Farm machinery firm Agrograde has installed its automated GradePlus Pro onion grading system at a farmer producer company in Pimpalgaon, one of Maharashtra’s major onion trading and export hubs in Nashik district. The system can process up to 10 metric tonnes of onions an hour and reduces the labour required for grading by nearly 80% compared with manual sorting, according to the company.
The machine grades onions with claimed accuracy of 99% and is designed to improve the efficiency of post-harvest operations, which have traditionally relied heavily on manual handling. Agrograde said the system can increase throughput by three to five times compared with manual processes while also automating unloading and bagging.
The technology is based on what the company calls Wave Motion Technology, which is designed to move onions through the grading line with less abrupt contact. This is aimed at reducing skin scuffing and peeling, a major concern in mechanised onion handling.
The company said conventional and imported grading machines have faced adoption challenges in India because mechanical friction can damage the thin outer skin of Indian onion varieties, potentially affecting shelf life and prices received by growers and exporters. The press release noted that even imported machines costing around ₹1.25 crore had caused skin damage and peeling.
Agrograde has also developed a tractor-mounted version of the grading machine, which can be moved between farms, packhouses, cold storages and mandis. This allows grading to be carried out closer to the point of harvest rather than only at centralised facilities.
Agrograde co-founder Rakeshkumar Barai said the company had focused on developing technology suited to the Indian onion supply chain. He said grading costs had been brought down to nearly ₹0.05 per kg, with the system capable of handling speeds of up to 200 MT a day.