22 ready-to-develop technologies set to transform food technology industries

Mysore/Mysuru: The third edition of three-day conclave TechBharat-2022 began at the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) this morning and the event is themed ‘Transforming India’s Food Technology and Agronomic Landscape’.

The event is being organised by the IMS Foundation and Laghu Udyog Bharati – Karnataka Chapter in collaboration with CSIR-CFTRI. The mega event was inaugurated at IFTTC auditorium. TechBharat is a global platform for start-ups to interact and collaborate with the Government, policy makers, leaders, investors, change agents and its ecosystem.

The event was inaugurated by Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, in the presence of B.C. Patil, Karnataka Agriculture Minister, Dr. Madhaiyaan Angamuthu, Chairman, Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Government of India, Kris Gopalakrishnan, former CEO of Infosys and current Chairman of Axilor Ventures, Dr. Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director of CSIR-CFTRI,  Sachin B. Sabnis, Chairman of Karnataka Laghu Udyog Bharati Chaya Nanjappa, entrepreneur and Vice-President of Laghu Udyog Bharati and others.

22 free technologies

Minister Kailash Choudhary released instant beverage mix from malted ragi developed by CFTRI and also launched a mobile food processing demo unit. The CFTRI that has developed over 425 food technologies in the last 70 years, today released 22 food technologies that can be obtained for free by start-ups.

So far, 15 CFTRI technologies were available for free and now the number has gone up to 22. The ready-to-develop technologies can be downloaded free of cost from the CSIR-CFTRI website.

Transforming farming

TechBharat will discuss how technology can transform the farming sector and many activities have been arranged at the CFTRI campus. Public can visit more than 100 stalls set up at the event from 10 am to 6 pm. There are many technical sessions and there are over 300 farmers who have registered to participate.

The event focuses on developing new business collaborations, accelerating innovation and supporting the concept of effective production of agricultural produce in order to build a more secure, sustainable and vigorous food system. It brings together industry leaders for a meaningful discussion on the future of agri tech and food tech and their achievements.

Apart from the exhibition, there will be a couple of round table discussions with top executives, directors and promoters of agri tech and food tech industries in India and abroad. They will interact and exchange ideas about technology transfer to entrepreneurs and progressing farmers. Many venture capitalists are also attending the event and there will be sessions on funding the food tech start-ups. 

Agri technology and FPOs

In his address, Minister Kailash Choudhary said that to make farmers self-reliant and doubling their income, FPOs (Farmer Producer Organisations) can play an important role. He urged CFTRI to carry out the much-needed technological innovations to transform the agriculture sector to generate income for the enterprises.

“There was a time when agriculture was looked down upon. Now thanks to technology, the focus is on agro investment and there have been many innovations in food processing technologies,” he added.

The Union Government has formulated many schemes to promote agriculture and food technologies with budgetary provisions. “We need to focus on cluster approach to enhance the production, market access, diversification, value addition, processing and export and to create agri-based employment opportunities and empower farmers,” the Minister said.