The change in theincome growth, increase in population, lifestyle and concern towards health andnutrition worldwide have resulted in a large demand for processed fruit andvegetable products all over the globe. India is among the topmost vegetable andfruit producer in the worldand accounts for about 15% of the world's productionof vegetables. A large number of units are in the cottage/home scale and smallscale sector, having small capacities upto 250 tonnes/annum though big Indianand multinational companies have capacities in the range of 30 tonnes per houror so. It has the distinction of producing almost all-tropical and exoticfruits and vegetables because of varied climatic conditions. India’s foodprocessing sector covers fruit and vegetables. Value addition to food productshas assumed vital importance in our country due to diversity in socio-economicconditions, industrial growth, urbanization and globalization. Value is addedby changing their form, colour and other such methods to increase the shelflife of perishables.
India has made a goodprogress on the horticultural map of the world.Boosted by rising consumerdemand owing to better health awareness and purchasing power, production offruits and vegetables across India has increased this year with their totalyield surpassing the production of food grains. Fruit & vegetableprocessing is driven by growing consumer demand for healthy and fresh productsthat are easily available and require minimal preparation time. Processing offruits & vegetables increases their shelf-life. Since they are traded on alarge scale, processing ensures that market demand of fruits & vegetableswith standard quality is met. The vast production base offers India tremendousopportunities for export.
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