Rice exporting firm seeks patent for parboiling unit

The wheat-eating belt of north India likes it raw when it comes to rice.

Even as parboiled rice,that is soaked,steamed and then dried,now accounts for over 90 per cent of rice exports from the country and over 60 per cent consumption in the southern states,north India still needs to develop an appetite for it.

A Karnal-based rice company,Chaman Lal Setia Export,has now filed for patenting a novel technology to make parboiling more water-economical and cost and fuel effective.

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It has received a go ahead from the Intellectual Property Rights to scale up the technology after no objections were filed against it.

Though parboiled rice is more nutritious,less prone to insect-pest attacks,has better storage span and less possibility of broken rice,the process could involve huge costs,large quantities of water,effluent treatment plant (ETP) and emission of gases into the environment.

Entailing a cost of Rs 5 to 10 lakh,it could be added to the existing parboiling infrastructure,said Vijay Setia,former president of All India Rice Exporters Association,and companys director. It also eliminates the need to have an ETP plant,saves 80 per cent water,as drained water is reused for steaming and uses lesser chemicals in boilers.

Nearly 80 per cent water will be saved,benefiting the depleting water-table of Punjab and Haryana. The process has been validated by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute and NDRI,Karnal, Setia said while addressing mediapersons on Tuesday.

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