs for identification of principal axis, flag leaf direction and main stem orientation. The software then estimates angle of flag leaf, angle of median point and angle of panicle tip with respect to panicle stem. Length of the main axis, radius of its curvature and point of bending of panicle is also measured by the software. The output is exported to a tab delimited text file which can be imported on spread sheet software for further analysis of data.

Probiotic soy-cheese spreadProbiotic soy cheese spread has been optimized by using starter cultures prepared in sterilized tofu whey culture media incubated at 37°C for 16–18 h. Soymilk is first inoculated with 10% (v/v) starter

culture, incubated at 37°C for 5 h and transferred to 65°C for 1 h. Soy cheese spread preparation has been optimized with soybean oil or coconut oil and sugar with probiotic culture and

curd both for 6 h at 37°C and 65°C. After coagulation, whey is drained and curd is transferred that makes fine slurry. Maturation process of probiotic soy cheese spread has also been developed. Soy cheese is rich in protein and fat and when stored in metalized plastic and LDPE packets under ambient conditions is safe upto 30 days under vacuum.

Multi-nutrient extruded snacks for childrenMulti-nutrient base mix have been formulated using corn, rice, germinated green gram, germinated ragi, germinated soy f lour, sk immed mi lk powder and spinach powder and extruded in co-rotating fully intermeshing twin screw extruder. The optimized conditions for extrusion has been observed as 10% moisture and 30% corn flour, 8% germinated green gram, 6% germinated ragi, 8% germinated soy flour, 7% skimmed milk powder and 4% spinach flour. The extruded product contains 12 g protein, 5 g fat, 7.5 mg iron, 500 mg phosphorus and 0.5 g fibre in 100g. The product is acceptable having 8 on the 9 point hedonic scale.

MoU and License AgreementA n M e m o r a n d u m o f Understanding (MoU) has been signed between CIAE (through network of AICRP on ESA) and Vigyan Prasar, Department of Science and Technology, New Delhi on Communication on tech-nology interventions for drudgery reduction to bene-fit women in agri-culture on July 8.

M/s Tractors and Farm Equipment Ltd. (TAFE), Chennai signed a license a g r e e m e n t w i t h t h e Institute for manufacturing and marketing of two machines developed by CIAE namely Precision Pneumatic Planter and Roto Seed drill-cum-bed shaper on July 31.

ConsultancyA consultancy agreement has been signed with M/s SRF Ltd., Chennai to determine the toxicity/ migration of chemicals from SRF's PVC coated polyester fabrics into the wheat grains stored and to evaluate usage of SRF's PVC coated polyester fabrics in semi-permanent hanger type storage structures for storage of wheat grains at a consultancy cost of Rs. 16.27 lakhs on July 2.

TRAINING/ TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

ICAR Sponsored Winter School

Micro Irrigation Systems and FertigationWinter school on Recent Advances in Micro Irrigation Systems and fertigation Under Covered and Open Cultivation for Sustainable and Enhanced Crop Production and Productivity in Vertisols was organized during September 9-29. Fifteen participants representing six states viz., Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharastra, Orissa participated in the refresher course. There were 9 faculty members from Agricultural Universities (AU's), 3 Scientists from ICAR and 3 from Krishi Vigyan Kendras/SMS (KVKs). The course contents covered: Status and Potential of Micro irrigation in India; Input requirement estimation under micro irrigation; Micro irrigation under protected cultivation; Fertigation techniques; Automation of Micro irrigation systems; Recent advances in micro irrigation system components; Advances in fertigation technologies ; Hands on experience on maintenance of micro irrigation systems. Apart from class room lectures, hands on experiences on fertigation systems, visits to different farmers fields were also organized during the course.

The Course Director of the Winter School was Dr KVR Rao and its Course-Coordinator was Dr CK Saxena, Senior Scientists.

Application of sensors, nano-sensors, wireless sensor network and instrumentation in precision/ conser-vation agriculture Precision/ conservation agriculture is the need of the hour for resource conservation and better input use efficiencies. Winter School on Application of sensors, nano-sensors, wireless sensor network and instrumentation in precision/ conservation agriculture was organized during December 3-23, 2014 for 23 participants from 11 States covering J&K, Panjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maha-rashtra, Jharkhand, Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh, Chattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The participants were Professors, Scientists, Field Engineers, Subject Matter Specialists from ICAR Institutes, SAUs, KVKs, Central & State Govt organizations.

