Integrated Technology was the key to tomorrows challenges:Prakash

Mysore, May 16 (UNI) Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) Director Dr V Prakash today said that the integrated technology was the key to tomorrow's challenges which can be met only through valued research and innovation partnerships.

In his presidential address at the 'National Technology Day' celebrated at CFTRI here, he said that the new developments in food processing was obviously geared into the next generation of technology for health and wellness and major question was could India be a leader in this area beyond China.

"India has done it in Information Technology, Biotechnology to a large extent, if so why not in Food Technology. A large amount of agri resources facing many restrictions and blocks for utilisation and hence does not get converted into value added products", he added.

He said that when it comes to food processing the big question is from where to begin despite tremendous amount of concern. "In this regard the Government, the People, the R&D institutions, the food industries and the market play a very critical role. The supply chain from rural to urban, linking farmers to market addressing the national to the global market all becomes very vital".

Dr Prakash said that the food processing centres with involvement of farmers, growers and the producer,we seldom tend to feel that the farmers was also an entrepreneur, perhaps he was the biggest entrepreneur, but in India, whre more than 95 per cent industrial units are small scale industries, there was a dichotomy between production and accessibility and perhaps one of the reasons to address this was the integrated approach including byproduct utilisation and ensuring quality and safety requires a tremendous amount of networking and partnership of this was where appropriate technology becomes very vital.

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