The time has come to increase the private sector involvement in the food processing space
While addressing budget announcements for the farm sector, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently mentioned in a webinar that the food processing revolution was long overdue.
According to PM Modi, the time has come to increase the private sector involvement in the food processing space, as well as in all areas of agricultural research and development. To ensure that such a revolution takes place as soon as possible, public-private partnerships apart from the farmers’ participation, is needed. It’s critical that processing units and storage facilities units be available near the fields, he said.
In order to expand lakhs of existing micro-processing units, they must be properly equipped through Farmer Producer Organisations’ support and guidance. PM Modi emphasized that this Indian food processing revolution must be on a global scale. He also lamented the fact that Indian fishes were now processed in East Asia before reaching the international market, causing a loss of business opportunities for the fisheries sector in the country. Beeswax, seaweed, coarse cereals, millets, and organic vegetables were the other sectors with tremendous potential, he added.
The Prime Minister urged the private R&D sector to look beyond the seed industry alone, and concentrate on the whole life cycle of a crop. He noted that contract farming that has been present in India for a long time in different forms, should not be viewed purely as a business. Rather, corporations engaging in contract farming must work towards bringing the best technology and facilities to the country’s small farmers, said the Prime Minister.