The program was conducted to develop the competencies of the scientists/ researchers for planning, monitoring and

PG Cell Created

The PG Cell has been created at CIAE, Bhopal as outreach programme of PG School IARI, New Delhi for carrying out and smooth functioning of the academic activities in Agricultural Engineering (Farm Power and Equipment, Soil and Water Conservation Engineering and Agricultural Processing and Structures). The Director of CIAE, Bhopal is the professor for the PG programme at the Institute and liaising with PG School, IARI, New Delhi. The admission process for M. Tech and Ph. D is conducted by the IARI, New Delhi. Six PG students of Agricultural Engineering (All Ph. D: 5 from Agricultural Processing and Structures and 1 from Farm Power and Equipment disciplines), in addition to the present strength of IARI, New Delhi, have been allotted to CIAE, Bhopal. The first trimester of Academic Session 2014-2015 for these students started at IARI, New Delhi and the course work related to the trimester has been completed by the students at IARI, New Delhi. These PG students joined the institute in second trimester for completion of their remaining course and research work. The degree will be finally awarded by IARI, New Delhi after completion of the programme at CIAE, Bhopal. The PG students of Agricultural Engineering earmarked separately for CIAE, Bhopal shall join the institute directly from the next Academic Session 2015-16 and onwards.

evaluation activities for sensors and instrumentation based precision/conservation agriculture for better efficacy and efficiency. During this 21 day school, lectures, practicals, demonstration and field visits were arranged. Participants were introduced hands-on experience on sensors, nano-sensors, wireless sensor network and instrumentation technologies for site-specific application of inputs. This Winter School provided exposure to the participants on application of sensors and instrumentation in the emerging area of precision farming.

The Course Director of the Winter School was Dr CD Singh, Principal Scientist and its Course-Coordinator was Dr KP Singh, Senior Scientist.

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TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER/ TRAININGTRAINING/ TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

KVK ACTIVITIES

Training OrganizedKVK CIAE organized following trainings for 417 participants:

Crop producion engineering and post harvest technology

Crop production machinery

Farm mechanization

Kharif sowing and weeding machinery for soybean, paddy and maize crops

Mechanized soybean and maize crop cultivation technologies

Operation, repair, maintenance of tractor system

Role of improved agricultural implements in crop production and organic farming

Use of weeding tools and equipment in the Kharif crop

Farmer’s Field School

The Kendra organized four farmers' field school in collaboration with State Agricultural Department on the following topics in the villages - Phanda Kala, Khajuri Sadak and Phanda.

Insect, pest and disease management in soybean, nutrient management in paddy

IPM in soybean and paddy crop

Plant protection in soybean crop, nutrient management in paddy crop

Excess water management in Kharif crop

Frontline Demonstration

Frontline demonstration of following equipment/ crops were conducted in the farmers field.

Twin wheel hoe

Maize sheller

Water soluble fertilizer

Marigold

Onion (Var. AFDR)

Okra (Var. VRO-22)

Advisory/ diagnostic services

KVK scientists provided 44 advisory services/ diagnostic services to the farmers through Kisan Mobile and Farmers’ portal.

Award

KVK CIAE received Best KVK award in XXI Zonal Workshop of Zone VII, organized at IGKV Raipur during September 5-7.

Events organized by KVK

An interaction meeting was organized on July 2 with farmers, state agricultural

department and scientists of CIAE at village Bagroda and other villages.

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TRAINING/ TECHNOLOGY

Training on Soybean Processing and UtilizationFive 6-days entrepreneurship development trainings on soy based products were conducted. In these trainings, 60 prospective entrepreneurs from different parts of country participated.

Training on Processing of soybean for diversified food uses was organized during August 4-8 for 22 subject matter specialists (Food & Nutrition/ Home Science) from KVK.

Training under Custom Hiring Three trainings on Custom hiring of agricultural machinery, sponsored by Govt of MP was organized during August 1-7, September 1-7 and October 7-13 for for 90 participants.

PFDC TrainingUnder Precision Farming Development Centre (PFDC), 4 trainings on micro irrigation and protected cultivation or 95 farmers and 3 trainings on protected cultivation technologies was organized for 82 farmers. Farmers were from Bhopal, Morena, Seoni, Balaghat, Gwalior, Katni and Sehore.

DoAC Sponsored TrainingDAC sponsored training on Women friendly technology for agricultural production and processing operation was organized during October 17 to November 3 for 14 participants.

Model Training Course on Agri-business management and entrepreneurship development based on agricultural engineering technologies, sponsored by DoAC, GOI was organized during December 15-22 for 17 participants from different states.

Testing of Farm MachineryTest reports of the following equipment, which were received for testing have been provided to their manufacturers.

