Syed Mohammed Ilyas
National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad, India
Introduction
The post-harvest or post-production operations of agricultural and horticultural products include a wide range of functions between production and consumption. These functions have to be carried out efficiently by different agencies/ individuals in the post-harvest chain in order to supply food of good quality to keep transaction costs low and to deliver high quality and safe raw material for further processing and value addition. Post-harvest operations deserve high priority since they contribute in several ways to the overall goal of sustainable development in agriculture and impact on its profitability. A substantial part of the consumer price for agricultural products, depending on the commodity, the type of post-harvest operation and the organizational structure, is attributable to processing, marketing, transport, storage and handling of the raw product. A considerable part of post-production activities is actually or may be potentially fulfilled on-farm by members of farm households. This adds to the value of the farm product and therefore the income of the household. Women and weaker sections with little access to resources can find income opportunities in handling, processing and trading agricultural products. Especially in rural areas, post-harvest operations contribute to employment, income generation and alleviation of poverty for these groups. Minimal processing has opened new avenues for handsome returns in the production catchments.
There is a pressing need to establish efficient, time-cost-energy saving post-harvest technology systems, which reduce losses and optimize produce suitability and quality for market requirements. Among the critical areas that urgently require attention are: loss minimization, handling production surpluses, safe transport, transit or longer time storage, market access and creating favourable conditions for higher acceptance of high quality and competitively priced processed food. Post-harvest losses remain unacceptably high ranging from 10 to 35 per cent of the perishable commodities produced. As per recent estimate, post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables are $ 5 billion annually. The Green Revolution was followed by Golden Revolution which led to the large scale production of fruits and vegetables which need to be consumed, stored or exported, requiring additional technological input and infrastructure support. Export markets have become more competitive and discriminating, leading to increased emphasis on quality assurance and food safety. There is increasing shift in the consumption of fruits and vegetables in
Indian diet besides dairy products, fish and meat as sources of vitamin, mineral and protein, requiring newer and effective post-harvest technologies. This can create a win-win situation for producers, processors and consumers.
The global consumer demand for high-quality foods that are fresh, tasty and nutritious has created considerable interest and investment in the development of new or improved post-harvest handling and storage and food-processing technologies and practices. The competitive struggle for markets, which has resulted from more liberalised trade regimes, requires a much greater emphasis on efficient and effective post-harvest handling, processing and distribution to access domestic and global markets. Traditional post-harvest food-processing technologies such as freezing and canning etc are no longer at the forefront of consumer demand.
Indian Scenario on Fruits and Vegetables
India is the fruit and vegetable basket of the world. Being a home of wide variety of fruits and vegetables, it holds a unique position in production figures among other countries. Over 90% of India's exports in fresh products goes to West Asia and East European markets. However, the current level of processing being very low (around 5 per cent as against 70-80 per cent in some East Asian countries), India needs to quickly augment its food and processing at a mega scale.
The covered area under the fresh fruits in India was 5,510,000 ha with the production of 58,740,000 MT in 2005-06. The major fruits grown in India are: mango, grape, apple, apricots, orange, banana , avocados, guava, litchi, papaya, sapota and melons. This is due to its potential in different agro climatic zones. India's export of fresh fruits has increased from US$ million 50.98 in 2005-06 to US$ million 56.88 in 2006-07.
Total vegetable production in India before independence was 15 million tonnes and since Independence for decades the growth rate was stabilized around 0.5%. The impetus on vegetable research and policy intervention to promote vegetable crops witnessed a sudden spurt in growth rate of 2.5%, a hike of five times during the last decade. Major vegetables grown in India are:
potato, onion, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, bean, brinjal, cucumber and gherkin, field and frozen peas, garlic and okra.
The potential technological interventions with improved gene pool and precise management can take growth rate to nearly 6% per annum. The area under vegetables increased from 5.59 million ha in 1991–92 to 6.76 million ha during 2004–05. The production in this period increased from 58.53 million tonnes to 101.43 million tonnes. During the period, productivity of vegetables increased from 10.5 tonne/ha to 15.0 tonne/ha. While West Bengal continues to be the leading State in area and production, the productivity is higher in Tamil Nadu, followed by Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
India's exports of fresh fruit and vegetable has increased from US$ 374.68 million in 2005-06 to US$ 534.97 million in 2006-07.
India ranks fifth in the world in cropped area under cultivation and production of potatoes.
India produces 41% of world's mangoes, 23% bananas, 24% cashew nuts, 36% green peas and 10% onion. The total export value of the main exporting fruit crop from India is mango. Exports of mangoes, grapes, and mushrooms have started going to the United Kingdom, Middle East, Singapore and Hong Kong. Among vegetable, onion occupies first position, potatoes and green vegetables like okra, bitter gourd, green chillies have good export potential (Table 1).
India is the 2nd largest onion growing country in the world. Indian onions are famous worldwide for their pungency. The Gulf countries are the main importers of the onion bulb, and neighbouring Pakistan and China are India's main competitors in the global market. India's export of onion has increased from USD million 159.96 in 2005-06 to USD million 258.05 in 2006-07.
Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, U.A.E, Pakistan and Nepal are the major markets of Indian Onion.
Mango, called the king of fruits in India, accounts for 40 percent of the national fruit production of 22.168 million tonnes a year. It occupies 42 percent of the country's 24.87 million hectares land under fruit cultivation. India exported 79,060.88 MT of fresh mangoes with the value of USD million 31.48 in 2006-07. The major markets for Indian mangoes are U.A.E, Bangladesh, U.K, Saudi Arabia and Nepal. India is estimated to account for about 60 percent (9.5 million tonnes) of the world's mango production of 15.7 million tonnes.
Table 1. Area and production of major horticultural crops (2008-09).
Crops Area
(Source: Horticulture Division, Ministry of Agriculture, Govt. of India, 2008)
The horticulture and allied sector is an integral element for food and nutritional security in the country. Horticulture is the main segment, while its various sub-segments are fruits, vegetables, aromatic and herbal plants, flowers, spices and plantation crops. All these are regarded as the essential ingredients of economic security. The wide range of agro-climatic conditions of India is conducive for growing a large variety of horticultural crops, including root and tuber crops, mushroom, ornamental crops, and plantation crops like coconut, areca nut, cashew and cocoa.
The Government of India has recognized horticulture crops as a means of diversification in agriculture in an eco-friendly manner through efficient use of land and optimum utilization of natural resources. Horticulture seeks to create ample opportunities for employment, particularly for unemployed youths and women folk. India has maintained leadership in the production of many commodities like mango, banana, acid lime, coconut, areca nut, cashew, ginger, turmeric and black pepper. Presently, it is the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world.
India is next only to China in area and production of vegetables and occupies prime position in the production of cauliflower, second in onions and third in cabbage in the world. India has also made noticeable advancement in the production of flowers. Further, it is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of spices. India is home to a wide variety of spices like black pepper, cardamom (small and large), ginger, garlic, turmeric, chilli and a large variety of tree and seed spices. Almost all the States in the country grow one or more spices. The major spice producing States are Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. North Eastern region and Andaman and Nicobar Islands also have potential areas cultivated for spices, particularly organically.