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Food processing has many job opportunities, says Badal at BFGI conference
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Thursday, 21 February, 2019, 12 : 00 PM [IST]
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Our Bureau, New Delhi
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Food processing is directly related to agriculture and it is an area which has many job opportunities. This was stated by Harsimrat Kaur Badal, minister for food processing industries, at the three-day international conference on Food security, nutrition and sustainable agriculture - Emerging techniques, which was jointly organised by Baba Farid Group of Institutions (BFGI), Bathinda (which was also the venue of the conference) and IIFPT (Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, in collaboration with Society of Pharmacogognosy and Phytochemistry.
She was the chief guest at the valedictory function of the conference, which was sponsored by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) and attended by dignitaries, delegates, agricultural experts, agri scientists, progressive farmers, researchers and students. C Anandharamakrishanan, director, IIFPT, was guest of honour.
Referring to MoFPI’s achievements, Badal said that after the opening of the mega food park in Punjab, IIFPT’s incubation and training centre was opened in Bathinda, where farmers and students were being trained to adopt food processing techniques so that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of doubling the incomes of the farmers could be realised. Modi said that by paying attention to the processing of crops like potato in Punjab, the farmers’ incomes could be increased.
She invited the students to become entrepreneurs by processing agro products and contribute to the nation’s progress. She called upon the students and teachers to take advantage of giving grants related to the field of food processing.
Anandharamakrishanan said that he wanted BFGI to introduce food technology courses and he expressed their desire to provide training, faculty and international facilities in the field of food technology. So that both the institutions can work together for benefit the people, farmers and students of the area.
Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, chief patron of the conference and chairman, BFGI, said that over 300 delegates from five countries and 15 states of India participated in this conference. Over 500 students and research scholars have read the papers in this conference, where over 250 research papers were received. Out of these, 155 research papers will be published in the journal of the Society of Pharmacogognosis and Phytochemistry.
He assured that this international conference would be very helpful in finding optimum practical solutions to overcome the challenges in the fields of agriculture and food processing.
Dhaliwal also highlighted the achievements of BFGI students in different fields. On this occasion, Pardeep Kaura, deputy director (academics), BFGI, exchanged MoUs (Memorandums of Understanding) with different industries and sector skill councils like IIFPT, Biocarve Seeds, Perennial Foods, KUKVC, etc.
Earlier, in the Agriculture Entrepreneurship Summit, there was a panel discussion at which such topics as seed production, marketing of agricultural seeds, problems related to organic farming, seed production and their solutions, besides the scope of food processing and products, funding agencies, start-up entrepreneurship, quality control and start-ups for the food processing industry were deliberated on.
The panellists comprised G S Mahal, former director, seeds, PAU (Punjab Agricultural University), Ludhiana, and professor, BFC; Alahrang, managing director, Biocarve Seeds, India; R K Gumber, director, Ankur Seeds, Sri Ganganagar; Uma Saini, managing director, Agri Care Organic Farming, Ludhiana, and Savita Sharma, principal scientist, food technology, PAU.
During this conference, the successful progressive farmers who came to visit during the conference shared their experiences and gave valuable suggestions on increasing agricultural production and reducing wastage.
Prizes were also distributed to delegates and students who won the poster presentation competition and oral presentation competition on six different themes during this conference.
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