Home > Indian Food Production, Consumption and Processing

Food Production:

• India tops the world in milk production with about 200 million tonnes in 2019-20.
• As per Economic survey of India 2020-21, total food grain production was about 300 million tonnes for FY 20.
• While India topped millet production globally, it was second largest producer of rice and wheat. It was also largest producer of total pulses.
• In vegetables India ranks #2 in production of many vegetables like cabbage, green beans, green peas, cauliflower, eggplant, potato etc while topping in okra.
• While it leads in some fruit production including bananas, mango, guava, papaya, lemons & lime, it is among top five producers in the world for coconut, tomato, apple, oranges and watermelons.

Dietary & Demographic changes:

• Demographic projections suggest that India will be 50% urbanized by 2050. Much of this transition will concentrate in medium – and small-sized cities-with less than one million residents-that are also growing the fastest in India.
• Infrastructure, market access, percentage working women in urban areas, and norms and institutions have a statistically significant influence.
• National food consumption statistics suggest that this impending urban transition can lead to large-scale dietary changes.
• Urbanization influences consumers to move away from traditional staples, towards increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, meat, food prepared away from home, and processed/packaged foods.

Household Food Consumption:

• As per latest National Nutrition Monitoring Beurau (NNMB) study, analysis of average household consumption of foodstuffs to determine the % Recommended Dietary Intake was done.
• Cereals & millets, green leafy vegetables and milk and milk products were found to be consumed less than recommended.
• When compared to the nutrients consumed, it was found that except for vitamin C and folate, all the other nutrients intake was less than recommended.
• Protein, Calcium, iron, vitamin A, thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin were all consumed less than the recommended levels.

Food Processing Sector:

• India’s food processing sector is one of the largest in the world and its output is expected to reach $535 bn by 2025-26.
• By 2030, Indian annual household consumption to treble, making India 5th largest consumer

Drivers of Growth in Food Processing:

• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) is making all efforts to encourage investments across the value chain.
• Under PMKSY, 41 Mega Food Parks, 353 Cold Chain projects, 63 Agro-Processing Clusters, 292 Food Processing Units, 63 Creation of Backward & Forward Linkages Projects & 6 Operation Green projects across the country have been approved.

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