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CSIR-CFTRI Director Sridevi Annapurna Singh, ISRO chairman S. Somanath, CSIR-IITR Director N. Bhaskar, Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, and DRDO-DFRL Director Anil Semwal at the inauguration of the 9th International Food Convention in Mysuru on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram
The 9th International Food Convention (IFCoN-2023) got off to a start here on Thursday with food scientists and technologists from across the country and also abroad attending the four-day mega event – organised once in five years by the Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) with the collaboration of Central research institutions.
This year’s theme of the convention is “TRIMSAFE – Technology Re-engineering for Innovation and Mitigating the risk for a Safe, sustainable, Affordable and secure Food Eco-system.” The CSIR-CFTRI, DRDO-DFRL, and CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research, Lucknow have supported the AFSTI in organising the convention.
ISRO Chairman S. Somanath inaugurated the event in the presence of Pramoda Devi Wadiyar of the erstwhile Mysore royal family, CSIR-CFTRI Director Sridevi Annapurna Singh, CSIR-IITR Director N. Bhaskar and DRDO-DFRL Director Anil Semwal. N. Kalaiselvi, secretary, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research and DG, CSIR, New Delhi participated as the chief guest on a virtual mode.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr Somanath spoke about how the ISRO was supporting the country’s agriculture sector with the help of satellite data for crop forecast and pest management.
He listed out ISRO’s various initiatives such as remote sensing that have been useful for providing valuable information to farmers.
More technological interventions can help improve the agriculture sector since the area of food science is closely connected with farming. The technologies can help farmers improve crop yields and the food processing and value addition too can be expanded, he felt.
While speaking about food storage and processing, Dr Somanath said food scientists can look at improving the shelf life of foods and come out with information on the right kind of foods with high nutrient value for addressing the lifestyle diseases.
He said the low-cost food processing technologies can go a long way in providing employment to the people in the country. Automation is needed but at the same time the population should also get employment and food processing technologies can improve employment.
Earlier, in her address, Dr. Kalaiselvi complimented the organisers for holding the mega food convention and suggested bringing out safe and secure foods to the world as it was a challenging assignment. “Bring new concepts to address the challenges faced by the food sector.”
She said the 21st century farmers have been harnessing technological developments for improving farm practices and crop yields. Thanks to ISRO, the farmers are now relying on the satellite data for various aspects like rain forecast and so on.
“We at the CSIR also have been working closely with farmers as our scientists are also going to the fields and interacting with farmers on the support they would like to avail from the CSIR labs that have been engaged in transferring the benefits of S and T for the wellbeing of farmers,” she told the gathering in her address.
On the occasion, the IFCoN’s souvenir was released by the dignitaries. Ms. Wadiyar launched the food expo.
The doyens of food science and technology were honoured while the guests launched poster sessions, and grain science and technology journeys.
Prior to the inaugural session, Prof. M. Swaminathan Padma awardee lecture series was inaugurated. The four-day conference has already attracted over 3,000 registrations with over 200 delegates from abroad participating and also making presentations.
Organising Secretary Suresh D. Sakhare and convener Tanaji G. Kudre were also present.
