Energy requirement for primary and secondary processing of agricultural produce Ali Nawab, Project Director Soybean Processing and Utilization Centre, Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering, Nabi Bagh, Berasia Road, Bhopal-462038. Based on the paper presented in the Expert Panel discussion on Energy Management for Sustainable Agricultural Production System during the International Conference for Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Agricultural Production in the 21st Century, at New Delhi during 14–18 Febuary, 2000). Abstract Solar energy is the basic/primary source for all types of energy. It is first captured by plant kingdom and converted into chemical energy in the form of biomass which is further utilized for food, feed and other necessities of life by human and animals. Energy required in processing and utilization of biomass is commodity and product specific which depends on a number of post harvest operations and value addition activities involved. For cleaning and grading of 195 Mt of food grains, the estimated energy requirement is 50 M kWh. Similarly, for drying of food grains to reduce its moisture by 10% for safe storage and milling, the energy required is 70 kWh/to In parboiling of 50 Mt of paddy, the energy requirement is 350 M kWh. In vegetable oil industry for processing of 25 Mt of oilseeds, the energy requirement is 6250 M kWh. Milling of 50 Mt of wheat into whole wheat flour, the energy requirement is 3000 M kWh. Like wise, the total energy requirement is enormous. Assuming that, on an average, 150 kWh/t is required for processing and utilization of various food commodities of plant and animal origin, the estimated energy for 400 Mt of food commodities would be 60,000 M kWh. This paper gives some examples of energy used in cereals, pulses and oilseeds. Top |