Salient Achievements

During last five years (2018-2023) 218 technologies/machines have been developed; 75 technologies have been licensed/commercialised; 41,540 prototypes were manufactured and 1100 entrepreneurs were trained.
Training of rural youth for establishment of agricultural machinery custom hiring centres. During 2014-21, a total of 1261 rural youth were trained and supported for establishment of custom hiring centres by ICAR-CIAE as against 255 during 2007-14.
Assessment of Post-Harvest Losses for 45 major crops/commodities at national level was conducted twice and are being used for policy making in the country
Established about 300 Agro-processing centres for employment generation, value addition and capacity development of the entrepreneurs in the food processing and post-harvest management in production catchments.
Developed Protocols for Shelf Life, Safe Storage, Milling Outturn and Indicative Norms for Procurement of Major Pulses for the country on behalf of Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Consumer Affairs Food and Public Distribution, Govt. of India.
Losses during storage of wheat and rice in warehouses for 3 years were evaluated in FCI and CWC Warehouses and the recommendations of the study have been implemented by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Govt. of India w.e.f. 01.01.2022.
Catalysed establishment of 45 food testing laboratories during 2014-21 for the very first time.
Developed sugarcane bud chip settling transplanter and licensed to three farm machinery manufacturers. The machine has been included under subsidy programme of Tamil Nadu state and more than 52 units of machinery sold in India and abroad during 2020-2021.
The Makhana popping machine developed in 2013-14 has become very popular and eliminated drudgery to negligible level in the popping of makhana besides adding more value to the finished products. Three private licensees are manufacturing this machine and 5 value-added products have been made. Marketing of makhana and its value-added products grew by about 40% in past 3 years.
Developed technology for accelerated retting of jute. This technology saves 50% water and 10-day time in retting of jute. The fibre quality is improved by 1-2 grade enabling additional income of Rs. 4500 per tons of jute fibre. It is commercialised as NINFET-Sathi through signing MoA with M/s Quality Export and Jute Corporation of India. It has become popular in West Bengal among jute growers.
Mechanization solutions were provided to combat burning of crop residues in the northern Indian states. Happy Seeder and other machines numbering 56150 were distributed through a Central Sector Scheme to the farmers that enabled 51.9% reduction in straw burning events in 2019 as compared to 2016.
Developed technology for commercial utilization of the cotton stalks, as source of renewable energy as briquettes and pellets. The sale of chipped cotton stalks can provide additional income of Rs.3000 per hectare to the cotton farmers. Cotton stalks briquetting and pelleting based 30 enterprises are running successfully in Vidharbha region of Maharashtra with about Rs. 120 crore turn-over per annum.
Face masks (having 3 or 4 layers) with excellent breathability and high filtration efficiency have been prepared from engineered double fabric (100 % cotton) structure.
India’s first Nano cellulose plant established at ICAR-CIRCOT, Mumbai.
Lac production technologies have been standardized for various hosts such as Flemingia semialata, Ber, Calliandra calothyrsus. C. calothyrsus was found to be a very good host for cultivation of both the strains of lac insect, Kerria lacca.
Different intercropping models of Flemingi asemialata with vegetable crops were developed for both summer and winter season for production of lac along with other crops for effective utilisation of land.
Pilot plant to make Protein isolate powder established at ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana.
Technology & Machinery Demonstration Mela being organized as an Annual event by the SMD through centres of AICRPs together.
ICAR-CIPHET conducted three national-level studies on harvest and post-harvest losses, efficient warehouse management, and food grain storage losses. The adoption of their recommendations resulted in a 2% reduction in food grain losses between 2006 and 2014, amounting to Rs. 9,900 crores. Furthermore, the annual savings for the Food Corporation of India (FCI) reached Rs. 539.40 crores by 2020.
ICAR-CIPHET conceptualized and established the 293 Agro-Processing Centres (APC) at production catchment to cater the primary processing facilities. Direct benefit of APC – Income of Rs. 6.0 lakh /unit/year and regular employment generation of 04 person/ unit/year.
ICAR-CIPHET, through its various schemes, has been instrumental in developing a range of post-harvest machinery, gadgets, equipment, process protocols, and value-added products in last few years. One notable example is the Mini dal mill (3hp), specifically designed for milling all types of pulses. Additionally, the adoption of this technology has generated employment opportunities, with 7.38 lakh man-days created for manufacturers and 29.53 lakh man-days for operators, respectively.
ICAR-CIPHET established Automated fumigation chamber for grapes at Sahyadri Farms, Maharshtra, along with the SOP of SO2 and CO2 fumigation protocol. The technology is addressing the export of grapes to New Zealand and Australia, wherein it is effectively controlling fruit fly infestations.
ICAR-CIPHET signed an MoU with the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA), Govt of India for the project on the storage of whole pulses. The study will be undertaken through 10 collaborative centers covering warehouses situated in different states and cover the five major pulses namely green gram (moong), black gram (urd), chickpea (chana), pigeon pea (arhar), and lentil (masoor). The project will operate for 3 years with a budget of Rs. 8.58 Crore.