Testing for the quality of food is set to become mandatory soon as the Union government is setting up 50 more food testing laboratories.
An indication in this regard was given by Indian Council of Agricultural Research Deputy Director-General (Engineering) K. Alagasundaram on Tuesday.
He told presspersons on the sidelines of a workshop on post-harvest technology, organised jointly by the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, and the ICAR here, that the Centre would set up 50 food testing laboratories in the next five years.
Later, he told The Hindu that the Centre had funded 80 such laboratories across the country and about 40 of them had commenced operations. As per the funding policy, government institutions would get cent per cent monetary support if they want to set up such food testing laboratories while private companies would get 50 per cent funds, he said.
ICAR Assistant Director-General Kanchan K. Singh told presspersons that the ICAR had sanctioned a Farm Mechanisation Centre to the UAS-B under the All-India Co-ordinated Research Project. The Rs. 62-lakh centre had been sanctioned for developing innovative post-harvest technologies and machineries that would help farmers.
