A Choice Location

" We are grateful to the citizens of Mysore...We wish to assure them...that we are extremely happy in our association (with them) and it is not, perhaps, too much to hope that Mysore will also be happy with us and proud of being home of this important national institution." - Dr. V. Subrahmanyan on the occasion of the inauguration of CFTRI in 1950.

Whenever we think of the CFTRI- Mysore association, we also need to remember Mr. K.C. Reddy, the then Chief Minister of Mysore and Dr. V. Subrahmanyan the founder-director of CFTRI—the duo which made this association possible. Apart from the prize offer of Cheluvamba Mansion, what tilted CFTRI’s location decision in favour of Mysore were, among other things, the city’s facilities for water and power, equable climate, academic environment (thanks largely to the University of Mysore), proximity to the IISc and the R&D strengths of Bangalore, and proximity to the Nutrition Research Laboratories at Coonoor. Also, the city being at the convergence of regions noted for rice, millets, tuber crops and fruits & vegetables influenced the location decision.

Over the last six decades, Mysore and CFTRI have grown so much, independently as well as mutually, that the founders’ hopes on the location of the institute stand wholly justified today.

Glimpses at a glorious city

Mysore city is located at 12.18 N and 76.42 E in the southern part of Karnataka, a state in the South-Western region of India. It is well connected by road and rail to the state capital Bangalore which is about 135 km. away in the north.   

Genesis

Developing countries of the world have always realised that the key to their food security lies in the right intervention of science & technology, particularly of the indigenous kind, to conserve & preserve and process & distribute their available food resources.

The Bengal famine of 1943, and the ravages of the second world war, awakened the Government and the whole nation of India to this grave, scientific "realisation," like no other calamities ever before. The upshot of it was the coming together of the Industrial Research Planning Committee of the CSIR (under the chairmanship of Sir Shanmukham Chetty) and the Food Industries Panels of various Ministries of the Government of India to propose, in 1943, the formation of a food technology research institute, as part of the CSIR chain of national laboratories. The proposal was accepted in principle by the Governing Body of the CSIR in February 1948. Desiring that the institute be located in Mysore, the then Government of Mysore came forward with total support to the proposal, and alongside all basic facilities, offered Cheluvamba Mansion, a royal building surrounded by a sprawling estate, to house the institute. The government of India accepted the offer from among similar proposals from other provinces, and the then Prime Minister (also ex-officio President of CSIR) Jawaharlal Nehru himself came to Mysore in December 1948 and formally received the building for the institute.                       

A vision come true

A Local Planning Advisory Committee was constituted in early 1949 under the Chairmanship of Mr. K.C. Reddy, the then Chief Minister of Mysore, with Dr. V.Subrahmanyan as its Planning Officer-Member to advise CSIR on the buildings and equipment for the institute. The nucleus of the institute with the first laboratory, library and animal house facilities started functioning by the end of July 1949. In May 1950, the Ministry of Agriculture merged the Indian Institute of Fruit Technology, Delhi, with the institute coming up in Mysore.

In July-August 1950, a recruitment drive was launched and almost all the initial staff was drawn from IISc, and Department of Applied Chemistry of Calcutta University. Some research workers were also drawn from the Department of Chemical Technology, Bombay, in addition to personnel from the merged Institute of Fruit Technology. A few scientists who had received training in food processing from reputed institutions abroad were appointed to initiate research and train junior workers for R&D tasks.

Finally, on Saturday, the 21st of October, 1950, the Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) was declared open by Mr. C.Rajagopalachari, the then Home Minister in the Government of India, and Dr. V. Subrahmanyan became the first Director of the institute.

