In its pursuit of taking research lab outputs to markets, the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) inked a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) with the Hi Tech Center, Koraput, Odisha. Dr AS Dhatt, Director of Research, PAU signed the pact with Ms Somna Pradhan, a representative of the firm. As per the agreement, PAU has accorded non- exclusive rights of sugarcane juice bottling technology to the said company for a period of five years.

Talking about the technology, Dr Poonam A Sachdev, Principal Food Technologist, observed: “Perishability of raw and processed food products is a big challenge in terms of market outreach and remunerative price realization for the farmers and food processors. Sugarcane juice bottling technology, developed by the Department of Food Science and Technology is a valuable addition to address the above mentioned challenge.”

Dr Khushdeep Dharni, Associate Director, Technology Marketing and Intellectual Property Rights Cell (TMIPRC), PAU, informed that sugarcane juice bottling technology is gaining popularity among the entrepreneurs and till date, PAU has signed 23 MoAs for disseminating this technology at grassroot level.

Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Vice-Chancellor, PAU and Dr Dhatt, Director of Research, appreciated and acknowledged the concerted efforts of Dr Poonam for sharing this technology with the farmers and industrial stakeholders of 11 states.

Dr GS Mangat, Additional Director (Crop Improvement); and Dr GS Manes, Additional Director Research (Farm Mechanization and Bio Energy), were also present on the occasion.