vegetable,Cut flower

Biopesticides, Processing units Fruit and

The biofertilizers are the one of the basic input required for the crop production. They includes the carrier based inoculant of the micro-organisms like Rhizobium (off different legume crop group), Azotobacter, Phosphate solubilizing micro-organism, blue green algae, Azolla (for rice crop) which when added to soil or used as the seed treatment, fix the atmospheric nitrogen solubilizing the fixed phosphate and made it available to the crop plant hence saving the 2/3 of the nutrient to be supplied through the inorganic fertilizers. Biopesticides consist of a microorganism (e.g., a bacterium, fungus, virus or protozoan) as the active ingredient when employed against any pest, eradicate it. Microbial pesticides can control many different kinds of pests, although each separate active ingredient is relatively specific for its target pest[s] Most biopesticides have no restricted entry interval requirements. Whereas conventional products often limit the time growers can return to the fields following a treatment. This can hamper pruning, weeding, irrigation or other cultural practices. Homeowners as well may have difficulty keeping children and pets off treated areas, using biopesticides can alleviate these concerns. Another advantage of biopesticides is reduce time to harvest. If a late season pest is discovered close to harvest or if a field contains a crop with multiple harvests, there may not be a conventional product option biopesticides can fill in that gap. They are having following advantages over chemical pesticides. i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. They are eco-friendly and are non hazardous to other insects, fish, birds, mammals They are more target specific affecting only the target pests and their close relatives. There are fewer chances of development of resistance against pest used. They are often effective in small quantity. Biopesticides are safer and cheaper. They are easy to apply and are suited for rural areas. Following application of biopesticides there is no need for a waiting time before harvest. No residual toxicity.

Bioagents are the microbial inoculants which parasitizes or hyper parasitize the pest and disease casing organisms thus have reduced use of the pesticides reduces the pesticides residues on the crop produce.

The crop residues decomposer includes the organisms like Trichoderma, which decomposes the crop residues and act as the biocontrol agents for the various soil borne plant pathogens. Vermicompost which is also supply the decomposed crop residues which add the basic nutrient in the soil which maintains the soil fertility and productivity for the longer duration. b) Processing units Fruit and vegetable

India emerging as a major producer of fruits and vegetables in the world. It was next to China in production of vegetables and topped in production of fruit. But the fruit and vegetable processing has not got beyond 3 Mt tones. Significant developments in technology include better understanding of the process of ripening of fruits, optimum harvesting time, pre-cooling of freshly harvested produce, cold storing of the raw fruits and vegetables, sorting, cleaning, waxing, packaging technology for fruits. Most significant work has been recorded in the technology for ripening of the fruits under controlled conditions. Production of juices and value-added products including jams, jellies, pickles, canned products etc. has become a commercial success. But lack of training to the rural youth such unit which has the export potential are not coming up in the area. Technology is still being imported for establishment of large scale exported oriented units for production of items like banana paste, concentrates of various fruit juices, sorting, cleaning, washing, waxing and packaging of raw fruits and vegetables. The industry has been facing problems of low capacity utilization, technological obsolescence and marketing. It has to work under the constraints of high fluctuations in raw material quality and fluctuating market price, poor technology for handling and storage, inadequate R&D support for product development, high cost of energy and uncertainty in availability of adequate quantity for processing purposes, inadequate and expensive cold chain facilities and varying requirement of processing conditions from one material to another. Thus R&D has to focus on the issues of economically producing value-added products and product diversification. c) Frozen/Dehydrated Pulp/Canned concentrates fruits and vegetables

The state being a significant producer of fruits and vegetables, especially in items like pineapple, lychee, mango, potato, tomato, green vegetables, mushroom and papaya enjoys key advantage of setting up fruit and vegetable processing units. The processed products of this sector include:

i. ii. iii. iv.

Frozen/Dehydrated fruits and vegetables Pulp/Canned concentrates Jams, Jellies, Juices, Squashes and Pickles Potato Granules/Flakes/Fries/Chips/Dehydrated potato cubes/Slices Processed Mushroom

d) Processing units for Medicinal and Aromatic Products The plant based pharmaceuticals, herbal medicines, perfumery, cosmetics, fragrances and food flavour industries recorded a phenomenal expansion in last two decade as a result, this sector figures in high annual growth rate industries in agri-business. In terms of market share in production value, India is sliding downwards and presently stands at sixth rank with only 6% share in world trade. The R&D work on PHT of medicinal and aromatic plants had been confined to the IBRI, Lucknow and a few of the CSIR and ICAR laboratories. The thrust has been harvesting of the plants, curing/drying, and extraction of the medicinal and aromatic substances. The export earnings could be increased by innovations in the field of post harvest technology for increasing productivity and improving quality. In case of medicinal plants, studies need to be conducted to develop testing procedures/analytical facilities to meet stringent international standards and to carry out product/process development for low cost chemicals from both raw materials and other by-products. e) Floriculture Ornamental plants play a very important role in environmental planning of urban and rural areas for abatement of pollution, social and rural forestry, wasteland development, aforestation and landscaping of outdoor and indoor spaces. Floriculture is also an important agri-business with potential for export trade. The area under floriculture in India has increased to nearly 40,000 ha, which constitutes around 17% of total global acreage. In spite of such a large area, production value is very low. The quality of Indian produce is poor and not acceptable in international market. The produce quality deteriorates further due to improper packaging, storage and transportation and longer shelf life of cut flowers. Floriculture is largely an export oriented agro-industry. There are 14 flowers in the world cut flower trade. The trade is growing at the rate of 15% per annum. Yet Indian exports are limited only to a few flowers namely, Gladiolus, Chrysanthemums, Jasmine and Orchids. Indias share in the world floriculture trade is a minuscule with 0.59% exports during 1992-93 valued at Rs. 149.1 million. Cultivation of high quality varieties under

protected conditions, proper tools and equipment, appropriate packaging and storage can create a niche for Indian flowers in the world market.

Potential dried flowers and floral craft items: The beauty and fresh look of cut flowers can be retained only for few days . The beauty and fresh look of cut flowers can be retained only for few days even by using the best techniques of post-harvest technology but the charm of dried flowers and foliage can be maintained from a few months