India wastes Rs 44,000 cr worth food every year
(http://www.deccanherald.com/content/352942/india-wastes-rs-44000-cr.html) (07.10.2013)
NEW DELHI: August 23, 2013 DHNS
Despite millions of Indians
going to bed on a hungry stomach, the country is letting food worth a whopping
Rs 44,000 crore go waste each year due to lack of adequate storage
infrastructure.
While the wasted fruits and vegetables alone was estimated at Rs 13,300 crore,
other food products like rice, wheat, serials and meat are also allowed to
perish without consumption.
Union Agriculture and Food Processing Minister Sharad Pawar informed Rajya
Sabha on Friday that setting up more large cold storages and better post
harvesting facilities alone can curtail wastage.
The minister claimed that the
government has taken many steps to encourage creation of additional storage
capacity and complimented states that had taken more interest in efficient food
storage. Despite these, he insisted that requirement for cold storage remains
very high.
The Saumitra Chaudhuri Committee, constituted by the Planning Commission in
2012, has estimated the countrys cold storage requirement as 61.3 million
tonne as against the present capacity of around 29 million tonne.
The Centre provides grant-in-aid for states to build cold chain infrastructure,
which is 50 per cent of the total cost of plant and machinery in general, areas
and 75 per cent in difficult areas including the Northeast. However, it has
kept the sealing as Rs 10 crore.
Reducing the amount of food wastage was one of the major arguments the
government had put forth while allowing Foreign Direct Investment in retail
sector last year, as it insisted that companies would invest in back-end cold
storage infrastructure.
However, since the FDI clearance, it is yet to receive a proposal from the
global retail giants.
Earlier, Food Minister K V Thomas told Deccan Herald that nearly 30 per cent of
the country’s fruits and vegetables perish due to lack of cold-storage
facilities, while thousands of tons of food-grain rot in ill-equipped
warehouses.
Between 15 and 20 per cent of cooked food at weddings, parties or restaurants
is wasted as well.
Though Thomas mooted the idea of introducing guest control system in marriages
to prevent wastage of food, it failed to take off due to accusation from
several quarters.
DH News Service
India produces around 250 million tonne of foodgrain in a year, but its annual
consumption remains far lower at 220 million to 225 million tonne. The country
has failed to take advantage of the higher production levels as it is reported
that more than 250 million people go to bed hungry each day.
The report released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation last
year said 48 per cent children under the age of five are stunted (too short for
their age), indicating that half of the country’s children are chronically
malnourished.