Industrial training report at Institute of post harvest technology (IPHT)Anuradhapura

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INSTITUTE OF POST HARVEST TECHNOLOGY
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER,
JAYANTHI MAWATHA,
ANURADHAPURA.
BY
C.M FAYAS
A REPORT
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of
BACHEOLER OF SCIENCE IN AGRICULTURE
2018
Field of Specialization- Agricultural Engineering
Department of Agricultural engineering and soil science
Faculty of Agriculture
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka
Puliyankulama
Anuradhapura
-Approved-
…………………………………. ……..............................................
Dr.(Mr.) N.S Abeysingha Dr.(Mrs.) R.M.N.A.Wijewardane
(Internal Supervisor) (External Supervisor)
Senior Lecturer Senior Research officer
Department of Institute of Post Harvest
Agricultural engineering and soil science Technology
Faculty of Agriculture Jayanthi Mawatha
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka Anuradhapura
Date………………………….. Date…………………………….
…………………………………..
Mr. D.M.S. Duminda
(Head)
Department of
Agricultural engineering and soil science
Faculty of Agriculture
Rajarata University of Sri Lanka
Date…………………………..

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Table of Contents
Acknowledgement ……...……………………………………………. 4
Chapter One
1. Introduction………………………………………………………… 5
1.1. Institute name, address, etc…………………………………. 5
1.2. Organizational Structure……………………………………. 6
1.3. Services provided…………………………………………… 6
1.3.1. Research activities……………………………………… 7
1.4. Importance of the services for national development………. 10
Chapter two
2.Duties performed or assisted by me during the stay………………… 11
2.1. Daily or weekly report………………………………………. 11
2.2. Skills developed during stay………………………………… 13
Chapter three
3. Discussion…………………………………………………………... 14
3.1. Over all comments on In Plant training…………………. 14
3.2. How to incorporate the skills developed to the life……... 14
3.3. Possibilities of improving the existing situation………… 15
Chapter four
4. Photographs……………………………………………………. 16

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am grateful to offer my sincere thanks to everyone who helped me in succeeding
my In-Plant Training program.
I wish to offer my sincere thanks to Mr. D.M.S. Duminda, Head of the
Department of agricultural engineering and soil science, and all the other
academic staff of the Department of agricultural engineering and soil science for
supporting me to complete my In-Plant Training program.
I would like to express my heartiest gratitude to my internal supervisor. Dr.(Mr.)
N.S Abeysingha who provided a better knowledge, and motivation for me to
conduct the training successfully.
My heartiest gratitude goes to my external supervisor,
Dr.(Mrs.) R.M.N.A. Wijewardana and to the Director who accepted me to
Institute Of Post-Harvest Technology and motivating me to get good experience
about the institute and a good industrial exposure.
Thank you all.

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CHAPTER 1
1. INTRODUTION TO THE INSTITUTE
1.1. Name of the institute- Institute Of Post-Harvest Technology (IPHT).
Address-Institute Of Post-Harvest Technology, Research and Development center, Jayanthi
Mawatha, Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka.
The institute of postharvest technology (IPHT) was established in 19th
June 2000, by gazette
extraordinary of the democratic socialist republic of Sri Lanka no 1137/110, under the
provision of the state agricultural act no.11 of 1976 for the purpose of carrying out postharvest
research and development activities on cereals, legumes, other field crops, vegetables, fruits,
spice crops and cut flowers. The IPHT has taken over the functions of the rice processing
research & development center at Anuradhapura, which was set up with FOA/UNDP assistance
in 1976.
This is the main institution in Sri Lanka engaged in improving the postharvest technology of
cereals, pulses, oil seeds, other food grains, fruits and vegetables through research training
extension and other development activities.
By improving the post-harvest technologies, the institute seek to minimize the considerable
losses which occur during the post-harvest operations, improve the quality of the processed
products, minimize post-harvest operation costs and minimize returns from post production
operations.
1.1.1. Vision
To be the center of excellence in research and development in post-harvest technology.
1.1.2. Mission
To enhance competitiveness of the agribusiness sector through development, dissemination
and commercialization of improved and appropriate post-harvest technology.

