Agri varsity holds session on empowering women entrepreneurs

The College of Community Science, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), in collaboration with the FICCI Flo and MSME, Ludhiana Women Wing, organised an impactful session on ‘Empowering Women Entrepreneurs: Opportunities and Incentives’ under the aegis of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME). The event aimed to sensitise students about the various schemes and incentives available under the MSME for fostering entrepreneurship and self-reliance among women. More than 110 students and ex-entrepreneurs of the college actively participated in the interactive session, which included discussions and valuable guidance sessions from experts.

Chief guest Ishita Thaman Aggarwal, Deputy Director of MSME, Ministry of MSME, delivered a lecture on the wide range of government schemes, including Udyam Sakhi, PMEGP, and the Mudra Yojana, designed to support budding women entrepreneurs. The lecture also provided valuable insights into financial assistance, training programmes, and mentorship opportunities that could help students turn their ideas into successful ventures.

College Dean Kiran Bains emphasised the college’s commitment to nurturing innovation and self-reliance among students. She highlighted the efforts in aligning education with practical applications, ensuring that every student was equipped with the skills and confidence needed to excel in the entrepreneurial world.

The event also witnessed the presence of the Ludhiana FICCI chairperson, Anamika Ghai, and 15 members, who expressed their support for such collaborative endeavours.

Training on jaggery, mushroom agribusiness

National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations Technology Business Incubators (NIDHI-TBI) at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, recently concluded a three-day training programme aimed at equipping aspiring agripreneurs with practical knowledge and skills in jaggery and mushroom production and processing. The programme was designed to foster creative and sustainable agribusiness ventures by focusing on innovative production techniques, sustainable practices, and effective market strategies to help participants thrive in the competitive agricultural sector.

The training featured insights from Dr Ramandeep Singh, Principal Investigator at NIDHI-TBI, and Director of SBS, PAU. He combined theoretical learning with practical applications and emphasised the importance of leveraging distribution strategies and social media as tools for advertising and promotion.

Adding to the learning experience, Dr Amarjeet Kaur and Dr Sukhdeep Kaur from the Food and Nutrition Department demonstrated the nutritional benefits of mushrooms and jaggery through hands-on preparation of value-added products like cakes, biscuits, and panjeeri made with jaggery powder.

Dr Kulvir Kaur introduced participants to processing techniques for value-added mushroom products such as mushroom powder and pickles, offering practical insights into market applications.

Dr Sukhpreet Kaur, food technologist, shared advanced technologies for mushroom processing, focusing on enhancing efficiency and quality.

Dr Babita Kumar and Dr Rakesh Rathore from SBS delivered lectures on market penetration, advertising strategies, and competition techniques to help participants navigate the agribusiness landscape effectively.

Youths receive honey processing, marketing tips

To enable entrepreneurs to flourish and get sustainable economic returns, the School of Business Studies (SBS) and the team of the National Initiative for Developing and Harnessing Innovations - Technology Business Incubator (NIDHI-TBI) at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) are providing strategic guidance to youths in marketing, packaging, and labelling of food products as a step towards achieving their dreams.

Balwinder Singh and Parmjit Singh from Moga, who have been working on processing and packaging of flavoured honey for the last three years, visited the SBS at PAU through the NIDHI-TBI, a Department of Science and Technology, a Government of India-sponsored project that has undertaken several trainings from PAU’s Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Moga, and recently been enrolled in several other trainings related to fruits and vegetables processing. He approached the SBS and NIDHI-TBI team to enhance the taste, packaging, and labelling of his brand of flavoured honey.

“Agrarian youths must share their agribusiness-related innovations to provide good and healthy food to the society,” said Dr Ramandeep Singh, while assuring continuous support from the team and handholding at every stage of development. He advised the entrepreneurs to get their product tested by food technologists of the PAU and suggested bulk breaking of the product as well as packing it in smaller quantities for better market coverage. Motivating him, he further encouraged the entrepreneur to initiate beekeeping under the guidance of Dr Jaspal Singh, principal entomologist, and a renowned beekeeping expert at PAU. Further, he urged them to explore opportunities to be an integral part of the Progressive Bee Keeping Association (PBKA).