CFTRI thus became a reality (as a constituent institute of CSIR and its third national laboratory) thanks to the vision and endeavours of its founders and a network of dedicated scientists who had a passion to pursue in-depth scientific research into one of the most fundamental aspects of human life. With over 75% of the population occupied in food raising, and no facilities to benefit from post-harvest technology till then, India hailed the birth of CFTRI and started to look at it with great expectations.                                              

Remarkable Beginning

By the time the institute formally began functioning, the partition of India had taken place which together with the separation of Burma had precipitated a real food crisis in India. The institute, therefore, rightly set its sights on food conservation, food protection and enhancement of the nutritious status of food products, to help the nation overcome the critical shortage of food and its dire health consequences. The outcome of this was the development of many breakthrough technologies that created waves on India’s food scenario, and made the world sit up and take notice.              
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The baby food Breakthrough

CFTRI’s formulation, in its initial years, of a baby food from buffalo’s milk, launched India into the galaxy of advanced countries producing baby food from their own technologies. It proved that buffalo’s milk, till then considered unsuitable for easy digestion, could become an eminently nourishing food for babies. The achievement carried the Indian dairy industry to remarkable heights, and it is largely due to CFTRI that India today is able to break the monopoly of multinationals and meet all her requirements of baby food locally with indigenous know-how. (Amul, a baby food based on the institute’s technology, is a household word in India for over 4 decades now.) This achievement alone has saved foreign exchange worth crores of rupees for our country, in terms of import avoidance. The "Amul Process" which went into production in 1961, later led to the development of several weaning foods that created a far-reaching impact.

The plant protiens breakthrough

Equally acclaimed and pioneering was the institute’s development of economically cheap but nutritionally rich foods such as weaning foods, based on protein isolated from edible oilseed meals which were till then being used as cattle feed or just discarded. Novel protein foods based on this achievement went on to create a revolution among the nutritionally and economically vulnerable sections of India and other developing nations. Energy Food, Indian Multipurpose Food, Bal Ahar, Miltone and protein foods of this kind have been extensively employed in nutrition intervention, disaster relief and social welfare projects right across the nation.                           
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Achievements in food protection

In those exciting years, there were impressive breakthroughs on the food protection front as well. While pollution and toxicological hazards are drawing worldwide attention today, it is pertinant to recall here that CFTRI was the first to point out the dangers of mixing DDT with food grains, or lead chromate with turmeric, long time ago. The institute produced many safer methods of insect control as also safer food colourants and additives in this period.

Doing more with less

While scanning the pages of these "breakthrough years," one cannot but recall the famous advice by Buckminster Fuller to "do more with less," as these pioneering technologies were achieved by the institute with the minimal facilities available at that time, and that too in a country which had just begun to develop. During those days there was no indigenous industrial infrastructure in India; information on food products was scarcely available; people with specialised capabilities in food technology were hard to come by; but still, the institute could make a splash because of its sheer innovative will. Dr. V. Subrahmanyan who was the director of the institute during those formative years described this aptly when he said "It was not so much the mass of work as the creation of new lines of thinking and approaches which brought us recognition."
                                                                                
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Solid foundations

The pioneering work and the "new lines of thinking" inspired the innovative and inventive instincts of the institute, and placed it on a solid footing as a premier R&D centre for food technology in the tropics. The solid groundwork paved the way for the institute’s rapid expansion in the following years, and set a challenging path and pace for its future growth.

Through the decades since then, CFTRI has produced and provided scores of technology solutions that have afforded a powerful thrust to the development of indigenous food industries and played a notable role in the socio-economic transformation of the nation. Many programmes of post-harvest technology presently pursued in India and elsewhere, and many success stories in food business can be traced straight to the concepts and contributions that began to emanate from CFTRI then. The technologies have indeed heralded a whole new era in the history of food processing and agro-based industries of India.

