Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre, popularly known as MCRC, is a non profit research organisation registered under Societies Registration Act (ACT XXI of 1860; S.No. 298; 21st September, 1973, Chennai) with registered office at “Parry House”, No.43, Moore Street, Chennai 600 001. MCRC’s ideologies are centered around science and technology applications for rural development thereby improving the quality of life of the rural people, particularly the under privileged and the marginalized.

Improve environment and provide sustainable livelihood for the poor and marginalized

• Develop environmentally sound technologies

• Conserve, recycle, reuse natural resources

• Also develop technologies to provide sustainable livelihood for poor and marginalized

• Disseminate directly or indirectly through other agencies

As per the new perspective plan for next 5 years MCRC will concentrate on i) development of Useful Technologies for the poor and marginalized, (ii) operate R & D projects sponsored by Government and other funding agencies and (iii) take up contract and industrial research.

The research areas in focus will be Biodiversity, Biotechnology, Life Science, Biomass - Energy, Environment, and Sustainable Agriculture. In an era where environmental issues are of prime concern, MCRC has made its presence felt in a number of thrust areas that include Organic - biodynamic agriculture & Horticulture, Wasteland Development, Shelter belts, Resource Conservation and Utilisation, Biofuels (Alcohol, Hydrogen and Methane), Plant biotechnology, Health & Nutrition (Spirulina utilization, Ganoderma and edible mushrooms), Paper from alternate materials, Microbial pigments, Mushroom production, Natural dyes, Biofertilizers, Biopesticides, Organic farming and Green houses, Utilization of seaweeds, Biodiversity and bioprospecting of bioresources, Charcoal briquetting, Collection of germplasm and Clonal propagation of medicinal plants, in addition to Engineering Devices for Rural Applications viz., Solar & Thermal Devices, and Surveys/Resource mapping. The R & D component of MCRC can be broadly divided into two categories. They are Life Sciences and Engineering.

Since 1977, the day to day activities of MCRC are undertaken at Taramani in a five-acre lease land provided by the Directorate of Technical Education, Government of Tamil Nadu. The total built up area houses the laboratories, administrative office and other facilities that includes workshop, refreshment room, research scholars room, library, auditorium, tissue culture lab, paper making unit and soil testing laboratory accounting for a built up areas of 17,000 sq.ft.

All essential equipments necessary for basic, applied and industrial research needs are available at MCRC. MCRC has sufficient computer facilities with broadband Internet access for the use of its scientists, research scholars and administrative staff. The administrative office is also equipped with modern communication facilities. Field experiments and trials are conducted in MCRC and also at Vadakadampadi campus.

MCRC has sixty five scientists and technicians forming the core team along with scientific staff on contract in various sponsored projects take care of all research and extension activities. The entire team is inter-disciplinary in nature and comprises biochemists, biotechnologists, microbiologists, botanists, social scientists and engineers besides the experienced laboratory and workshop technicians.

MCRC has been developing appropriate technologies for the benefit of rural communities. Mostly the research activities are directed towards basic, applied and industrial researches that might lead to a technology package available to the target groups. MCRC has also been actively engaged, for over three decades, in providing livelihood opportunities, information, awareness and expertise to NGOs, farmers, Self Help Groups, individuals and even illiterate and educated youth on technologies for rural development through training programmes, spot studies and awareness cum technology workshops.

The extension activities of MCRC are focused on the training and capacity building on various technologies developed/ adopted/ adapted to various NGOs, Stakeholders, Farmers, Women SHGs and School children. MCRC has reached about a lakh of beneficiaries consisting of 1500 villages in India and trained 800 NGOs on 25 rural technologies for the improvement of socio-economic status of the poor and marginalized.

Technology Resource centre: In recognition of MCRC’s efforts the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART) under the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India recognized MCRC as a Technology Resource Centre (TRC) in 1995 and provided funds exclusively for dissemination of rural development programmes.

Projects: MCRC has been closely working with Science and Society Division, Department of Science and Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (CAPART), Government of India as a Science and Technology NGO in bridging the divide between Science & Technology & the rural society.

MCRC receives funds from Government of India funding agencies like DST, DBT, MNRE, CSIR, DRDO, private funding organizations and international organizations implementing R & D projects . MCRC has successfully completed 103 projects funded by both national and international agencies. Currently we are implementing 16 ongoing projects at MCRC.

MCRC was identified and provided long-term core support under the scheme Science and Technology Application for Rural Development (STARD) sponsored by Science and Society division, DST New Delhi. Under this unique programme, MCRC strengthened and retained scientific manpower for long duration and also worked at the grassroots level on location specific problems and provided innovative solutions through S&T interventions related to different sectors of rural economy.

MCRC is recognized as “Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (SIRO)” by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), Government of India.

MCRC is recognized by the University of Madras to offer Ph.D programmes in Photosynthesis, biomass and energy. At present MCRC has three recognized guides approved by the University of Madras. So far ten research students have obtained their Ph.D degree and twelve research students are currently pursuing their doctoral programme. MCRC also helps postgraduate students from various Universities / Colleges in Tamil Nadu to carry out short-term research projects. So far seventy M.Sc. final year students have been guided to complete projects in partial fulfillment of their M.Sc. courses in Biotechnology / Microbiology / Industrial Microbiology etc. Every year more than fifteen students undertake short-term research projects at MCRC.

