Delivering a keynote address at the international conference on India's cold chain infrastructure, MFPI secretary, PS Bhatnagar, stressed the need to accord top priority to set up an efficient refrigerated distribution system to extend the shelf life of agriculture produce to ensure availability of quality frozen products to the consumer throughout the year.

He said India is the largest producer of fruits and milk and second largest producer of vegetables and it is estimated that almost 25 to 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables are destroyed due to poor storage conditions.

He said that UKCII-McKinsey report on modernisation of India's food chain estimated that India wastes more fruits and vegetables than the amount of that is consumed. It is also estimated that every one per cent reduction in wastage levels of fruits and vegetables would translate into savings of Rs 1,200 crore and if India-wide yields were brought upto world average, the production of processed foods would also increase by 30 to 40 per cent.

Bhatnagar said the percentage utilisation of the fruit and vegetable processing capacity in India is below 50 per cent which could be easily increased by proper storage of raw materials during the production season at the farm levels.

The country needs to adopt a strategy whereby these facilities are provided collectively for a region as cold store centres with potential strengths for storing primary and processed agricultural products for most of the year, he added.

Bhatnagar said that the ministry has provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 18.32 crore to 56 units from1992-93 to 1997-98 for setting up of infrastructure facilities including cold storage and pre-cooling. During 1998-99 MFPI has approved 25 units of cold storage with financial assistance of Rs 6.35 crore and in the current year, ten proposals with a financial assistance of Rs 3.75 crore have been given nod so far.

The ministry is also working jointly with organisations like National Cooperative Development Council (NCDC), National Horticulture Foard (NHB) and Agricultural and Processed Produces Export Development Authority (APEDA) for the purpose, he added.

Bhatnagar said a study by APEDA proposed a total outlay ofaround Rs. 500 crore on the setting up of cold chains at 62 centres in different states.

Marine product exports decline

Marine product exports maintained its declining trend and fell 4.55 per cent in terms of quantity and 12.88 per cent in earnings during the first quarter of the current financial year compared with the same period last year.

Exports aggregated to 63,593 tonnesworth Rs 1,017.85 crore during the period as against 66,623 tonnes valued at Rs 1,112.72 crore exported during the corresponding last year, according to Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA).

The continuing sluggishness of the Japanese market, fall in unit value owing to easy availability of shrimp, poor landing of small size shrimp in Kerala and foreign exchange payment problems were some of the factors that had contributed to the fall in exports, MPEDA added.