Implement Manufacturer

Tractor operated two row furrow reversible plough (hydraulic)

M/s. Beri Udyog Pvt. Ltd., Karnal, Haryana

M/s. SONA Agro Industries Pvt.Ltd., Sehore

Tractor operated rigid type cultivator (9 tyne)

M/s. Beri Udyog Pvt. Ltd., Karnal, Haryana

Tractor operated spring loaded cultivator (9 tyne)

M/s. Beri Udyog Pvt. Ltd.,Karnal, Haryana

Tractor operated duck foot cultivator

M/s Darbar Agro Equipment Pvt Ltd., Ichhawar

Tractor operated 7 tyne cultivator

M/s Shyam Industries, Betul

Tractor operated 9 tyne seed drill

M/s Metweld Engineering Pvt Ltd., Indore

Manual knapsack sprayer M/s Agro Life Science Corporation, New Delhi

Tractor operated 9 tyne seed cum fertilizer drill

M/s Metweld Engineering PvtLtd., Indore

Participation in ExhibitionsCIAE technologies were exhibited in the following exhibitions: CODISSIA-Agri Intex during July 18-21. 10th International Agriculture & Horti Expo at Pragati

Maidan, New Delhi during July 25-27. Krishi Mahotsav Kisan Mela at Burhanpur during October

16-18. Bundelkhand Vigyan Mela at Khurai during October 17-18 Fodder Day cum Kisan Mela at IGFRI Jhansi on

November 2. Mobile Science Exhibition and Science Fiesta at Regional

Science Centre, Bhopal during November 10-11. India International Trade Fair (IITF) 2014 at New Delhi

during November 14-27. IITF at New Delhi

during November 14-27.

Agro Vision 2014 at Nagpur during December 4-7.

Jan Suchana Abhiyan organized by PIB during December 10-12, at Katni and during December 15-17 at Raisen.

Protoype Producction and SupplyThe institute supplied 2765 prototypes worth Rs. 34.98 lakhs to various stakeholders.

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REPORTS

NAAS Silver Jubilee Symposium

As an important programme of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of NAAS, CIAE organized symposium on Mechanization of Small Farms: Review and Road map for 25 years on July 18 in collaboration with the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering, Madhya Pradesh. An exhibition on modern agricultural machinery was also held on the occasion for the benefit of the participating 400 farmers from all over the state and the delegates. The symposium and the exhibition were inaugurated by Shri Gouri Shanker Bisen, Hon'ble Minister of Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Development, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh. Shri Lakhan Patel, MLA, Patharia, Dist. Damoh, M. P.; Dr. Anwar Alam, Convenor of the Symposium, Ex-Secretary, NAAS; Shri M. M. Upadhyay, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, Dr, V. S. Tomar, V. C., JNKVV, Jabalpur and Shri Rajeev Choudhary, Director, Directorate of Agricultural Engineering, Madhya Pradesh shared the dais in the inaugural function.

Dr. Pitam Chandra, Director welcomed the guests and indicated that the setting of this symposium in the capital city of MP was the most appropriate considering that the state has been achieving double digit growth in agriculture consistently for the last three years. Mechanization in MP has been a significant contributor to the agricultural growth rate.

Dr. Anwar Alam, Convenor of the Symposium, in his address emphasized on the need of the symposium. He urged the state government to further strengthen the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering to increase its reach to all the 51 districts of Madhya Pradesh. He mentioned that at the same place in 1985, establishment of the Directorate of Agricultural Engineering, Madhya Pradesh was announced by the then chief minister Shri Moti Lal Bora in presence of the then Union Minister for Agriculture Shri Buta Singh as the chief guest of the Silver Jubilee Convention if the ISAE.

The Chief Guest, Shri Gouri Shanker Bisen in his inaugural address lauded the efforts made by the scientists, government officials of line departments and farmers in phenomenal progress of agriculture in the state of Madhya Pradesh. As regards to increasing farm mechanization, he informed the house that the state government has abolished VAT on agricultural machinery and efforts are made to abolish 2% entry tax on farm machinery. The state government is also promoting entre-preneurships of custom-hiring of farm machinery in a big way so that benefits of improved technology and mechanization are made available to small farmers who are unable to afford expensive machinery for performing their farm operations in time and more efficiently. An allocation of Rs. 50 crores has been made by the state for this purpose from its own resources during the current financial year.

The symposium was planned to present the road map for mechanization of small farms with the existing status of machinery availability and to project actions to be initiated for continued growth in mechanization leading to sustainable growth in Indian agriculture.

