States should identify vegetables that contribute to inflation and focus on processing of these commodities to make them available at affordable prices even during lean season, Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal said today.
The minister emphasised on the need to boost investments in the food processing sector so as to bring down the percentage of losses in agricultural commodities, particularly in fruits and vegetables.
Badal was speaking at a meeting with Ministers of Food Processing Industries of States and UTs. The meeting was organised by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI) in association with industry body ASSOCHAM.
Addressing the ministers, Badal said: "...Our focus should be to identify the inflation causing vegetables and how we can process those so that they can be made available throughout the country even during lean period at affordable rates."
Quoting a study made in the year 2009, Badal said wastage of fruits and vegetables works out to be around Rs 44,000 crore a year. This can be reduced significantly by making suitable investments in the food processing sector.
"...At present about only 2-3 per cent of fruits and vegetables are processed and thus there is a great opportunity in the food processing sector," the minister said.
Badal also requested the representatives of the states and UTs to give suggestions by which the losses in agricultural commodities could be reduced.
Commenting on the progress in National Mission for Food Processing (NMFP), the Minister said in the first six months, 50 per cent of the grants given to the states is going to be utilised, which is a healthy trend.
At the same meeting, Secretary Food Processing Siraj Hussain briefed the states about various schemes and asked them to invest the funds allocated to them under NMFP.