MCRC is recognized at peer, state and national level for the appropriate relevance of its research and its dissemination of science and technology to the rural masses. MCRC strives to act as a vital hub for the exchange of knowledge between industry, scientists, academia and people. For effective dissemination of technologies, MCRC has decided henceforth to approach people through other Voluntary Organizations functioning in various parts of the country. This approach has started yielding fruits as we are now approached by number of organizations for technological interventions.

Apart from Voluntary Organizations, of late, MCRC has been approached by industries also to provide solutions through ecofriendly technologies. The new perspective offers double advantage where MCRC will concentrate on two areas viz. development of technologies to provide sustainable livelihood for poor and marginalized and use the scientific resource to develop ecologically sound technologies which will benefit society at large.

Partnership with like minded organizations: MCRC greatly values the formation of strategic alliance with education institutions, industries with corporate social responsibility, public and voluntary sectors. To make its efforts successful and fulfill its extended objectives at scientific and rural level, MCRC has joined hands with various institutions viz. IIT, Chennai; University of Madras, Chennai; Gandhigram Trust, Gandhigram; Pondicherry Multipurpose Social Service Society, Pondicherry; Kaveripakkam Comprehensive Rural Development Society, Kaveripakkam Native Medicare Charitable Trust, Coimbatore and Inba Seva Sangam, Sevapur. MCRC is proud to be associated with such institutions and is planning to have more partners in future. We hope our partners play an important role in our achievements too. Working together we will achieve our goals.

In addition to the existing 18 useful technologies at MCRC, the following are the recent technologies under development at MCRC.

Charcoal briquette can prove to be a solution for curing the grim national maladies like energy and economic resources crunch and consequent socioeconomic and employment problems. While wood as a raw material serves as one of the best sources for briquetting such an activity leads to deforestation and causes environmental problems. Hence other raw materials of the plants including leaf litter and other usufructs of the plants are tried at MCRC. The biomass of different plants and their parts will have different combustion properties, which influence the quality of briquettes made. This aspect is also studied.

Gymnema sylvestre is an important ant diabetic drug yielding medicinal plant. The cost effective propagation of G. sylvestre has been developed in plant cell and tissue culture laboratory at MCRC. Developed plantlets distributed to scheduled caste farmers from identified rural areas, as part of rural agro industrialization programme and the organic farming practice using locally available natural resources has been imported to the women scheduled caste farmers. The minimal input cost and market link with the farmers would greatly benefit from medicinal plant cultivation. Protocols have been developed for mass micropropagation of scented rose and vanilla plants.

The majority of Indian house holds continue to suffer from drinking water problems over many decades. The fabrication of an efficient water filter using biomass based activated carbon will provide safe, clean and hygienic drinking water in rural areas and the same is under development at this centre.

Dissemination of edible mushroom cultivation technology (both Oyster and Milky) to rural population including marginalized farmers and women in Sevapur, Karur district, Tamil Nadu has been undertaken by MCRC. The efficacy of different unexplored agricultural residues as raw materials for mushroom cultivation was developed as cultivation packages for rural livelihood. Though mushrooms have high protein content, they are not popular in India, and MCRC is making efforts to create awareness through various training programs and workshops.

Ganoderma is a good nutraceutical supplement with several health benefits. After 3 years of R & D, supported by DBT, MCRC has standardized the technology to grow Ganoderma and harvest the fruit bodies within the short cycle of 30 and 50 days as opposed to the normal 90-180 days.

The ever increasing usage of chemicals in dyeing has been leading to leakage of effluents to surrounding soils and water columns. MCRC has succeeded in developing and patenting a technology for the efficient extraction of indigo from Indigofera tinctoria.. Production of pigments from macrofungi such as Ganoderma lucidum, Coriolus versicolor and Amanita muscaria and microfungi as well like Curvularia lunata, Altenaria sp. and Pestialopsis sp, are being studied.

Conventional chemical analysis of soil is expensive and cumbersome. A simple and cost effective technology for soil nutrient testing was undertaken with financial assistance for research from DST and Murugappa Group. Acceptable level of nutrient contents (13 nutrients) has been recorded through AAT comprising circular paper chromatogram, image processing and case base reasoning data base.

Hydrogen energy technology has been a part of our research for two decades. With financial assistance from the Ministry of Non Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), MCRC has developed a biological process for generation of Hydrogen from sugar and distillery wastes using the effluents at M/s. E.I.D. Parry Ltd., at Nellikuppam, Tamil Nadu. MCRC has been working on scaling this technology3 using a 125 m3 bioreactor which has produced 18,000 liters of total gas per hour with about 60% hydrogen mixed largely with CO2 and CO. Utilization of effluents for hydrogen production also serves as an effluent treatment strategy as the BOD and COD get reduced considerably in the process.

