The International training programme on “Value Addition and product diversification in Vegetables” during August 2-16, 2019 was inaugurated by Sri Surya Pratap Shahi Hon’ble Agricultural Minister, Govt. of Uttar Pradesh on August 4, 2019. Seven participants from 4 different countries such as Malawi, Comoros, Kenya and Ghana of African continent had participated in this training programme. The participants were of heterogeneous background like Soil Research Scientist, Extension officer, Biotechnology Engineering, Biotechnology and Microbiology Engineering, Agribusiness officer and Agribusiness and Marketing Officer. There had been 22 lectures delivered from faculty members of Institute of Agricultural Sciences, BHU, Varanasi, National Seed Research Training Centre, Varanasi and faculty members of IIVR, Varanasi. The lectures covered topics like strategies and challenges of vegetable processing, value addition in vegetables through product diversification, application of market intelligence and information communication technology in vegetable value chain, role of Agri Business incubator in total value chain, role of agricultural extension in transferring vegetable processing technologies and prospects of self-help group in vegetable processing industries. Practical classes were also conducted on biochemical analysis of vegetables, texture profile analysis, shellac based edible coating for extending the shelf life and quality attributes of vegetables and low-cost drying technology of leafy vegetables. Participants also visited Centre of Food Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Surabhi Shodh Sansthan, Dagmagpur and relevant tourist places in and around Varanasi. During the training programme, there had been significant improvement in the knowledge of the participants. A manual consisting of all lectures and practical session conducted has been compiled and given to the participants for future reference.
Dr Arvind Kumar, Director, International Rice Research Institute, South Asian Regional Centre, Varanasi was the Chief Guest in the valedictory function of this training programme and he expressed the need of value addition and product diversification in his valedictory remark as there had been ample opportunities of product diversification in vegetables. Dr Jagdish Singh, Director, ICAR-Indian Institute of Vegetable Research, Varanasi also highlighted the importance of value addition to meet the nutritional and food security and he told that It is expected that Indo-African training programme would be fruitful to the participants of 4 African countries to update their knowledge in value addition and product diversification in vegetables which would ultimately help in minimizing the post-harvest losses of perishable vegetables with substantial value chain.