Smart phone application to identify crop disease; low-cost light trap; probiotic papaya shrikhand…and more were on display at an exhibition of ideas and solutions presented by postgraduate agricultural research scholars from across the country at Agricultural College and Research Institute (ACRI) here on Friday.
R. Susan from the ACRI said organic wax derived from plants could be used to coat disposable paper cups instead of chemical wax and acid, which were normally used as a coating to prevent liquids from seeping into the paper. “Long-term exposure to polystyrenes, which is used to coat paper cups, can lead to harmful chemicals getting deposited in the digestive system. Plant wax will have no carcinogenic properties,” she said.
Another scholar, A. Keerthivasan, had made ‘seed bomb coffee cup.’ Customers buying coffee from major chains could get the seeds embedded in the cups through his technique.
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B. Vimalan presented the idea of a mobile sensor to check crop health. He had developed a smart phone application which could identify diseases in crops based on photographs.
Akash Nirmal from Raipur presented a solution to keep pests away from crops using a low-cost light trap.
Projects involving the use of social media for transfer of agricultural technology, a platform for online trading of agricultural products and web-based interface aid marketing and export of agricultural produce were presented at the exhibition.
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The scholars also presented recipes for making carrot chocolate bars, low-glycerine blended noodles and probiotic papaya shrikhand, among others.