(For more information, look under Dr. Subrahmanyan’s profile.)         
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• Formulation of infant food using buffalo’s milk: the basis for India’s flourishing baby food industry today
• Extraction of plant protein for the nutrition base for a new class of food supplements: Energy Food, Indian Multipurpose Food, Miltone, Bal Ahar and several weaning foods have been the most preferred foods in human welfare/relief activities throughout the developing world
• Improvement in the efficiency of processes for handling, drying and milling of staple cereals to avoid qualitative and quantitative losses
• Design and fabrication of energy-efficient and cost-effective equipment for milling food grains and pulses
• Refinement of millets and production of diversified millet products with enhanced nutritive value
• Evolution of efficient methods for parboiling paddy to render the resultant rice nutritious and organoleptically acceptable
• Formulation of products with built-in convenience (mixes) for preparing traditional Indian snacks
• Production of spice oils and oleoresins: Indigenous technology
• Fermentation and drying of cocoa mass, cocoa butter and cocoa powder: Indigenous technology
• Flavour concentrates for manufacturing aerated beverages such as orange, lime and cola: Indigenous technology—became papular in India with the cola drink "Double Seven"
• Effective but safe methods of protecting food grains from microbes, insects and rodents
• Manufacture of plant growth hormones from agricultural wastes: Use of n-Triacontanol which affords a growth potential from 15% to 30%
• Enhancement of the market and export value of coffee, tea, spices and other plantation produce
• Automation of the process of making traditional Indian snacks
• Production of high-nutrition products from coarse grains (e.g., semolina and flakes)
• Preservation of fruits & vegetables: Simple processes to increase shelf-life
• Storage, transportation/shipping and packaging of perishable food materials: Controlled /Modified atmosphere and similar technologies
• Papad making/leaf-cup making machines: Basis for a huge cottage industry
• Diversification of the use of spices into non-traditional value-added "derived" spice products
• Production of Spirulina, and phycocyanin from Spirulina
• Food colours from beet root, safflower, kokum and grapes

(*Note: More information under Impact on Society and Industry, Options as well as the respective departmental profiles.) 
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Support Area Milestones

• Establishment of the International Food Technology Training Centre (IFTTC) in collaboration with FAO—The nucleus of an internationally referred centre of excellence in advanced knowledge in foods
  
• Selection by the UNU as an Associated Institution
• Recognition by the University of Mysore for postgraduate studies and research in food technology, food science and allied disciplines
• Adoption by the National Information System for Science & Technology (NISSAT) as a sectoral information centre (NICFOS) for food science and technology in India
• Establishment of a state-of-the-art pilot plant
• Establishment of the International School of Milling Technology: An Indo-Swiss venture
• ISO 9001 certification       

CFTRI AT 50

After 50 years of tryst with India’s food destiny, CFTRI today stands out among the largest and most diversified technology laboratories in the world. From an institution that started with just 3 persons, it has now evolved into a solid pool of talent and knowledge, with over 300 scientists, technologists and engineers, and over 400 technicians, skilled workers and support staff on its payroll. Its multi-disciplinary spread (across 16 R&D departments) covers almost every field of scientific investigation connected with foods and their relationship to humans, including the cutting edge area of food biotechnology.

The institute today features a catalogue of R&D achievements (with over 300 products/processes/equipment designs and close to 160 commercialised technologies); a whole matrix of solutions for the industry and society; an impressive portfolio of research productivity (with high-science content publications and patents); a worldwide web of nationally and internationally leading agencies; an extensive and highly responsive constituency of users from both the public and private sectors; and an impressive overall performance profile. But it is not in the tradition of the institute to rest on its laurels, and it continues to seek ever greater challenges in ever greater fulfilment of its vision.                                                                
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Role in the New Economy

The institute has come a long way not only chronologically, but even in terms of its perception of its own role as well as its perspectives, in tune with the radical changes taking place on India’s economic, social and technological fronts. The food crisis that inspired the birth of the institute is far behind us now, and so are the fetters to India’s global economic growth.

Today India is the second largest food producer in the world and can make a difference to itself and to the world with its own advancements in food technology which automatically brings CFTRI to the fore. In every category of our food crop—grains, pulses, oilseeds, spices, plantation produce, fruits & vegetables— and even in meat, fish & poultry, there is now a remarkable uptrend in production, and CFTRI is obviously playing a valuable role in developing and transferring technologies to derive the optimal processed value from this favourable situation for the benefit of farmers, processors and consumers.                                                             
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Favourable Pointers on the Road Ahead

A major development in this country in recent years has been the growing impact of processed and packaged foods and the consequent emergence of an independent Ministry for Food Processing Industries at the central government level. Today, food is a Rs.250,000 crore industry in India, and this is estimated to hit Rs. 480,000 crores by 2005, the value of the value-added foods itself likely to move from Rs. 80,000 crore to Rs. 225,000 crore in the meantime! Thanks to a liberalised economic and trade regime, these and similar other factors have poised India’s food economy in an unusually promising way:

