Operation/activity Conventional technology Post-harvest technology
Threshing Manual beating and animal/tractor treading Mechanical threshing with improved design of threshers.
Winnowing Manually with ordinary baskets Mechanical winnowing with manual mechanical power.
Cleaning Manually operated SUPA, a simple device but of low capacity. Manual/power operated cleaner cum-graders.
Drying Open yard sun drying Solar dryers or heated air dryers using mechanical power.
Storage Earthen pitchers, mud bins or bag storage Metal bins, brick structures and concrete silos of improved designs.
Milling Hand and foot pounding, rice hullers, stone grinders, oil ghanis, etc. Modern rice, dal and flourmills of different capacities, oil expellers, solvent extraction plants.
Byproduct utilization Direct feed and fuel uses Solvent extraction of rice bran and oil cakes, pelleted animal feed, etc.
Marketing Selling raw materials to middlemen of trade at low prices Selling of cleaned and graded produces, value added products directly to super/cooperative markets for better profitability.
Preparation and utilization Open vessel cooking and traditional food preparations Pressure and microwave cooking. Nutritionally balanced diet/recipes. Use of refrigerators, grinders/mixtures.
Table 3: Conventional and improved agro-processing operations used in food processing industry [19].