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Establishment of Dal, Oilseed & Millet Food Processing units - A successful tool for Controlling Post-Harvest Loss & Doubling Farmers Income. Large quantities of agri-produce become unfit for human consumption due to inadequate facilities for storage, processing & preservation. According to estimates of Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies, Government of India, the total preventable post-harvest losses annual losses are estimated at 12-16 mt; however, losses are much higher at traditional farms, where 60-70% of the harvested grain is kept in short term storage facilities. According to World Bank study, post-harvest losses of food grains in India are 7-10 per cent of the total production from farm to market level and 4-5 per cent at market and distribution levels.
For the system as a whole, such losses have been worked out to be 11-15 million tonnes of food grains annually, which included 3-4 million tonnes of wheat and 5-7 million tonnes of rice. With an average per capita consumption of about 15 kg of food grains per month and these losses would be enough to feed about 70-100 million people.
At the micro level, post-harvest losses can have a devastating effect on farmers' income and livelihoods. Small and marginal farmers, who lack access to adequate storage and processing facilities, are particularly vulnerable to post-harvest losses. These losses can significantly reduce their income and limit their ability to invest in their farms, leading to a cycle of poverty.
Against this backdrop to reduce the post-harvest there and timely availability of grains to customer at each cluster there is a strong need to establish food processing centers regarding major crops like Dals, oilseeds, and nutri-cereals.
In this connection, we propose this project to create opportunities for processing and value addition of Dals, cereals, millets, and oilseeds by applying the scientific, technical and entrepreneurship skills in the interest of farming community.
The proposed project will be conceptualized to investigate the opportunities for effective utilization of agri-produce as basic raw materials in development of value-added food products and to create awareness among the farmers about the importance of processing and utilization of agri-produce for value addition.
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