Fish Drying through Solar Polythene Tent Drier
Fish is an important cuisine relished by every bengali household of the district and especially dry fish is a common side dish preferred by every bengali household. Dry fish attains a major market in the district. In the district, farmers follow the traditional practice of fish drying i.e. sun drying or smoke drying after which it attains a shelf life of 3 – 4 months. During the survey, it was found that the fish dried through traditional methods are very unhygienic as they are dried openly during which flies lay down eggs which are not visible to the naked eyes but after a period of time insects come out from the eggs which reduces the shelf life as well as makes it sensory unacceptable. Therefore, a technology for fish drying i.e. Solar Polythene Tent Drier was introduced through On Farm Trial (OFT) for fish drying which reduces the time of drying as well as increases the shelf life of the produce. The fish dried through this technology was more acceptable sensorily. Fish drying time for 1-2 inch= 3-4 days, 2-4 inch = 4-5 days and 4-6 inch = 6-7 days, whereas, shelf life was observed to be extended as for 1-2 inch = 6 months, 2-4 inch = 6 months and 4-6 inch = 5 months. The sensory acceptability when observed in (9 point hedonic scale), it was observed that, 78 % liked extremely and 22 % liked very much. The technology was highly acceptable by the farmers and farm women of the district.

