Wastage of food grain in India is due to poor farm operationsHome

Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti said, “According to a study, the major reasons for wastage of food grain produce in India are poor farm operations like harvesting, threshing, storage, insect/pest infestation".

As per the study, in case of fruits and vegetables also there are high losses in farm level operations. As per the report the extent of losses varies from 4.58 per cent to 15.88 per cent in respect of fruits and vegetables and 4.65 per cent to 5.99 per cent in case of cereals.

To encourage investment in latest technology of food preservation, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is operating a Central Sector Scheme of Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure with the objective of preventing post- harvest horticulture & non-horticulture losses by providing financial assistance for setting up integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities.

Under the Scheme, financial assistance is provided in the form of grants-in-aid up to 50 per cent of the cost of Technical Civil Work and Plant & Machinery in general areas and 75 per cent in NE and hilly areas subject to maximum of Rs 10 crore per project. Integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure can be set up by individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), NGOs, Central/State PSUs, etc.

Under this scheme, the Ministry has sanctioned 138 cold chain projects so far since inception of the scheme in 2008. The Cold Chain scheme has acted as a catalyst in bringing investment in this sector. The total project cost of 138 projects is Rs. 3271 crore with private investment of Rs. 2162 crore and grant-in-aid of Rs. 1109 crore.

Source: http://knnindia.co.in/