09/06/2018
Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute, Hapur
Government of India
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food &Public Distribution,
Department of Food & Public Distribution,
Introduction
As a result of the green revolution, independent India witnessed the four-fold increase in its foodgrains production which led to self-sufficiency to its increasing population and achieved the position of the second highest producer of foodgrains in the World. After meeting its food requirement India is having a sizeable quantity of foodgrains for export to the other countries.
Govt. of India has paid sufficient attention to the protection of the foodgrains to achieve the goal of food security and quality consciousness and has developed a well-trained technical expertise in the storage of foodgrains all over the country.
Govt. of India is having well-established scientific and technical expertise through IGMRI Hapur with its field stations at Ludhiana & Hyderabad to monitor research and development activities in the field of scientific storage of foodgrains.
About the Institute
Indian Grain Storage Management & Research Institute, (IGMRI) a pioneer Institute in the field of post-harvest technology of foodgrains, was established in 1958 with the aim of:
I. Providing apex level training for personnel engaged in handling and maintenance of foodgrains in godowns, silos and at farms.
II. To develop facility for applied research in the field of storage and preservation of foodgrains
IGMRI was originally known as the Grain Storage Research and Training Centre (GSRTC).
Later two field stations were established at Ludhiana and Bapatla (later shifted to Hyderabad) with UNDP assistance in 1968. These were primarily established for conducting intensive studies on the problem of handling and storage of wheat, rice, millets, pulses and oilseeds in different agro-climatic zones of the country, predominantly suited to these commodities
MISSION
Creation of skilled manpower on scientific storage of foodgrains to preserve its quality and minimise the losses
Safe and scientific storage of foodgrains procured by government
Objectives & Activities
To investigate the nature, extent and degree of losses in foodgrains due to various factors under different agro-climatic conditions;
To develop code of practices for proper grain storage and handling by recommending cost-effective techniques for the control of insects, rodents, birds and micro-organisms;
To develop suitable publicity material and semi-technical literature on grain storage and quality control in foodgrains;
To train personnel from various organizations viz. FCI, CWC, SWCs, Civil Supplies Corporations etc.
To collect & analyse foodgrains samples for Physical Parameters, Pesticides Residues & Mycotoxin Contamination, Preparation of reports and recommendations for improved storage practices.
To undertake need-based R&D activities for scientific & safe storage of foodgrains & post-harvest technology.
To improve storage practices at farm level & in those organizations engaged in grain storage at commercial level for Central Pool Stock and operational needs.
Organizational set up
IGMRI, Hapur functions under the supervision of the storage and Research Division of the Department of Food and Public Distribution.
It has three divisions: Research and Development, Training, Storage and Pest control.
Attached to the Institute are two field stations situated at Ludhiana (Punjab), & Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh).
Facilities available at IGMRI Hapur
Laboratories:
Physical, Chemical and Pesticides Residue and Mycotoxin Analysis Laboratories.
Museum & Library
Hostel & Canteen
Laboratories
Physical Lab: The renovated physicochemical lab. is made on State-of-art standards which aims at maintaining the physical quality of the foodgrains in merchantable condition like checking the presence of foreign matter, other foodgrains, damaged, weevilled, shriveled, shrunken & broken foodgrains, poisonous seeds etc.
Chemical Lab: To determine nutritive values of the grain by testing the chemical properties such as fat, proteins, carbohydrates, moisture content, alcoholic acidity, free fat acidity, ash content or any other parameters required in the foodgrains, their deterioration during storage can be checked.
Pesticide Residue & Mycotoxin Analysis Laboratory
Due to increase in the use of pesticides and herbicides on crops and in grain godowns for controlling the insect pest infestations, the residues raise concerns over consumer health.
In order to reliably detect hundreds of residues at extreme low quantities (ppb levels) over a very short time in wide range of food products including food grains, fruits , vegetables, milk, oil, packaged food items etc, the pesticide residue analysis laboratory has been established with sophisticated instruments viz., HPLC, GLC, LCMS-MS and GCMS-MS.
This laboratory is very sensitive and busy for analysing various food grains samples of wheat, rice, paddy, millets, finished products etc. for the purpose of finding out the intensity of mycotoxins contamination in foodgrains. With the newly established equipments, it is easier to accurately analyze mycotoxin levels particularly aflatoxins in foodgrains.
Insect Culture Laboratory
The Institute has a well maintained Insect culture / rearing lab.
At present 09 species of stored grain product insect pests are being reared and maintained for research study purpose.
Museum & Library
The Institute has a well-maintained museum with attractive sector-wise display depicting various aspects of scientific storage structure of foodgrains through blow-ups, magnifying lens box, display models of traditional and modem storage structures, insect-pests and maps etc. It has further been made lively by exhibiting life-size specimen of rats, birds and insects that are responsible for loss of foodgrains.
The Institute also has a spacious library enriched with huge collection of books and journals on foodgrains storage related topics.
A collection of more than 8500 books and 47 different journals of international repute on a variety of subjects connected with Agricultural Research particularly on the post-harvest operations of foodgrains, Cereal Chemistry, Pesticides, Entomology, food, spices, Seed Pathology, marketing and farm engineering etc. is available.
Hostel & Canteen
A well-furnished hostel with AC and Non-AC rooms, having the capacity to accommodate 44 trainees is situated in the Institute campus where lodging and boarding facilities are available. A separate TV room and Table Tennis Hall are available for recreation purpose.