In the technical sessions, chaired by Dr Anwar Alam, the following presentations and panel discussions were held. Status of mechanization and future needs of production agriculture on small farms (Dr CR Mehta, PC, AICRP on FIM, CIAE) Status of mechanization and future needs of post - production operations on small farms (Dr RK Gupta, PC, AICRP on PHTS,

CIPHET, Ludhiana) Status of post – harvest losses and strategies to minimise them on small farms (Dr SK Nanda, PS & Ex-PC, AICRP on PHTS

CIPHET, Ludhiana) Status of energy requirement on small farms (Dr KC Pandey, PC, AICRP on RES, CIAE)

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REPORTS

Institute Management CommitteeInstitute Management Committee met (47th meeting) on July 19 under the chairman-ship of Dr Pitam Chandra, Director. Members present during the meeting included Dr CR Lohi, Director, CFMTTI Budni; Dr GS Rajput, Dean, College of Agri-cultural Engienering, JNKVV Jabalpur; Shri Rajiv Choudhary, Director, Directorate of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal; Shri KN Khandelwal, Executive Engineer, Directorate of Agriculture, Jaipur; Dr CR Thyagraj, PS, CRIDA Hyderabad; Dr Sunita Singh, PS, IARI, New Delhi and Shri Ravi Kumar, Chief Administrative Officer, CIAE & Member-Secretary, IMC. The meeting was also attended by Project Coordinators, Heads of Division and Incharges as special invitees.

Rashtriya SanghoshtiRashtriya Sanghosthi (in Hindi) - Rashtra ke badalate parivesh me krishi abhiyantriki anusandhan evam vikas ke naye aayam was organized on July 28. Prof Anil Kumar Singh, Vice-Chancellor, RVSKV, Gwalior was the Chief Guest and Dr PJ Sudhakar, Additional Director General, Press Information Bureau was the Guest of Honour.

About 80 delegates participated in the sangosthi and 48 research papers were presented.

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Visit of Union Agriculture MinisterUnion Agricultural Minister, Shri Radha Mohan Singh visited CIAE Bhopal on September 26. During his visit he addressed the agricultural scientists from CIAE, IISS and NIHSAD, Bhopal. Mr. Gauri Shankar Bisen, Minister for Farmer Welfare and Agricultural Development, Govt. of MP; Ms. Kusum Mehdele, Minister for Animal Husbandry, Horticulture and Food Processing, Fisherman Welfare and Fish Develop-ment, Public Health Engineering, Govt. of MP were also present on this occasion. Shri Radha Mohan Singh in his address to the scientists said that working for the development of agriculture and upliftment of farmers and rural people is a divine work. At the same time maintenance of environment and ecological balance should also be given equal importance. He lauded the activities of ICAR Institutes at Bhopal saying that they are in right direction, however require more impetus. He commented that only efficient leadership can bring the desired changes timely and effectively. He further emphasized that ICAR should ensure that the benefits of agricultural research reaches to the smallest of the farmers without any time lapse. This would be possible only with dedicated highly qualified and well experienced human resources. On this occasion, Directors of Bhopal based ICAR Institutes, namely Dr KK Singh, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Dr AK Patra, Indian Institute of Soil Science and Dr DD Kulkarni, Director, National Institute of High Security Animal Disease and Dr SK Shrivastava, Director, Soybean Research Directorate, Indore were also present.

9 July-December 2014

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Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan

Swachch Bharat Abhiyaan (National Sanitation Campaign) was organized on October 2. All the employees of the institute participated in the cleanliness drive covering the institute premises and surrounding areas. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) of the Institute organized awareness programme in villages to the farmers, farm women & rural youth about the Swatchh Bharat Abhiyan.

The KVK also involved in imparting training on management of agricultural crop residues by adopting certain villages in and around Bhopal, including imparting training on proper maintenance of the livestock, management of animal/poultry waste through installation of biogas plant, vermin compost, NADEP, etc.

Participation in Global Investors Summit – 2014Dr. K K Singh, Director, CIAE, Bhopal and Dr. C R Mehta, Project Coordinator, AICRP on Farm Implements and Machinery were invited as Guest Speakers for the session on Efficient farming – Low cost farm technologies & machinery in the Global Investors Summit – 2014 held at Indore on October 9. The session was chaired by Dr. S Ayyappan, Secretary, DARE and Director General, ICAR, New Delhi. Shri Gaurishankar Bisen, Cabinet Farmers Welfare and Agriculture Development Minister, Madhya Pradesh Government was the Chief Guest of the session. Number of investors have shown keen interest to establish advanced farm machinery manufacturing facility in Madhya Pradesh during the session.

Workshop of AICRP on ESAThe VII workshop of AICRP on Ergonomics and Safety in Agriculture (ESA) was held at Dr Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidhyapeeth Dapoli during October 9-11. About 50 participants from ten cooperating centres and the host

institutes attended the workshop. At the start, Project Coordinator Dr LP Gite presented the achievements of the Project of last two years which included agricultural accident data, information on compensation paid by state govts. to agricultural accident victims, safe tractor trailer,spraying safety kit, personal protective equipment for workers for Makhana harvesting, cashewnut processing, and fish processing, pedal and power operated arecanut dehuskers, women friendly three row rice transplanter, large cardamom harvesting knife, bamboo ladder for apple harvesting, dust minimization in rice mill, and trainings/ demonstrations on farm safety, ergonomically improved equipment and gender friendly equipment.

