ICAR-CIPHET inaugurates Winter School to Propel Millet Renaissance

Ludhiana, December 21, 2023: ICAR–Central Institute of Post–Harvest Engineering and Technology (ICAR-CIPHET) Ludhiana concluded a 21-day winter school on "Igniting the Millet Renaissance: Advancing the Millet Year with Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology for Nutritional Security, Loss Minimization and Enhanced Profitability". Through value addition, the program aimed to stimulate the revival of millet farming, processing, and utilization. The winter school brought together twenty-five eminent researchers from several states and served as a forum for the sharing of information. It also gave attendees access to innovative techniques for millet processing, storage, and value addition. The program covers business development, technological developments, and current research and development trends that are relevant to millet processing. Honorary Chairman of Benevole Welfare Society for Bhopal and former Director of ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana, Dr. R T Patil, graced the valedictory function. He focused on the use of millet in a variety of cutting-edge products, including chocolates made with millet flour, smoothies, ready mixes that are ready-to-cook, malt-based health beverages, and more. In order to prevent lifestyle diseases, he also recommended using millets in regular diets and investigating the potential health benefits of millet grass based on scientific investigations. Dr. Nachiket Kotwaliwale, Director of ICAR-CIPHET Ludhiana, shared his views on how mechanization in the primary processing of millets can benefit the farmers of Punjab. He also urged the participants for inter-institutional future collaborations in the area of millet processing for their research endeavors. Dr. Manju Bala, the Course Director and Head (Act.) FG&OP Division provided the insights into the activities conducted during 21-days program, while Dr. Swati Sethi and Dr. Pankaj Kumar, course coordinators, proficiently coordinated the valedictory program of this winter school. A compilation of lecture notes in the form of compendium was released and shared with the participants for their reference. Certificates were distributed to the participants on successful competition of the program.