Horticultural Crop Processing Industry: Potential and Prospects Madhya Pradesh

Author: Vijay Agrawal, Alok Dhar Dubey and Sanjeev Verma

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Abstract

This paper analyses the potential and prospects of the horticulture crop processing industry in Madhya Pradesh. Food processing is one of the most effective solutions to reduce the wastage of fruits and vegetables. In India, the processing of fruits and vegetables is extremely low and is below 2.2%. Value addition to the raw produce in India is as low as 7%, in comparison to China (23%), the Philippines (45%) and the UK (88%). It is estimated that a 1% growth in food processing has the potential to generate additional direct employment for about five lakh individuals, and indirect employment for about 15 lakh individuals. Thus, the processing industry holds tremendous potential not only for contributing to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but also for generating employment in rural areas and business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Madhya Pradesh is the 3rd largest producer of vegetables and 7th largest producer of fruits in India with a total production of 317.39 lakh metric tons with 50 to 87% surplus availability of horticultural produce, which can directly be utilized for food processing. The paper would also assess why it is a favourable destination for food processing units and the production of value-added products. This assessment would be done based on factors such as the area under horticulture, surplus production, price realisation trends etc. The paper also made suggestions to achieve the future progress of this sector in Madhya Pradesh.

Keywords

Horticulture sector, food processing, value-added products, farmer income, food industry

Conclusion

The study establishes it clearly that there is lot of potentials of processing of horticultural crops in Madhya Pradesh. Despite of surplus production in the state, the Major problems lie with the lack of post-harvest structures, cold storages, non-availability of processing varieties, lack of knowledge of technical know-how about processing and lack of marketing and branding. Hence, the government should focus more on developing basic infrastructures like road, cold chain facility, transportation so that private player or entrepreneurs may come forward to invest in this sector. In this context, it is also necessary that research and development must provide an efficient alternative to entrepreneurs for processing of commodity along with quality, income and export opportunities.

References

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How to cite this article

Vijay Agrawal, Alok Dhar Dubey and Sanjeev Verma (2023). Horticultural Crop Processing Industry: Potential and Prospects Madhya Pradesh. Biological Forum – An International Journal, 15(1): 281-285.