New Delhi, July 10 - The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) Friday launched its official magazine 'Food 360 Degrees' and a revamped website www.mofpi.nic.in as part of its renewed efforts to reach out to the industry, farmers and the people at large.

'With the launch of the magazine, we have come out literally from a crisis of identity that our ministry had been suffering from,' Minister for Food Processing Industries Subodh Kant Sahai said at a function here for the launch of the magazine and website.

'It is our mandate to make people aware of what is happening in the sector and this magazine and the revamped website will help us achieve this,' he added.

The magazine and website launch is part of the 100-day action plan the ministry has chalked out to fast-track the sector's development after the new United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government assumed charge.

The minister said that since the magazine was being published both in English and Hindi, it would go a long way in helping various stakeholders in the sector get information.

Regarding the revamped website, he said: 'I am happy that the NIC (National Informatics Centre) is planning to have 22 language versions of this website.'

He said MoFPI's media campaign to create awareness of the sector among the people would not be limited to print and internet alone.

'We also plan to go for TV and radio spots in the future. Our challenge is to ensure that farmers get the benefits of industrialisation.'

Sahai said that the food processing industry, a sunshine sector of the Indian economy, was the key to transforming India by making agriculture viable and market-driven, ensuring inclusive growth and reducing mass poverty.

'After the success of India's information technology (IT) and the biotechnology (BT) sectors which transformed India's urban economy, it is now the turn of food technology or FT to usher in an economic revolution in India's vast rural hinterland,' he said.