Agro-processing is seen as a set of techno-economic activities that are carried out for handling and conservation of agricultural produce and to use it as food, feed, fiber, fuel, or industrial raw material. Therefore the agro-processing industry involves all operations from the stage of the harvest till the material reaches the end-user in the form of packaging, quantity, quality, and price.
The Agro-processing industry is seen as a growing sector of the Indian economy due to its large potential growth and likely socio-economic impact mostly on employment and income generation. The data suggest that in developed countries approx. 14% of the total workforce is engaged either directly or indirectly in the agro-processing sector. Moreover, in India, approx. 3% of the workforce can get employment in this sector. Properly developed, the agro-processing sector will be able to make India a big player globally for marketing and supply of processed food, feed, and a wide range of other plant and animal products.
Related Book:- Modern Technology of Agro Processing & Agricultural Waste Products
The technological revolution in the industry of agriculture has greatly increased the production of agriculture. The net impact by the revolution in agriculture has given fast development on food processing industries across the globe. Due to this fast development, significant quantities of agricultural products are subjected to processing to make it suitable for consumption, increased storage stability, better nutrition, and sensory quality.
Related Projects:- Food Processing and Agriculture Based Projects
The consumption of the food processing waste segment is likely to reach 182 MN tonnes by the end of the assessment period, with a 5.1% growth rate. Whereas, the consumption waste segment is projected to reach US$ 30 Bn by the end of the assessment period. Further, this segment will reach 139 MN tonnes by 2027-end and it is estimated to increase at 4.4% CAGR throughout the assessment period. The food industry has generated enough quantity of food products that are employing a large number of people and can uplift the economic status however it has also generated waste in the big quantity that is causing environmental pollution.
Conversion of the Agricultural Waste into Energy Products
- Biochar/Charcoal – These could be used either as fuel or for the manufacturing of valuable substances like activated carbon. The woody crop waste like coconut shells is better suited for charcoal making. Charcoal holds a good prize in a lot of markets and can be an attractive business too.
- Generation of power for commercial and industrial units – Using different technologies, crop waste can generate power from a very small scale to a large scale. A lot of agricultural and farm waste can be used for it.
- Commercial and industrial heating – Almost all types of farm waste can be used for industrial heating purposes such as in boilers and hot air generators, in cook stoves, overs, and other small appliances too. Whereas some of them especially some types of boilers can be used in their loose forms while other appliances will be needing the crop waste in the form of briquettes or pellets.
- Biofuels such as biodiesel or ethanol- These can be produced from crop waste. The crop waste that is rich in starch or cellulose like waste from sugar cane, potato or corn; can be used to make ethanol, and the crop waste that is rich in liquids such as oil seeds i.e. jatropha and also a certain type of microalgae could be used to make biodiesel, a direct substitute for diesel.
Related Books:- Agriculture, Agro Based, Bakery, Wood, Ice Cream, Chocolate Cereal Food
Conclusion
The book by NPCS named “Modern Technology of Agro-Processing & Agricultural Waste Products” deals with various aspects of agro products such as Quality Parameters of Dehydrated Fruits and Vegetables, Fruit Specific Preservation Technologies, General Properties of Fruits and Vegetables; Chemical Composition and Nutritional Aspects, and a lot more informative topics. If you are interested in agro-processing or products from agricultural waste then this book is all you need to get the latest trend and information about the industry.
Noo_Art20