Agricultural Engineering

A mathematical model was developed and used to study the effect of various energy conservation measures to arrive at a set of design features for an energy efficient greenhouse. The Simulation results indicated that under cold climatic conditions of northern India, a gothic arch shaped greenhouse required 2.6% and 4.2% less heating as compared to gable and quonset shapes. An east–west oriented gothic arch greenhouse required 2% less heating as compared to a north–south oriented one. North wall insulation of an east west oriented gothic arch greenhouse saved 30% in heating costs. The use of night curtains reduced the night time heating requirement by 70.8% and daily requirement by 60.6%. By replacing the single cover on the southern side with air inflated double wall glazing, the heating requirement was reduced by 23%. The combination of the design features for an energy efficient greenhouse suitable for cold climatic conditions was found to reduce the greenhouse heating needs by 80%. An internal rock bed thermal storage/retrieval system met the remaining heating energy requirements of the energy-conserving greenhouse.

ABSTRACT:  This study investigated 2 sanitizer formulations and compared them with hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). Formulation number 1 contained citric acid and sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS). Formulation number 2 contained SDBS, citric, lactic, phosphoric acids, and benzoic acid. Low concentration levels of the sanitizers (1.0% for formulation 1 and 0.5% for formulation 2) were compared with 35% H2O2 for their efficacies on Escherichia coli, Listeria innocua, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculated onto low-density polyethylene (LDPE) films and metal cans at room temperature (23 ± 1 °C) and 40 °C. The results showed that both formulations 1 and 2 required >120 s to sanitize both materials from microbial populations at room temperature, while <15 s was needed for the H2O2. Except for formulation 1 on the E. coli inoculated LDPE film surface, the sanitizers completely eliminated the bacterial populations on both materials in 60 s at 40 °C. In general, the formulations were more effective for reduction of the microbial numbers on the can material when compared with the LDPE film. The E. coli showed greater tolerance for the sanitizers when exposed to the process conditions in this study. All sanitizers completely eliminated the test organisms in ≤36 s at 40 °C when tested on a commercial Benco Aseptic packaging machine.

Effect of orientation, ventilation area and location and prevailing winds on the airflow patterns and microclimate of a naturally ventilated greenhouse
Dr. (Ms.) Mathala Juliet Gupta1 ,  Dr. M. Thangam2 , Er. (Ms.) Sumati Pandurang Chavan & Ms. Poonam Bandekar3 
Goa, a small state, classified under tropical monsoon zone has a hot and humid climate for most of the year as it is located close to the Arabian Sea. May is the hottest month with day temperatures of over 35 °C and a high humidity. Monsoon is from June to August but extends even up to late September. It has a short winter season between mid-December and February with night temperatures of around 21 °C and days of around 28 °C with moderate humidity. Due to altitudinal gradation, inlands have cooler nights. It is a tourist hotspot with tourism as its primary industry. Huge demand for cut flowers, exotic fruits and vegetables exists in the state which usually is imported from neighboring states. During the monsoons open field cultivation of only Paddy is possible.
Protected cultivation structures can be used year round to enhance the productivity in the state especially for exotic vegetables, flowers etc. for the hotel industry. At present shade net houses and naturally ventilated poly houses are being used in the state. The designs of Pune and Bangalore have been adopted which are not specific to the climate of Goa. ICAR Research Complex for Goa  is involved in a project funded by RKVY to design a protected cultivation structure suitable for Goa. The present study was conducted with the object of studying the effect of orientation, ventilation area and direction and prevailing winds on airflow patterns and the microclimate of a NW-SE oriented 16m x 14 m double span double span naturally ventilated greenhouse of ridge height 4.5 m with ventilation on all four sides and at the ridge. Results indicated that the airflow patterns in the greenhouse are significantly affected by prevailing winds, orientation of greenhouse, location and distribution of vents, which in turn significantly affects the microclimate of the greenhouse. Higher area of the vents does not necessarily mean that there is a it improves the microclimate in the greenhouse. The location and distribution of the vents has to be keeping in view the prevailing wind direction. Further studies are needed to evaluate the effect of ridge ventilation, barriers and various other orientations of greenhouses on air flow rates and the crop microclimate.
Key Words: Protected cultivation, naturally ventilated greenhouse, microclimate, air flow rates.
1 Scientist (Agricultural Structures and Environment management), ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa

2 Senior Scientist(Horticulture), ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa
3 Senior research Fellows, ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa

