Agribusiness and food processing in India is set to receive a major fillip as the curtains go up on the second edition of FICCI’s FOOD 360 on November 5-6, 2012 at Hyderabad.
The two-day conference will be inaugurated by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar, N Kiran Kumar Reddy, chief minister, Andhra Pradesh, and Kanna Lakshmi Narayana, agriculture minister, Andhra Pradesh. The co-located exhibition will showcase the huge potential for developing the agribusiness/food processing industry in India in general, and Andhra Pradesh in particular, with a view to forging global linkages. The effort would be to expose delegates to the global developments with regard to trends and opportunities in the food processing industries.
The conclave will bring together over 500 professionals in the business of agriculture/food processing, as well as academics, from India and overseas. Special focus has been given to innovation and technology within the domain of agriculture, agribusiness and food processing, and attention will be paid to horticulture and dairy products through parallel sessions.
There will be plenary sessions will be held on four themes, namely 'Technology for Raising Farm Productivity', 'Mechanising Farm Operations', 'Technology in Supply Chain Management' and 'Technology in Food Processing, Packaging and Marketing'. Along with the parallel tracks in horticulture and dairy, 'IT in agriculture' will receive special coverage.
In addition to the conference, the second edition of the event will also include an exhibition, the FOOD 360 Award ceremony, a business plan competition, etc.
ICRISAT is the knowledge partner and their inputs, and report will primarily focus on the theme of the conference (innovation and technology). This is also in line with their strategic plan, Vision 2020, which encompasses Inclusive Market-oriented Development (iMOD).
Briefing mediapersons here today, programme chair S Sivakumar said FOOD 360 would identify the challenges across the food and agriculture value chain, and explore innovative solutions leveraging technology. He strongly emphasised that technology should be applied to ensure higher incomes for farmers and lower prices for consumers at the same time. “One way is to raise productivity through innovative technologies and reduce production cost through efficient use of inputs and better supply chain management.”
The various sessions, spread over two days will review, analyse and make predictions for the future for the Indian agriculture and food processing sector in general, followed by an exhaustive micro-view of Andhra Pradesh.
The session on 'Technology for Raising Farm Productivity' gives an overview of how farmer can enhance his yield through soil and water conservation, bio-farming, remote sensing, weather forecasting, etc.
The second session, titled 'Mechanising Farm Operations', gives a picture on how small farmers can benefit by using technologies in micro-irrigation. Mechanising solutions for small farms will be discussed in view of rising costs and lack of availability of farm labour.
The session on 'Technology and Innovation in Supply Chain Management' will cover climate control technologies, role of mobile phones and ERP in the agri/food space, demand planning, inclusive and participative supply chains. The role of packaging in supply chain efficiencies, infrastructure requirements for building optimum supply chain, low-cost storage systems, training manpower, etc. are some of the other issues that will be deliberated at the conference.
Special focus has been given to parallel sessions, especially on IT in agriculture, dairy and MetroAg (urban agriculture). The aim of the MetroAg concept is to bring together a wide and culturally diverse range of stakeholders involved in urban agriculture (in and around cities) in India to share knowledge and best practices, foster linkages externally, and give a voice to its advocates and recognition and legitimacy to its activities. Michigan State University is the international university partner who would give more inputs on MetroAg during the FOOD 360 conference.
The exhibition will showcase various products, technologies, services pertaining to the agriculture and food processing industries during the two days of the event.
Addressing the august gathering, J A Chowdary, co-chairman, FICCI AP and general chair of the conference, said, “The second edition of FOOD 360 conference will truly become a wonderful interaction space for most prominent industry representatives of the agri-business and food processing sector. Technology and innovation will be key aspects in the conference. Efforts will be made to ensure that these technologies are useful to agriculture practitioners and food processors.”
“We take this opportunity to thank the Andhra Pradesh government, especially agricultural marketing department for their encouragement and support. We would also thank all our industry representatives, committee members for their valuable inputs and looking forward to have their support in making this event a grand success," he said.
FOOD 360 highlights:
● Focussed sessions/renowned speakers
● Opportunity to interact with crème de la crème of the agri-business/food processing industry representatives
● Partnership and branding opportunities
● Master-class by industry and government experts
● Networking lunches and dinners
● Dedicated exhibition space to showcase various products/services of the food industry
