Mrs Harsimrat Kaur Badal, minister for Food Processing Industries, on a visit to Punjab mentioned that her priority is reduction of poverty by bringing the food inflation down and to do that the food processing sector has to a play central role in driving improvements into the country and in filling the gap between 'farm and shelf'.

Minister said that to feed the increasing population, food shall be a very critical sector and apart from driving food processing growth, India would need to turn the wastage of fruits and vegetables into packaged food. This would be possible when all states focus on food processing industries. With a view to boost the food processing industries in Punjab, Mrs Badal met officials of various Food Processing government undertakings like Milkfed, Markfed, Punjab Agro and asked them to build BRAND PUNJAB and to focus on making Punjab, the number one State in terms of food processing. The minister also studied the practices being followed by various organizations in Punjab and suggested improvements and more market linkages.

Talking to officials, Mrs Badal emphasized that all states need to make their own Brands, like 'Brand Punjab' which should be made and marketed globally both by government and by the industry of the state. She also met the Food Processing Commissioner of Punjab and discussed ways and means to improve food technology with Dr Nripendra Singh, head of the Food Science and Technology Dept of Guru Nanak Dev University.