Comparative study of the microclimate profiles in existing protected cultivation structures in Goa as a function of ambient conditions, ventilation area and cladding material
Dr. (Ms.) Mathala Juliet Gupta*,  Er. (Ms.) Sumati Pandurang Chavan & Ms. Poonam Bandekar
ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa 403402, Goa, India, *Email:[email protected]
Goa is classified as a tropical monsoon zone under the Koppen climate classification Goa. Being close to the Arabian Sea it has a hot and humid climate for most of the year. May is the hottest month with day temperatures of over 35 °C and a high humidity. Monsoon is from June to August but extends even up to late September. It has a short winter season between mid-December and February with night temperatures of around 21 °C and days of around 28 °C with moderate humidity. Due to altitudinal gradation, inlands have cooler nights. Goa is a tourist hotspot with tourism as its primary industry. Agriculture finds a third place in the state as occupation after mining and tourism. With the current ban on mining in Goa threatening the livelihood of many in the state there is hope that Goans will return to their former favourite profession, i.e., agriculture. But since the land holdings in Goa are fragmented with more than 60% of land holdings are under small and marginal, to make agriculture profitable integrated farming systems and secondary agriculture is being greatly promoted. There is a large demand of high value flowers, fruits, vegetables which cannot be met by domestic produce and come from neighbouring states. During the monsoons open field cultivation of only Paddy is possible.
Use of protected cultivation structures, year round can enhance the productivity in the state especially for exotic vegetables, flowers etc., in demand in the hotel industry. At present shade net houses and multi-span naturally ventilated poly houses are being used in the state. The designs of Pune and Bangalore have been adopted which are not specific to the climate of Goa. An attempt is being made to design a protected cultivation structure suitable for Goa under RKVY funded project at ICAR Research Complex for Goa. In the present study the microclimatic profiles in the structures have been studied as a function of the structure, vent location and size, cladding material and orientation. Results indicated that the microclimate under a naturally ventilated greenhouse and shade net were comparable, but significant accumulation of heat as evident by increased temperature as a function of height from ground level occurred in double span naturally ventilated poly house. Further studies on air exchange patterns and ventilation profiling using sonic anemometers is planned to assess the microclimate as influenced by the ventilation rates in the structures as a function of their vent size, location, outside wind intensity and direction. These will be pre-requisite to evolve the design of a structure suitable for Goa.
Key Words: Protected cultivation, shade net, naturally ventilated poly house, microclimate, ventilation.

Comparative study of the microclimate under three protected cultivation structures under Goan climatic conditions
Dr. Mathala Juliet Gupta1
Under the Koppen climate classification Goa has a tropical monsoon climate. It is in the tropical zone and close to the Arabian Sea and hence has a hot and humid climate for most of the year. May is the hottest month with day temperatures of over 35 °C and a high humidity. The monsoon rains arrive in early June and provide a much needed respite from the heat. Most of Goa's annual rainfall is received through the monsoons which last till late September. It has a short winter season between mid-December and February with night temperatures of around 21 °C and days of around 28 °C with moderate humidity. Due to altitudinal gradation, inlands have cooler nights. Goa is a tourist hotspot with tourism as its primary industry. Agriculture finds a third place in the state as occupation. There is a large demand of high value flowers, fruits, vegetables which cannot be met by domestic produce and come from neighbouring states. During the monsoons open field cultivation of only Paddy is possible.
To enhance the productivity in the state especially for vegetables, flowers etc., which are in demand in the hotel industry, there is need for use of protected cultivation structures which can be used year round. At present the structures that are used are shade net houses, mist houses and naturally ventilated poly houses. The designs of Pune and Bangalore have been adopted. But these designs are not specific to the climate of Goa. An attempt is being made to design a protected cultivation structure suitable for Goa under RKVY funded project at ICAR Research Complex for Goa. The present study is the analysis of the microclimate under shade net, double span mutually inclusive poly house and unventilated poly tunnel. Results indicated that the microclimate under a naturally ventilated greenhouse and shade net were comparable but the shade net provided slightly better microclimate as during peak ambient temperature conditions the temperature as compared to the naturally ventilated greenhouse was 1-2oC cooler. The unventilated poly tunnel had temperatures 20oC degree higher than the ambient temperatures indicating their potential for use as tunnel dryers for various horticultural produce.

