Why promote Agro-Based Industries?
- India has the world’s 10th largest arable land, 20 agro-climatic regions and 15 major climates.
- Census data indicates that the total number of cultivators in the country has decreased from 127.3 million in 2001 to 118.8 million in 2011.
- This may be due to excessive product orientation of Indian agriculture with inadequate focus on value addition, wastage reduction and incremental income through agri-processing and manufacturing.
- Thus to reduce the extent of losses, promoting and adopting modern agro-processing technology and setting up of more numbers of agro-industries in rural areas are the need of the hour.
- There is opportunity of an overall growth of agricultural economy as only 2 to 3 per cent of agri-commodities are processed.
- It is also necessary to amply investment in rural areas so as to develop suitable processing and manufacturing infrastructure and to attract private public partnerships for setting up of modern agro-based industries in and around rural areas.
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Categories of Agro-based industries: In India, the agro-based industries can be grouped under three categories- (a) Agri-processing units covering fruit and vegetable processing units, dairy plants, rice mills, dal mills, etc. (b) Agri-manufacturing units covering sugar, dairy, bakery, textile units, etc (c) Agri-input manufacturing units covering mechanization of agriculture, agriculture implements, seed industries, irrigation equipment, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. |
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