Day 43 – Q 2.What are post harvest technologies? Examine their significance for Indian farmers.
2. What are post harvest technologies? Examine their significance for Indian farmers.
भाषाई विविधता सामाजिक संघर्ष का स्रोत कैसे हो सकती है? इसे कैसे संबोधित किया जा सकता है? जांच करें।
Approach:
- Introduction- A brief on post-harvest technologies.
- Present status with regards to post harvest technologies in India.
- Significance for Indian farmers.
- Key issues
- Conclusion
Introduction:
In agriculture, postharvest handling is the stage of crop production immediately following harvest. Various stages involved are thrashing, processing, storage and packaging.
Present status in India:
Only 2.2 % of the agricultural produce in India gets processed. In contrast, countries like USA (65%) and China (23%) are far ahead of India in reducing the wastage and enhancing the value addition and shelf life of the farm products.
The losses in postharvest sector are estimated to be from 10 to 25 per cent in durables, semi-perishables and products like milk, meat, fish and eggs. The estimated losses in fruits and vegetables are higher and reached from 30 to 40 per cent.
Significance:
- Proper harvesting increases the shelf life of produce and improves its quality. This in turn means more income for the farmers.
- Less wastage of efforts, inputs etc. Thereby affecting not only farmers’ income but also resulting into environmental deterioration.
- Nicley harvested produce using post harvest technologies improves market opportunities for the produce both domestically and for export.
- It provides an opportunity to increase nutrition quality through proper processing and fortification.
Key issues:
- Lack of sorting facilities, inappropriate packaging and inadequate storage facilities.
- Lack of cold storage facilities. Integrated cold chain and preservation infrastructure can be set up by individuals, groups of entrepreneurs, cooperative societies, Self Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), NGOs, Central/State PSUs, etc.
- Slow transport systems.
- The presence of pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables.
- Low private sector involvement as of now. The models of contract farming can be tried in this regard.
Conclusion:
The government is rightly focusing on improving post harvesting scenario in India with schemes like Sampada Yojana, Scheme of Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture and Mega Food Park scheme. Successful implementation of these schemes will not only result in achieving the target of doubling farmers’ income by 2020 but will also help bridge the rural-urban divide.
Best answer: gargantuan
