Andhra Pradesh which is scouting for large industrial investments is expected to give due importance to the tremendous opportunity that its food processing sector offers. An impressive variety of crops are cultivated in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam and the two Godavari districts but a major portion of the output is exported in raw form and a sizeable part of it consumed locally.
The investments will yield far higher returns if proper value addition is made not only to the agriculture but also marine and mineral produce available in the State.
Guntur district, for instance, has vast areas under paddy, chilli, cotton and turmeric and other crops. Guntur and Prakasam districts have thriving tobacco trade and Krishna and the Godavari districts are major producers of paddy and other food crops. Unfortunately, successive governments have not realised that value addition is the key to unlocking their full potential. Across the region, bananas, guavas, palm oil and many more crops are grown extensively in addition to the rich marine wealth generated by the lakhs of traditional fishermen.
CII Vijayawada Zone chairman V.V.M. Krishna says that by converting a basket of raw materials into value-added products, their gross value could be increased by five times compared to the current levels of processing. This is an opportunity that the A.P government can ill-afford to miss in the present circumstances.
It would be doing a great deal of good to the nascent food processing industry by giving special incentives and tax holidays to help the producers in moving up the value chain. Like in other sectors, the lack of skilled manpower acted as a drag on the food processing sector too.
Skilled workers can add substantial value to fruits and vegetables which are produced on a massive scale in the State.
It is therefore imperative that due focus should be laid on enhancing skills and also capacity-building without which scalability cannot be achieved.
The State has very few food processing industries worth mentioning and handful of projects like the Spices Park coming up near Guntur are progressing at a sluggish pace.
A food processing policy that suits the current needs is sought to be given top priority.
