The Hindu Business Line : Lack of cold chain facilities resulting in loss of farm produce: Study

New Delhi, Aug. 18 India falls short by 10 million tonnes in cold storage facilities resulting in a loss of up to 30 per cent of the farm produce post-harvest.

According to an Assocham-KPMG report on food processing and agri-business, the country requires over 31 mt, but has facilities for only 21.7 mt cold storage.

Also, export-related infrastructure for agricultural produce is grossly inadequate at ports and airports, it said.

capacity utilisation

According to Mr Sajjan Jindal, President, Assocham, cold storage facilities are mostly available for single commodities such as potatoes, oranges, besides flowers.

This results in poor capacity utilisation.

Land acquisition

Land acquisition for setting up warehousing and cold storage facilities remains a major bottleneck as without government intervention, land cannot be acquired, he said.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Processing should, therefore, facilitate land acquisition so that a good number of cold storage facilities are put up near the ports and airports to reduce transaction costs, he said.

The report further said that the supply chain is dominated by unorganised players and there is no structured market to ensure correct price discovery and availability of consistent quality produce.

It also recommended more fiscal incentives for technology upgrade in food processing.

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