RCCI chosen products in Agro-Progressing

Herbal Medicinal Plants

Herbs are seed producing annual, biennial or perennial plants that do not develop a persistent woody tissue. They are valued for their healing properties, medicinal, savory or aromatic qualities.

Safed Musli, Isabgol, Ashwagandha, gugal are some potential herbal medicinal plants

Organic Farming

Organic farming' is a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It emphasizes the use of management practices in preference to the use of off-farm inputs, taking into account that regional conditions require locally adapted systems. This is accomplished by using synthetic materials, to fulfill any specific function within the system.

The objective of organic agriculture may be to develop a sustainable agriculture system, which maintains and/or improves soil fertility so as to ensure adequate food production and relies as much as possible upon resources from within its own area. Agriculture is primarily applied biology and is most likely to be successful when it accepts and follows principles such as (a) Non farm waste recycling, (b) non-chemical weed management, (c) biological pest control, (d) integrated Nutrient Management for sustaining soil fertility and crop productivity.


Latent Need for Organic Farming

• Majority of small, poor and marginal farmers are dependent on rainfall for farming and there are few irrigational projects in the state.
• Land productivity (i.e. per hectare output) is declining due to ever increasing use of chemical fertilizers.
• Market regulation and regulated markets or marketing have given limited benefits to farmers. In agriculture the level of capital investment is very low in general and is almost insignificant in rainfed farming.
• There are not many scientific breakthroughs in improving quality and production of rainfall agriculture.
• The ever-increasing cost of production despite massive government subsidies is a major cause for concern.
• Due to the increasing level of literacy, there is a concern for quality of output and its impact on health and nutrition, agriculture practices, use of chemicals and environmental pollution in the masses.
• With the waves of globalization affecting every industry, the need to be competent and compete with the best in the world urges us to give the adequate weightage to organic farming.

The state of Rajasthan nurtures the essential environment, which provides opportunities to develop organic farming, and through it a second green revolution can be initiated.

Opportunities to Explore

• A large variety of small/poor/marginal farmers (approx.75%) of Rajasthan have not used modern inputs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticides and hybrid seeds and therefore automatically qualify as organic food producers.
• Even those farmers who have used excessive chemicals have been adversely affected with regards to soil health and may consider natural farming for sustainable agriculture.
• Research5 shows that consumers in Rajasthan are willing to purchase organically produced food at a premium (10%-50%)price.
• 90% of the respondents (consisting of farmers, customers, wholesalers, retailers) officials from state agriculture department and krishi vigyan kendras believe that chemical fertilizers have adversely affected the quality of farm produce.
• 60% of them feel that agriculture is possible without chemicals.

Spices


Spices are the aromatic substance of vegetable origin crops, which are cultivated in wide range of agro climatic conditions. Spices and condiments are natural plants or vegetables products or their mixture used in its whole or ground form for giving flavour, aroma and pungency to food. These are commonly used to season food dishes. Although more than 60 plants species are cultivated in the country, major crops which have sizable area and are traded nationally/internationally are given below with their uses.

Fruits and vegetables


The total production of fruits and vegetables in India is about 70 million tons per year, out of which 30% goes waste. Out of this, only 0.9 million tons are processed.

Fruits and vegetables can earn 20to 30 times of foreign exchange per unit than cereals due to higher yields and higher prices available in the international market. One very important trend observed in the last few years is that the development of fruits and vegetables sector has gradually moved out of its rural confines into urban areas and from traditional agriculture enterprises to the corporate sector. This trend has led to the adoption of improved technology, greater commercialization and professionalism in the management of production and marketing. A large no. of 100 percent Export oriented units are coming up and joint venture with foreign collaborators are taking off as never before.

Considering the availability of vegetables and fruits in Rajasthan State, it is proposed to dehydrate green peas, cauliflower, carrot, okra, papaya, muskmelon etc. The dehydrated vegetables and fruits are used in preparation of pulao, soups and in cooked vegetables, snacks etc.

Dehydration is a drying by artificially produced heat under carefully controlled conditions of temperature, humidity and airflow. The keeping quantity of food material is greatly influenced by its water content. The underlying principle of preservation by dehydration process is to remove the moisture content of material to a level where microorganisms may not spoil it (moisture less than 5%).