FOOD PROCESSING FOR NON FARM SECTOR

Food processing sector in India plays an important role in linking Indian farmers to consumers in domestic as well as international markets.

During the last decade, food processing sector in India has grown significantly and moved from a situation of insufficiency to surplus in food production which is expected to be doubled in the next ten years.

For this reason, there is a prospect for huge investments in food and food processing activities.

Currently, India stands second in terms of global food production and has good status in producing numerous food products like milk, ginger, banana, guava, mango, and papaya.

Food Processing Sector: Current Scenario

Major areas holding possibility for value-added processing are packaging, canning, frozen food, dairy, food processing, and thermo–processing industries.

The food processing sector in India accounts for almost one – third of the total food market in India. The food processing sector is valued at 258 billion US dollars (USD), and it is the fifth-largest sector domestically in terms of production, export and expected growth in the country.

It contributes to around 14 percent of manufacturing GDP and 13 percent of India ‘s total food exports.

The sector engages approximately 1.77. million people. Major industries constituting the food processing sector are grains, sugar, edible oils, beverages, and dairy products.

Current Affairs

As per Department of Industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), the food processing sector in India has received around 7.54 billion USD worth of FDI during the period April 2000-march 2017.

Further, the Indian government aims to boost growth in the food processing sector by leveraging reforms such as 100 percent FDI in the marketing of food products

  Food processing for Livelihood sustainability

Food processing is an activity that changes the raw foodstuff into a suitable form for marketing purposes. It is the major source of employment and income for rural areas and holds the key to the reduction of waste in the fragile supply chain avoids food wastage and also helps in attaining food security.

The food processing sector primarily engages a major share of workers from the agriculture sector, who face disguised unemployment. Processed food occupies less space for storage and can be exported for foreign exchange. Growth in the food processing sector will help in creating new employment opportunities, enhance agricultural yields, improve productivity and enhance the quality of standard of living of the people across the country, especially of rural people.

Current Affairs

Well-developed Food Processing Sector: Need of the Hour

A well-developed food processing sector further helps in crop diversification, commercialization of agriculture, reduction of wastage, role in enhancing shelf-life, improve the value addition, ensures better return to the farmers, promotes employment as well as creates markets for exports of agro foods. In the process, the farmers will be able to raise their own level of income and employment.

The broader idea behind the food processing activities is to bring together farmers, processors and retailers and link agricultural production to the market so as to guarantee maximization of value addition, minimization of wastages and improving enhancing farmer's income.

Another important factor for the rising habits of processed food is the change in the food habits of the working-class who prefer readily available convenient foods.

Government Initiatives for Food Processing Sector

The Government of India through the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has also taken steps to boost investments in this sector through Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samapada Yojana (PMKSY).

Major activities covered under the Yojana are the establishment of mega food parks, integrated cold chains and value addition infrastructure, expansion of food processing & preservation capacities, infrastructure for agro-processing, creation of backward and forward Linkages, food safety and quality assurance infrastructure, generation of human resources and Institutions.

Till now, the government has sanctioned 42 mega food parks to be set up in the country under the Mega Food Parks Scheme.

Government has identified food processing sector as one of the priority sectors under Make in India campaign.

 

Food and beverages companies are persistently exploring better ways to augment their sales and market share by the means of adding new products in markets as by modernizing more professional promotional campaigns.

It can be said that India has an advantage of huge agriculture land and this can help potentially to become an ideal sourcing destination for food products internationally.

Challenges and Way Forward

The key challenges identified overall for the food processing sector in India are the capital intensive functions, poor supply chain linkages, infrastructure bottlenecks, lack of skilled manpower and low competition.

These challenges can be minimized by making awareness programs related to food processing to rural farmers who are primarily engaged in agricultural activities, which in turn will help them to improve their livelihood mechanism and hence economic status.

Therefore, there is a need to frame such policies, which would focus on the involvement of rural farmers in this sector as they play an important role in the management of Indian food ecosystem.

Current Affairs