1 Scientist SS( Agricultural Structures and Process Engineering), ICAR Research Complex for Goa
Post paper presented at Global Conference on Horticulture for Food, Nutrition and Livelihood Options, May 28-31, 2012, Bhubaneshwar, Orissa, India

Post Harvest Handling and Processing of Unexploited fruits Specific to Goa
Dr. M.J. Gupta1 and Dr. S. Priya Devi2
Goa is India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest by population. It is located in South West India in the Konkan region and is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast. It has a rich flora and fauna, owing to its location on the Western Ghats range, which is classified as a biodiversity hotspot.
The main food crops of Goa are Rice, Pulses like Cowpea (alsando) and Ragi. coconuts, cashewnuts, arecanuts, sugarcane and fruits like Mangoes Jackfruits, pineapples, mangos and bananas are the main cash crops. Goa's forests are rich with medicinal plants. Goa is rich in diverse minor fruits like sapota, bread fruit, Ambada, Bimbla, churna, carambola, chivra, Jagoma, karonda, kokum, rose apple, wax apple, Malay rose apple, Mattom, Jamun etc. Processing in Goa is confined to that of Jack fruit, Mangoes as Mango leather, juice, Kokum as juice or its dried rind as ‘sol’ and used as a souring agent in Goan fish curry. Cashew fruits are processed as the local ‘Feni’. Most of these products are done at cottage level by women or by few SHGs. A vast potential exists as to the processing of these minor fruits. This paper explores the various unexploited minor fruits of Goa, their medical and nutritive value and their potential in the processing industry to enhance livelihood security to Goan farmers.


1) Scientist (Agricultural Structures and Process Engineering, ICAR Resarch Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa
2) Scientist (Fruit Science), ICAR Research Compex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa.

FTIR absorbance spectra of four foodborne pathogens suspended in four common food matrices at three different concentrations were used with artificial neural networks (ANNs) for identification and quantification. The classification accuracy of the ANNs was 93.4% for identification and 95.1% for quantification when validated using a subset of the data set. The accuracy of the ANNs when validated for identification of the pathogens studied at four different concentrations using an independent data set had an accuracy range from 60% to 100% and was strongly influenced by background noise. The pathogens could be identified irrespective of the food matrix in which they were suspended, although the classification accuracy was reduced at lower concentrations. More sophisticated background noise filtration techniques are needed to further improve the predictions.

Investigative studies to design a location specific greenhouse-structure for Goa
Dr. Mathala Juliet Gupta , Dr. Muniappan Thangam  Er. Sumati Chavan Pandurnag  and Er. Ashish M. Pitre
ICAR Research Complex for Goa, Ela, Old Goa 403 403, Goa, India
ABSTRACT
The looming threat of climate change on the world agricultural scenario has researchers all around the globe searching for climate resilient techniques to sustain agricultural production which would be the backbone for the survival of the human race. Protected cultivation technology, introduced from ancient ages to adapt crop production to environment by circumventing the hazards of climate change and increasing the dependability of production offers one such measure. Though protected cultivation technology has been introduced in India around three decades ago and still the adoption of the technology on the farmer’s field is not to the desired extent, the area under all forms of protected cultivation being around 25,000 ha. While countries like China, with the advantage of an early start of nearly two centuries have realized the potential of the technology with an area under protected cultivation of around 2.5 Mha. The lesser adoption of the technology has been attributed to the wide variation of Indian agro-climate which requires suitable modification of the structures’ design for the local condition. Efforts are on at ICAR Research Complex for Goa to design location specific protected cultivation structures. Microclimatic studies were conducted in various protected cultivation studies to investigate the effect of structure, ambient conditions and management practices under the climatic conditions of Goa. Results indicate that the most favorable microclimate of the structure is maintained under naturally ventilated conditions. Cooling requirement occurs only during the months of April and May which can be met to a large extent by the use of shade nets and under extreme conditions by the use of fogging or misting system. The high rainfall conditions of the state result in a thick algal layer on the covers which can be managed by use of anti-algal covers or use of gable roof for single span and saw-tooth roof for multi-span structures. Studies on light and air flow patterns are being carried out to standardize the vent location and size. The microclimate is suitable for the production of vegetables like Capsicum, tomato, cucumber, Broccoli and Chinese cabbage and flowers like gerbera, Anthurium, Orchids and Lilium. The soil of Goa is prone to bacterial wilt and virus problems for the management of which soilless and hydroponic cultivation under protected structures will be a good option. Studies for research, standardization of production technology and demonstration is in progress through funding of Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana.
Key Words: Protected Cultivation, Polyhouse, Greenhouse, Shadenet, Climate resilient Agriculture

Nutritional security for the burgeoning Indian population cannot be met by focussing on the staple and major horticultural crops alone. There is a vast production of underutilized and underexploited minor horticultural crops which could be used as the "future crops" to supplement our nutritional needs. Goa, India's smallest state in terms of area and the fourth smallest by population, is located in the Western Ghats which was identified as one of the 25 global biodiversity hotspots and has a rich flora and fauna. The main food crops of Goa are Rice, Pulses like Cowpea (alsando) and Ragi. coconuts, cashewnuts, arecanuts, sugarcane and fruits like Mangoes Jackfruits, pineapples, mangos and bananas are the main cash crops.

