You are on page 1of 3

c  

        


Ê
Smt. Vijaylaxmi Kasotia
Ê
The agriculture sector has come a long way since independence. With the
advent of green revolution, India has transformed itself from a country of
shortages to a land of surpluses. With the rapid growth of the economy, a
shift is also being seen in the consumption pattern, from cereals to more
varied and nutritious diet of fruit and vegetables, milk, fish, meat and
poultry products. This has resulted in the development of a sunrise industry
namely the Food Processing Industries.

The food processing sector in the country with its vast potential has emerged
as one of the major driver of economic growth. It is encouraging to note that
while the country¶s GDP growth rate had increase from 3.5 per cent in 2002-
03 to 9 percent in 2006-07, the food processing sector has grown from 7 per
cent to 13.1 per cent during the same period.

India is a country of over 1.10 billion consumers, there is a large untapped


domestic market of 1,000 million consumers in the food processing sector
and 200 million more consumers are expected to shift to processed food by
2010. It is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.
There is a huge wastage of perishable food items in the country due to lack
of proper food processing facilities and the level of processing is only about
2.2 per cent. However, India has tremendous potential to unleash large
scale process based farm activities to exploit the emerging global business
opportunities.

Incredible Opportunities

India¶s homogeneous market size endowed with growing incomes and


changing life styles has created incredible market opportunities for food
producers, machinery makers, food technology and service providers. Food
processing industries has great export and employment potential. The
policies are investor-friendly and more importantly technological and human
resources are available aplenty in the country.
The competitive edge enjoyed in terms of raw material and labour offers
lucrative opportunities. However poor perception of quality and the
indifferent image of Indian products are preventing Indian food products to
penetrate global markets in a big way. While developing countries like
Thailand have exploited the global markets in a big way by fine-tuning
quality management aspects of their food processing industry, India are yet
to make a head way on this front.

Production of high quality processed foods meeting international quality


standards & regulations may very well open new frontiers for Indian food
products. This will not only create a dynamic and competitive domestic food
processing industry but will also enable India to become a major player in
the global food market. An attitudinal change towards quality is essential.

Several thousand crore worth of farm produce is lost every year due to
inefficient post-harvest practices for storage and processing. On one hand is
the growing demand for food products, which are difficult to meet due to
limited resources and on the other, there exist abnormally high wastage in
farm sector due to inefficient technology in storage, processing and
handling. It is, therefore, imperative to introduce state of the art technology
in the food-processing sector to minimize post-harvest losses. It also calls
for a concerted attention to a few selected food products where India has or
can develop a competitive edge over other countries.

FDI

The sector has been attracting substantial FDI also and is among the top ten
sectors getting FDI equity. FDI up to 100 per cent equity is permitted under
the automatic route in food and infrastructure like food parks and cold
chains. There are many areas for investment in this sector which include
mega food parks, agri-infrastructure, supply chain aggregation, logistics and
cold chain infrastructure, fruit and vegetable products, animal products,
meat and dairy, fisheries and seafood cereals, consumer foods/ready to eat
foods, wine and beer, machinery/packaging.

Productivity and Progress

It is essential to understand the dynamic relationship that exists between


productivity and progress. The basic fact is that until both the farmers as
well as the processors are convinced of benefits that accrue through
productivity, the productivity campaigns will remain ineffective. So the main
challenge is to introduce the concepts of productivity and make it work
under a variety of constraints for the sustainable growth of the industry.

In the process of globalization, the Indian food processing industry will be


facing increased competition, particularly in domestic markets in addition to
the uncertainties prevailing in the international markets. It is in this context
that emphasis must be given to improve productivity and quality.
Undoubtedly, better performing firms will have a competitive edge over
others. In order to maintain the tempo of productivity and quality, the
National Productivity Awards have thus assumed much greater significance.

Ministry of Food Processing Industries on its part, is leaving no stone


unturned to achieve the multiple objectives of stepping up the growth,
higher farmer income, reduction in wastage, providing nutritious and safe
food and enhancing employment opportunities. It has initiated measures to
deal with the major constraints being faced by the industry such as
affordability and cost of processed foods, linking of farmers and processors,
supply chain and post harvest technology, infrastructure, finance, food
safety, hygiene and taxes.

With the active support and cooperation of all the stakeholders the ministry
is confident of providing the necessary momentum for the rapid growth of
the food processing sector and usher in a new era in the Indian economy.

You might also like