Mysuru : In connection with the visit of Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan on January 4, the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CSIR-CFTRI) will organise various events to showcase its initiatives towards ‘Make in India’ in the area of food processing.

The CFTRI has been working on many innovative solutions in the area of food processing for the benefit of industry, farmers and other stakeholders. The minister will deliver the inaugural address, while MP Pratap Simha, Director General of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Girish Sahni and Director of CSIR-CFTRI Ram Rajasekharan will be present.

An integrated sugar cane processing unit will be launched by the minister on the occasion to help sugar cane growers. The unit will support crushing of cane, processing and bottling operations. Farmers can bring their cane and get bottled sugar cane juice for marketing. The product will have a four-month shelf-life.

Harsh Vardhan will also release carbonated fruit juices by incorporating 20 per cent of natural fruit juices. The move is likely to help both farmers and consumers. The CSIR-CFTRI has standardised carbonated drinks, based on grapes, apple and pomegranate.

An one-day business meet ‘Catalysing Make in India for Growth in Agri-food Processing’ will also be organised in which 40 to 50 CEOs of industry are expected to attend in various sessions including ‘Make in India: Challenges and Opportunities’, ‘Government Policy Initiatives, Ecosystem for start-ups’ and ‘R&D linkages with Industry and Regulatory Issues’. The minister will inaugurate the session and address the CEOs and government officials. He will visit the product pavilion, where many innovative products/processes developed by the CFTRI will be demonstrated.

They include: neera in PET bottles; sugar cane juice; sugar cane juice crusher; carbonated fruit juices; quinoa, teff and chia-based products; turmeric powder; tomato preservation; solar dehydrated products; leaf cup machine; diacylglycerol oil – anti-obesity oil; kokum candy; nutriproducts as a malnutrition kit; gluten-free products; microwave sterilised chilli paste; nutri-gel; gelatin from fish waste; pectin from mango peel; staple food for disaster relief operations; milk carotenoid detection kit; idli-making machine; mini dhal mill; kakra-making machine; dosa-making machine; and spouted bed roaster.

Under the Rural Development Programme of the CSIR, the CFTRI has undertaken activities for rural empowerment, including establishment of papad processing unit, donating water filtrations units to Anganwadi, introduction of new superfood seed varieties and ICT activities. The equipment will be released to the SHG working in Puttegowdana Hundi by Pratap Simha.

‘Centre for Food nanotechnology’ will be inaugurated on this occasion by the minister. The centre would focus on applications of nanotechnology in food that is important for food industry and consumers. The CFTRI is already working on many solutions such as nano-delivery of food bioactive compounds, solid lipid nano particles and biopolymer-based nano-particles.

The first phase of Nutra-Phyto Incubation Centre and Common Instrumentation facility (NPIC-CIF) will be inaugurated by the minister. The project, in collaboration with the State government, will facilitate discovery and development of new products or innovative technologies in the emerging wellness food segment. The incubates or start-up companies will be supported with state-of-art laboratories, pilot plant, analytical and safety studies by CSIR-CFTRI.