Value Addition Holds Key For Growth Of Agriculture In India

There is an urgent need to go for value addition in the agriculture sector for India to accelerate its economic growth, said Dr Rangaiah V Setlem, Founder & CEO, Indigene Protein Foods Pvt Limited.

Speaking at the food processing session titled ‘Technological advancements, food safety regulations, supply chain management and consumer trends in Telangana’ at the HMTV Business Summit 2024, he said our country as well as farmers had been losing heavily due to the lack of value addition in agriculture sector. “India will become world’s number one economy if complete value addition is achieved in the agriculture sector,” Dr Setlem, who was also moderator for the session, said. According to him, agriculture sector offers immense opportunities for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Maynampati Srinivasa Rao, Business Consultant for food processing industry, said processing of perishable vegetables and fruits is very low in the country. “In countries like Brazil, 85 per cent of perishable agricultural produce is processed. But it’s just 15 per cent in India. As a consequence, farmers in India are losing anywhere between Rs 45,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore,” he said.

According to him, fruits and vegetables segment offers immense growth opportunities in food processing for new entrepreneurs. “Ready-to-eat and cold storages are also ideal for those who plan to enter food processing segment and set up new units,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Sakala Kumar, Managing Partner, Kedar Corporation, underscored the need for incentives from the State governments to the units set up for processing millets. “Consumption of millets offers multiple health benefits. So, the State governments should encourage millet cultivation in a big way by offering subsidies to farmers,” he said. Rambabu Ponnala and others also spoke during the session which ended with a question-and-answer session.