AAU for patent of mechanised production of basundi

J V Solanki,Associate Director of extension dairy and animal husbandry,AAU,said they will contact the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI),Karnal,in this regard.

“NDRI will then forward the application to the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR),New Delhi and then to the National Research Development Corporation,” he added.

Prof P S Prajapati,Head of Department,Dairy Technology,AAU,said the idea to patent basundi was mooted two years ago by Sunil Patel,a PhD student at that time.

Furthermore,the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) has recently granted AAU a fund of Rs 66.2 lakh for modifying the mechanised production of basundi. Under this project,experts will also characterise indigenous products of Saurashtra and Khambhat — thabadi and halwasan — respectively.

Several dairy cooperatives,including Vidya Dairy,Baroda Dairy,Sumul Dairy,Rajkot Dairy,Himmatnagar Dairy,Sabar Dairy and Banas Dairy,have shown interest in the project,said Solanki.

AAU officials said the ICAR project is of five years,and later they might go for the branding/patenting of all the three dairy products.

“AAU has already achieved success in the mechanised production of basundi. Apart from ICAR’s Rs 66.2 lakh,the state government will give Rs 25 lakh for the project,” said Solanki.

He added: “The continuous mechanised production has a lot of scope in the dairy industry. Since indigenous products are prepared at dairies,our project will improve the hygiene as well as the sustainability.”

He further said that for halwasan and thabadi,experts will visit several areas like Himmatnagar,Palanpur,Mehsana and Saurashtra where these products are actually made.

“We will record our experience in DVDs,which will be circulated between ICAR networks. Every aspect,like how the dairy products are made and how they are tasted,will be recorded. This will help usknow the level of their contents,that is the characterisation of the products,” Solanki said.

He said the continuous mechanised production will also ensure that there is no contamination. It will also focus on packaging.