Student Branch
Hardware
"Innovative theme Developing a method to determine age of boiled rice at the time of procurement Current Status Every year about 550 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT) rice is procured for the central pool out of which about 175 LMT is boiled rice. There have been some instances where unscrupulous elements tried to push old boiled rice, sourced from the market as freshly milled rice into the system. It has significant cost as well as social implications as government is making payments based on the Minimum Support Price (MSP) to help the farmers and the operations should not be allowed to be misused by vested interests. Similarly, it has to be ensured that the beneficiaries of Public Distribution System (PDS) should be provided with good quality food grains. Pain Points As boiled rice cannot be distinguished as old or new merely on the basis of appearance, a scientific methodology - either based on machine or chemical testing - needs to be developed. Desired State A simple, easy to use testing method for determination of age of boiled rice at the time of procurement can address the issue of recycling of rice. The solution should be able to distinguish between freshly milled boiled rice from rice which was milled earlier, say about 3 months or more. As procurement is time bound and happens concurrently across the country, the testing time as well as portability of the solution is very important. Since the testing will be done at field level, the distinguishing characteristics should be conspicuous, leaving no room for subjectivity and should be cost effective. Background Already there is a chemical-based colour indicator test available for testing the age of raw rice based on the principle of estimating the quantum of released acids in left over bran layers of the grain during storage. However, boiled rice was found to be non-responsive to this test perhaps because the bio chemical composition of par boiled rice and its response to the ambient conditions is different from that of raw rice. Hence a scientific method using chemical/reagents or specifically designed machines may be required to be developed to address this challenge. FCI can provide age wise type samples of boiled rice. Advantages a) Identification of age of boiled rice stocks at the time of procurement will help in controlling the malpractices of pushing older rice into the procurement system b) It will help in better targeting of food security. "