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Paddy, the main field crop of Goa, is not profitable due to small and fragmented landholdings, inaccessible fields, lack of farm work force and mechanization. A study was conducted to assess the post-harvest practices and losses of paddy in Goa using the methodology developed by AICRP-PHT, ICAR to estimate losses by enquiry and actual observation methods. The study indicated that traditional methods of manual harvesting, threshing, winnowing, sun-drying on road side, parboiling in brass pots and storage in woven polybags with Vitex negundo (lingur leaves) or neem leaves for unprocessed paddy and boric powder for milled rice, were practiced in the state during 2011-13 with a slight shift towards mechanization during 2013-15. Most of the rice mills in Goa needed modernization and product diversification. Data indicated total losses of 19.26±14.63 % and 11.31±12.09 % by enquiry, and 5.92±2.62 % and 9.04±9.74 % (excluding parboiling by observation) in various unit operations of paddy production in the year 2011-13 and 2013-15, respectively. No on-farm value addition by farmers was practiced. Interventions in terms of infrastructure and mechanization, sensitization through trainings on modern methods of harvesting, processing, value addition, and improved storage methods are required to reduce the postharvest losses in Goa, and ensure better profit margin for farmers. Agriculture with ` 188.96 crores GSDP from crops alone is the second most important profession, next to tourism (GSDP of ` 543.41 crores) in the State of Goa since the cancellation of all mining leases (GSDP of ` 108.58 crores) from 2018-19 (Anon., 2019a; Anon., 2020). The state policy makers are trying to attract its population towards agriculture through various remunerative schemes and incentives. Disappearing farm manpower and dwindling farm returns, however, have made the profession less attractive. Paddy is the main field crop and staple food of Goa. It is cultivated in total area of 36,384 ha under three unique land profiles viz. morod or lateritic uplands (16.67 % of total paddy area), kher or sandy midlands (33.33 % of total paddy area), and khazan or salt affected coastal lowlands (50 % of total paddy area in the state) (NABARD, 2019a,b). It is being cultivated both in Kharif (Sod) and Rabi (Vaigon) seasons, in approximately 67 % and 33 % of the total paddy area, respectively. The average paddy productivity of Rabi season is relatively higher (2,759 kg.ha-1) as compared to Kharif season 2,719 kg.ha-1

What the roti-kapada-aur-makhan phrase conveys in India is conveyed by a single word "bread" in many other countries of the world. The word represents all the basic necessities of people. Bread is consumed worldwide in many forms, but bakery products are not a major part of daily diet in India. However in states where there is much industrialization and development, the consumption of these products is more. The present study was undertaken to know the consumption habits of bakery products in Goa, where the food habits under the influence of Portuguese, are different from those of the rest of India, which was ruled by the British. A descriptive research was undertaken to understand the preferences for bakery products and the alternative channels, besides understanding the factors that affect the choice of outlets/chains across cities.
A survey was conducted in four major cities of Goa namely Ponda, Vasco, Verna and Margao. Simple random sampling along with a structured questionnaire was used. The cities were selected for their heterogenous characteristics. Data analysis was carried out by using Kendall's test. The effect of various factors like price, brand, quality, taste and location on the purchase decision of the consumers was examined. How occupation and frequency of purchase affected the choice of bakery outlets was also studied. The study did not differentiate between perishable and non-perishable bakery items.

Manufacturers are choosing direct marketing channels over conventional marketing channels to keep their distribution costs low. Network marketing or Multilevel marketing(MLM) is a technique by which the companies recruit and use part-time representatives to sell their products on commission basis. Lot of debate exists as to whether a MLM is really a cheaper option and in reality gives the returns to the channel members as promised. In the present study an attempt has been made to mathematically explain the behavior of networks and to predict the probability of networks' success at various levels

The use of Alcohol and its addictive nature has lead to its production, promotion and consumption being regulated in many countries. In a highly regulated market, alcohol manufacturers have adopted surrogate advertisements as a tool to promote their products.  An empirical study was conducted in North Goa to understand the consumers' perception towards liquor advertisements using surrogates. Majority of the respondents did not approve of the ban on surrogate advertisements even though they perceived such advertisements as unethical. However they expressed concern about the negative impact of the telecast of such advertisements.

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