Punjab Agri-Minister Inaugurates Food Industry Centre At PAU

Ludhiana, June 17, 2015: The Minister for Agriculture and NRI Affairs, Punjab, Jathedar S Tota Singh inaugurated the Food Industry Centre (FIC) at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today. The Centre has been established with the technical cooperation of the Ohio State University, USA. The FIC aims at developing and up-scaling value addition technologies, and providing training and guidance for entrepreneurship development. Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU accorded a warm welcome to the State Agriculture Minister.

Speaking on the occasion, S. Tota Singh congratulated PAU for establishing FIC and said, “It is a need of the hour.” Punjab government will make efforts to provide subsidy for setting-up food processing units”. Lauding the farmers of Punjab for making immense contribution to the nation’s food security, he observed, “Till 1980, farmers were a happy lot in Punjab and agriculture was remunerative but at present, the plight of the state farmers is miserable”. He cautioned “If farmers continue to cultivate wheat-paddy, it will result in losses”. Expressing concern over the rising farmers’ suicides in Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra, the Minister exhorted the farming community to fight against all odds in life. The contemporary agriculture scenario which is input intensive, calls for the cultivation of fruits and vegetables for profitability, he suggested. S. Singh evinced keen interest in the operation of various machines at FIC such as potato washer/peeler, bowl chopper, pop corn maker, bottle capping, soy processing machine, etc.

In his address, Dr Dhillon said the major purpose of establishing FIC at PAU is to provide hands on training to students through internships, and a Training-cum-Incubation Centre for the entrepreneurs, farmers, farm women, rural youth, NGOs and Self-Help Groups for skill development. “With decreasing profits and increasing farm input prices, diversification in agro-processing is vital,” he stated. Highlighting that Punjab produced 40 lakh tonnes of vegetables and 15 lakh tonnes of fruits per annum, he revealed that the wastage accounted for 18 per cent of the produce according to the ICAR-CIPHET report. The skill development through FIC and the thrust towards entrepreneurship development will result in the reduction of post-harvest losses, enhancement of food and nutritional security, employment generation and remunerative returns to the farmers”, he observed. Dr Dhillon said FIC has also been established at Bathinda, and the first training course will commence from June 18, 2015. He expressed his sincere gratitude to the ICAR and the Punjab government for providing adequate funds for the construction of FIC. Dr Dhillon also highlighted the research programmes of PAU.

Dr Jaspal Singh, Chief Engineer, PAU said the dream of establishing FIC has come true. Together we are an ocean”. Praising the collective efforts of PAU VC, Dr Dhillon and the team of engineers he remarked that “Individually, we are one drop. He also gave detailed information about the funding for FIC.

Earlier, Dr Balwinder Singh, Director of Research, welcomed the dignitaries, senior officials and faculty of PAU, and the representatives of the food industry. He said this Pilot Plant of FIC will go a along way in enhancing the income of the farmers. The Centre will act as incubation for the food industry in Punjab, he added. The technology priorities for FIC will be minimal processing techniques, heat preservation techniques, drying and dehydration, bottling of juices and beverages, extrusion processing and soy milk processing, he said.

Dr H.S. Dhaliwal, Dean, College of Agriculture, PAU proposed the Vote of Thanks.

An exhibition showcasing agro-processing technologies and the food products, developed by various departments of PAU, was also put up. Dr Ashok Kumar, Additional Director of Research (Food Science, Nutrition and Engineering) and Dr Poonam A. Sachdev, a food technology expert, explained about the newly developed food products. Besides, the experts from the Departments of Processing and Food Engineering, Food and Nutrition and Microbiology also explained about their food products. Dr S.S. Thind, Officiating Head, Department Food Science and Technology coordinated the programme.

On the occasion, Dr Dhillon honoured S.Tota Singh with a memento.