During his Inaugural address, Dr Rajiv Mankar, Vice Chancellor, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University, Lonere appreciated the work done by AICRP on ESA in making the life better for farmers and labourers in agriculture and allied activities. He mentioned that it is high time for giving due importance to farmers' safety and comfort issues. He suggested to have collaborations between

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REPORTS

agricultural universities and engineering universities for mutual benefit and better use of resources and expertise.

While expressing his views Dr GG Ray, President, Indian Society of Ergonomics and Chairman of the session highlighted the role of workers in Indian agriculture and emphasized on inclusive design for minimizing accidents and reducing drudgery of workers in agriculture. He mentioned that agricultural labour force was reducing and therefore, the no. of farm machines would increase a lot to meet the need of farmers. Therefore, he stressed upon inclusive design for better man- machine system efficiency and safety. He informed the participants that Govt. of India has sanctioned a Design innovation Centre at Indian Institute of Technology Mumbai and agriculture in one of the focus areas for this centre. He mentioned that formal collaboration will be developed between the Dr BSKKV Dapoli and IIT Mumbai under this programme. The Guest of Honour, Dr UV Mahadkar, Director Research , Dr BSKKV Dapoli. briefed about university activities and and asked the participants to deliberate on various issues to solve various ergonomics issues faced by workers in agriculture. Two publications namely Research Highlights of AICRP on Ergonomics and Safety in Agriculture, and Improved Gender Friendly Tools and Equipment for Rice Cultivation in India were also released on this occasion. During the workshop, progress report of various centres were presented and discussed in detail and further work to be done for taking the research results to the stakeholders was finalized. Research programmes and extension activities to be undertaken for next two years were also decided.

World Food DayThe World Food Day was celebrated on October 16. This year's theme for the World Food Day was Family Farming: Feeding the World, Caring for the Earth. Around 150 students from five schools of Bhopal participated in the celebrations. An open quiz show was conducted, which was followed by demonstration of soybean processing facilities.

Workshop of -AICRP on RESThe XVIII Workshop of ICAR-AICRP on RES was organized at GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar during October 29 to November 1. Overall about 60 delegates from various Institutes and Universities participated in the Workshop. Dr JP Singh, Director-

Experiment Station, Pantnagar welcomed the delegates. The workshop was chaired by Dr Kanchan K Singh, Assistant Director General (FE) & (PE), ICAR, New Delhi whereas it was inaugurated by Dr HS Dhami, Vice Chancellor, GBPUAT, Pantnagar. Prof BS Pathak, Ex-Director, SPRERI, VV Nagar was the Guest of honour on the occasion and Dr Bachchan Singh, Ex-Dean, GBPUAT, Pantnagar was special Guest during the Workshop. The Project Coordinators report was presented by Dr KC Pandey, Project Coordinator, ICAR-AICRP on Renewable Sources of Energy for Agriculture and Agro-Industries, CIAE, Bhopal, wherein technology developed and various achievements of Cooperating centre were presented. Three compilations of Coordinating Cell namely Project Coordinator's Report, Status Report on Bio-oil and List of Manufacturers/Suppliers of Renewable Energy Gadgets were released during the Workshop. The vote of thanks was expressed by Dr HC Sharma, Dean, PCT, GBPUAT, Pantnagar. The progress of approved technical programme of various cooperating centres of the AICRP on RES were presented and reviewed on the occasion. Also, the technical programmes presented by Cooperating Centres for next one year were judged for approval. In total ten sessions including Inaugural & Plenary Sessions were organized during the Workshop. The progress of all the six components of the Project namely Solar Energy, Bio-Conversion, Thermo-chemical Conversion, Liquid Bio-fuel Technologies, Operational Research Project and Energy Management in Agriculture were discussed during the Workshop and future programmes for one year for cooperating centres were approved on the basis of their merits.

Visit of Dr RC MaheshwariDr RC Maheshwari, Ex-Vice Chancellor, SDAU visited CIAE on December 2 and held discussion with CIAE scientists.

11 July-December 2014

REPORTS

Health Check-up Camp for Women EmployeesA cancer awareness and health check-up camp with the help of Society for Health Education & Family Welfare (SHEFWEL) for the all women employees of Institute and ladies of CIAE Colony was organized on December 1. Dr Sandeep Kumar, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal was present as a chief guest. Special presentation on common cancer occurred in women was given by Dr Sandeep Kumar, Dr. Karan Peepre, HoD of Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal and Dr Rashmi Bankey, Gynecologist during the forenoon session. Health checkup of ladies was done in the CIAE Dispensary in the afternoon session.