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Rising capital investments
• Rapidly expanding urban markets for processed foods (especially traditional foods through eco-friendly technologies)
• Increasing redemption of food consumption habits from the fetters of tradition
• Money value of raw materials
• Diversity of manufacturable products
• New employment opportunities
• Guaranteed profitability on investments
• Assured market growth
• Emphasis on consumer satisfaction/preference
• Governmental stakes in organised food distribution system
• International monopoly in respect of important agricultural and horticultural produce
• Growing recognition of natural resources such as soil, water and germplasm in food raising    

A Knowledge Mission for the Knowledge Age

For a better realisation of its essentially knowledge-centric vision and mission, in the current knowledge age, CFTRI is equipping itself in every way. And with the fresh vigour and thrust now imparted to it by its Golden Anniversary, the institute is positive that in the days ahead, it will be able to contribute ever more effectively to the agro-economic progress of India, while teasing ever more valuable "trade secrets" out of the gifts of nature for the benefit of every participant in the food system.                                                                     Top

Our Vision

• A model organisation for scientific industrial research and a pathsetter in the new paradigm of self-financed R&D in the country
• A global platform providing competitive R&D and high-quality science-based technical services across the world
• A vital source of science and technology for national societal missions which provide a human face to the organisation’s endeavours                        

   Our Mission

• Generate and apply knowledge of food science and food technology for optimal conservation and utilisation of the nation’s food resources
• Integrate scientific and technological knowledge into conventional and traditional systems and practices, and local and regional realities
• Add value and utility to agro-resources through R&D and contribute to sustained development, food security and food safety
• Aid and promote the development of food industry through inter-disciplinary, innovative and state-of-the-art solutions
• Set national standards for food quality, and spread food quality consciousness all around
• Sustain leadership in long-term strategic research and technology development
• Integrate the food supply chain from the cultivator to the consumer so that cultivators get optimal returns from processing, and consumers get the food that they want, when they want, where they want, in whatever form they want and at affordable cost
  
• Build and bolster bonds with nodal agencies from the global to the grassroots level, particularly in the area of multi-level human resources development
• Develop new knowledge continuously, to address contemporary challenges and answer future emergencies
                                                                 
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Our Focus

• Development of low-cost and cost-effective technologies
• Utilisation of indigenous raw materials
• Bio-friendly technology with emphasis on integrated processing
• High-level pursuit of total technology, underlining the need for food safety, health and nutrition to one and all

Our Distinctive Strengths

• Five decades of intensive and extensive experience in providing specialised knowledge services to industry and society, marked by a series of technology breakthroughs and seminal basic research
• Multi-disciplinary knowledge-base spanning 16 R&D departments
• Solutions in all specialities and super specialities of science and technology, known to influence food and manufacture of food products
• Total solutions under one roof for interdisciplinary synergy value and user convenience
• State-of-the-art and comprehensive resource base, including top-notch human resources at the cutting edge of food knowledge, an ultra- sophisticated pilot plant, a nationally referred analytical quality control laboratory and a high-tech information resource centre.
• Outstanding credentials in developing sub-regional, regional and international programmes for training in wide ranging areas of food and agri-products processing: Internationally referred centre of excellence for postgraduate studies and research in food-centric disciplines
• Impressive productivity in terms of processes and products as well as patents and papers
• High technology and high science with a human face
• Location in a developing country that enables development and transfer of technology with the right perception of the unique needs for technology and self-reliance in other developing countries
• Solid record in consultative and contract research
• Competence and confidence to venture into unexplored and unexposed lines of scientific investigation
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Our Major R&D Programmes

