'Mega food parks need of hour to expand food processing'

Setting up of mega food parks is the need of the hour to expand the scope of the food processing industry, an HSIIDC official said.
"Food processing is one of the thrust areas of Haryana's industrial policy," Vineet Garg, Managing Diector of Haryana State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC), said.
He said the state government has already set up parks at Saha and Rai and another one was in pipeline.
He apprised the participants about the National Mission for Food Technology has been launched in the state and a grant of Rs 20 crore has also been released for cold chain.

National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship & Management (NIFTEM) at Kundli, Sonepat, on latest food technology, is also an enabler for the sector growth in the state.
Focus on DMIC corridor would give an opportunity for setting up more food parks and facilitating them through robust single window clearance, he added.

Highlighting the importance of the food processing sector Gokul Patnaik, Chairman Conferences - CII Agro Tech 2014 & Chairman, Global AgriSystems Pvt. Ltd said that processing can help the current wastages in the sector.
He said in India only 6-7 per cent of fruits are converted into processed foods whereas in other countries nearly 50 per cent of the fruits are processed.

Rajesh Srivastava, Chairman & Managing Director, Rabo Equity Advisors said cold chain is a key component which is lacking in the food processing sector.
Elaborating on what the models of cold chain infrastructure, he said that power and skilled manpower is essential in strengthening the cold chain for the processed products.
He added that the promising sub sectors within primary processing are dairy, basmati, nutraceuticals, animal feed additives, potato value chain and there is an opportunity in export market for buffalo meat and seafood .
D V Pande, Chief General Manager, NABARD, shared the institutions focus on helping farmers organise themselves into farmer producer organisations.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has received a provision of Rs 5,000 crore from the government of India to support small industries.
The organisation is also utilizing its efforts to strengthen the cold-storage mechanisms which will help in better storage of food products which can be processed further, he said.
Also in its efforts to support expansion of the sector, NABARD is offering funds to support the setting up of food parks.