Small Capacity Plant for Post-harvest Process of Mango – Worth to Indian Farmer

Abstract

There are many varieties of fruit; Mango is one of the most favorite subtropical and tropical fruits in the world. It is famous for its flavour and taste. It can be processed and preserved in different forms like pulp, juice, pallets etc. In India, Mango is known as the king of fruits on account of its nutritive value, taste, and fragrance. India is one of the biggest producers of mango in the world in terms of quantity as well as quality. Unfortunately, about, 25–30% of this precious fruit is wasted due to traditional post-harvest practices like packaging, grading, storage etc. This wastage can be reduced to some extent through the correct scientific and technical approach. India has good quality rich and fertile land. However, this fertile land is divided into small orchards like 1 ha, 2 ha etc. Mango is cultivated in almost all states in India and most of the mango orchards have small land holding capacity. Thus, Mango production is also limited. Alphonso mango produced in the Konkan region of the state of Maharashtra has global demand.

It is essential to perform various post-harvesting processes like de-sapping, cleaning, washing, hot water treatment, sorting, grading, packing etc. to improve quality, as well as the shelf life of mango. An ordinary Mango processing plant takes large space and its installation cost is high. So it is necessary to design a small processing plant which is economical for small scale producers.

The central idea of this paper is to present a design of a small capacity mango processing plant which can be affordable to small farmer. It will help to improve quality of mangoes and reduce post-harvest losses. In India approximate yield of mango per hectare is 5–8 tons. If the producer can process the mangoes on farm itself, farmer can directly sell the mangoes to end customer. The need of middleman will be eliminated and the concept of Farm to Home will be implemented.