Foodsectornews.com - More Investment Required For Boosting Food Production

More Investment Required For Boosting Food Production

Sunday, 17 June 2007

"The current rise in inflation can be largely attributed to stagnation in the production of food grain. While services, manufacturing, and even the infrastructure has been showing growth, continuous stagnation

in the production of food grain can't be accepted anymore", said R. Seshasayee, CII president, on 24 December 2006.

Food-grain production is almost stagnating and there's a strict need of taking some measures to launch another green revolution, by significantly using the technology in a way that productivity increases substantially.

Stressing on the need of new investments to boost up agriculture Seshasayee said, "Interventions should be made mainly in technology, land reforms allowing greater play of markets, and crop selection."

In terms of investment & exports, the main bottleneck towards expanding the food-processing sector is inadequate infrastructure. Huge investments are required so that necessary infrastructure is created, production facilities expanded, and latest technology be developed for matching global quality & standards.

CII expects the food-processing market can attract an investment of US$ 33 billion in ten years and it can generate employment for approx nine million people. FDI in India's food-sector will likely hit the US$ 3 billion mark. During the last one-year alone, FDI approvals in food-processing industry have doubled.

"If the investments that are underway at present in India result in boom in agriculture as a consequence of a change in terms of trade for agriculture & an end to inter-zonal and export controls, there could be a remarkable increase in the demand of labor, and the real wages in agriculture might rise in spite of an increase in the prices of food", said an analyst at RNCOS.