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1.2. PRESENT ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE OF IPHT
1.3. SERVICERS PROVIDED BY IPHT
Main activities conducted by the institute are,
 Research
 Development Project
 Training & Extension
 Consultancy and advisory services

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1.3.1. Research Activities
The research activities of the Institute, directed towards solving technological problems
confronting the postharvest industry, include both fundamental and applied demand driven
research, although the latter predominates in the research efforts.
The institute also undertakes problem solving research assignments on fee-levying basis to find
solutions to problems in technology faced by existing industries in technology adoption
The IPHT promotes collaborative research with other National institutes and Universities in
Sri Lanka. The institute provides its facilities to the undergraduates and post graduate students
of Universities to conduct their research projects in the fields of Agriculture engineering and
food/ post-harvest technology under the supervision of IPHT staff.
The IPHT has a team of dynamic, enthusiastic and innovative scientists comprise of food
technologist, post-harvest technologists, Agriculturists, chemists, Microbiologists and
mechanical/ process engineers, qualified technical staff, and material resources and modern
analytical facilities to support its research development. The Research Programmes take an
integrated approach through three research Divisions. The research findings are widely adopted
by the postharvest sector and provide income generating opportunities for small and medium
industries in SL and are also transferred to industry partners for larger commercial operations.
The institute is divided in to different research areas,
 Process Engineering Research Division.
 Postharvest Handling research division (Perishable crops).
 Postharvest Handling research division (Durable crops).
 Processing & Product Development research division.
 Technology transfer division.
1.3.1.1. Process Engineering Research Division
This division will conduct research of unit operations of food and agricultural processing such
as freezing, refrigeration, drying/dehydration, fluidization, waste treatment/purification,
thermal processing and by-product utilization.
The Division works closely with the Extension Division of the institute to effectively transfer
the technologies to identified target groups.

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1.3.1.2. Postharvest Handling research division (Perishable crops)
This division will conduct research in the areas of physiology, entomology and pathology of
Field crops, fruits and vegetables to minimize quantitative losses occurred during harvesting,
handling, transportation and storage and also to improve quality and safety of agricultural
produce.
The Division works closely with the Extension Division of the institute to effectively transfer
the appropriate technologies to identified target groups.
1.3.1.3. Postharvest Handling research division (Durable crops)
This division will conduct research in the areas of physiology, entomology and pathology of
durable crops to minimize quantitative losses occurred during harvesting, handling,
transportation and storage and also to improve quality and safety of agricultural produce.
The Division works closely with the Extension Division of the institute to effectively transfer
the appropriate technologies to identified target groups.
1.3.1.4. Processing & Product Development research division
The Division will conduct research in the area of biochemistry and nutrition of grains, other
field crops, fruit and vegetables to improve and develop preservation techniques, minimize
nutritional losses and quality deterioration during processing. The Division will also work on
value addition of agricultural produce through product development and quality improvement.
The Division works closely with the Extension Division of the institute to effectively transfer
the technologies to identified target groups.

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1.3.1.5. Technology transfer division
This Division in collaboration with other division of the institute will be responsible for
effective technology transfer to personnel engaged in postharvest activities through residential
training, field extension activities such as field training and demonstrations, field days, radio
and TV broadcasts, News Paper articles etc.
The identified target groups would be farmers, farmer companies, Private sector personnel,
traders, rice milers, grain processors, extension workers engaged in postharvest operations and
students from educational institutions.
The Division works closely with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian
services, Food Research Unit of the DOA, the Department of Export Agriculture, the Rice
Research and Development Institute of the DOA, Mahaweli Authority, Samurdhi Authority,
the HKARTI and the Faculties of Agriculture of the Universities, PGIA and research
institutions such as the NERD Centre, ITI etc. and other governmental and non-governmental
organizations to identify the appropriate postharvest technologies for dissemination.
The Division prepares the necessary extension material such as leaflets, handouts, and bulletins
etc that are harvest technologies for dissemination.
In addition, the Technology transfer Division, in collaboration with the other divisions of the
institute, provides continuous advisory service for entrepreneurs to initiate income – generating
agro processing enterprises and postharvest loss prevention techniques.
Also, in order to facilitate the generation of credit for initiation of agro processing enterprises
and adoption of post-harvest loss prevention techniques for the identified target groups,
assistance will be provided to prepare feasibility / project reports required by the lending
agencies.
Technical assistance is provided in installation and operation of postharvest loss prevention
and agro processing technologies.

