Relevance: mains: G.S paper III: Food processing and related industries in India- scope and significance, location, upstream and downstream requirements, supply chain management.
- India as being primarily an agriculture based economy, investing in the future of rural youth through creating opportunities in agribusiness value chain, food processing and entrepreneurship would be the right strategy to achieve rural economic growth and development goals.
What is the potential of food processing and agri businesses?
- There is considerable potential for promoting entrepreneurship in food processing and agribusiness in the rural area.
- The food processing involves any type of value addition to agricultural produce including the primary processing such as grading, sorting and packaging to increase marketability of food products.
- Secondary food processing involves the value addition by transforming raw produce form its original state to a more valuable state with enhanced food quality, safety and shelf life.
- The food processing and value addition activities predominantly offers a means to increase, rejuvenate and stabilize rural income and beyond that it ensures availability of food products throughout the year and ad to food security by minimizing food wastage.
How entrepreneurship in food processing can be linked with rural youth?
- Rural youth Entrepreneurs are vital as they can reallocate resources from the agricultural sector to the processing sector through knowledge, skills and food processing technology.
The unique program called Village Adoption Program can be a game changer in this regard.
- It was designed by National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management.
- It will empower the rural youth and promote entrepreneurship in food processing.
- Each VAP team consisting of unique combination of 10-15 students from different programs including faculty, who adopt a village and identify and nurture entrepreneurial potential among rural youth.
- The VAP team teaches the farmers and rural youth about ‘good agricultural Practices’, primary processing, scientific storage practices and value addition techniques.
- It also gives the lesson to learn and act by policy makers and institutions/universities to empower rural youth.