The Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, under the aegis of AICRP on PHET SCSP sub-plan, organized a Training Camp on Entrepreneurship Development in Agro-Processing for Scheduled Caste beneficiaries on January 29, 2026. The training witnessed the participation of 25 SC/ST beneficiaries belonging to villages Daabah, Dhandhari Kalan, Sunet, Malakpur. With this programme, the department successfully completed a series of eight training camps, benefiting a total of 200 SC/ST participants from rural and urban areas of districts Ludhiana.
Dr. M. S. Alam, Principal Scientist and Scheme In-charge, AICRP-PHET, PAU Ludhiana, delivered an orientation highlighting the course objectives and learning outcomes. He emphasized the role of agro-processing complexes in preserving produce quality, reducing post-harvest losses through proper handling and value addition, extending shelf life, and generating sustainable employment for rural youth. Dr. Manpreet Kaur Saini, Senior Entomologist, delivered an interactive session on household-level grain storage practices and demonstrated the PAU Protection Kit for stored pulses. She also explained Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies for stored grains, showed live insect specimens and damaged grain samples to improve participants’ understanding of pest identification and control. Dr. Sandhya, Principal Scientist, highlighted the importance of farm-level processing and explained the use of various machines for processing food grains, oilseeds, and pulses. She emphasized how appropriate processing technologies contribute to value addition, improved profitability, and reduced post-harvest losses at the farm level. Dr. Rohit Sharma provided insights into farm-level jaggery processing and shared practical guidelines for quality evaluation and testing, focusing on improving product quality, consistency, and market acceptability. Dr. Gagandeep Kaur Nagra discussed mushroom production and processing as a profitable enterprise. The programme also included live demonstrations of small-scale post-harvest machinery and hands-on exposure to village-level processing equipment, enabling participants to acquire practical skills for establishing micro-enterprises. On the occasion, PAU literature, PAU Protection Kits (Stored Pulses), and Agro-Processing Kits were distributed free of cost to the participants.
Dr. T. C. Mittal, Head, Department of Processing and Food Engineering, appreciated the active participation of the trainees in all the 8 trainings conducted and commended the dedicated efforts of Dr. M. S. Alam and his team in successfully organizing all SCSP trainings. He highlighted Punjab Agricultural University’s commitment to inclusive and sustainable development, emphasizing that such capacity-building initiatives play a vital role in empowering Scheduled Caste communities through skill development, technology dissemination and promotion of entrepreneurship in the agro-processing sector.