‘EFFECT’: Two-day conference organised by NIFTEM highlights importance of sustainability

New Delhi: The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), GoI, and the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management, Kundli (NIFTEM-K), organised a two-day national conference on Efficient Food Processing for Environmental and Climate-Change Trends (EFFECT), which concluded on May 16, 2024 at the NASC Complex, Pusa, New Delhi.

In his keynote address, Dr. R T Patil, Former Director of ICAR-CIPHET and advisor at Tanusha Foods (Bhopal), emphasized the need for the food processing industry to proactively address challenges such as rising temperatures, water scarcity, and energy fluctuations through strategic adaptation measures.

C Anandharamakrishnan, Director of CSIR-NIIST (Trivandrum), highlighted the importance of the 3Ps—production, processing, and packaging—in maintaining food processing sustainability. He concluded his session with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi, saying, “The future depends on what we do in the present.”

Dr. CR Mehta, Director of ICAR-CIAE (Bhopal), moderated a panel discussion on ‘Adapting Food Processing Machinery to Climate Change,’ featuring eminent panelists such as Ranit Rana, Vice President of International Business at Jindal Steel; Shashidhar Subramanya, Head of Corporate Technologies at BUHLER Group; Dr. K. Narsaiah, ADG (Process Engineering) at ICAR, New Delhi; and Dr. N Venkatachalapathy, Dean (R&IC) at the Department of Food Engineering, NIFTEM-T.

The conference concluded with an award distribution ceremony for the winners of the poster presentations. In her closing remarks, Prof. Anupama Singh expressed her gratitude to all participants and thanked everyone for contributing to the success of the

conference.