FROM MENAHILL RASHID
FAISALABAD: The University of Agriculture Faisalabad students have won the National Level Competition of National Idea Bank (NIB) in Agriculture Sector held in Islamabad and received Certificate of Appreciation from President of Pakistan Dr. Arif Alvi at the closing ceremony of the competition.
National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFSAT) UAF students Raees-ur-Rehman and his team Kashmala Chaudhary, Roman Batool, Abdul Raffay, Azeem Alvi & M. Raees from have won Competition of National Idea Bank (NIB). They developed date Candy; An innovative idea of energy dense and nutrient rich product that improves human health and reduces malnutrition. This Date Candy is energy dense, rich in water soluble vitamins, minerals, antioxidants especially selenium and dietary fibers that play an important role in improving human health and reduce the threat of malnutrition moreover, it is economically viable. This candy also satisfies your sweet tooth and suitable for every age group especially for school going children. National Idea Bank was launched by The President of Pakistan.
In a meeting, UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan along with Dean Faculty of Food Nutrition and Home Sciences Prof Dr Masood Sadiq Butt congratulated the students over the shining performances and ideas.
In this competition, more than 2000 ideas were selected with 512 ideas only in Agriculture Sector. The team got the idea of Date Candy from National Date Palm Stakeholders Meeting & Date Festival at UAF and launched the product with the guidance of Dr. Muhammad Issa Khan, Dr. Amna Sahar & Dr. Allah Rakha from NIFSAT whilst Dr Samar Abbas Naqvi from the Institute of Horticultural Sciences, Abdul Wahab Chairman Standing Committee FCCI) in collaboration with BHB Date Company, Panjgoor, Balochistan.
This competition had 3 levels in which City Level competition was held on November 29th , 2021 at Government College Women University, Faisalabad. Provincial Level competition was held on January 5th , 2022 at University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore and National Level competition was held on January 27th , 2022 in Islamabad.
