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There is a need for more industry-academia interface so that the disconnect between the two can be resolved
The food processing industry cannot exist without agriculture and for agriculture to be sustainable and be profitable, the food processing industry is the lifeline. Rural and semi-urban India has been witnessing growth in demand for processed foods which has been further enhanced by COVID-19. To add on, there is an increased demand for innovative and healthy food products requiring science and technology.
Premier institutes of food processing, food science and technology in the country have a wealth of information but there is no mechanism available wherein the industry can tap into these things. These institutions have made various contributions and have transferred a lot of technology to the industry but this progress has been very gradual. In western countries most of the R&D work, and innovations come from universities and institutes. This is a rare occurrence in India.
Rajeshwar Matche, Chief Scientist, Head, Food Packaging Technology & Technology Transfer and Business Development, Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, states, “There is a disconnect between academia and industry because students find their comfort zones where they feel that they can comfortably publish some papers and go beyond. CSIR has done a lot of innovative things but scientists have not taken that. There is too much of ‘me too’ business happening. Some have some kind of technology, others also have the same kind of technology which they will pass on to two or three industries, and at the end of the day as a country we are not going beyond a particular level. We are not doing radical R&D.”
Focus on applied research
Sharing more insights of the academic and industry scenario, Jayant M Modak, Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru points out that the turn-over of the food processing industry is around Rs 20-25 lakh crore, with an annual growth rate of 7-8 per cent year-after-year.
“All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) in its annual survey lists about 10,000 engineering institutes in the country, out of which there are only 170 institutes which offer anything close to food processing. There are various different nomenclatures of food technology, food biotechnology, so on and so forth. About 3000 students graduate from these institutes. In terms of business the industry ranks about fifth or sixth in the country. In terms of manpower supplied for the industry, we are way short of the required manpower and so the effort by the Food Ministry to start mid-term and also an institute in Thanjavur to cater to this is a necessity. Another point of worry is the manpower available to carry out these interactions. The Department of Science & Technology (DST) has published a list of about 400 institutes, universities, organisations in the country out of which only 20-25 institutes are involved in the food processing industry. There are, of course, CFTRI, NIFTEM and some defence labs which directly work with food technology,” says Dr Modak.
While there are gaps within the organisational aspect of the academic sector, there are a few institutes that are working closely with the industry by focusing on applied research rather than basic ones.
“Whatever technologies we develop are based on the need based problems of the industry. Based on technologies developed, we validate in the industry. Mostly we are working on technologies for the industry. We help aspiring entrepreneurs by providing our resources without any charges, help in developing a product, branding, brand protection and also the pilot facility to develop the product and get into the market and study the market. Based on the feedback, refinement is allowed till the entrepreneur is confident that the product is saleable in the market. We call this a one stop shop. We link the entrepreneur to agencies like NFTB, Marine Products Exports Development Authority and other authorities depending on the products,” shares Dr Ravishankar CN, Director, Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), Cochin.
He also adds, “We take students from colleges who are focusing on fisheries, even though our focus is fish we don’t restrict to fish alone. Most of the technologies are for other food commodities as well, there is thermal processing, vacuum packaging, non-thermal techniques that help food processing. We work very closely with CFTRI, DFRL and other industries. The facility that we have created for research and technology development, we provide it to other industries also, by way of packaging testing, process development, process optimisation.”
Need for concerted effort
Even though there is a discord between the industry and academia, the industry does collaborate with various institutes as and when the need arises. But the industry also needs to understand that there has to be a rational time frame for the development of any technology. Majority industry players want ready-made solutions. It might be possible in some cases, but not in all.
Dr Nachiket Kotwaliwale, Director, Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana states, “Major issues for which the industry approaches us for is quality. They want quality products, products that stand in the market, they want us to validate the products, corroborate or support their products. They want us to help promote or use our brand to make their products more acceptable in the market. But, the infrastructure for these types of activities are not sufficient.”
“Our major clients are tiny or micro industries such as agro processing centres, micro processing centres and some medium industries also. These tiny and small industries are looking at solutions that are cost effective and solutions with subsidies. The interface between industry and academia will heavily depend on these issues as well. As an academic institute when we send some students to the industry, we expect the training to be extensive and complete but on the other hand the industry at times doesn’t take risks with novices, they put students in areas of training which isn’t completely hands on, for this we will have to design the exchange of people in such a way that there is sufficient time given for this type of experiential learning,” adds Dr Kotwaliwale.
Quoting an industry perspective on the challenges it faces with academia, Krishna Kumar Joshi, Head-Regulatory Affairs, Food Division, ITC, Gurugram says, “Industry is often not aware of the various R&D projects being carried out in the academic labs. If such specific details are available, it will be a lot easier for the companies to plan a collaboration. Another important criterion is the cost-effectiveness of the innovation being planned by the researchers. For instance, if an idea is not cost-effective, the industry will not look into it. So, there should be an impact analysis for the R&D projects for industry to get the right benefit.”
Offering solutions to the current challenging framework between industry & academia, JIX Antony, Vice President and Head Ingredient Excellence, Olam, Bengaluru says “Accelerators should be initiated by the industry with full support to develop new ideas and products. This would create an entrepreneurial spirit among the students. The risks are taken by companies and students can concentrate on the product or idea.
For industry development, digitisation is very important. Robotics, AI, and IoT are already fluttering into the food processing centre, so there should be such kinds of exams where students are readily employable as soon as they graduate. If the students graduate with readily employable skill sets this is what we look forward to”.
Academia and industry need to come on a common level field where a symbiotic relationship can be nurtured. This will be a boon for both sectors as they need to work in unison for their betterment.
The industry could form collaborations with academia for R&D and incubators which could help both institutions and the food processing industry in the long run, making the industry profitable as well as sustainable. There should be more industry-academia interface so that the disconnect between the two can be resolved, leading to radical innovations which will provide students better opportunities in the industry and quantum leap the industry needs to compete in the international market.
Prabhat Prakash