Oct 29, 2020
Punjab Food Processing Minister, Om Prakash Soni stated that the Food Processing Industry can play a significant role in strengthening the economy of Punjab. He said this while addressing the inaugural meeting of Punjab Food Processing advisory Committee recently.
The farmer of Punjab will be more enthusiastic and confident towards crop diversification about the agri produce grown by him that will fetch him good price at a reasonable rate.
The CM of Punjab, Amarinder Singh has tuned to pay special attention to increase the strength of the food processing sector in the state. This in turn will boost the income of the farmers as well as boost the economy of the state. The food processing sector could be the most beneficial sector for the farmers in the changing scenario, he added.
Speaking on the occasion Chairman, Punjab Agro Industries Corporation, Joginder Singh Mann said, “The survey conducted by the Food Processing Department under the One District, One Product Scheme in the entire state was a commendable work”.
Additional Chief Secretary, Anirudh Tewari said, “Punjab Government is putting a good amount of efforts to create a congenial atmosphere and better coordination between the farmers and the food processing industry, which would benefit both of them”. He said further added, “Besides promoting the farmers, we also have to take care of natural resources such as soil, water, and air (atmospheric quality) of the state.
Manjit Singh Brar, Director Food Processing explained to the members of the committee about the various schemes being run by the government and also briefed them in detail about the One District One Product Scheme.
At the meeting, a committee member Bhavdeep Sardana suggested that a standard like ISI should be set up for all the food brands in the state, which would give world-wide acknowledgment to the quality of the product that will benefit in trade.
Taking on a strong strive to make Punjab a flourishing food-basket once again, the committee member said that every industry needs water in abundance; hence the policy on water use in industries should be formulated as soon as possible. It was also proposed in the meeting to set up a quality control body of the state of Punjab, which would certify the quality of all types of food processing products manufactured within the state. The committee is thus demanding maximum publicity about the land bank.
Committee member Dr. A.R. Sharma said that the demand for processed food has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, hence investments in this sector should be widely encouraged.
He also stressed to pay special attention to the edible oil crops, which would prove to be beneficial as most of the edible oils were being imported from abroad at present. Further on, he added deeper research and development in this field.
Committee member Ajay Kumar and Narendra Goyal said that industries were not getting incentives and the government should give a serious thought on this ground too. They said that farmers will willingly adopt crop diversification only when they were confident that the government will provide more incentives to them.
Agreeing with the views of the committee members Soni said that he would soon hold a meeting with the Chief Minister to implement the suggestions stated in this meeting.