UK – India Centre of Excellence: Post-harvest Technologies
The University of Birmingham, India Institute, is partnering with India in setting up a Centre of Excellence (CoE) in post-harvest management; the unit will act as a platform for UK agricultural technologies and associated expertise in manufacturing and other key skill sets to enter a rapidly growing Indian market with opportunity to demonstrate value to senior policy makers and customers.
The state government of Haryana plans to set up an Integrated Pack House with End-to-End Post- Harvest Management facility, they plan to make this model house a centre of excellence. In the facility, Haryana is keen to import technologies in a wide range of technologies and skills. The University of Birmingham has been working extensively with the state Government of Haryana around Post-Harvest Management and cold chain and have entered into an MoU with the state Government. The UK Department for International Trade and The British Deputy High Commission in Chandigarh are now also partnering in this initiative. Building on the Birmingham engagement, all parties are keen to introduce British businesses, academia and technologies. The opportunity is to demonstrate products and technologies in the above areas.
The Department for International Trade along with the University of Birmingham is aiming to bring together a consortium of British expertise in post-harvest management and cold chain. University of Birmingham will reach out to British businesses, technologies and academia and compile a profile of organisations interested to join the initiative.
The plan (autumn 2019) is:
- Key UK partners to visit the market to witness first-hand market conditions and participate in workshops to present capabilities and hear from decision makers
- Haryana officials to then visit the UK and research institutes and business as a secondary study tour to develop clear business development plans.