Foreign DeputationDr KK Singh, Director attended the 5th meeting of Agriculture Food Task Force (ATF) on Sustainable Consumption on Production, organized at FAO Headquarter, Rome, Italy during September 10-12.

Dr CR Mehta, Project Coordinator, AICRP on FIM attended the first Annual Meeting of the Asian and Pacific Network for Testing of Agricultural Machinery (ANTAM), organized at Beijing, China during September 16-19.

AWARDS

Dr KP Singh received NASI-ICAR award 2013 on July 29 from Hon'ble Union Agriculture Minister, Shri RM Singh. He received this award for design and development of farm tools and machines for reducing the drudgery of hill and tribal women. The award carries Rs. 1.00 lakh including citation and certificate.

Dr S Mangaraj, Senior Scientist was awarded with ICAR Jawaharlal Nehru Award for PG Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Research in Agricultural and Allied Sciences. Dr Mangaraj completed his Ph.D. on the topic Modified Atmospheric Packaging of Apple, Guava and Litchi.

Human Resource DevelopmentDr LK Sinha, Principal Scientist attended training on Science Administration and Research Management at ASCI Hyderabad during September 15-26.

Dr Nachiket Kotwaliwale, Head, APPD attended Manage-ment Development Programme on Leadership Development at NAARM Hyderabad during December 1-12.

Dr MK Tripathi attended training on Advances microbial techniques at MPCST Bhopal during November 25 to December 1.

Study Leave granted

12

Shri PP Ambalkar, Assistant Chief Technical Officer proceeded on study leave to pursue Ph.D. from Sam Higginbottom Institute of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Allahabad w.e.f. August 11, 2014 to August 10, 2015.

Er RR Potdar, Scientist (FMP) proceeded on study Leave to pursue Ph.D. degree from IARI New Delhi w.e.f. August 1, 2014 to July 31, 2017.

REPORTS

PUBLICATIONSResearch Papers 1. Abraham, A, SK Giri, MK Tripathi, R Singh, WE Devi and V Shukla. 2014. Optimization of fermentation conditions for the

development of probiotic soymilk using Lactobacillus paracasei SSp. Paracasei 013 Strain. International Journal of Research in Engineering & Advanced Technology. 2 (3) : 1-8.

2. Abraham, A, SK Giri, MK Tripathi, R Singh, WE Devi and V Shukla. 2014. Optimization of fermentation conditions for development of probiotic soymilk using L. paracasei ssp. Paracesei 013 strain. International Journal of Research in Engineering and Advanced Technology. 2 (3) : 1-8.

3. Agrahar-Murugkar, Dipika, P Gulati, Nachiket Kotwaliwale and C Gupta. 2014. Evaluation of nutritional, textural and particle size characteristics of dough and biscuits made from composite flours containing sprouted and malted ingredients. Journal of Food Science and Technology. DOI ; 10.1007/s13197-014-1597-y.

4. Ambrose, DCP & Ravindra Naik. 2014. Studies on the mechanical drying of curry leaf. International Journal of Processing & Post Harvest Technology.8 (1): 8-11.

5. Balasubramanian S, D Apramita, KK Singh, JD Bosco and MM Ashish. 2014. Application of glass transition in food processing. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. DOI:10.1080/10408398.2012.734343.

6. Balasubramanian, S, R Viswanathan. 2014. Studies on compaction behavior of composite flours during uniaxial compression process of pasta making. Advances in Applied Research. 6 (1) : 15-21. DOI : 10.5958/j.2349-2104.6.1.003.

7. Chakraborty, SK, DS Singh and BK Kumbhar. 2014. Influence of extrusion conditions on the colour of millet-legume extrudates using digital imagery. Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 53(1) : 65-74.

8. Dhakad SS, Ramana Rao KV, Agrawal V and SK Verma. 2014. Effect of different mole drain spacings on the growth characters and yield of Soybean in Raisen district of MP. Research in Environment and Life Sciences. 7(1): 23-25.

9. Khare, AK, AK Biswas, S Balasubramanian, MK Chatli, J Sahoo. 2014. Optimization of meat level and processing conditions for development of chicken meat noodles using response surface methodology. Journal of Food Science and Technology. 10.1007/s13197-014-1431-6.

10. Kulkarni, SD. 2014. Defatted soy flour in bakery products – potential vehicle for nutrition improvement and entrepreneurship. Processed Food Industry. 17 (8) : 21-24 & 26.

11. Mandal, S, A Kunmar, RK Singh and SV Ngachan. 2014. Road map for farm mechanization in Assam State. Indian Journal of Hill Farming. 27 (1) : 51-61.

