A two-day international conference on 'Food Value Chain: Innovation and Challenges' was recently organised at National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM), an institution under ministry of food processing industry (MoFPI), Kundli, Haryana, with an aim to provide a global forum to academicians and practicing managers engaged in areas of technology and management of food industry to discuss critical issues of food value chain.
The conference was inaugurated by Dr Ajit Kumar, vice-chancellor, NIFTEM. It was followed by a workshop on quality management in grain industry.
The inaugural ceremony had Narendra Shah, head R& D, Lehar Foods, PepsiCo; Engidu Legesse, CEO, Guts Agro Industry Inc., Ethiopia; and Dr P K Joshi, director, South Asia, IFPRI; as guests of honour. Richa Arora, COO, Tata Chemicals; Prof. Laurette Dube, founding chair & scientific director, MCCHE, McGill; and Prof. Arun K Bhunia from Purdue University, USA; also joined the inaugural session.
Day One
On the day one of the conference, the inaugural day, in the inaugural session, Kumar discussed issues of food production as well as spoilage due to improper value chain in all types of food commodities in India and globally. He emphasised on strengthening the food value chain to ensure the global food security. More than 150 national & international participants were part of the conference. Dr Pitam Chandra, registrar, NIFTEM, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Dr Prof. Hosahalli Ramaswamy, McGill University, Canada; in the presence of Kumar for collaborative research.
The conference was divided into six technical sessions. Four sessions comprised various presentations related to food value chain for animal products; food value chain for therapeutic foods; and globalisation of traditional food products.
Day Two
On the second day of International Conference, the participants presented their research on the theme of “Quality Assurance, Safety and Regulatory Issues in Food Value Chain” and “Food Value Chain on Plant Products.” Prof. Hosahalli Ramaswamy spoke on Food Safety through Novel Food Processing. Pradip Chakraborty, former director, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), discussed Food Safety Regulations of Some Proprietary Milk Products. Prof. Arun K Bhunia discussed Optical Biosensors in Foodborne Pathogen Detection. Atul K Chaturvedi, CEO, Adani Agrifresh, focussed on the current scenario and challenges in the fruits and vegetables sector. Dr Leena from Central Institute of Post-Harvest. Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana, discussed the use of radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology for ethylene-sensing during storage of climacteric fruits. The participants discussed various cereal-based products developed containing higher nutrient content to ensure the food security.
Pulse Innovation Platform (PIP)-India workshop focussed on 'Convergent innovation integration into interdisciplinary training.' The day started with discussions based on 3D-CI for smallholders and small-scale farming interventions and designing of 3D-CI smallholders and small-scale agri-business area level intervention as a part of PIP-India.
Day Three
The third day, which was an extension to the conference, had a workshop on 'Quality Management in Grain Industry.' Dr A S Kharub, all India coordinator (Barley), Indian Institute of Wheat & Barley Research, Karnal, was the guest of honour. Dr A S Kharub (IIWBR, Karnal) gave an overview of barley and benefits of consuming barley. He focussed on the quality handling and storage of the barley. He gave his emphasis on the parameters which vary according to the variety of grain to be stored. He also discussed the diseases in barley crop and their prevention.
The convener of the workshop, Dr Ashutosh Upadhyay, focussed on the methods of grain storage at industrial level. He discussed the simultaneous localisation and mapping (SLAM) model for the proper storage of grain. Upadhyay briefed the participants about the post-harvest losses in grains at the farm level and at the industry level. He also spoke about the pest control and prevention techniques during grain storage.
