The Global Centre for Rice Technology (GCRT), the first of its kind in the country, is coming up in Mysuru to facilitate the rice milling industry to keep pace with technological advancements in the field.
The GCRT will be a collaborative venture between the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, Buhler India Pvt. Ltd., Bengaluru, and Apit, Bengaluru.
While Buhler India, which helped set up the International School of Milling Technology at CFTRI, will provide machinery for the GCRT, the CFTRI will provide the knowledge input. Apit will provide the other infrastructure and help run the centre.
At a function organised to lay foundation stone for the GCRT at M.G. Halli on Kalidasa Road in the city, CFTRI director K.S.M.S. Raghavarao regretted the absence of technology training for rice milling industry and said there was a huge scope for value addition in the sector.
Rice mill operators have little knowledge about under milling and complete milling. He also regretted the absence of protocols and standard operating procedures for different varieties of rice. Hence, GCRT, which is a ₹25 crore project, will seek to address the shortage of trained manpower at different levels in the rice milling industry.
The GCRT seeks to establish the missing, but vital link between the rice milling sector and academia and bring about the much-needed synergy between them.
Pointing out that the countries surrounding peninsular India were major rice producing and rice consuming countries, the CFTRI director, in a statement, said rice milling industry has come a long way and the previous decade has witnessed large scale investments in the sector.
Trained manpower would not only ensure proper operation and maintenance, but also increase the yield of valuable head rice and proper utilisation of byproducts. In addition, safety of workers and making the products safe for consumption will also be addressed, he said.
GCRT’s goal includes setting up a world class institute to provide customised training for different category of personnel and for durations, focussing on entire gamut of rice milling including byproduct utilisation, setting up a rice analytical laboratory for the benefit of the industry, and linking up pre-harvest and post-harvest technological institutes to provide a complete and comprehensive solution to the rice industry.
About 30 rice millers from different parts of India had been invited to participate in the foundation stone laying ceremony.