• Development of appropriate and relevant technologies, and upgradation of traditional technologies to increase the efficiency of food industries and reduce/eliminate post-harvest losses of perishables and durables
• Development of food products and processes for efficient conservation, protection and processing of food and other agro-economic resources
• Development of technology packages for value added convenience food products
• Development of export-oriented valued added products from horticultural and plantation produce
• Basic research related to food additives/preservatives, micronutrients, food toxicity and safety, food microbiology, enzymatic and molecular biology, bioactive substances and food packaging
• Development of food products/processes from untapped food sources
• Exploration of new ways of processing nutritious foods
• Establishment and management of food industry units
• Development of energy-efficient and cost-effective equipment for modernisation of primary processing industries
• Design and fabrication of prototype food processing machinery
• Development of protocols for post-harvest handling and transportation of fruits and vegetables for export and inland markets
• Development of new methods of packaging food materials and processed food products for extended shelf-life      
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• Planning and implementation of an imaginative information dissemination programme in post-harvest technology
• Assistance to agro-based food industries and new entrepreneurs through consultancy, contract research and other technical services covering installation, production, quality control and day-to-day management
• Development of human resources through varieties of training programmes for carrying out R&D and scientific management in the area of food processing and preservation

• Rationalisation of energy input in food processing systems
• Reduction of post-harvest losses in raw materials
• Upgradation of technologies for food quality, safety and productivity, with special reference to traditional foods
• Speciality foods for focus groups
• Technology applications with long term and export perspectives
  
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Value addition by secondary and tertiary processing
• By-product utilisation/beneficiation by downstream (quaternary) processing
• Integrated processes
• Extension of shelf-life
• Utilisation of waste agro-materials
• Optimal use and conservation
• Process scale-up
• Integration of high-science and high-tech knowledge into traditional and indigenous/local knowledge base; interdisciplinary synergy
• Accommodation of customs and local socio-cultural factors
• Integration of the entire food supply chain from cultivator to consumer
• Appropriate, relevant and application-oriented technologies
• Indigenous raw materials and non-conventional sources
• Traditional foods and convenience foods
• Employment of bio-friendly and clean technologies for sustained development
• Cost-effective, energy-efficient and labour-saving technologies
• Cutting edge and frontier technologies
• Total and innovative solutions
• Technology with a human face
• Food quality, safety and security
• Retention of nutritive/health value and nutrition for all
• Value for money, value for food
• End-user and consumer satisfaction
• Long-term strategic research
• Institute-industry synergy and research-market link
• Corporate culture and R&D "ventures"
• Strategic alliances with government, industry and other organisations from international to local levels
• Rural employment
• Intellectual property rights
• Globally competitive technologies
• Self-financing and total self-reliance
• Challenges --and not problems
• High value "need creation"--beyond "need fulfilment"
• Enhancing exports--not just reducing imports
• Pro-active--and not reactive approach
• Complete solutions--not just stop-gap arrangements

CFTRI, like all other institutes and laboratories of CSIR, has a Research Council which plays a crucial role in the institute’s functioning by —

• Orienting the R&D programmes towards national goals
• Monitoring utilisation of the resources
• Evaluating the work output
• Strategic planning
• Constituting the assessment/selection committees and peer groups
• Guiding the overall growth and pursuit of excellence

A new Research Council is constituted every 3 years by the Director General of CSIR, New Delhi, and it consists of external experts (such as scientists, technologists, business administrators); representatives from scientific departments/agencies and industrial houses; a senior scientist from another CSIR laboratory/institute; the Director of the institute; and the Director General or a nominee of CSIR.
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CFTRI, like all other institutes and laboratories of CSIR, has a Management Council which monitors the affairs of the institute within the framework of the rules & regulations and directions & guidelines of CSIR. The Management Council acts as an appellate authority for the grievances of the employees of the institute, as also the authority to write off the irrecoverable material and monetary losses of the institute, within the limits prescribed by CSIR. It also exercises such functions and powers as are not specifically assigned to the Research Council or the Director, in addition to dealing with other matters referred to it by the Director General of CSIR.

Like the Research Council, the Management Council also has a 3-year term, and consists of the Director of the institute as its Chairman; 4 scientists of the institute representing the different age groups of the staff; 2 Director-level scientists of this or another institute; the finance/accounts head of the institute; with the administrative head of the institute as its Member-Secretary. The Director General or a nominee of CSIR is a permanent invitee to the meetings of the Management Council.