Mysore/Mysuru: CSIR – Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, in association with United Phosphorus Ltd. (UPL), had organised National Quiz Contest on “Food Security Mission” on the occasion of World Food Day recently at its IFTTC Auditorium.

Dr. Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director, CSIR-CFTRI, inaugurated the event and spoke about the importance of food security in the country.

She emphasised that India is producing 330 million tonnes of grains and around 12-16 million tonnes are lost annually.

She further encouraged the youngsters to be aware of the food security situation in the country and to be responsible towards minimising food loss.

Ujjawal Kumar, Business Head, UPL Ltd., spoke about the purpose of organising this event. He also insisted on training, awareness creation and education of student community as key stakeholders in the protection and preservation of food commodities.

The chief guests of the event, Dr. Devinder Dhingra, Principal Scientist, ICAR, Head Quarters, New Delhi and Dr. S. Rajendran, UPL Ltd., emphasised on “Food is too good to waste,” and valuing our food is a way to preserve food.

Dr. Prakash M. Halami, Head, Food Protectants and Infestation Control (FPIC) Department and Organising Secretary of the event, briefed the activities of FPIC Department in collaboration with UPL, Mumbai in frontier areas of research in grain storage and he pointed out Government schemes like POSHAN (Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition) Abhiyaan which aims at combating malnutrition in the country. He also emphasised the need of nutritional security besides food security and Government initiatives on POSHAN MAAH that took place during Sept. 2023.

In the first round of the National Quiz Contest held on July 27, 2023 in different parts of India, 19 teams participated across the country, out of which 5 zonal teams were selected for the next round. The five regional winners were, South Zone (National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management, Thanjavur), North Zone (Sher-e-Kashmir University, Jammu & Kashmir), West Zone (Junagadh Agriculture University, Junagadh), East Zone (Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi) and Central Zone (Institute of Agribusiness Management, Bikaner).

In the final round of National Quiz contest that took place at CFTRI, Mysuru on World Food Day (Oct. 16) between South Zone and East Zone teams. The NIFTEM, Thanjavur team of South Zone consisting of Eleonora Shylla, A. Jamna Sherin and B. Suhan Bheemaiah, students of M.Tech (Food Process Engineering), secured the first position and a cash prize of Rs. 1,05,000 while Banaras Hindu University of East Zone,Varanasi, secured the second place as well as runner up position with a cash prize of Rs. 60,000.

The remaining two regional teams as well as final contestants received Rs. 30,000 each. The event was successful in creating awareness amongst the student community on food storage systems, regulations, Government initiatives in the area and management in the country.