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Kerala’s agriculture sector is poised for a strong growth on the back of rising exports of spices and seafood, coupled with a new energy provided by start-ups in the sector, said experts at CII’s Kerala Food Summit.
India’s natural food processing and macro-economic advantage, coupled with other growth drivers such as urbanisation, a rapidly growing middle-class population and rising digital influences on consumers will trigger strong growth in the food processing and food retail segments, they said.
Benefit for farmers
“We should deliberate on how the benefits of the growth in the industry can benefit farmers who are constantly witnessing a drop in commodity prices,” said Agriculture Minister VS Sunil Kumar in his inaugural address.
A holistic effort focussing on branding the indigenous varieties of agricultural produce found in the region and deriving more value-added items should be a top priority, he added.
“I am confident that Kerala can emerge as a strong force in the food processing and exports,” he said.
Bright prospects
The significance of the food industry is that it creates jobs, mobilises resources from the rural sector, promotes agricultural production, adds value to farm produce, tackles rural-urban migration and promotes industrialisation in an agricultural economy, said CII Kerala Chairman S Sajikumar.
According to Navas M Meeran, CII Southern Region Past Chairman, rising exports of spices and seafood underlined Kerala’s strengths in the food sector. The agriculture and allied sectors contributed more than 10 per cent of Kerala’s gross state domestic product (GSDP).
The food sector is already attracting start-ups, and there are immense opportunities for enterprising start-ups to fill the gaps in the existing food sector value chain and thereby transform the food processing economy of Kerala and India, he said.
Food processing
The food processing sector in the State is now taking the benefit of the infrastructure available and a series of processing clusters point to this trend.
Some of the major food processing clusters are rice processing in Preumbavoor, Idukki and Kollam; cashew processing in Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam ; seafood processing in Alappuzha, and spices processing in Ernakulam, Thiurvananthapuram, Thrissur and Kollam.
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