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1.4. Importance of the services; relevance for the national development
As the name it’s implied “Institute Of Post-Harvest Technology” is the main institution in Sri
Lanka engaged in improving the postharvest technology of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, other food
grains, fruits and vegetables through research training extension and other development
activities.
By improving the post-harvest technologies, the institute seek to minimize the considerable
losses which occur during the post-harvest operations, improve the quality of the processed
products, minimize post-harvest operation costs and minimize returns from post production
operations in Sri Lanka.
This institute provide their helping hand for the farmers, youth and women in Sri Lankan
Agriculture frame work & help to many entrepreneurs at rural level who engage in food
processing industry through workshops, farmer training programmes etc.
Other than that they,
 Engage in improvement of the quality of locally produced rice to
international standards.
 Develop new machineries related to food processing industry.
 Engage in modernization of rice processing centers to produce high
quality rice.
 Promotion of packaging methods and transportation for the reduction of
post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables.
 Initiation of Sesame oil processing micro enterprises at rural level.
 Initiation of agro- processing-enterprises (grain and spice) at rural level.

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CHAPTER 02
2.1 My In-plant training mainly focused on few major disciplines.
2.1.1 Self-study in IPHT library about post-harvest technology and literature of past research articles.
 Study about the institute.
 Basic functions divisions and projects.
 Action plan of the IPHT in past years
 Maturity indices of fruits, grains and other crops.
 Study about the quality parameters sampling techniques and quality control of paddy,
rice and other grains.
 Study about basic concepts on grain storage, grain losses and their causes.
 Study about the best practice of grain storage and pest control.
 Learned basic requirement of store house and how to design a store house.
 Write report about warehouse design and maintenance and management.
 Study about the basic machinery principles about rice and other grain processing with
disk mill, plate mill, roller mill, and hammer mill.
 Study about their repair and maintenance.
 Learn about the extension works and outstanding milling processing centers conducted
by IPHT.
 Study about the research activities and machine fabrication in IPHT.
 Study about the recommendation of harvesting, handling, sorting, grading
transportation and storage of perishables.
 Refer about the analysis methods to identify the storage conditions of perishables.
 Study about the pack house, its design performance and operation of perishables.
 Study and refer IPHT research and finding about pack house operations.
2.1.2. Participate to a field visit to Prima Ceylon Ltd, Anuradhapura (Rice flakes production
unit), visited to a small scale rice mill and a coconut oil extraction unit.

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2.1.3. Training at laboratory
 Study about instrument handling in laboratory. Those are,
i. Chroma meter
ii. Brix meter
iii. UV-Vis Spectrophotometer
iv. Penetrometer
v. pH meter
vi. Rotary Evaporator
vii. Microwave digester
viii. Sieve Shaker
ix. Fume cupboard
x. HPLC machine
 Studied about basic working principles of High performance liquid chromatography
(HPLC) and UV-Vis Spectrophotometer.
 Run laboratory experiment using HPLC machine to test ascorbic acid content in lime
2.1.4. Collaborated with on-going research projects.
 Evaluation of papaya ripening under different treatments
i. Did sensory test for papaya which are subjected to three different
treatments.
ii. Evaluated color of the fruit peal, inside of the fruit through different
places using Chroma meter.
iii. Laboratory analysis of pH, acidity, carotene, firmness of those papaya
samples.
 Evaluated of shelf life extension of tomato with different conditions.
i. Laboratory analysis of pH, acidity, carotene, ascorbic, color, and
firmness of those tomato samples subjected to different conditions.
 Evaluated of the effect of shelf life extension of lime under different storage conditions
i. Measured firmness, color, total juice content and chlorophyll content of
lime
ii. Studied about perishable storage in cold room and analysis with ambient
conditions for lime

