Minister for Higher Education, IT and BT C.N. Ashwath Narayan on Thursday said the State Government will extend all support to the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, for setting up a finishing school in the area of food technology.
Speaking after going around the CFTRI campus and watching the products/technologies developed by the premier food technology institute here, the Minister watched the demonstration of ‘ragi mudde’ making machine and dosa making machine. He ate the ragi mudde and dosa made from the technologies developed by the CSIR lab and appreciated the efforts of the scientists and engineers.
The food scientists, who were present, told the Minister that women self-help groups make sweets such as ‘kardant’ and ‘peda’, products like pickles, and other food items but they lack longer shelf-life. The CFTRI is ready to give training and skill to the SHGs so that their products could get longer shelf life, and help them in sustaining their enterprises. The CFTRI is the only institute having the expertise and therefore the government must come forward to support it in its resolve to help the ambitious groups. The Minister responded positively to the suggestion.
The Minister said the SHGs’ products also need to get attractive packaging and a good market. The CSIR-CFTRI can help them in this direction too. This will improve their financial sustainability.
The scientists also told the Minister that the CFTRI was also ready to empower farmers, imparting them fruit processing skills. This can empower farmers and prevent them from suffering losses, they argued.
In response, the Minister said the proposal will be discussed at the government level and he would reply to the CFTRI on this in a few days’ time.
CFTRI Director Sridevi Annapoorna Singh, who accompanied the Minister during his tour of the campus, said not every farmer is required to procure technology developed by the institute. Instead, such technologies can be established in gram panchayats or in farmer producer centres. These common facilities can go a long way in benefiting farmers and the government can consider adopting our technologies, she added.
