BHUBANESWAR: Director of Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), Kolkata, NC Saha on Friday said there is a need to develop alternative packaging system for food materials which is easily acceptable to the market. This would require use of mathematical models capable of predicting the shelf life of the packaged products in their real conditions of use.
Saha was speaking at one-day national workshop on “Potential of Food Processing in Odisha with Focus on Packaging of Fresh & Processed Foods for MSMEs of Odisha”, organised by IIP in association with MSME Department on the sidelines of MSME Trade Fair.
Stating that food processing and packaging are complementary to each other, he said packaging sector is growing rapidly in India at the rate of 15 per cent per annum and by 2020, $30 billion worth of investment is expected in the food packaging sector.
Saha said if conventional methods are used, one has to produce well before packaging, store it in an environment simulating the real storage and distribution conditions and then test the quality of the packed product at regular intervals. IIP’s role in export marketing through innovative packaging, education and R&D is significant, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Principal Secretary to Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department Manoj Ahuja said there is a strong need for R&D for select products of Odisha for value addition. He also suggested an agreement by MSME and Agriculture departments with IIP for value addition in agro and food products through packaging.
Principal Secretary to MSME Department LN Gupta said Odisha being the ninth largest fish and fourth largest shrimp producer in the country has huge potential for food processing industry. Presenting a matrix of key segments for potential investment in food processing industry based on grains and seeds, oilseeds, marine products, fruits and vegetables, he urged entrepreneurs to carefully select their domain.
Two mega food parks, one at Deras by Idco and another by MITS at Rayagada, are nearing completion. The Food Park at Deras is exclusively meant for sea food processing.
CMD of OMFED CS Kumar said the cooperative federation has a milk processing capacity of five lakh litre. He requested cooperation of IIP for training of OMFED personnel. The State Government is actively considering to provide dairy products in Mid-Day Meal (MDM) programme to enhance nutrition level of school children.