Semi on “Current Concepts in Food Processing Technology”
The Central Government has decided to earmark Rs. 2-crore subsidy to institutions for development of human resources Rs. 2-crore subsidy , R. Jagan Mohan, Senior Scientist, Department of Food Technology, Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries, said on Wednesday.Rs. 2-crore subsidy Rs. 2-crore subsidy
Inaugurating a national seminar on “Current Concepts in Food Processing Technology” organised by the Department of Foods and Nutrition of the RVS College of Arts and Science, Sulur, he said: “Food processing is a sunrise industry. Government is very keen to develop this field as the huge volume of perishables is becoming a cause of concern with regard to food sustenance. Once the agricultural produce is transferred to the consumer there is 50 to 80 per cent loss. When this loss is taken care of, then we can say value addition takes place,” Mr. Mohan said.
He pointed out that out of the total volume of food grains it was rice that was less perishable compared to the others. But, out of the 620 million tonnes of grains produced, rice was only 120 million tonnes. Hence, there was a huge amount of loss occurring in the case of the other grains, he lamented.“Food processing is not specific to any particular produce. Anything we eat undergoes some kind of process. Hence, the potential for food processing in the country is phenomenal. Manpower will be a major requirement to work in this industry. It can even be more than that is required in the Information Technology sector,” he said.
Managing Trustee of the TVS Educational Trust K. Senthil Ganesh said the trust was concentrating on giving impetus to the agriculture industry.“We are cultivating 3,000 acres of land. We plan to increase this. We are also setting up a food processing unit at Thathankulam, near Tirunelveli . The students of the department can make use of the facilities that will come up there.”Principal H. Muhamed Mubarack urged the students to evolve new methods and technologies to enhance the shelf life of food substances. “We cannot attain food sufficiency without saving our perishables which amount to many crores of rupees.”Secretary of the trust H. Newman, Vice-Principal T.B. Fenn and Head of the Department Meera Raman spoke.
