ICAR-NISA
ICAR- National Institute of Secondary Agriculture (NISA), formerly, Indian Institute of Natural Resins and Gums, located at Namkum, Ranchi, in the Jharkhand state, is a unit of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). The ICAR-NISA was renamed as ICAR-National Institute of Secondary Agriculture, in September 2022, with a change in the mandate to serve all the aspects of secondary agriculture. The Institute was earlier known as Indian Lac Research Institute, established in September 20, 1924, and thus, one of the oldest institutions within the ICAR system, having completed 99 years of fruitful services to the Nation.
Establishment
The institute had been the nodal Institute at national level for providing research & development and consultancy support to all aspects of lac such as production, processing, product development, technology dissemination, information repository and national and international cooperation. The institute also conducts regular trainings for farmers, master trainers, students, state line departments, entrepreneurs and startups. It has immensely contributed towards all round development of lac besides maintaining India`s leadership in production, installed processing capacity and export.
Research
National Institute of Secondary Agriculture (NISA) comprises of four divisions and one unit namely Agri-Bioresources Augmentation Division (ABA), Downstream Agro-Processing Division (DAP), Agriculture Structure & Process Engineering Division (AS&PE) Automation and Plant Engineering Division (APE) and Agri-Business Development Unit (ABD).
Services
NISA has several facilities like Biotechnology lab. The laboratory is well equipped with instruments for molecular and plant tissue culture work and provides need based training to scientific staffs and regular project training for post graduate and undergraduate students.
Technologies
The institute has developed several worthwhile technologies for production, processing & value addition of lac and other natural resins and gums to cater the evolving needs of different stakeholders. The institute propagate these technologies through Agribusiness Development Unit.
Divisions
The institute operates and accomplishes its mandate through four divisions namely Agri-bioresources Augmentation (ABA) Division, Agricultural Structures and Process Engineering (ASPE) Division, Downstream Agro Processing (DAP) Division and Automation and Plant Engineering (APE) Division.
ABA Division
AS & PE Division
APE Division
DAP Division
100 years of service to the nation
The journey of National Institute of Secondary Agriculture (NISA) started long ago when lac in the form of lac-dye was used in medicine, dyeing of fabrics and cosmetic purposes in ancient times
Dr Abhijit Kar
Director, NISA
Presently, value addition of the produce and utilizing the crop residues is attaining high priority. Secondary Agriculture is high value addition to primary agriculture. It helps in using all parts of an agricultural produce