VILLAGE ADOPTION
Village adoption is a unique program conceptualized and being implemented by NIFTEM for its students since 2012, to sensitize and educate them on the problems and practices of the farmers at the grass root level. The aim is to help the Indian Food Processing sector accomplish its objective of all-inclusive growth and facilitate the process of integrating the underprivileged sections of our population with the mainstream economy.
The Framework of Village Adoption Programme:-
Under this programme, B. Tech (Food Technology and Management) and M. Tech students are divided into groups of 10 to 12 students at the time of joining NIFTEM.
Each group is led by a Faculty member (Mentor) and adopts a village any- where in India and nurses it during the entire programme of study.
The Groups go and stay in the village twice a year: 10 to 12 days each time in every semester. It is a symbiotic process leading to the exchange of Knowledge.
while villagers gain scientific and technical knowledge through students who promote future possibilities of food processing among them, students obtain firsthand experience of Indian rural scenarios and understand traditional pro- cessing technologies adopted by the villagers.
Students learn to contribute towards “Nation Building”.
Steps in the Village Adoption Process:-
The students shall have to identify a village and establish a work plan at the beginning of the first semester and work during the semester for 10-12 days at the village site
The students will work in a group under the guidance of a mentor faculty and will develop realistic village development plan for 4 years including identification of local resources and avenues for promoting entrepreneurship in food processing sector.
Sensitize and train the farmers and local youth about Food Processing and its advantages- Encourage farmers & local youth to become Entrepreneurs, establish micro and small Food Processing Enterprises, form Producer’s Company and establish Food Processing Units.
Provide access and training programs to farmers
Prepare a catalogue of traditional food production practices/ food preservation/ traditional recipes of food, etc.
Imparting trainings on basic processing and value addition techniques for enhancement of shelf life, etc.
Promote Good Agricultural Practices (GAP).
Conduct an extensive survey of the village & record demographics and prepare a data base.
Organize resources – By providing vital linkages, micro credits, Govt. Policies.
Prepare and present a report at the end of each semester.
In addition, Professors and Senior Officers of NIFTEM visit the groups as observers when the groups are in the village to guide them and closely evaluate their progress.
Work done in Village adoption programme
Owing to the success of the first session of the village adoption programme (29.10.2012-03.11.2012), NIFTEM undertook regular subsequent visits under its innovative programme to date. So far Eight visits have been accomplished viz., second (11-16th March 2013), third (30th June-09th July 2013), fourth, (19-27th October 2013), fifth (23-29th December 2013, sixth (02-11th March 2014), seventh (17-26 September 2015) and eighth (15-24 March 2015). During the Eighth village adoption programme, 36 teams of NIFTEM visited 39 villages in 18 States of the Country. The details of the locations are presented in Table Annexure I.
The salient achievements have been compiled as follows:-
Food Processing promotional Initiatives
Entrepreneurship Development
Preparation project reports
Product Development processes
Developing Market Linkages
Cataloguing of traditional knowledge
Make in India initiatives through VAP
Infrastructure Development
Social Issues addressed
Sawachh Bharat Abhiyan through VAP
Initiatives on promotion of Renewable energy utilization