MCRC is concentrating on development of microbial consortia mainly focusing on methanogenic component for production of methane from residual oil reservoirs in collaboration with Institute of Reservoir Studies, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Ahemedabad.

Various lignocellulosic wastes are studied for conversion of agriculture residues to alcohol (bioethanol) employing sachharification and fermentation steps using fungi and bacteria.

All donations to this Centre are eligible for 125% weighted deduction from Income Tax under Section 35(1) (ii) of the Income Tax Act of 1961.

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BACKGROUND

AWARDS & HONOURS Karma Verar Kamarajar Award for 2003-2004 for ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT, 2004 Outstanding Social Scientist/ Scientist: Science and Society award to Dr.T.M. Vatsala, 2002 Bio-Hydrogen -Best Research Paper Award; World Renewable Energy Congress-VII Cologne, Germany, 2002 WIPO-World Intellectual Property Organisation Awad for Invention, 1995. Dr. Sheel Memorial Lecture Award, Indian Academy of Sciences, Allahabad, 1992. NRDC - President of India Award, 1991. Indira Priyadarshini Vrikshamitra Award for Environment, 1990, B D Tilak Award of Indian National Science Academy,1986. Kasturi Ranga Memorial Award, 1983. Jamnalal Balaji Awards for S&T for Rural Development, 1981. WIPO-World Intellectual Property Organisation Awards for Invention, 1981. NRDC President of India Awards, 1979. The Recognition Spin Offs - Aiding growth through synergy The Waves - Specialists in fish aggregating devices. The Murugappa Shelter Trust - Alternative housing solution providers. Shaktha Society for Women - Women related issues. Chennai-Dendro-Tech Pvt. Ltd.,- Turnkey land developers. Dr. C. V. Seshadri Resource Centre for Rural Development - Research & Development of new technologies for generating income for the rural population. Dr. C. V. Seshadri Smruti charitable Trust - Agency that produces and markets Spirulina. Well, ours is unending journey that has crossed several milestones in these 30 years. Looking back, we are satisfied of our role in converting technologies into tangible benefits for people. And looking ahead, We feel confident of taking on further challenges. We shall march forward into the future breaking new ground in every venture we enter into.   NGOs Directory MCRC has compiled a directory on voluntary organisations working in Tamil Nadu on behalf of CAPART, Hyderabad, and Development Alternatives (DA), New Delhi. CAPART requires this information to disseminate its activities through networking while DA plans to list them into the Internet. Community Development Works Workshops and Training Programmes Under the aid of government agencies many workshops and training programmes are being conducted in MCRC on several technologies developed by the Centre. The target groups who are benefited from such training programmes are NGOs, Industries, individuals and farmers. Many of the MCRC's proven technologies are being transferred to rural areas for income generation. Apart from these programmes, many camps on environmental awareness and health care are also being conducted at the Centre. Energy Surveys/Studies MCRC has carried out pioneering studies in several rural areas, in particular, in the isolated regions of the Lakshadweep Islands, The Nilgiri Hills, The Kumaon Hills in the Himalayas, etc. Expertise has been established at MCRC for the optimal use of the renewable resources in these areas. Plantation crops for energy; especially the cultivation of Casuarina equisetifolia to develop wastelands is an important area of activity. MCRC has also been involved in developing simple adaptable techniques in the energy sector that could be dovetailed to any simple need. Screen Printing Screen printing The screen printing technique developed at MCRC was not only conceived of as a programme for income generation for women but also to provide more avenues for the trade by screen printing on cloth. Cloth as a medium of communication can also decrease environmental pollution. The training programme at villages near Avadi, Chennai led to setting up of two such functional units. Many more training programmes on screen printing are envisaged. Sustainable fresh water supply to Chennai city A mammoth fresh water crisis waits future generation in India. The crisis will not be due to the lack of fresh water as such, but the availability of adequate quality water at the right places and required time to meet basic needs. The emerging global fresh water crisis is already visible in India, involving enormous social, political and environmental costs, which are affecting the economy and quality of life. The fresh water crisis is not just the result of natural factors such as drought, but has been caused by humans, by increased pollution of both surface and ground water, improper water resource management, and the shortcomings in the design, and implementation of legislation and regulations which address these problems. The objective of the study was to provide insights for policies and programmes on fresh water management in India through an analysis of the trends in water availability and its use at the local level. MCRC undertook such a study for the Chennai water basin. The intention was to examine the water situation and approaches being used by people at the urban areas, in order to achieve an assured supply of household water and utilise it for productive activities with related impacts on the ecosystem. The insights were used in a synthesis report to suggest a set of policy and programme recommendations aimed primarily at the state and national level. This was carried out with support provided by the UNICEF and WWF in India TORBED survey A short term project entitled “TORBED Food Processing” sponsored by Research ORTECH Inc., Canada was carried out. The study is focused on assessing the current practices in the food processing industry. A baseline survey was conducted to gather information on employment, gender, environment and energy etc with the food processing units in Tamil Nadu and also to study the influence on introducing Turbo machine in food processing units mainly for reduced consumption of oils. The project was successfully completed in collaboration with Dr. C.V. Seshadri Resource centre which carried out survey on Pappads. Top