12. Mangaraj, S, TK Goswami, and PV Mahajan. 2014. Development and validation of a comprehensive model for MAP of fruits based on Enzyme kinetics theory and Arrhenious relation. Journal of Food Science and Technology. DOI: 10.1007/s13197-014-1364-0.

13. Mehta, CR, NS Chandel, T Senthilkumar. 2014. Status, challenges and strategies of farm mechanization in India. Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 45 (4) : 43-50.

14. Rao, Mahesh, S Narendra, M Sangeeta, S Monika, P Karmakar, T Atmanand, R Sendhil, V Rajagopal. 2014. Indigenous technical knowledge associated with ethnomedicines in Banwar village (Gwalior district), Madhya Pradesh, India. Research & Reviews : A Journal of Pharmacognosy. 1 (2) : 1-5.

15. Selvan, MM, SJK Annamalai, K Kathirvel and S Thambidurai. 2014. Human factors intervention and design improvement of manual single row cono weeder for gender neutrality in low land rice. Agricultural Mechanization in Asia, Africa and Latin America. 45 (4) : 51-57.

16. Singh, RC and CD Singh. 2014. Design and development of an animal drawn farm yard manure spreader. African Journal of Agricultural Research. ( (44) : 3245-3250.

17. Tripathi, M and G Mittal. 2014. Effect of soaking on composition of soymilk. Medicinal Plant – International Journal of Phytomedicines and Related Industries. 6 (2) : 108-113.

Books1. Ali, Nawab and S Mangaraj. 2014. Principles and practices of agricultural processing. Satish Serial Publication. New Delhi.

Pp: 542. ISBN : 978-93-8122-694-0. 2. Tripathi, MK. 2013. Soy Food Analysis. Analytical and Molecular Approach. Lap Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany.

ISBN : 978-3-65946088-3. Pg. 328.

Book ChapterMohapatra, D. 2014. Grain drying theory, practices and developments. In: Drying Technologies for Foods: Fundamentals and Applications. Eds: PK Nema, BP Kaur and AS Mujumdar. Pp: 207-242, Nipa Publications, New Delhi.

Technical Bulletins1. Singh, KP, CR Metha, Anil Kumar Dubey, Mukesh Kumar Singh, UC Dubey. 2014. Conservation agriculture machinery and

its scope to reduce carbon emission : A case study. CIAE Technical Bulletin No. 171. 2. Singh, KP, RC Singh, Anil Kumar Dubey, CD Singh, Mayuri Gupta, Anil Kumar Dohre, Sanjeev Kumar Garg. 2014. Raised

bed cultivation technology for climate resilient agriculture. CIAE Technical Bulletin No. 172.3. Singh, KP, Anil Kumar Dubey, Anil Kumar Dohre, Priyanka Pathak, Sanjeev Kumar and Ariba Fatmi. 2014. Success Story

on Raised Bed Former-cum-Seeder. CIAE Technical Bulletin No. 173.

13 July-December 2014

NEWS FROM PERSONNEL FRONT

14

Dr Chandra Superannuates

Dr Pitam Chandra who joined as Director CIAE in September 2009, superannuated on July 31 after about 33 years of service with ICAR in various capacities. Dr Chandra initially joined ICAR service as Scientist S-2 at CIAE in 1981 [after his graduation from GBPUAT Pantnagar (1974), Masters from University of ManiToba, Canada (1976), Ph.D. from Cornell University, USA (1979), post-doctorate from NC State University, Raleigh and a short stint as Associate Professor in JAU Junagarh]. Later, Dr Chandra served as Scientist S-3 at IARI (1985-2003) and ADG (PE) at ICAR HQ (2003-2009). Dr Chandra has been involved in teaching, research and research management all these years. Appropriate greenhouse technology and establishment of phytotron facility at IARI have been his major contributions. As Director, CIAE he initiated many collaborative research activities with other ICAR Institutes. Due to his consistent

efforts, CIAE could finally begin PG programme in Agricultural Engineering as an outreach campus of IARI.

Dr Chandra would be remembered for his gentlemanly behaviour and unassuming personality. Dr Chandra was given a warm farewell in a function on July 31, wherein his contributions were recalled by various speakers.

CIAE fraternity wishes Dr Chandra and his family a healthy and prosperous future.

CIAE bids adieu to superannuating staffShri MC Sen and Shri RD Yadav, Technical Officers superannuated on July 31. Shri KB Sahu, Skilled Support Staff took voluntary retirement on August 6. Shri MM Nenwani, Senior Technical Officer and Shri HK Saini, Senior Technical Assistant superannuated on September 30. Shri FS Goliya, Technical Officer and Shri HK Mansoori, Senior Technical Assistant superannuated on November 30. Shri BS Nagar, Shri RD Kasde, Shri SK Khare and Shri NM Achuthan, superannuated on December 31. They were all given a warm farewell. CIAE fraternity wishes them and their families a healthy and prosperous future.

