Agro Based Industries In India
Some are agro based industries in india which produce simple agricultural products using relatively simpler technologies like crushing, grinding, compacting, polishing, mixing etc. Their examples are rice, dal and flour mills, animal feeds manufacturing units, hay-fodder production farms, natural fibre production spices and condiments processing etc. Other agro based industries make use of com- plex technologies to produce a variety of products from the primary agricultural raw materials for example; extraction of oil from soyabean seeds, preparation of beverages, vinegars, alcohols, jams, jellies, preserves etc. from fruit and vegetables, preparation of milk products, pork products and so on.
I. SPICES INDUSTRY
India is rightly famous all over the world E as the “Home of Spices” where about 63 – spices and condiments are grown under different soil and climatic conditions. India annually produces over two million tonnes of different spices valued at about Rs 3,500 crores. Spices are good foreign exchange earners for the country through their export to different parts of the world. They are exported as such in raw form after primary processing or made into various types of mixtures, powders or extracts.
The spices and condiments are used in food and medicine because of their essential oil contents, taste and aromatic properties. Important among spices are pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, chilli, garlic, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, celery, saffron, clove, nutmeg and cinnammon. Pepper is the most important spice in terms of quantity and value realized. Cardamom, ginger, tur- meric, clove, nutmeg are the other impor- tant spices earning foreign exchange. Saffron is the costliest spice on earth and in India its cultivation is confined mainly to the Kashmir valley. Seed spices like corriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, celery are comparatively minor exchange earners. Important value added products from spices are oils, oleoresins and curry powder. Curry powder industry is receiving much attention these days and its export has increased to 3,000 tonnes annually and there is scope for further growth.
1-Cardamom (Elettaria cardanomum (L) Maton
It is a plantation crop grown under natural conditions of tropical forest on slopy lands with good drainage. Loam and lateritic soils having 150 cm annual rainfall suit the crop which grows best at 10-35°C temperature. The yield constitute of dry capsule 1.5 to 2.9 t/ha. Capsules are cured and stored in polythene lined bags before marketing.
2-Pepper (Piper nigrum L.)
Commonly called Kali mirch is a perennial climbing vine. It grows in humid tropics on well drained clay loam soil rich in humus and requires warm humid climate with 250cm rainfall and requires 14-40°C temperature. Fruits take 6-8 months to mature which are used after curing.
3-Chillies (Capsicum annuum L.)
It is commonly called red pepper and widely used for chutnies and pickles due to its pungency. An alkaliod “Capsicin” is obtained from chillies. Chillies grow better on well drained black cotton soil as well as on light alluvial loamy and red loamy soils under both irrigated and rainfed conditions. The yield varies from 500 kg, to 10-20 q./ha depending upon cultivation conditions.
II. MEDICINAL PLANTS INDUSTRY
Medicinal and aromatic plants form a numerically large group of economically important plants which provide basic raw materials. Medicinal plants for the indigenous pharmaceutical, flavour and cosmetic industries help the country to earn foreign exchange.
The curative properties of drugs are due to the presence of complex chemical substances of varied composition in one or more parts of these plants. The plant metabolites according to their composition are grouped as alkaloids, glycosides, cortico steroids, essential oils etc. Some of the important medicinal plants are:
1-Opium poppy (Papaver Somniferum)
It is an important medicinal plant of India which is the main source of opium and opium alkaloids, such as morphine, codeine, thebaine and papverine widely used in modern pharmaceutical preparations. Poppy is grown mainly in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. India is the largest and only legal producer of opium.
2-Saucepan Bearing Yams
Various species of Discoriea, often refered to as sapogenin bearing yams, are among the most important medicinal plants in terms of economic value throughout the world. The tubers contain diosgenine, the basic raw material for synthesis of steroidal drugs. These yams also provide raw material for industrial production of corticosteroids including cortisone used for treating large number of ailments. Most of the steroidal drugs in India are now being produced from rhizome of Dioscorea deltoidea collected from the forests of Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.
