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Deputy chief minister Y Joykumar speaking during the inaugural function of start up and food processing conference in Imphal on Tuesday. (EM Images)[/caption]
Imphal, Feb. 20 (EMN): Manipur deputy chief minister Yumnam Joykumar Singh on Tuesday said that there is a need for multi-dimensional support and nurturing entrepreneurship skills by helping farmers, start-ups and SMEs in food processing sector in Imphal. Joykumar was addressing the conference on “Linking Start-ups and SMEs in food processing with government schemes & markets” in collaboration with the Ministry of Food Processing Industries here on Tuesday.
The conference was organised by ASSOCHAM (Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India) in association with MoFPI (Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India), ICAR Imphal centre and NABARD in Imphal.
Expressing the need to promote food processing industry by developing integrated system as to enable aggregation of holding, production, technology etc. for economic prosperity, he emphasised on the need for infrastructure development like cold storage, connectivity, partnerships for training and marketing to accelerate growth. He was of the opinion that development of food processing sector in the region would lead to more jobs, incomes and opportunities for the people. He also suggested comprehensive agriculture in Manipur via organic farming, veterinary, poultry, floriculture etc.
He also gave a holistic picture of the Indian food processing industry as well as scope of Manipur to get itself in the forefront.
In his speech, assistant director of ASSOCHAM Chetan Vij said the food processing industry has made some significant progress in North eastern region of India. He also highlighted various schemes run by MoFPI like Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojna etc.
In his speech, joint director of ICAR Imphal centre Dr. Meghachandra Singh said that the geo-climatic situation of Manipur offers an excellent scope for growing different varieties of fruits, vegetables, spices, plantation crops, medicinal and aromatic plants of high economic value.
