Besides, the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation has entered into number of umbrella agreements with some developed countries like USA, France, Canada, the Netherlands, Argentina, Austria, Brazil for bilateral co-operation in the areas of agriculture and allied sectors which generally include agro and food processing, cold chain etc.
Apart from this, MoUs have been entered into by the two institutions under the Ministry, namely National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM) and Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT). These MoUs relate to collaboration in teaching and research in the food processing sector.
The salient features of these Agreements/ MoUs is to attract foreign investments for Infrastructure Development of Food Processing sector, such as, Mega Food Parks, Cold Chains, Abattoirs and Food Testing Laboratories etc.
Also for developing institutional co-operation, increasing B2B interaction through participation in important food fairs, conferences/workshops/consultations etc.
All stakeholders including the domestic food processing industry, the consumer, the exporters, the professionals and the academic and research institutions etc. are likely to be benefitted by these agreements/MoUs.
This information was given in Rajya Sabha today by Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Dr. Charan Das Mahant in a written reply.
