Chief Secretary Dinesh Kumar said on Thursday the government was trying to double the farmers’ income by converting 50,000 to 70,000 hectares of agricultural land into horticultural farms on a yearly basis and promoting food processing industries which had tremendous potential in the State.
However, the government had a long way to go to achieve the goal as the sector had many problems to address, he said.
Participating as the chief guest at the inaugural session of a three-day National Food Processing Conclave organised by the Federation of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FTAPCCI) here, Mr. Kumar said, “Roughly 40% of fruits and vegetables were wasted in the country and the loss of overall agricultural production stood about 18 %, whose value ranges from a whopping ₹50,000 to ₹10,0000 crore.”
Wastage of such magnitude was appalling in a country like India where up to 30% of the children were malnourished. Merely 10% of the agricultural produce was processed, which offered enormous potential for adding value to the rich variety of crops cultivated in diverse agro-climatic zones across the sub-continent.
On its part, the State government was giving incentives to entrepreneurs in the food processing space, building marketing infrastructure, like the proposed Cold Chain Corporation, and taking other steps for alleviating the plight of farmers with due priority to food processing that gives them better returns on investment.
FTAPCCI president Gowra Srinivas spoke.
Secretary (food processing) M. Girija Sankar, Customs Commissioner Sudha Koka, and A.P. Food Processing Society CEO Y.S. Prasad were among those present.
