As part of the various initiatives proposed in the next five years under the National Mission for Food Processing, the Union government is setting up a National Centre for Food Technology in Haryana with a regional centre likely to be located in Hyderabad.
Disclosing this here on Saturday, CR Biswal, principal secretary, food processing industries and commerce department of the Andhra Pradesh government, said value-addition assumed a significant role in making agriculture a more viable economic activity apart from creating additional employment opportunities in the rural sector.
According to him, food processing accounts for just 6 per cent of the agriculture produce in India, while 60 per cent of the food produced in developed countries is processed. The Centre is planning to invest Rs 15,000 crore to facilitate the expansion of the food processing industry to enhance value creation, which in turn ensures more returns to farmers on their produce, he said.
The Andhra Pradesh government is planning to set up four new food processing parks – one at Vizag with a focus on seafood, cashew and coffee, while the other four will be located in the Vijayawada-Nalgonda region, Nizamabad-Warangal region and Kurnool-Anantapur region in addition to the existing one in Chittoor.
Currently, the state government is getting prepared a separate syllabus on food processing to be introduced at the polytechnic level, besides creating innovation centres in different universities. Also, the government wants to support women’s self-help groups (SHGs) in setting up food processing units, according to the official.
FICCI's meet on agri business
The Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) is organising a a three-day international conference-cum-exhibition on agri business and food processing in Hyderabad this November. The conference will focus on raising productivity in agriculture, supply chain to connect farm to consumer and branding, apart from providing a platform for investors and entrepreneurs who are looking to set up food processing industries.
Briefing about the event, S Sivakumar, chief executive officer (agri business) of ITC Limited, who is heading the programme panel of the conference, said the country needed to take a comprehensive look at the agriculture sector to address some of the serious problems it was currently facing. Subsidies and schemes are of help only in the short-term, he said, while stating that ways of increasing the returns to farmers through increased productivity, direct connect between consumer and farmer and value-addition are some of the issues that the conference is going to discuss in detail.
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According to him, the food processing industry has a potential to grow much bigger compared to the estimated Rs 3,5 lakh-crore industry, most of which caters to domestic consumption, while exports accounts for Rs 60,000 crore.
ITC’s experiment with pop-up stores
Sivakumar said the company’s agri division had done Rs 30-crore business through the sale of farm-fresh vegetables and fruits through four of its stores and 50 pop-up stores in Hyderabad last year.
The company had introduced the pop-up store concept last year where it sets up a makeshift store in gated communities and at big apartments in a fixed time in a day in association with the community representatives. Sivakumar said they were looking at expanding this network in the city before replicating the model in other cities.
The company is also working on better integration of its existing e-Choupals with 4,500 villages by using mobile phones to disseminate information on market prices and extension tips to farmers. Responding to a question, he said the expansion of eChoupals had become difficult as reforms in agriculture marketing were taking a back seat in the country.