CFTRI plans outreach programme for women farmers:

Women farmers from south India will gather in Mysuru on Wednesday to get to know the food processing technologies developed at the CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) here.

An all-women outreach program addressing empowerment of farmers to develop food processing skills organised by the CSIR-CFTRI will be held.

“The programme is designed to be comprehensive in providing necessary skill sets for food processing, teaching participants how to set up a business enterprise and to sensitise them about potential market linkages,” said Renu Agarwal, chief scientist, Food Microbiology, CSIR-CFTRI, Mysuru.

Demonstrations of various food processing technologies — sugarcane juice preservation, making papads, jam preparation and packaging of various cereals — have been arranged during the event, said Dr. Agarwal, who is also the coordinator of CSIR-800 programmes.

Farmers are the primary entrepreneurs of the world. Our mission is to support a transformative process addressing improved food and nutrition security by empowering women farmers with knowledge on food processing, according to CSIR-CFTRI. Developing food industries at farm gate levels is a key solution to foster sustainability and to help achieve inclusive and equitable growth optimizing agriculture and reducing post-harvest wastes, it stated.

There will be an interactive session with various government and semi-government agencies rendering specific information on finance, regulatory aspects etc, a release said.

The program had been planned for participants from south India and already 140 participants from across the region had confirmed their participation, the scientist said.

The program caters to the growing aspiration of urbanisation to promote all food processing facilities and support systems available at industrial hubs at the farm gate level, the premier institute said.

In the evening, there will be an interactive session on Marketing and Micro Financing of Agri Products with experts from government and banking institutions. Director of CSIR-CFTRI, Ram Rajasekharan will preside over the function and it will be coordinated by Dr. Agrawal, Rural Development Coordinator.

Source : The Hindu