The International Association of Rice Bran Oil (IARBO) and the Solvent Extractors Association of India (SEA) organised the 7th International Conference on Rice Bran Oil (ICRBO) in Hyderabad on Saturday. The theme of ICRBO 2023 is ‘Awesome Rice Bran Oil for Sustainable Ecosystem (ARISE).’
Over 500 delegates representing the rice bran oil industry including special invitees from all rice bran oil producing countries like India, China, Thailand, Japan, Vietnam and Bangladesh attended the conference for promoting rice bran oil and its value-added products.
Jayesh Ranjan, IAS, the Principal Secretary of Information Technology, Electronics and Communications Department said, “Telangana is witnessing a yellow revolution with the growth in edible oil production. The government is focusing on building agri infrastructure and 60 per cent of the budget is for agri growth. We have offered direct benefits to farmers through Rythu Bandhu and crop insurance through Rythu Bima. We have set up an agri University for research and development.”
Lifetime achievement awards were presented to industry veterans for their contribution to the identification, research, and promotion of rice bran oil.
OP Goenka was given the award for pioneering rice bran oil in India. Dr V. Prakash was honoured for his scientific contributions in promoting RBO as edible oil, and Dr RBN Prasad was honoured for the revolutionary development of the enzymatic degumming process.
G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, the CEO of FSSAI and Union Secretary said, “India has a huge import bill for edible oil. The government is increasing excise duties on some edible oils to encourage the use of domestic oils. Rice bran oil can help bridge the gap. In fact, in the recent budget, a lot of emphasis was laid on nutrition security. Edible oils are a very important source of nutrition.”
Historically too oils were a main source of nutrition in India. Already, oil is being fortified with iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12 for schoolchildren.
