National Conference on Efficient Food Processing for Climate Change Trends (EFFECT) Highlights Importance of Sustainability for the Future

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

The event brought together esteemed dignitaries and experts to address the pressing challenges facing the food processing industry in the wake of climate change.

In his keynote address, Dr. R. T. Patil, Former Director of ICAR-CIPHET and advisor at Tanusha Foods (Bhopal), said that to thrive in a changing climate, the food processing industry must proactively address challenges like rising temperatures, water scarcity, and energy fluctuations through strategic adaptation measures.

To maintain food processing sustainability in the future, C. Anandharamakrishnan, Director, CSIR-NIIST (Trivandrum), highlighted the importance of the 3Ps, i.e., production, processing, and packaging of the food. He concluded his session with the words of Mahatma Gandhi, saying, “The future depends on what we do in the present."

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

In the 5th and final session of the conference, moderated by Shri. Vignesh Manogaran, Head, Contract Manufacturing, Waycool Foods & Products Pvt. Ltd., the panelists talked about the importance of advanced technologies for facilitating decision-making during supply chain management. Prof. Ramesh Kastur, IIIT Bangalore; Dr. Rahul Katarya, Professor, DTU; Shri. Jagadeesh Sunkad, Strategic Marketing and Collaborations Officer, Zentron Labs (Bangalore); Dr. V. Eyarkai Nambi, Associate Professor, NIFTEM-T; and Dr. Prasanna Kumar G.V., Professor, NIFTEM-K, were part of this session.

In conclusion, Dr. Harinder Singh Oberoi, Director, NIFTEM-K, and Prof. Anupama Singh, Dean (FA), NIFTEM-K, felicitated the esteemed guests. The conference ended with the award distribution ceremony for the winners of the poster presentations.

In her closing remarks, Prof. Anupama Singh expressed her gratitude and thanked everyone for making the conference a success.