The lost food is so much that it can feed billions of people says, Professor Biswas, director of NIT Rourkela

Rourkela: The department of food processing of national institute of technology Rourkela organized a two days national conference on ‘’Advances in food processing for sustainable food security’’. Inaugurating the conference professor Hari Niwas Mishra, a professor in Agriculture and Food engineering (IIT Kharagpur) said, ‘’Food is very important. Without food we can’t survive . But there are certain issues with food that we need to address properly and immediately . While we have made advances in food production but we waste a lot of resources. One side people are starving and on the other side, we waste lots of food. We should work towards food preservation’’ said the professor. The director of NIT Rourkela professor Animesh Biswas said, ‘’ Food is a very essential part of the body. It has been reported that with increasing prosperity in India, people are becoming insensitive towards food. With the growing ability to spend, the tendency of throwing food is also increasing among people. Tonnes of food is wasted daily in events. The lost food is so much that it can feed billions of people. I request my students to not to waste food . ‘’. Professor Ramachandra Pradhan, the conference chairman and the head of the food processing department spoke about the importance of food security. He stated, ‘’India attained self-sufficiency in food, though only less than 10% is processed due to lack of technologies, infrastructure, and processing facilities leading wastage of food. We believe that this conference can become a platform in finding new and more sustainable ways addressing issues related to food’’ told the professor. Professor Sabyasachi Mishra welcome all guests at the beginning. He said, ‘’ the food process engineering department at NITR blends engineering with a strong understanding of food and food science. The mission is to advance and spread knowledge in the area of food process engineering leading to improved and sustainable practices in food production, processing preservation and safety, thereby ensuring food security in the society. During the two days, conference a total of 85 researchers presented their papers. At the end professor Sushil Kumar Singh extended the vote of thanks .