Year of Establishment:- 2013

MANDATE

• Conduct experiments to Prevent Post Harvest losses of Horticultural crops.
• To improve shelf life of fruits, vegetables & flowers.
• Assisting Post graduate & Ph.D students Research work on Post Harvest Technology.

Value Addition in Horticulture is the process in which a high price is realized for the same volume of a primary product, by means of processing, packing, upgrading the quality or other such methods.

Need for value addition in Horticulture

• To improve the profitability of farmers.
• To empower the farmers and other weaker sections of society especially women through gainful employment opportunities and revitalize rural communities.
• To provide better quality, safe and branded foods to the consumers.
• To emphasize primary and secondary processing.
• To reduce post harvest losses.
• Reduction of import and meeting export demands.
• Way of increased foreign exchange.
• Encourage growth of subsidiary industries.
• Reduce the economic risk of marketing.

Importance of Value Addition in Horticulture

• Horticulture deals a large group of crops having great medicinal, nutritional, health promoting values.
• India as second largest producer of fruits and vegetables, only 10 per cent of that horticultural produce is processed, but other developed and developing countries where 40-80 per cent produce is value added.
• Horticultural crops provide varied type of components, which can be effectively and gainfully utilized for value addition like pigment, amino acids, oleoresins, antioxidants, flavors, aroma etc.
• Post harvest losses in horticultural produce are 5 to 30 per cent which amounts to more than 8000 crore rupees per annum. If we subject our produce to value addition the losses can be checked.
• Horticultural crops are right material for value addition because they are more profitable, has high degree of process ability and richness in health promoting compounds and higher potential for export.