Good news for farmers: ICRISAT uses X-ray to assess peanuts’ quality

Subject: Science

X-ray radiography has the potential to be the right technology for in-field evaluation of farmers’ produce as per the study by ICRISAT

Usage of X-ray based technology

A novel artificial intelligence-based algorithms to extract an accurate estimate of the physical traits from X-ray radiographies of whole peanut pods.
Advanced image processing algorithms for ‘virtual shelling’ are standardised for estimating shelling percentage, kernel numbers and mass.
Virtual shelling’ are also being explored for feature evaluation of various other crops such as rice, oats and barley, and pigeonpea for estimation of other commercially significant traits like milling recovery.
Researchers also used this technology for testing seed embryo viability.
It is right technology for in-field evaluation of farmers’ produce which is demanded by the International Committee for Food Value and Safety.
It is also useful grain value chains where the time needed to assess the economic value of grain by threshing or milling is a significant barrier.
It also allows fair procurement cost estimation for the primary producers and all stakeholders

INTERNATIONAL CROPS RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE SEMI-ARID TROPICS (ICRISAT)

The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) is an international organization which conducts agricultural research for rural development.
ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in the drylands of Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
It was founded in 1972 by a consortium of organizations convened by the Ford and the Rockefeller Foundations.
Its charter was signed by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
ICRISAT conducts research on five highly nutritious drought-tolerant crops: chickpea, pigeon pea, pearl millet, sorghum, and groundnut.
Headquarter: Hyderabad, Telangana in India.