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April 28, 2007
Food Items Worth Rs.580 Billion
Perish Annually

New Delhi
For a country like India, where starvation deaths are not uncommon, food items worth Rs.580 billion perish every year at various stages of handling.

Union Minister of State for Food Processing Subodh Kant Sahay stated this in the Rajya Sabha recently in a reply to a starred question.

Sahay said: "According to a report of M/s Rabo India Finance Pvt Ltd, wastage of agricultural food items is estimated to be about Rs.580 billion at various stages of handling after harvesting due to fragmented farming, provisions in Agricultural Produce Marketing (Development and Regulation) Act, lack of adequate post-harvest infrastructure such as lack of cold chain facilities, transportation and proper storage facilities."

The government has finalized a Vision 2015 document, which envisages trebling the capacity of the food processing industry by increasing the processing of perishable food items from the existing 6 percent to 20 percent, value addition from 20 percent to 35 percent and share in global food trade from 1.5 percent to 3 percent.

To achieve this, the government plans to invest in mega food parks, modernization of abattoirs, cold chain value addition technology and setting up a National Institute of Food Technology, Entrepreneurship and Management (NIFTEM).

The Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 has been introduced in parliament to ensure better standards in the food processing industry.

A whopping Rs.1 trillion is expected to be spent to achieve Vision 2015, said Sahay. 

IANS | April 28, 2007

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