Chennai: At a time when vegetable prices are shooting through the roof, about Rs 8,100 crore worth fruits and vegetables are rotting in the state owing to dearth of proper on-farm processing facilities.
With about nine per cent market share, Tamil Nadu is India’s fourth major horticulture producing state with over 23,000 tonnes of fruits and vegetables produced across the state annually.
On an all-India basis, over 77 million tonnes fruits and about 150 million tonnes vegetables are produced and their production is growing at a compounded annual growth rate ranging between 5 and 6 per cent, said a Assocham study titled Horticulture Sector in India: State Level Experience.
“About 30 per cent of total fruits and vegetables produced are rendered unfit for consumption due to spoilage after harvesting as they are highly perishable commodities,” said Mr D.S. Rawat, national secretary general of Assocham.
As such India incurs post-harvest fruits and vegetable losses worth over Rs 2 lakh crore each year largely owing to the absence of food processing units, modern cold storage facilities and a callous attitude towards tackling the grave issue of post-harvest losses, he lamented.
“West Bengal incurs maximum post-harvest fruits and vegetable losses worth over Rs 13,600 crore annually,” highlighted the Assocham study. This is followed by Gujarat at a close second (Rs 11,400 crore losses) followed by Bihar (over Rs 10,700 crore), Uttar Pradesh (Rs 10,300 crore) and Maharashtra (Rs 10,100 crore).
“The magnitude of post-harvest loss in fruits and vegetables can be minimised by proper cultural operations, harvesting, transportation, storage, pre and post harvest treatments and other such significant measures,” said Mr Rawat.
Total storage capacity in India is over 300 lakh tonnes and there is an additional requirement of cold storage of about 370 lakh tonnes for fruits and vegetable storage to avoid losses of these perishable commodities post harvest across states, the study notes.
Though the existing cold storage capacity is confined only to wholesale markets, their market development is equally crucial as they play a role in vertical co-ordination of markets, equilibrating supply with demand and facilitate price formation, says Assocham study.
