The Hindu Business Line : Ministry to set up mega food parks

Initiatives
This project will address the supply chain gap in the earlier food parks programme.
The Ministry may also set up modern abattoirs, slaughterhouses with private sector participation.

Our Bureau

Chennai, Nov. 26

The Union Ministry of Food Processing Industries will soon finalise plans for setting up a ‘mega food parks’ that will link farmers and food processors, according to the Secretary, Mr P.I. Suvrathan. He was addressing the inauguration of Foodpro 2007, a two-day conference on food processing organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry here on Monday,

The project will address the supply chain gap in the earlier food parks programme, which were designed along the lines of industrial estates with common facilities. Raw material supply has been a weak link, he said.

This is a major concern in the food processing industry in which the interface with the farmer is at unsustainable levels. The cities and towns are ‘booming’, demand for products are increasing but farmers are not always able to cater to these markets.

Growing industry

Mr Suvrathan said the economy and the manufacturing sector are growing at 9 per cent, food processing industry is growing at 16 per cent — twice the growth rate in 2004 — but agriculture is growing at 2.2 per cent. Food processing industry is going through a significant change, he pointed out.

Getting farmers and industry to communicate effectively is a key issue. The Government is looking at encouraging ‘producer companies’ in which groups of farmers come together to set up grading and pack houses for supplying produce to the retailers and processors.

Investor interest is there but data such as availability of horticulture produce for raw material is often inaccurate. In some areas, where the statistics were ‘revalidated’ the estimates had come down by 60 per cent, he stated.

Pvt sector input

The Ministry is also looking at facilitating establishment of modern abattoirs and slaughterhouses with private sector participation. At least, 50 of these are being planned with bids to be called for the first 15 in the next one month.

Non-vegetarian food is among the most contaminated in India with animals being slaughtered under poor conditions. There is not one professional slaughterhouse in the country, Mr Suvrathan said.

Mr Sumant Sinha, Chief Executive Officer, Aditya Birla Retail Ltd, said that India is among the top producer in a range of agriculture and horticulture produce, but only a fraction was processed into value added products. Branded foods are growing at about 10-15 per cent and accounted for about a third of the food market.

Other issues

Some issues such as infrastructure and packaging costs, which could range between 10 and 65 per cent of production cost needs to be addressed. The country is sitting on a gold mine where food processing is concerned, he said.

The Tamil Nadu Industries Secretary, Mr M.F. Farooqui, said that agriculture continues to lag despite the high growth in economy. Food processing industry has the capacity to drive the next revolution in agriculture. The industry has to establish close links with farmers as the challenge is not just production but marketing also.

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