ICAR-NDRI Annual Report 2016-17

Abstract

NDRI Annual Report 2016-17 is being presented as an all-inclusive account of the most significant achievements of the Institute in the areas of Research, Education and Extension, and related activities initiated to strengthen these programmes during the last one year. The information has been so arranged that it provides a holistic view of this premier dairy Institute of the country and its functioning. The research and development activities of NDRI were pursued through its mandate oriented and well-structured research programmes comprising 76 in-house and 63 externally funded research projects, which also included four International collaborative research projects. NDRI has been successful in getting external funding from almost all leading national funding agencies i.e. Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Department of Science and Technology (DST), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI), Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI ), Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Niche Area of Excellence (NAE,ICAR), National Agriculture Innovation Fund (NAIF, ICAR) and Application of Micro-organisms in Agriculture and Allied Sectors (AMAAS), ICAR.

In the area of dairy production, the Institute has already made a mark in the area of cloning by producing many cloned calves one after the other. Subsequent to this, global transcriptome and miRNA profiling has been carried out in buffalo blastocyst-stage embryos produced by cloning and in vitro fertilization techniques to identify the shortcomings in cloned embryos. This would help in making strategies for improving the success rate of producing cloned calves in cattle and buffaloes. The Institute has also developed a proteomics-based method for detection of A1/A2 milk. A method for the estrus synchronization has been developed for use in fertility management of dairy cattle. A methodology has also been developed for prediction of lifetime milk potential of Tharparkar cows. In the area of dairy processing, some of the significant research achievements include an effective ‘Synbiotic formula’ and ‘Synbiotic lactose free fermented dairy beverage’ to combat enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) mediated diarrhea; a suitable encapsulation system for long term survival of probiotic organisms at ambient storage under tropical (Indian) climatic conditions; direct vat starter for Greek style yoghurt; process optimization for the preparation of enzyme modified cheese (EMC) from Cheddar cheese; characterization of alpha-glucosidase and dipeptidyl peptidase-IV inhibitory milk bioactive peptides using Lactobacillus spp.; technologies for lemongrass incorporated paneer and freeze dried paneer; enzyme modified cheese paste to enhance the cheese-flavour in dairy or non-dairy products; process for manufacture of Surati paneer and cottage scale prototype module for its preparation and optimization of a green technology process for texture modification in ghee with reduced cost. To address the growing concern for presence of contaminants in milk, paper strip assays have been developed for rapid detection of organophosphorous, carbamate, herbicide, fungicide groups of pesticide within regulatory limits with great degree of repeatability and selectivity. A TLC based method for detection of vanaspati addition in ghee has been standardized. It is significant to note that during the preceding year three patents have been granted and two new patent applications have been filed. In the area of mechanization, a eutectic module containing secondary refrigerants and nanofluids has been developed for fast cooling of raw milk at farm level. A sub-baric unit for frying and soaking of gulabjamun has been developed and tested. The unit reduces the frying time and soaking time of gulabjamun considerably. Rice pre-cooking system for production of kheer; microprocessor based paneer pressing unit for small scale paneer processors; weight based metering and filling system for kheer and rabri are a few other innovations made in the area of process engineering. The Institute also developed Web based Decision Support System for establishing commercial dairy farm and generating bankable techno-economic project feasibility report. Cost-effective and intelligent classification Neural Network (NN) model has been developed to classify healthy and mastitic Murrah buffaloes. An exclusive Need-Based ‘Web- enabled Interactive Information Delivery System’ for Dairy Stakeholders has been developed and hosted on institute website. A ‘Dairy Progressiveness Index’ has been developed using quantitative data on 20 indicators for 16 states for the temporal analysis and forecasting of dairy scenarios in India. NDRI is pragmatic in adopting changes to keep its activities aligned to the trends in global institutions of higher learning. The Institute has embarked on digitization of the entire activities in the Deemed University so as to make it paperless in near future. It is implementing automation of the entire academic activities starting from registration, payment of fees and regulation of progress of academic and research work of the students. The entire admission process including conduct of admission test for Ph. D program has been now made online. The Institute has created Internal Quality Assessment Cell and Student Grievance Redressal Cell to make our activities more participative, transparent and responsive. A new Student Empowerment Unit has been established to realize the vision of NDRI to produce excellent and accomplished human resource by helping students pursue both their professional and personal goals with greater self-awareness, self-esteem, understanding and focus. Adjunct Faculty Scheme has been initiated under which outstanding professionals selected from across the globe are visiting the Institute to teach and mentor the students every year. The Institute also plans to initiate Foundation Program for the freshers at the start of the semester and before commencement of regular course work to tap the innate talents of the students and nurture them to develop into outstanding professionals and accomplished human beings. Another landmark has been the creation of a Dairy Processing Unit under the aegis of Krishi evam Dairy Vikas Kendra at Piprakothi, Motihari (Bihar). The Kendra works for the benefit of farmers by imparting extensive training on dairy processing with backward and forward integration to the dairy farmers. Mera Gaaon Mera Gaurav (MGMG) programme is in existence since August 2015. As of now, 29 teams comprising 4 scientists from each discipline have been involved in carrying out the MGMG programme in 145 villages in the vicinity of the Institute. Some of the new initiatives also included construction of University Examination Hall having 600 seating capacity at the main campus and Fodder Museum as a demonstration unit at the Southern Campus, Bengaluru. I am happy to inform that all our endeavours have resulted in increasing number of Awards/Recognitions/ Appreciations for the Institute. NDRI was bestowed with a number of Prestigious Awards such as ICAR Best Annual Report Award; Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Award for Outstanding Research and ICAR Best Teacher Award to its faculty; and Jawahar Lal Nehru Award for the Best Doctoral Research to two of its students. All this could be achieved by the Institute with the dedication, hard work, cooperation and understanding of the NDRI fraternity. The Institute is committed to provide an enabling and vibrant environment to its faculty and the students to be creative, exuberant, professionally & academically accomplished and socially responsive to take up future challenges for fulfilling the nation’s dairy dreams.