CIAE fraternity deeply mourns sad and untimely demise of Shri PN Yadav, SSS (Messenger) on Nov 19.

OBITUARY

Shri SK Khare Shri NM Achuthan

Shri MC Sen Shri RD Yadav Shri KB Sahu

Shri HK SainiShri MM Nenwani Shri FS Goliya

Shri RD KasdeShri HK Mansoori Shri BS Nagar

NEWS FROM PERSONNEL FRONT

Dr KK Singh joins as Director

thDr KK Singh joined as Director, CIAE on September 4. Born on 29 January, 1960 in Varanasi, Dr. Singh obtained his Master of Technology (Processing & Agril. Structures) degree from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana in 1985 and Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in 1997. Started his career as Assistant Professor at RAU, Pusa in August, 1985 and continued until May, 1986, thereafter, joined the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal as Scientist S-1 (ARS-1985) in May, 1986 and worked in different position until April, 2007 before joining as Head, Food Grains & Oilseeds Processing Division at the Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Technology, Ludhiana. Before joining the post of the Director, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Bhopal, Dr. Singh worked as Assistant Director General (Process Engineering) at ICAR HQ, New Delhi. Dr. Singh has made original contributions on the application of cryogenics in food processing for retention of aroma in spice grinding establishing an internationally recognized school of thought in CRYOGENIC GRINDING OF SPICES, an area little explored until now in India or abroad. He developed a commercial scale cryogenic grinder for spices, puffed potato cubes, a novel ready-to-eat product and designed a number of need based

food processing machines like, small capacity dryer for fruits and vegetables, potato peeler and slicer, power operated peanut sheller, expanding pitch type fruit grader, potato pulper for extraction of starch, etc. Some of these machines have been helpful in reducing the drudgery and enhance efficiency of operations, and have been adopted by the small scale processors/farmers. Dr. Singh also developed a thermal processing model to predict cooking index (A280 index) of crambe oilseed (a niche oilseed) based on soluble protein that is useful to identify optimally cooked seed for screw pressing.

Dr. Singh has in his credit more than 80 research publications in the journals of repute and he is co-author of a popular text book entitled 'Unit Operations of Agricultural Processing'. He has been recipient of several awards and honours, such as Jawaharlal Nehru Award, Fellowships of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), Recognition Award of the NAAS, Fellowship of the Indian Society of Agricultural Engineers, and best poster awards. He was awarded Post Doctoral Fellowship/Visiting Scientist in 2000 byb the North Dakota State University, USA. He is Member of the FAO-UNEP Agri-food Task-force on Sustainable Consumption and Production.

Shri MS VermaTechnician

(w.e.f. Aug 1, 2014)

Shri MS KhanAsstt. Chief Tech. Officer

(w.e.f. Feb 24, 2011)

Shri LBS ThakurSr. Tech. Assistant(w.e.f. Jan 1, 2014)

Shri CSP VermaTechnician

(w.e.f. July 23, 2014)

Shri Raviji RainaTechnician

(w.e.f. July 23, 2014)

Shri RS SaxenaChief Technical Officer

(w.e.f. Jan 1, 2013)

Dr Rama Kant TiwariChief Technical Officer

(w.e.f. Feb 3, 2012)

Shri Kishor SisodiaSr. Tech. Assistant

(w.e.f. Jan 15, 2014)

Shri LK ManikpuriSr. Tech. Assistant

(w.e.f. Jan 18, 2014)

Shri OP RajakAssistant

(w.e.f. July 23, 2014)

Shri NL GurjarTechnical Officer

(w.e.f. Jan 3, 2014)

Shri Kalaber KujurSr Technical Assistant (w.e.f. March 8, 2014)

Shri RB AmkareTechnical Officer

(w.e.f. Jan 1, 2014)

Shri SN MoreTechnical Officer

(w.e.f. Oct 3, 2012)

PromotionsThe following staff were promoted to the next cadre.

Our New Colleagues

Shri Sandip MandalScientist

on transfer from ICAR Res. Comp. for NEH Region

(w.e.f. Aug 30, 2014)

Dr M DinProject Coordinator,

AICRP on UAE(w.e.f. Oct 13, 2014)

Shri Sanjay Kumar SinghJr Accounts Officer

(w.e.f. Dec 17, 2014)

Editing: PME Cell (Dr Tarun Kapur, Incharge & Dr Dipika A Murugkar, Principal Scientist)Word Processing: K. ShankarPhotography: M/s SS Bagde and Kalyan SinghPublisher: Director, ICAR-CIAE, Bhopal - 462 038 Phone: 91-755-2737191, Fax: 2734016 Email: director@ciae.res.in; Web: www.ciae.nic.in