Agroprocessing and Technology Division (APTD) is a multidisciplinary centre with main focus on process (shelf life enhancement, storage, value addition) and product development (nutraceuticals, functional foods, dietary supplements, phyto pharmaceuticals, bio-fertilizers & bio pesticides) emphasizing agri produce & plant resources. One of the main objectives of the division is improvement of general welfare of farmers through high returns of their produce via scientific and technological intervention and innovation. Division has major pilot plant facilities and a technology business incubation centre (TBIC) in the area of agro-processing. APTD is also involved in the development and validation of nutraceuticals and phyto pharmaceuticals exploring rich biodiversity, availability of abundant traditional knowledge in this region and available expertise in the division. APTD is also working on development of bio-fertilizers & biopesticides from endophytic microbes, mining of novel indigenous microbial strains capable of producing industrially important multiple enzymes for isolation of active ingredients from spices and fruits. Division is also equipped with facilities for in-vitro screening of compounds and mechanism based studies for diabetes, cardiovascular, inflammation, cancer and non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases. The division has academic programmes (PhD) for human resource development in the field of food science and biomedical sciences for meeting the needs of industries and academics institutes.See More

The mandate of the Microbial processes and Technology Division (MPTD) division is to conduct high quality R & D in specific frontier areas of Biotechnology. Significant emphasis is put in exploration<
and value addition of regional bioresources while ensuring environmental sustainability. The division is actively involved in research in the focussed areas for bioprocesses and products development byexploring and exploiting the microbial resources. The current focus of research are in the areas of i)Industrial enzymes and value added chemicals ii) Biofuels and biorefinary (iii) bioactive molecules iv) Health and genomics (v) plant microbe interactions and (vi) probiotic and algal nutraceuticals. The Division has a dedicated “Centre for Biofuels” for exclusive R&D on 2nd generation bioethanol. The pilot plant for the production of lignocellulosic bioethanol is now supported by on-site solid-state fermentation enzymes production pilot plant, bringing better cost-effective and handling opportunities.The Division is involved in R & D on developing different microbial bioprocess and has strong industry linkages to work on fermentation technology, microbial formulation for probiotic, biopesticides and
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The vision of the division is to be internationally recognized for excellence in discovering new knowledge on functional materials and natural products/bioactive molecules and to develop such molecules/materials for industrial applications using innovative cost competitive and environmentally acceptable processing technologies. This division has the following sections: Photo sciences and Photonics, Inorganic and Polymeric Materials and Organic Chemistry. The activities of the Division are related to (i) working on fundamental and applied aspects of Photochemistry and related areas with the purpose of developing photonic materials for applications in solar energy harvesting, electro optical devices and photo medicine,(ii)design and develop inorganic materials and polymers for applications in areas relate to energy storage, lightning and molecular sensing for imaging and diagnostics and (iii) to isolate/synthesize new bioactive molecules and to develop state of the art synthetic organic methodologies for the fine chemical industry.See More

MSTD of CSIR-NIIST is actively involved in cutting edge R&D activities leading to high science and relevant technologies in the areas of Metals, Ceramics, Polymers, Electronic and Magnetic materials. In addition, fundamental research of interdisciplinary nature is being carried out by the scientists of this division leading to high quality publications and patents. This division has published 72 papers in SCI journals with an average impact factor of 3.235 with impact factor per scientist being 2.904 and the division has got 3 US patents granted this year.See More

The Environmental Technology Division is actively engaged in creating indigenous technologies for pollution control and value addition to the region’s natural resources.The entire activities of Environmental Technology Division (ETD) can be put under these two topics. Further, the divisional activities converge into the areas of waste management, dioxin research and Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). From the expertise developed in waste management solutions,effluent treatment, soil remediation etc., the division has made a niche in state of the art technological solutions and mitigation measures.CSIR-NIIST is a NABET accredited, Category A consultant organisation in Kerala with accreditation in two areas i.e Mining and Ports & Harbour. The EIA services are used by government and private sector for statutory clearance of projects.CRTDH (Common Research & Technology Development Hub) is a project funded by DSIR, Govt. of India. CRTDH provides facilities for R&D and consultancy services enabling environmental interventions for MSMEs. Environmental issues associated with MSMEs are taken up for development, interventions and technological solutions. Technical support is provided to meet regulations as well as to reduce resource consumption and improve efficiency of operation. The state of the art Dioxin analysis facility has been established under the CRTDH project.The Testing and Analysis Laboratory of ETD is accredited by NABL as per ISO/IEC 17025: 2005 for analysis of Water, Waste water, Dioxins, Furans and Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs). In addition, CSIR-NIIST has been recommended by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Govt. of India as a referral laboratory for Dioxin analysis for environmental clearances. Most of the R&D outcomes of the division are in the form of successful, innovative and cost-effective technologies striving to create an ecosystem of “development without destruction”.
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The institute has an active programme targeting societal development. Recently CSIR has identified CSIR-800 as a thrust area with a vision of inclusive growth and improvement in the quality of life of the 800 million people at the bottom of economic pyramid, through S & T interventions. Under this scheme NIIST has taken up a project named Green Enterprises for Micro-Sector(GEMS).A number of technologies that have the potential to crate green micro-enterprises that generate income and employment for low income groups and are at the same time beneficial to the environment, have been identified, namely i)environment friendly extraction of natural fibers ,ii)natural fiber based biodegradable household articles, iii)value addition of under-exploited and under-utilized agro products, iv)agro-technologies for cultivation and post harvest management of medicinal, aromatic plants and v)development of green household sanitation devices. Linkages are being built up with NGOs and appropriate Governmental bodies for delivery of the technologies in a way that would benefit large number of people in the low income group .The institute has also been supporting in Kerala Tile Sector in modernization of infrastructure, training manpower and setting up quality control laboratories. Studies on industrial feasibility for preparation of coir and banana fiber reinforced polymer composite panels and building components have also been conducted.