THEME OF INNOVATION Modified Turmeric Grinding ... - Efresh India

KRISHI SUTRA: Profiles of Agricultural Innovations in India
THEME OF INNOVATION
Modified Turmeric Grinding Process which
Saves Material and Power
Focus AREA
DETAILS OF INNOVATOR
Agriculture Equipment
Name Mr. V. V. Ghurye
Experience 30 years
Region of operation Maharashtra
Turnover Rs. 4.5 crore
Volume 12 units
No. of employees Not disclosed
Contact details Young Technocrats Pvt Ltd
Plot No. 45, Sect 1-A, Cidco Industries, Airoli, Navi Mumbai –
400708
Phone: 022 26151023, 09819160599 (Mobile), Email:
vasudevghurye@gmail.com
BUSINESS MODEL
The innovator mainly gets his business through recommendations of existing
users. He also advertises extensively online and in trade magazines.
INNOVATION DETAILS
The conventional grinding process (by which over 80% of the turmeric is
grinded) involves a hammer mill. The hammer mill is a very crude technology
which crushes the turmeric fingers with high impact. This raises the temperature of
the process (up to 80oC). It also requires a lot of maintenance as wear and tear in
such a processes greater. The innovator replaced the hammer mill by a pin-mill
process. He designed the pin mill and integrated it into the process seamlessly.
Source: Small Farmer's Agribusiness Consortium(SFAC)

KRISHI SUTRA: Profiles of Agricultural Innovations in India
This process operates at low temperatures (doesn’t go beyond 50oC). Also, this
requires less maintenance and consumes significantly less power than the
conventional process. The savings and the quality of product is far superior with
the use of this equipment. He is currently selling this machine from Rs. 25 lakh
(300 kg per hour model) to Rs. 75 lakh (1 ton per hour model) price range. The
machine can be used for 24 hours.
IMPACT OF INNOVATION/TECHNOLOGY
The higher temperature in the conventional grinding leads to loss of oil and
aroma from the powder. In the entire process there is a loss of about 9% (by
weight) due to burning out of oil. This process has a weight loss of only about 2%.
Thus a direct saving of about 7% of material. Assuming a modest capacity of 300
kg per hour operating only for 12 hours (against an average of 24 hours), it
amounts to 252 kg saved in a day. Taking the price of turmeric powder to be Rs.
150 per kg, this translates to savings of about Rs. 37, 800 a year. Also, as the
temperature is low, the natural ingredients, oil and aroma of the powder is
maintained. This fetches a premium of 5 to 10% in the market. Apart from this
there is a definite saving of about 30% in power as pin mill consumes lesser power
than hammer mill. This product can potentially pay back the investment in less
than a year.
RECOGNITION/AWARDS
ISSUES
None
One of the challenges of this process is that any presence of foreign particle
(for e.g. iron nails) in the turmeric finger will lead to severe damage in the system.
To counter this, he advises to use a magnetic separator before feeding the raw
material into the system. The other challenge is that of publicity. Despite having a
good product, it has not attained popularity in the market as yet.
Source: Small Farmer's Agribusiness Consortium(SFAC)

KRISHI SUTRA: Profiles of Agricultural Innovations in India
PRODUCT VIEW
Source: Small Farmer's Agribusiness Consortium(SFAC)