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Kerala aims to become the Food Basket of India
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Wednesday, 16 December, 2009, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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P N V NAIR
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Kerala has always been a leader in the food processing sector and a major exporter of spices, cashew nuts and marine products since independence, accounting for a considerable portion of the country’s food exports. Though rice-eating Kerala is dependent on Andhra Pradesh for the bulk of its supplies and northern states for wheat, a unique feature of the state is its predominance in cash crops like coconut, rubber, pepper, cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cocoa, cashew, vanilla, coffee and tea. Of late, Kerala is also in the forefront of manufacturing and exporting curry powders and masalas, pickles, rice flours, ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook food products. Armed with great potential, the state government wants to make Kerala the food basket of the country by the year 2015. In a recent interaction, Joseph Kuriakose, director, India Exhibition and Conference Services, talks about the factors that are conducive for the growth of the food processing sector in the state.
What makes Kerala distinct from other states in the field of food processing?
Kerala produces a variety of agricultural products that are in great demand not only in the domestic market but also in the international market. Kerala accounts for more than 25% of the spices exported from the country with a share of Rs 1264 crore (2008-09). The most important spices produced in the state include pepper, cardamom, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. The Spices Board of India, which is located in Kochi, is the nodal agency to promote the cultivation, processing and export of spices.
Kerala is the leading producer and exporter (Rs 1403 crore in 2008-09) of cashewnuts, coconut and marine products. Cashewnut is an important cash crop of Kerala and was the top producer until recently. Today Maharashtra is the leading producer of cashewnut followed by Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. Increasing the area under cultivation, Kerala can contribute more to the supply of indigenous nuts, reducing the country’s dependency on the raw nut imports. The cashew processing units in Kerala, mostly located in and around Kollam, have a capacity process to 8 lakh tonnes per annum but the domestic production is far below the processing capacity and the potential available for export. The Directorate of Cashewnut and Cocoa Development is based in Kochi. Kerala derives it name from being the land of coconut tress (kera vriksha) and it is a major revenue earner for the farmers and the state government. The Coconut Development Board is providing
both financial and technical assistance to the farmers to diversify coconut based food products. The latest in the series of coconut products are coconut jam and coconut ice cream cone.
The state is also the largest producer of pineapple, bananas (nentran variety peculiar to Kerala), jack fruit and tapioca, a tubular root rich in carbohydrate, consumed by almost everyone as a substitute for rice. Kerala’s banana chips are famous and sold all over the world as ‘any time snack.’ There are some 15 by-products of jack fruit and 20 odd products from tapioca, for which technology has been developed by the Central Tubular Research Institute, Trivandrum. Cocoa and vanilla are other important cash crops used in chocolates, ice cream and making flavours. The “home-made chocolate” is a thriving business and the products are sold in supermarkets along with branded chocolates. Since cocoa is available locally, these home-made chocolates are sold as organic grown at affordable prices. Kerala is also a leading producer of tea and coffee. While coffee plantations are spread across the state, tea gardens are located in Munnar.
What are the other segments in which Kerala is making significant contributions?
The state is making significant contributions in ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook food items. There are some 50 odd brands made of rice flour to serve only the local market. The pre-mixes for appam, puttu (rice cake), dosa, idli, pattiri and payasam are also sold in Kerala stores and supermarkets across the world to cater to the Keralites settled outside the state and the country. Kerala curry powders, masalas, papads and pickles too are doing roaring business across the world. Eastern, Melam Masala, Ann’s Masala, KKR’s Mills (Nirapara rice products) are the leading players in this segment, which is worth about Rs 500 crore annually.
Kerala is also leader in the production and export of marine products. Does the world recession impact marine products exports?
Kerala’s processed marine products have close to100% export market but taken a beating following the global recession. Marine processors are also catering to the local market, especially the hotel and hospitality sector. Kerala constitutes about 20% of the country’s marine exports worth Rs 8,607 crore (2008-09), with Kerala’s share being Rs 1431 crore. The Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), which plays a proactive role in increasing production and promoting the marine products abroad, is based at Kochi. An important feature in the export trend was the increase in exports to China, which emerged as the second largest buyer, importing 57,271 tonnes of fish at $278.61 million. Along the Kerala coast, we will see Chinese method of catching fish, which gives a better yield. The Central Institute of Fisheries Technology (CIFT), also based in Kochi, is the pioneer in designing fishing vessels in India. With several new species of fish being harvested from the oceanic and deepsea waters, the institute has the responsibility to assess the edibility, nutritive value, probable toxicity etc. of the new species. The institute’s routine work also involves assessment
of these factors with fresh and processed fish products.
What is Kerala’s share in the country’s food processing? What is the role of the state government in this field?
Processed food market is currently estimated at Rs 500 crore, whereas the potential is at Rs 30,000 crore. The government has given special thrust to the promotion of food processing industry due to the enormous potential of the sector for development. With the objective of boosting industrial growth Kinfra (Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corpn) has been promoting the concept of Theme Parks, which have been set up for the exclusive growth and development of chosen and specified industrial sectors. Two food processing parks had already been set up by Kinfra, one at Kakkancherry near Kozhikode and the other at Mazhuvannur near Ernakulam. These two are fully sold out (100 units each) and are going for expansion. A third food park at Adoor near Trivandrum is under implementation. The ministry of food processing industries (MOFPI) proposes to set up 10 Mega Food Parks in the country. Under the scheme, Kinfra would develop a Mega Food Park in Wayanad district. A Spices Park at Idukki for the processing of spices has been developed already and started functioning. At one of the food parks, a German food company is making cakes, which are sold in the local market and also exported.
Name one company which has made it big in the food processing sector Synthite is widely acclaimed as the leader in the Spice Oleoresin category, it accounts for 30% of the global market share. Established in 1972 at Synthite Valley Kolenchery, near Kochi, it is today a multi-million dollar corporate and the preferred supplier-partner to leading flavour houses worldwide, with a presence in Europe, Asia and Latin America.
The company manufactures a wide spectrum of spice products including oleoresins, essential oils, natural food colours, health ingredients, herb extracts, organic extracts, fair trade extra
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