One day farmer training on value addition of fruits held at Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi (PMAS-AAUR) here on Thursday with an aim to develop entrepreneurship resulting in increase of farmer income, skill development for self-employment in food processing and putting farming community on the road to prosperity.

PMAS-AAUR. Vice Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad was the chief guest at the inaugural session of the training which was organized by PMAS-AAUR department of Food Technology in collaboration with USAID, CIMMYT, UC DAVIS program of AIP and was attended by 40 farmers belonging to different areas of Pothwar.

While addressing on the occasion, PMAS-AAUR Vice Chancellor said that fruit industry has a great potential for exports and if the fruits are not suitable for export are brought to food processing industry, a lot of money can be earned through value addition. He pointed that there is a need to focus this industry and to improve the status of fruits processing industry for value addition to increase its foreign exchange earnings. Dr. Rai Niaz Ahmad highlighting the importance of value addition and said that it is essential to enhance the capacity of the people associated with the field by holding workshop training programmes and seminars etc.  He explained the important role played by fruits in improving rural economy and the various technologies used in the preparation of value-added products.

The participants were trained about the latest techniques in value addition of fruits by Dr Anwaar Ahmed Associate Professor Department of Food Technology. He imparted the farmers with practical knowledge to process agricultural products under hygienic conditions to ensure food security at household level as well as use the skills to start income generating activities that will sustain their families. Focus of the training was to learn the latest procedures in cultivation, grading, processing and marketing of the fruit products to increase the fruit shelf-life, taste and texture.  Expressing satisfaction over their training process, the farmers said that the training was a new, beneficial and vital experience for them, what they have learnt would apply in their agriculture farms to enhance the quality and quantity of their products.