Agricultural production in
India has made rapid strides in the past three decades and
enabled us to achieve self sufficiency in food
grains. Significant increase have also been achieved
in the production of fruits, vegetables, milk, egg, meat
and other food products. However, less than 1% of our
total horticultural produce is processed as compared to
more than 60% in developed countries. It is estimated
that the post harvest losses in durable commodities are
around 10% and in perishables about 40%, resulting in a
value loss of the order of Rs.50,000 crores a year, because
of the inadequate processing technologies, infrastructure
facilities and qualified technical personnel. In the
present scenario of economic liberalization, GATT agreement
and changing food consumption habits, the Indian Food
Industry will shift to foods that demand more appropriate
handling, processing, preservation, storage and marketing
resulting in greater protein intake besides making the
Indian food products internationally competitive.
Present
status of Indian agriculture and food processing industries
clearly indicate that India has the potential to be the
largest food factory. The worth of value added foods
produced from these food industries is estimated to reach
Rs.2,25,000/- crores by 2005 from Rs.80,000 crores of
present level.
To meet out the
challenges in the food processing industry, adequate number
of qualified technical personnel in food process
engineering is the need of the hour. Anticipating the
high demand of technical personnel in the field of Food
Process Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has
started the B.Tech. course in Food Process Engineering from
the academic year 1998-99 with an annual intake of 20
students and the programme is being offered at College of
Agricultural Engineering, Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, Coimbatore.
The
objective of B.Tech.(Food Process Engineering) programme is
to train the best talents of the nation in order to provide
a support base for the country’s food security.
The syllabus is framed to enable the students to comprehend
the whole gamut of the fast changing food scenario of the
world.
The
programme is designed to expose the students to the
state-of-art laboratory facilities created with assistance
from Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Govt. of
India; Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR); Govt. of Tamil Nadu and various other
agencies. Hands-on training in commercial food
processing industries, students’ project work,
exposure to national and international seminars and
multi-disciplinary approach are the highlights of this
course.
The B.Tech.(Food
Process Engineering) course is being patronized mainly by
four departments viz., (1) Agricultural
Processing, (2) Farm Power and Machinery, (3) Bio
Energy, (4) Soil and Water Conservation and Agricultural
Structures. The thrust of each department in respect
of their activities is three fold, viz., teaching, research
and extension education, which are carried out in an
integrated manner.
PROFILE
OF COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING,
COIMBATORE
The
College of Agricultural Engineering, Coimbatore is one of
the constituent colleges of Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University. This is the first college started in
South India for providing an Agricultural Engineering
degree. The first batch of students was admitted in
July 1972. Masters degree programme, M.E.(Ag.) was
started during the year 1977 and Ph.D. in Agricultural
Engineering was started in the year 1987.
ACTIVITIES
AT COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
Department
of Agricultural Processing
The department was
established in 1974 for the purpose of teaching, research
and extension in Agricultural Processing and Food
Engineering. It is having well established
laboratories like Unit Operations Lab, Properties Lab for
Biological Materials, Post Harvest Technology Lab, Crop
Process Engineering Lab, Heat and Mass Transfer Lab, Food
and Dairy Engineering Lab, Materials Handling Lab, Machine
Tools Lab, CAD/CAM Lab, etc.,
The following are the major areas of research in the
department of Agricultural Processing:
• Design and
development of food processing equipments
• Processing of fruits and vegetables
• Preservation of intermediate moisture foods
• Vacuum, modified and controlled atmosphere packaging
technology
• Membrane separation technology
• Freeze drying of perishable commodities
• Extrusion cooking and food product development
• Extraction of oleoresins and essential oils
• Development of value-added products
• Agricultural wastes and by-products utilization and
management
Farm
Power and Machinery
The
department is well equipped with number of laboratories
like Heat Engines Lab, Traction Lab, Soil Dynamics Lab,
Ergonomics Lab, Electrical and Instrumentation Lab, Machine
shop with carpentry, fitting, welding, smithy and foundry
facilities. The department has a range of research
interest in the areas of development of Farm Implements and
Machinery suitable for different agro-climatic zones of
Tamil Nadu and for different cropping systems.
Bio
Energy
The
department was established in the year 1982 for the purpose
of teaching, research and extension in Renewable Energy
Sources for agriculture and agro-based industries.
The department has well developed laboratories like Fuel
Testing Lab, Biochemical Engineering Lab, Wood Gasifier
Testing Lab, Solar Energy Lab, Wind Mill Testing Lab,
Biogas Lab, Chulha Testing Lab and workshop facilities for
fabrication and testing. Areas of research include
utilization of solar energy and solar photo-voltaic
systems, fuel cell power plants, biomass gasification,
alcohol production technology, wind mills, biogas and
smokeless stoves.
Soil and
Water Conservation and Agricultural
Structures
The department is equipped
with Soil and Water Conservation Lab, Soil Mechanics Lab,
Hydraulic Machinery Lab, Fluid Mechanics Lab, Surveying Lab
and Strength of Materials Lab. The department has
research activities in the areas of sprinkler and micro
irrigation, on-farm irrigation methods, water management
and use of plastics in agriculture.
NRI
quota: Five seats are allotted
under NRI quota.
The
minimum qualification for admission under this quota is as
follows:
1. Upper age limit: 25 years
2. Minimum marks: Pass in the qualifying examination with
the following subjects:
i Maths
ii Physics and iii. Chemistry
3. Fee: US$ 2100 per semester
For
further details contact:
Dean(Agriculture) and
Chairman Admissions
Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University
Coimbatore – 64 1
003
Phone: 91-422-
6611210
, 91-422-6611410
E-mail: ugadmissions
@tnau.ac.in