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National Mission on Himalayan Studies
Implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change (MoEF&CC)
Nodal and Serving hub with G.B. Pant "National Institute of Himalayan Environment"(NIHE)

Project Title:

Enhancing livelihood of farmers in Sikkim Darjeeling Himalayan belt thorough possible interventions in processing and value addition of underrated horticultural and spice crops

1. Project Details
Sanction Date: 21-12-2018
Project Category SG
Year 2018-2019
Project Duration 3 Years + 9 Months project extension + 3 Months project extension
BTA : Livelihood Options & Employment Generation
Project Site/ State/ Districts/ Villages Covered:

Sikkim

Organization/ Implementation Agency:

Department of Processing and Food Engineering

College of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology

Project Partners: S.No. Name Roles & Responsibilities
1.
Department of Processing and Food Engineering, CAEPHT, Ranipool Major Research and extension activities of the proposed project
2.
NGO/ SHG and Sikkim unit of North Eastern Livelihood Promotion Society, DoNER, Govt. of India Collection and supply of raw material, exploitation of traditional knowledge and local resources, communication link between college and local people
Lead Proponent:

Dr. Sujata Jena

Department of Processing and Food Engineering, College of Agricultural Engineering and Post Harvest Technology Ranipool, Gangtok, Sikkim

Project Brief Description: Cherry pepper or Dalle Khorsani belongs to genus Capsicum annuum. It is mostly grown in Sikkim and its surrounding regions like Darjeeling. Cherry Bomb pepper or the Red Cherry pepper is named as such for its resemblance in size and shape to fruits that share the same name, cherries and cherry tomatoes. It is one of the hottest chilli pepper with a Scoville rating of 100,000 to 350,000 SHU (in comparison Naga King chilli has Scoville rating of 330,000- 1,000,000 SHU, Tabasco red pepper sauces has rating of 2500-5000 SHU and pure capsaicin has Scoville rating of 16,000,000 SHU). It is a traditional chilly extremely popular locally for its pungency and unique flavour. Cherry pepper is of ideal size for pickling or brining, and they also make for an excellent garnish on a dish. Green cherry pepper is mostly consumed as fresh and the mature red pepper as pickled product. The area under cherry pepper is about 248 hectares in Sikkim.
Chayote (Sechium edule), also known as christophene or cho-cho or merleton, chuchu (Brazil), Centinarja (Malta), Pipinola (Hawaii), pear squash, vegetable pear, ishkus (Darjeeling, India) is an edible plant belonging to the gourd family Cucurbitaceous, along with melons, cucumbers and squash. Chayote is originally native to Mexico or Central America where it grows abundantly and has little commercial value, and it has been introduced as a crop all over Latin America, and worldwide (Morton, 1981; Singh et al., 2014). Chayote or Squash, locally called �Iskush� in Sikkim has been cultivated extensively and utilized for human consumption. It is also grown in other states of the North East. The plant is also extensively grown in the North East India as an important home garden crop used for marketing as well as self use purpose (Sahooet al. 2010).
Chayote is an important part of traditional diets across world. Along with the young leaves, the shoot is a commonly consumed vegetable in the various regions; it is breaded and fried, or used cooked in salads and soups (Singh et al., 2014). In North east India the shoots, fruit and roots are widely used for different varieties of curries. Chayote is also popular in South Indian cuisine. It is popularly referred to as �Bangalore brinjal (Bengaluru vankayya)�, called in Kannada. It is used in vegetable stews like sambar and palya. In Tamil Nadu in South India, it is known as �Chuw Chuw� and widely used in everyday cooking for �Saambar� or �Kootu�. In Andhra Pradesh it is called Bengaluru vankaya and sold in vegetable markets in the name of �chow chow� (Singh et al, 2014).
Considerable diversity of Isqush is found in North Eastern Hilly region, particularly, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Mizoram. In Sikkim, eighty six different accessions of chayote were reported by ICAR Sikkim centre. It is very popular vegetable crop grown in the traditional way in backyards and kitchen gardens. In 2013-14, annual production of chayote in Sikkim was 8667 tonnes and ranks 1st amongst vegetables. Due to its very high production and less demand in local market, farmers are badly affected as they are getting minimum price to their produce.
No scientific information on the physic-chemical composition and systematic use of chayote fruit and cherry pepper of this region has been reported. The Sechium edule which is richer and at lower price in our province is the ideal new material of processing preserved fruit food. Using the Sechium edule or chayote and cherry pepper as the major materials and adopting a new technology process, we propose produce a series of food products viz., Chayote preserve, chayote jam, chayote based sweets, cherry pepper paste, cherry pepper flakes, cherry pepper powder, etc. This will provide a new wave of the comprehensive exploitation and utilization of these selected fruits which otherwise lacked diversification of use.
Beneficiaries/ Stakeholders:

The project is targeted to cover five hundred farmers per district of Sikkim

Activity Chart Click Here


2. Financial Details
Total Grants (in Rs.) Rs. 48,93,000.00 (Rupees: Forty Eight Lakh Ninety Three Thousand Only)
1st Installment (in Rs.) : Rs. 23,86,000.00 (Rupees: Twenty Three Lakh Eighty Six Thousand Only)
2nd Installment (in Rs.) : Rs. 13,16,000.00 (Rupees: Thirteen Lakh Sixteen Thousand Only)
3rd Installment (in Rs.) : Rs. 10,80,392 (Rupees: Ten Lakh Eighty Thousand Three Hundred Ninety Two Only)


3. Project Objectives, Deliverables and Monitoring Indicators
Project Objectives Quantifiable Deliverables Monitoring Indicators
Determination of socioeconomic status and bench mark survey using Participatory rural appraisal approach before and after project work. Production of 06 value added products from underrated crops like cherry pepper and chayote. Number of value added products are developed (Nos.)
Physico-chemical evaluation of cherry pepper and chayote fruits from different locations Development of about 2-3 small scale primary processing machines for selected crops of the study (hand/power operated). Small scale primary processing machine developed (Nos.)
Development of new optimized technologies for production value added products. Number of new technologies developed (Nos.)
Development of small scale primary processing machines for cherry pepper and chayote fruits Number of beneficiaries in increase in income (Nos.)
Optimization of process technology for value added cherry pepper and chayote fruit products Increased livelihood of at least 500 SC/ST people in 4 districts including women. Organized the training and Capacity building programmes (Nos.)/Person trained (Nos.)
Popularization of developed technologies through extension activities On farm Trainings/ Demonstrations will be organized to communicate local participants. No. of Reports/Research articles/Policy documents prepared and published (Nos.)
S.No. Name (Sanctioned) Qualification Designation (Sanctioned) Salary (Sanctioned)
1. 01 JPF @ 16,000/-
2. 01 Field Assistant @ Rs.12,000/-
S.No. Name of Equipment (Sanctioned) Use of Equipment/ Details Cost (in INR)
1. Digital Refractometer, Vacuum Oven, Autoclave, Colorimeter, Digital LCD Projector and Accessories and Desktop printer with Accessories. 14,50,000/-