The Pickle Industry Received A Boost With This Magnificent Device

Pickle making is an age-old tradition of Indian households. It is almost a mandatory accompaniment with every meal and holds paramount importance in all of our lives especially because even a dash of it adds a real zing to the monotonous dal rice. Many believe that it helps elevate their eating experience.

From the above it’s safe to infer that the pickle industry is high in demand and is a thriving sector as well. India’s exports of Pickles & chutney were Rs. 250.62 Crores in the year 2007-2008. Maximum market for Indian pickles and relishes are Russia, U.S.A, Belgium, Netherlands and France.

The process of making pickles is quite elaborate. After procurement of the vegetable to be pickled, it is washed, cut, brined and desalted. As easy it as it may sound, the step that keeps workers engaged the longest is the cutting process because each piece needs to be identical in terms of size and shape. To ease out this process, M. Nagarjun a resident of Usilampatti, a small village 40 km away from Madurai in Tamil Nadu came up with a revolutionary idea and invented the lemon cutter. The intention behind inventing this was to address the two-fold problem of the pickle industry, namely, inefficiency due to low degree of automation and short supply of labour during peak seasons, which limits the capacity.

The machine comprises of two fixed hoppers - one conical and another circular, both having two outlets. When a taper disc is fitted, the circular hopper rotates and makes the lemons move forward through a passage one by one. This machine also contains a plunger, which is fitted above. It moves vertically ensuring that lemon is cut without the shape being destroyed. The machine is capable of cutting sizes ranging in size from 0.75 inches diameter to 2.5 inches diameter according to the needs of the industry.

Along with the rather evident time saving trait, this machine is also environment and user friendly. It takes only up to seven units of power and runs continuously for about eight hours. The waste levels are reduced drastically and it also maintains hygiene levels. The machine de seeds the lemons which were ignored when done manually which often aggravated consumers.

It has the capacity to cut 160 lemons per minute or 450 kg per hour. Even though many companies came up with similar concepts, M Nagarjun monopolized the market because of low initial investment and low operating costs. The pickle industry is predominantly run by women who often suffer from blisters due to the acidic nature of the lemon. This takes care of that problem as well.

According to Nagarajan, the manufacturing cost of a single prototype is Rs. 82,000 inclusive of labor charges and other costs. His selling price is Rs. 95,000. He was given the NIF national for selling more than 50 number of Lemon Cutting Machine. His long term plan and dream is to develop machines similar to this relating to food processing which will help magnify India’s food industry in the years to come.