Report of the Working Group on Food Processing and Post Harvest Technology for Eighth Five Year Plan

Abstract

The food grain sector comprises around 79,000 rice hullers, 2,66,000 flour chakkis, 10,000 dhal mills and 2,20,000 oil mills. In this unorganised sector are also found 50,000 bakeries, 5,000 paste goods units, 15,000 traditional food units and 2,000 poha making units in the country. the constraints faced by this sector include presence of obsolete machinery, over utilisation of energy, sub-optimal yield, losses due to infestation, unreliable data base, constraints in R&D and human resources development. The fruit vegetable processing sector suffers from inadequate capacity utilisation due to non-availability of raw materials throughout the year coupled with the units being formed in unorganised, cottage and small scale sectors. Inadequate production base together with lack of availability of processable variety adds to the problem. Other constraints include illogical taxation policy, inadequate intermediate processing technology and lack of domestic demand due to high prices. The R&D base needs to be strengthened considerably.