India, the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables in the world, aims to double its horticulture production to 300 million tonnes by 2012.


The fruit and vegetable sector could significantly benefit from India’s new infrastructure initiatives. Technology supports such as cold storage chains, refrigerated transport facilities, centralised food processing facilities and so forth should parallel the infrastructural projects.

Post-harvest operations are assuming greater importance due tohigher yields and increased cropping intensity. Due to introduction of modern technology, yield levels have substantially increased resulting in a marketable surplus which has to be stored till prices are favourable for sale

Horticulture contributes nearly 28 per cent of GDP and 54 per cent of export share in Agriculture from the cultivated area share of 8.5% only. This shows that there is tremendous scope of increasing production and exports in Horticulture. Fruits and vegetables have been shown to earn 20-30 times more foreign exchange per unit area than cereals due to higher yields and higher price available in the international market.

But.... India loses about 35 - 45% of the harvested fruits and vegetables during handling, storage, transportation etc, a loss estimated at Rs 40,000 crores per year! India wastes fruits and vegetables every year equivalent to the annual consumption of the United Kingdom. Post Harvest management of fresh produce using emerging techniques and technology will be one of the biggest business opportunities in India!