NSPRI Develops Multipurpose Dryer For Agro Products

The Nigerian Stored Product Research Institute (NSPRI), Port Harcourt, has developed a multipurpose dryer for the processing and drying of agricultural commodities.

The Tide’s visit to the institute’s office at Rumueme in Port Harcourt has revealed that the multipurpose dryer has been developed to process incommercial quantities, commodities like plaintain chips, cassava chips and pallets, mango chips, leafy vegetables, sea food, mushrooms, and tomatoes, among others.

Several packs of dried vegetable were seen preserved, which can be used for cooking whien demanded.

Speaking on the development, the officer in-charge of the institute, Mr Simon Robert said that the multipurpose dryer can be used at urban and local levels.

He said that the reasons for the dryer is to minimize wastage of commodities, especially when products are scare, that the dried ones can enable people to still have the taste of such commodities in its dry form, even when it is out of season.

According to him, the punkin leave popularly known as “Ugu” leaf is one of the favourite commodities in their dried storage, which he said can last for four months, noting that the commodity is always scares during dry season.

Robert maintained that other commodities like mango chips will make one get the taste of fresh mango, even when the season is over, through the avalaibility of the dried mango chips.

He said “advantages of the dryer are numerous, ranging from employment generation, income generation, affordable and readily available, proximate composition retained and poverty alleviation.”

Other advantages of the multipurpose dryer are that electricity is not needed and can be used at both rural and urban centres, dries fast (over night) and is powered by kerosene stove, and products are neat and exportable.

The officer in-charge also said that the dryer can be available in family size and commercial size.