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2.1.5. Became familiar with following instruments & machineries developed by IPHT
research unit
 Medium scale maize Sheller
 B-onion grader
 Solar dryer
 Medium scale paddy dryer
 Tomato grader
 Continuous Paddy Steamer
2.1.6. Data entering and analyzing of the survey on supply and value chain of perishables, Sri
Lanka.
2.1.7. Participated to a two days workshop on rice floor production with rice mill owners.
2.2. Skills developed during stay
 Understood the importance of professional qualification for competitive job
market
 Gained knowledge on handling laboratory equipment.
 Learned tests to analyze food samples.
 Improved communication skills.
 Identified rules, regulations and ethics in an institute.
 Gained skills on decision making
 Learned to build up interpersonal skills.
 Learned how to understand the values, ideas, beliefs, opinions, needs and
wants of other people.
 Learned how to respect co-workers.

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CHAPTER 03
3. Discussion
3.1. Overall comments on In-Plant training
As my opinion, in plant training should be a “MUST” for all the undergraduates, and it should
extend more than one month preferably for three months. Because one-month time isn’t
sufficient for the industrial exposure.
This was one of the most exciting experiences had in my life and I am thankful to academic
staff in our faculty for introducing this to our curriculum.
When I turn back to me, I am really glad of my in plant training program, because I got really
a well reputed organization in Sri Lanka to work, it helped me to explore new things, in
gaining new experiences, moving with new people and so on.
My in plant training was good for my sense, it helped me to develop lots of new skills, to
sharp my existing skills, to make new friends and finally to expose to the industrial world.
3.2. How to incorporate the skills developed during the stay to the life
Being an undergraduate specializing in agricultural engineering, it is essential to have a proper
industrial exposure to understand the condition of the industry. During the one-month period I
got a chance to understand the behavior of the IPHT.
I developed soft skills,
 Team work.
 Communication skills
 Punctuality.
 Analytical skills.
 Working in organized manner.
 Inspection of the process work.
Further……………
I acquired many skills during my in plant training programme as mentioned earlier. Those skills
will definitely help me to success my future carrier. During this brief training session, I learnt
how to behave in an industry and how to communicate with different people in different
management levels.

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3.3. Possibilities of improving the existing situation of the workplace, if you
are appointed as the manager of the division
To identify the possibilities, a SWOT analysis of the divisions of the institute is done as
following.
Strengths
 Highly qualified staff at the
divisions.
 Highly qualified research officers.
 Good updating, research and
developments projects.
 Have consultancy and advisory
services.
 Have a good extension unit to
disseminate new findings.
 Conducting workshops and farmer
training programs.
Weaknesses
 Slow progress in research and
development projects.
 Poor resource utilization.
 Lower level of repair/maintenance of
machines.
 Lack of skilled labor.
 Poor work place inspections.
 Inadequate collaboration with other
institutes.
 No facilities for modern techniques
like PCR, ELISA for sample analysis
& disease diagnosis.
 Not profit oriented.
Opportunities
 Linkages with government institutes.
 Only institute engaging in post-
harvest technology of agricultural
commodities.
 Have internal audit unit to check
financial activities.
 Received funds from government
and non-government organizations.
 Received foreign grants.
Threats
 Annual flooding
According to the above SWOT analysis, it is clear that IPHT has strong contribution in
Strengths and Opportunities than weaknesses and threats. So if I had a chance to be the manager
the first thing what will I do is understanding the weakness of the divisions and to decide
whether there is any correlation of weakness and threats, first when move in to the weaknesses
as the manger I can increase the efficiency of research and development projects through proper
inspection. For that I will ask from research officers to inspect the researches well.
 I will repair non-functional instruments and machines.
 Improve knowledge and skills of laborer through training programs.
 Take maximum benefits from available resources.
 Use appropriate methods to disseminate research and new findings.
 Organize more farmer training programs.

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Annual flooding like treats cannot be control, therefore it is suggested to establish good
drainage system to the around the institute and can be prevent the damages to valuable
machines and buildings.
CHAPTER 04
4. Photographs
Coconut oil extraction machineRice miller

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References: Website of Institute Of Post-Harvest technology.
Laboratory Analyses