FAISALABAD:Students of University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) 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.
A UAF spokesman said in a statement on Sunday that students of National Institute of Food Science & Technology (NIFSAT) including Raees-ur-Rehman and his team Kashmala Chaudhary, Roman Batool, Abdul Raffay, Azeem Alvi and M. Raees participated in the NIB competition and won it.
“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,” he added.
He said that UAF Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan and Dean Faculty of Food Nutrition & Home Sciences Prof Dr Masood Sadiq Butt congratulated the students over their performances and ideas.
In this competition, more than 2000 ideas were selected with 512 ideas only in Agriculture Sector. The UAF 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 and Dr. Allah Rakha from NIFSAT, Dr Samar Abbas Naqvi from the Institute of Horticultural Sciences and Abdul Wahab Chairman Standing Committee Faisalabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FCCI) in collaboration with BHB Date Company, Panjgur, Balochistan, he added.