With increasing pressure on agriculture to cater to a growing population and exacting standards of quality, speakers at a one-day workshop here on Saturday emphasised on food processing to ensureproduction efficiency.
Intake
Chinnayya Gowda, Assistant Director, Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, said though the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) recommends an average intake of proteins equivalent to 180 eggs per person a year, current production is just 56 eggs per person a year in the country.
Meat consumption should ideally be 20 kg per person a year, but the production is limited to 2.5 kgs annually, he pointed out.
“Nearly 70 per cent of the samples of milk samples tested by the Food Safety Authority of India have failed the prescribed standards,” he said.
The workshop, aimed at farmers and small agro-business entrepreneurs, elaborated on the schemesunder the National Mission on Food Processing which include subsidies for setting up modern abattoirs, creation of cold chains, financial aid to meet ISO standards, modernisation of meat shops, and assistance in training and human resource development.
Laying emphasis on research and augmentation of agriculture, Deputy Commissioner A.B. Ibrahim said there is a greater need for food processing to supplement income of the farmers with the land under agriculture reducing and labour problems cutting into the economic viability of farming.
At the workshop, a handbill of ‘National Mission on Food Processing’ and a booklet on ‘PerspectiveIndustrial Development Plan 2013-17’ were released.
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