3-Psyllium (Isabgol)
India is the major producer and supplier of Psyllium seeds and husk to the world market. Isabgol based drugs have gained increasing popularity in India and abroad. Infusions and decoctions of whole seed and husk are used as bulk laxatives. It overcomes chronic diarrhoea and dysentery. It is mainly grown in Gujarat and the adjoining areas of Rajasthan.
4-Cinchona
Dried bark of stem and roots of cinchona species are the sources of over 25 alkaloids. The most important being Quinine, Quinidine, Cinchonine and Cinchonidine. Quinine is mainly used as suppressive anti-malaria drug. It is also used as flavouring agent in soft drinks. There is ample scope to cultivate and process cinchona bark for its alkaloids. Cinchona is mainly grown in Northern West Bengal and hills of Tamil Nadu.
5-Mints
Mint oil, obtained by steam distillation of the whole herb of Mentha arvensis is the best source of natural menthol with its wide use in pharmaceutical and flavour industries. Kitchen garden mint, or pudina (Mentha viridis) is grown mainly for flavouring domestic culinary preparations and is also used in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries.
III. FOOD TECH INDUSTRY
Fruits and vegetables have gained considerable commercial importance all over the world, contributing significantly to the economics of many countries including India. Being seasonal, these commodities are available in abundance mainly during their respective harvesting period. Fruits and vegetables after harvesting start deterioration through physiological process combined with deleterious activity of micro organisms. They can be kept for long time without significant deterioration if both these processes are checked. There are different methods of preserving them viz., canning, freezing, drying, fermentation and use of chemical preservatives; i.e. sugars, salts, spices etc. Out of these preservation methods, use of chemical preservatives, sugar, salt and vinegar is relatively simpler and easily practicable. Most common products prepared through preservation of fruits and vegetables are:
(i) squashes;
(ii) cordials;
(iii) ketchup;
(iv) jam;
(v) jellies;
(vi) marmalades.
Squashes, contain 25 per cent of fruit juice with 60 per cent sugar. The cordial has 25 per cent juice content with a sparkling finish because the juice is clarified. We can have fruits for our table everyday in the form of jams, jellies and marmalades. Jam is a product having a firm gel consistency. It is made of fruit pulp or juice. Fruit jelly is a semi solid gel pre- pared from the filtered extract of fruits boiled in water. It is a clear transluscent product having no fruit pulp. Marmalade is generally made from citrus fruits. It could be a jam or jelly type. Peel of the fruit is added in this case. Fruits and vegetables can also be preserved by turning them into preserves crystallised and glazed fruits i.e., the fruit or vegetable pieces are preserved by a syrup of high sugar concentrate. Fruits can also be preserved by sun drying and dehydration.
A review of the product pattern during last five years indicates a two fold rise of production of fruit pulp, fruit based drinks and jam groups of products. Fruit juice concentrates are the base materials for fruit beverages. Now a days, there is gradual shift from soft aerated drinks to fruit based soft beverages. This has created new opportunities in the export market for fruit beverage bases like pulps and concentrates. Other fruit products gaining very great importance in the market are fruit bars (mango, guava, apple), fruit toffee, conventional glazed fruits, murabba and preserves. Preparation of fruit powder is also another feature in recent years.
Tomato products including ketchup, sauce and paste have come to stay as important items in domestic market. Pickling industry is also gaining potential importance throughout the world. Major fruits used for making pickles are mango, lemon, chilli, ginger etc.
