Agrograde Unveils 10-Ton-Per-Hour Onion Grading Machine in Maharashtra

Agrograde has deployed an automated onion grading system in Pimpalgaon, Nashik, promising faster processing, 99% grading accuracy, and dramatically lower labor requirements.

India’s onion supply chain is getting a major technology upgrade as agricultural technology company Agrograde installs its GradePlus Pro automated onion grading system at a farmer producer company in Pimpalgaon, Maharashtra.

The deployment could mark a significant shift for one of India’s biggest onion trading hubs, where grading and post-harvest handling have traditionally relied heavily on manual labor.

According to figures released by Agrograde, the machine can process up to 10 metric tons of onions every hour, while reducing manual labor requirements by nearly 80%. The company also claims grading accuracy of up to 99%.

Automated Onion Grading Targets India’s Biggest Bottleneck

Onion grading is a crucial step in determining quality, pricing, and marketability. Yet much of India’s process still relies on workers manually sorting onions by size and quality.

Agrograde says its GradePlus Pro was developed specifically for the challenges of Indian onion varieties.

The system uses the company’s Wave Motion Technology, which is designed to move onions through the grading line with less abrupt contact. The objective is to minimize skin scuffing and peeling while increasing processing speeds.

Agrograde claims the automated system can deliver throughput three to five times higher than manual grading, while also automating unloading and bagging.

The technology addresses a particularly important problem for Indian growers: damage to the onion’s outer skin.

Why Onion Skin Damage Has Been a Problem

Mechanical grading systems have historically faced resistance in India’s onion industry because aggressive handling can damage the thin outer skin of local varieties.

According to Agrograde, imported grading equipment costing around ₹1.25 crore ($130K) has previously caused skin damage and peeling, potentially reducing shelf life and onion value.

That challenge has limited the adoption of automated grading despite India’s enormous onion production and export market.

Agrograde says its technology has been designed around Indian operating conditions rather than simply adapting machinery developed for overseas markets.

Agrograde Claims Grading Costs Can Fall to 5 Paise Per Kg

The company says the Pimpalgaon installation can help transform the economics of onion post-harvest processing.

Rakeshkumar Barai, Agrograde’s co-founder, said the company’s objective was to create technology suited to India’s onion supply chain.

“We have now brought down the grading costs to almost INR 0.05 per kilogram at speeds up to 200 MT per day,” Barai said.

At that scale, automated grading could potentially help large producers, traders and exporters handle significantly greater volumes without proportionally increasing labor requirements.

Tractor-Mounted Grading Machine Takes Technology to Farms

Agrograde is also taking the technology beyond fixed facilities.

The company has introduced a tractor-mounted onion grading system that can move between farms, packhouses, cold storage and agricultural markets.

That could allow onions to be graded closer to where they are harvested rather than requiring everything to move through a centralized grading facility.

The mobile system reportedly uses the same underlying technology as the Pimpalgaon installation.

Agrograde’s Bigger Ambition

Founded in 2018 by Kshitij Thakur and Rakeshkumar Barai, Agrograde develops grading, sorting, weighing and packing technology for the potato and onion industries.

The company says it has deployed more than 130 machines across 14 Indian states.

Its investors include Aligned Ventures, Social Alpha, Villgro and IIM Ahmedabad Ventures. Agrograde’s work has also been referenced by NITI Aayog and recognized through programs including Mahindra Startup Leap and the MANAGE Samunnati Agri Startup Awards.

With India’s onion trade under constant pressure to improve efficiency, reduce post-harvest losses and maintain export quality, Pimpalgaon’s new automated grading line could be an early glimpse of a much more mechanized future for the country’s onion industry.