Storage, Preservation of Food Products being Supported under Major Schemes

The Government has taken a number of steps to address the problem of storage and preservation of food products. These include encouraging reforms in agricultural marketing sector to facilitate private sector investments, implementation of Central Sector Schemes, namely, Development/ Strengthening of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure, Grading and Standardization (AMIGS), National Horticulture Mission (NHM) and Horticulture Mission for North East and Himalayan States (HMNEH). Further, another scheme ‘Grameen Bhandaran Yojana’ is also being implemented under which rural godowns are being established to provide scientific storage facilities for arresting losses in terms of wastage and quality

Long and fragmented supply chains, inadequate post-harvest infrastructure such as cold storages and cold chain logistics, lack of proper transport facilities and poor road connectivity, translate into wastages of agricultural produce in the country. Fruits and vegetable, being perishable in nature, are prone to higher percentage of losses than foodgrains. As per the report of Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering and Technology (ICAR), published in September, 2012, based on nationwide sample survey, conducted during 2005 to 2007, the losses for selected cereals are in the range of 2.8% to 4.7%, while in the case of pulses, it is 3.4% to 5.0%. The annual wastage of fruits and vegetables is estimated in the range of 5.8% to 18%.

This information was given today by Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries, Shri Tariq Anwar in a written reply to Rajya Sabha questions.

MP: SS: CP: storage (rajya) 22.3.2013