IV. SUGAR INDUSTRY
Sugarcane and sugarbeet are two main crops that contribute approximately 56 and 44 per cent respectively of the total sugar production in the world. Sugarcane (Saccharum officenarum L) is the main source of sugar in India and holds a prominent position among cash crops. India is the only country where sugarcane is used as raw material on a large scale for different purposes i.e., for production of white sugar, gur (jaggery) and khandsari. Two important by products which indirectly contribute to a reduction in the cost of sugar are molasses and bagasse. Molasses is used in the alcohol industry. A new development is the use of bagasse for making paper and even rayon besides building boards. Alcohol or wine is a fermentation product of surgery materials chiefly the molasses from sugar industry. Carbohydrates of these products are converted to alcohol by the action of enzymes produced by yeast (Saccharo myces ellipsoideus) added for fermentation. Fermentation is a chain reaction carried out by micro-organisms. The alcohol produced in above reaction if not expelled is further acted upon by bacteria which convert the product into vinegar (acetic acid). Special type of fermentation chambers are used for filling the raw materials viz., juice, gur, molasses, ripe grapes, etc. Several types of liquors are obtained by fermentation of juice from palm tree (neera), from rice (sake), from cashew or coconut (fenny).
Vinegar (5 per cent acetic acid) is also another product that is obtained from molasses, low grade honey, cane juice, fruits like grapes, apple, oranges etc. after alcoholic fermentation.
V. OILS, GRAINS AND PULSES INDUSTRY
Major oil yielding crops are sesamum, mustard, sunflower, coconut, soyabean, safflower, groundnut, castor, olive etc. There are two types of oils: edible and non edible.
Among vegetable oils importance has to be given to the copra industry. Copra crushing is an important traditional industry in all coconut growing areas. Copra is the dried coconut and it is mainly of two types milling copra and edible copra.
Grains like wheat, rice, and maize are processed in factories to produce different products. Maida, suji and dalia from wheat and poha, murmura and chiwda from rice and maize are some of the products popularly manufactured in factories. For maida, suji and dalia preparations wheat grains are subjected to some treatment, for removal of fibrous material by soak treatment, drying and flouring employing different sieves. Similar processes are also applied for paddy to obtain poha, murmura and chiwda. The rice grain is subjected to soaking and dry heat, treatment which convert the grain in different forms. These are then further polished, processed and graded before packing.
VII. FIBRE INDUSTRY
Since times immemorial the man has learnt the art of extracting natural fibres from various plants and putting them to most diverse uses. A large number of fibre yielding plants have been brought under cultivation as cash crops which provide raw material for the gigantic fibre industry. Some of the important fibre crops of the Country are briefly described below:
1-Cotton (Gossypium sps.)
Large number of varieties and hybrids of indigenous as well as exotic cotton are grown in the country. Although India has the largest area under cotton in the world, the yield per hectare is quite low. Radical agronomic and other measures are imperative to increase cotton production in the country.
2-Jute (Corchorus sps.)
Mainly two species capsularis or white jute and olitorious or ‘tossa’ jute are grown on loamy alluvial soils under hot and humid climatic conditions. It is a more labour intensive crop (270-300 mandays) than cereal crops like paddy (150-170 mandays). The fibre is used for the manufacture of a variety of goods like gunny bags, sackings, ropes, carpet backings etc.
3-Flax (Linum Usitatissimum)
The fibre is valued for its strength, durability, softness, shining and high water absorbancy. It is used for linen stiching, making twines and fishing nets, carpet backings, house furnishing. It is a good raw material for making tissue paper, water bags, hose pipes etc.
4-Sisal (Agave Sisalana)
Fibre is extracted from the leaves of the perennial plants to make ropes, ma- tresses, brushes, mats and other fancy items. Although its commercial cultivation is mostly confined to poor soils under rainfed conditions.
All these agro-industries have very interesting tales of their origin. For ex- ample, initially the cashewnut (Anacardium occidental) was widely planted to check soil erosion, but now cashewnut has become a major foreign exchange earner of the country. Cashewnut processing is a labour intensive industry. Apart from nuts, the cashew apple is also used for making an alcoholic drink ‘feni’ and several other products like syrup, juice concentrate, candies, jams and so on.