Proposed agro processing centre will act as a bench mark for the rural youth and progressive farmers of the state. 

 The Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, recently, laid the foundation stone of the agro-processing centre at the Ludhiana campus. Dr Dhillon emphasised that keeping pace with changing agricultural environment, PAU intends to establish a modern Agro Processing Center (APC). He added that every grain produced must be exposed to all possible avenues for its profitable end-use. “The loss of even single grain during post-harvest is an offence against the efforts of producers”, he observed, while emphasising making agriculture a profitable venture through value addition.

He stressed that the farming community must come up with agro-based products at production catchment in order to meet the consumer demand for quality products. Dr Dhillon stated that the proposed agro-processing centre will act as a benchmark for the rural youth and progressive farmers of the state. He lauded the efforts of Dr Mahesh Kumar, Head, Department of Processing and Food Engineering and his team in this direction.

On the occasion, a live demonstration-cum-trial of the newly acquired Modern Jaggery Unit of 25TCD was conducted. Dr Jaskarn Singh, Director of Extension Education, has played a pivotal role in popularizing the concept of adulteration free jaggery in Punjab during the last three years and motivated for establishing this facility at PAU. This unit is being established with the financial support of the Department of Agriculture and involves the active efforts of Dr Gurvinder Singh, Joint Director Agriculture (T&E), Punjab.

Dr Ashok Kumar, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, appreciated the efforts of the Department of Processing and Food Engineering in popularizing and establishing Agro-Processing Centers across Punjab.

Senior officials and faculty of PAU were also present on the occasion. Jasbir Singh, President, FAPRO Kangmai (Hoshiarpur) along with his team comprising  Harprem Chand Vasisht and Mr Sukhminder Singh as well as Gurpreet Singh of Khalsa Foods Village Khuda (Dasyua) especially visited PAU to attend the foundation stone ceremony.