Scheme for integrated cold chain and value addition infrastructure in operation
The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha recently informed that as per a study conducted by ICAR-CIPHET, Ludhiana on the extent of harvest and post-harvest losses of major agricultural produce in 2015, the estimated annual value of harvest and post-harvest losses of major agricultural produce at the national level was Rs 92,651 crore using production data of 2012-13 at 2014 wholesale prices. Similarly, the estimated loss for fruits was Rs 16,644 crores and for vegetables was Rs 14,842 crores.
To minimise the post-harvest losses and enhance value addition in agricultural produce, the Ministry of Food Processing Industries has been implementing the Scheme for Integrated Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure since 2008. The scheme provides for promoting integrated cold chain facilities from the farm gate to the consumer, end-to-end, to reduce losses by improving efficiency in the collection of farm produce, its storage, transportation and minimal processing. Both horticultural and non-horticultural produce are eligible for support under this scheme.
