India wastes maximum of 16% fruits, veggies: Study

Government on Tuesday said in a written reply in Lok Sabha that, study conducted by the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has projected that India wastes maximum of 16% fruits and veggies and 6 %  <g data-gr-id="23">cereals</g>.

“A study to assess the harvest and post-harvest losses of major crops and commodities in India has been undertaken by Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (<g data-gr-id="17">CIPHET</g>), Ludhiana under Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) on behalf of the ministry. As per the report the extent of losses varies from 4.58% to 15.88% in respect of fruits and vegetables and 4.65% to 5.99% in case of cereals,” Minister of State for Food Processing Industries Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti in a written reply in Lok Sabha said. As per the study, major reasons for wastage of food grain produce are poor farm operations like harvesting, threshing, storage, insect/pest infestation among others. In case of fruits and vegetables also there are high losses in farm level operations.

To encourage investment in latest technology of food preservation, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries is operating a Central Sector Scheme of Cold Chain, Value Addition and Preservation Infrastructure with the objective of preventing post- harvest horticulture and non-horticulture losses by providing financial assistance for setting up integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure facilities.

“Under the scheme, financial assistance is provided in the form of grants-in-aid <g data-gr-id="16">upto</g> 50 % of the cost of Technical Civil Work and Plant and Machinery in general areas and 75 % in NE and hilly areas subject to maximum of  Rs 10 crore per project. Integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure can be set up by individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Organisations, NGOs, Central/State PSUs, among,” the minister added.