■ Unlocking India's Food Processing Potential

#AGRICULTURE

■  Unlocking India's Food Processing Potential-

● Food processing:

✅Food processing is the transformation of agricultural products into food, or of one form of food into other forms.

✅Food Processing = Transformation + Value Addition

● Significance of Food Processing Industries in India:

✅Consolidation of India’s position as a major food producer: India ranks 1st in the production of milk, ginger, banana, guava, papaya, mango etc. It ranks 2nd in the production of rice, wheat, potato, sugarcane, cashew nut, tea etc. It is among the top 5 countries in the production of coffee, tobacco, spices, seeds etc. With such a huge raw material base, we can easily become the leading supplier of food items in the world.

✅Resource advantage of India: Diverse soil and climate types for the cultivation of diverse food crops, long coastal line suitable for fishing, a huge resource of domestic animals etc.

✅Increasing employment: Expected to create more than 1 million new jobs.

✅Curbing Migration: Provides employment in rural areas, hence reduces migration from rural to urban.

✅The future driver of Indian growth: Food processing corresponds to around 10% of GDP in the agriculture-manufacturing sector. It has potential for more.

✅ With the rise in demand for agri-products there will be tremendous rise in the price paid to the farmer, thereby increasing the income.

✅ Processing increases the shelf life of the food thus keeping supplies in tune with the demand thereby controlling food-inflation.

✅Crop-diversification: Food processing will require different types of inputs thus creating an incentive for the farmer to grow and diversify crops.

✅Enhances consumer choices: By allowing food from other parts of the world to be transported to our local market and vice versa.

● Initiatives for Development of food processing Industry in India:

✅Vision 2015 for food processing: It suggested the strategy to ensure faster growth of the sector. The adopted Vision 2015 provides for enhancing the level of processing of perishables from 6% to 20%, enhancing value addition from 20% to 35% and increasing India’s share in global food trade from 1.5% to 3% by the year 2015. To achieve these targets, investment of Rs.100 thousand crores was estimated by the year 2015, out of which Rs.10,000 crores was to come from the Government.

✅National Mission on food processing: A new Centrally Sponsored Scheme(CSS) of Ministry of food processing Industry launched on 1st April 2012. It aims at the decentralization of implementation of food processing related schemes for ensuring substantial participation of State Governments/UTs.

✅Mega food parks Scheme:  It aims at providing a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market by bringing together farmers, processors and retailers so as to ensure maximizing value addition, minimizing wastages, increasing farmers’ income and creating employment opportunities particularly in the rural sector.

✅Modernization of abattoirs Scheme: It will augment the essential supply base of hygienic raw material to the meat processing industry, both for domestic consumption and exports, besides discouraging unauthorized slaughtering.

✅Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure: It aims to encourage setting up of cold chain facilities to provide integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities without break from the farm gate to the consumer.

✅Scheme for Quality Assurance, Codex, R&D and Other Promotional Activities: It is aimed to create an infrastructure of food testing laboratories in the country to establish a quality monitoring system for food processing, implement HACCP/ISO22000, ISO14000/GHP/GMP and other quality management systems.

✅Production-Linked Incentive Scheme (PLIS): A sum of ₹10,900 crore has been earmarked for the scheme which incentivises firms for incremental sales and branding/marketing initiatives taken abroad. Beneficiaries have been obliged to commit a minimum investment while applying for the scheme.

SOURCE - THE HINDU