Coffee Board seeks help from IIT-Kharagpur

BEVERAGES The engineering institute will act as knowledge partner for the board

For those who do not like the sight of used tea bags, help is at hand. IIT-Kharagpur has developed instant, soluble tea power which may soon replace the ugly tea bag at vending machines across airports, railway stations, malls and offices.

Just in case you like honey in your tea and find it messy to use the sweet, sticky liquid, you may have a reason to thank the engineering institute once again.

The institute is developing honey powder "" that is, honey which is dried and stored as powder. It is also attempting to improve the taste and quality of mango juice for manufacturers with the help of technology.

Clearly, inspired by these developments the Coffee Board, too, is getting its act together to improve productivity. The Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur (KGP) will work as a knowledge partner for the Coffee Board of India to develop technology to modernise the coffee industry, bring its production cost down and make exports viable.

IIT-KGP was chosen for the modernisation of the coffee industry because the premier technology institute has successfully handled similar projects in the past, thereby proving its expertise in handling agricultural projects. It had helped the West Bengal government in improving the efficiency of its rice mills in the past.

The project, estimated at Rs 3 crore, will be funded by the board. Speaking to Business Standard, HN Mishra, professor of the Agricultural and Food Engineering Department of IIT-KGP, said, "We are in the process of signing a memorandum of understanding with the Coffee Board of India".

Mishra said that currently coffee plantation was a labour- and cost-intensive task. "We will develop technology to help modernise the machines and introduce more automation in their usage," he added.

According to data provided by the Coffee Board of India, the country is estimated to produce 291,000 metric tonnes of coffee post blossom for 2007-08. Around 381,085 hectares is under coffee cultivation in the country.

Coffee consumption in the country is around 802,00 metric tonne per annum. The country exported 248,687 metric tonne coffee to over 43 countries, it earned close to Rs 2,057.43 crore in 2006-07.

IIT Kharagpur is going all out to help the food industry. It is signing a memorandum of understanding with the Technology, Information, Forecasting and Assessment Council, a science and technology department of the government of India, for developing agro-based industries surrounding popular summer fruits such as mango and litchi, especially in the Malda district of West Bengal.

According to Mishra, IIT-KGP will provide technological know-how on ways to improve efficiency of the existing units so that the agro-industries of the area can churn out mango, sliced mango and its by-products more scientifically, thereby reducing costs and pushing up market value.

The institute will also develop technology to improve the existing 35 food processing units in the region and would also help in improving production of Malda's 42-acre food park.

Having developed tomato powder in the past, IIT-KGP is now in the process of developing technology to manufacture honey powder.

"The storage cost of honey powder is lower than honey," said Mishra. The tomato powder technology has already been put to commercial use by a Punjab-based company.

The institute has previously dabbled in edibles like herbal snacks, yoghurt powder and instant dahi powder.