Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the Mysuru-based Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) will take up the challenge of combating nutritional deficiencies among children and women and develop time-bound strategies for nutritional security by developing nutritive food products.
He asked CSIR Director-General and DSIR Secretary Girish Sahni to organise a brainstorming session on nutrition on CFTRI campus, to develop sustainable and effective nutrient solutions.
The Minister was speaking after inaugurating ‘Make in India in Food Processing – the Research Outcome and Initiatives by the CSIR-CFTRI’ here. “CFTRI is strong enough to address India’s nutritional problems and protect the health of our nation as it has already developed nutritive products for malnourished anganwadi children in Mysuru. The same model can be replicated,” he told reporters after the event. The National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, will also join in this endeavour, he said.
Earlier, Dr. Harsh Vardhan launched the project of establishing integrated sugarcane juice processing and bottling units on CFTRI campus. The plant will be commissioned in 90 days and it will be a ‘drive-in-plant’ for sugarcane growers in the region. The institute has patented the technology of processing sugarcane with a four-month shelf life. Funding scientific research is not an issue and the government is committed to taking science to a new height as it considers science a movement, Dr. Harsh Vardhan said. “In fact, funding science has gone up. Moreover, budget should not come in the way of good research. Scientists should not worry about funding,” he said.
He said 500 start-ups, including 300 BT enterprises, had been funded by the government. Over 100 entrepreneurs had availed themselves of financial benefits.
Published - January 05, 2016 12:00 am IST
