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Foodtech 2017, Dairytech ’17 to make debut with 9th Horti Expo in Pune
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Saturday, 11 February, 2017, 08 : 00 AM [IST]
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Anurag More, Mumbai
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FoodTech Pune and DairyTech Pune will make their debuts at Hindustan Antibiotic Exhibition Ground, Pimpri, between February 24 and 26, 2017. The exhibitions will be held concurrently with International Horti Expo’s ninth edition and Agrex India’s third edition. The international event will cover the food processing and packaging machinery, food products and allied industries.
The aim of launching the two concurrent events is to promote the holistic growth of the Indian food and agriculture sector. About 15,000 trade visitors from all across India attended the last edition of International Horti Expo and the general feedback was that a show was needed for the food industry in Pune. Therefore, keeping in mind the demands of the industry, these shows were launched. The event is organised by the Media Today Group.
The events will focus on fresh produce, processed foods, food processing machinery, packaging, retailing, dairy and other allied sectors. They are the ideal platforms for national and international stakeholders to launch their products, enhance their network and explore opportunities that are waiting to be tapped.
M B Naqvi, managing director and chief coordinator, FoodTech Pune and DairyTech Pune, said, “Horti Expo 2017 along with Flora Expo have created a strong platform for high-value horticulture stakeholders. While farmers are able to learn and experience the latest offerings to produce the best exportable stuff, a missing link connecting them with the food sector was still required. Moreover, for the expansion of the food sector, a large number of investors would enter via the farming route. So FoodTech Pune is a natural extension of Horti Expo 2017.”
“Greenhouse owners are mostly the progressive educated farmers with substantial investment capabilities. The same growers, with their existing projects, are in a much better position to start modern dairy farming. For that, they need latest inputs and systems for such automated dairies. Naturally, the DairyTech Pune gives such an avenue where farmers and investors can meet to explore diversification options,” Naqvi added.
Highlights of the event
Naqvi said, “This year, modern greenhouse farming of flowers and exotic fresh produce is completing its silver jubilee year. Twenty-five years ago, the first greenhouse project came up in Maharashtra.”
“The high-tech cultivation of processable fruits and vegetables gave rise to what is now a booming food processing sector. The industry doyens are converging on Pune on this occasion to participate in the silver jubilee celebrations and award function,” he added.
Visitors expected
FoodTech, DairyTech and HortiExpo are very widely publicised expositions all over the world. Speaking about the number of visitors expected at the event, Naqvi said, “We expect a large number of prospective and existing professionals to participate.”
“We, at Media Today, deliver our expositions with target people instead of just filling the venue. We will continue with the same strategy of getting targeted visitors numbering 25,000-30,000 from all over the globe,” he added.
Exhibitors expected
As far as the number of exhibitors are concerned, Naqvi said, “We are looking forward to hosting 300-350 companies’ products in the combined exposition. Exhibitors are from diverse fields like dairy technology, food processing & packaging, food production and preservation, high-value fresh produce cultivation and marketing, chemical-free food production systems and so on.”
Conference and seminars
Naqvi adds, "There will be an international conference on commercial greenhouse cultivation, which is a primary source of exportable food produce in India.”
DairyTech Pune 2017
DairyTech Pune 2017 is an international exhibition on the dairy processing and packaging machinery, dairy product and allied industries.
Holistic growth
Since agriculture and dairy sector share a relationship because of the mutually-linked inputs and outputs, it is important to promote the two in tandem to move towards holistic growth. It is important to introduce efficient feeding methods and feeds, encourage commercialisation and mechanisation of dairy farms, develop networks to promote processed food and beverages based on milk, have well-managed cold chain facilities to minimise wastage and organise the sector.
In order to promote these and ensure the all-round development of the Indian dairy industry, dairy companies, investors, packaging and processing machinery manufacturers, cold-chain developers, feeds suppliers, livestock healthcare companies to have been invited to join the organisers at DairyTech Pune 2017, the best platform to become a part of the emerging Indian dairy industry and promote its further commercialisation.
Horti Expo 2017
India’s growing horticulture sector has entered a revolutionary phase. On the one hand, small farmers are taking bigger risks and experimenting with diverse cash crops, and on the other, large corporate houses have taken to horticulture as a profitable business opportunity by bringing in investments and latest technologies.
Corporate farming, contract farming and food retail boom have become the present-day buzzwords, and the entire horticulture landscape is set to witness a big change. For the past many years, Media Today Group has worked to promote the holistic development of agriculture in India.
Naqvi said, “Complementing the emergence of horticulture as an important sector in India, we are pleased to announce that the ninth International Horti Expo 2017 will be co-located with the 12th International Flora Expo 2017, the 11th International Landscape & Gardening Expo 2017 and the third Agrex India 2017.”
Initiatives by Government of India
This expo series has been supported by the Ministry of Agriculture and its departments, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), National Horticulture Board (NHB) and National Centre for Cold chain Development (NCCD), National Mission for Micro Irrigation. Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Food Processing & Packaging Machinery Industry Association, Irrigation Association of India, National Medicinal Plant Board, Food Processing and Packaging Machinery Industry Association (India), and Indian Flowers and Ornamental Plants Welfare Association.
Under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) schemes, state horticulture departments and the National Horticulture Board have been supporting the farmers, and encouraging them to adopt modern technologies.
This will increase their productivity and create sustainable livelihood opportunities for them. These departments are also encouraging the farmers to diversify from field crops and take advantage of government schemes, and to take up precision farming of commercial crops.
The ninth International Horti Expo 2017 will be an eye-opener for the farmers, industry people and other stakeholders of every segment of agriculture and horticulture who want to expand and diversify their activities.
Agrex India 2017
Agrex India 2017, the mega exhibition concurrently with the ninth International Horti Expo 2017, 12th International Flora Expo 2017 and 11th Landscape & Gardening Expo 2017, will be an eye-opener for the growers, wholesalers, importers, exporters and all other stakeholders of every segment of agriculture and farm machinery, equipment and allied sectors who want to expand and diversify their business and activities.
Agriculture, with its allied sectors, is unquestionably the largest livelihood provider in India, more so in the vast rural areas. It also contributes a significant figure to the gross domestic product (GDP).
Sustainable agriculture, in terms of food security, rural employment, and environmentally sustainable technologies such as soil conservation, sustainable natural resource management and biodiversity protection, are essential for holistic rural development. Indian agriculture and allied activities have witnessed a green revolution, a white revolution, a yellow revolution and a blue revolution.
Currently, around 47 per cent of India's population depends on agriculture for a livelihood. And for most of the 21st century, India will remain an agricultural society. One cannot underplay the role of agricultural growth in improving rural incomes and securing India's food and nutritional needs.
Our population is expected to be 1.4 billion by 2020. The increasing population, coupled with growing incomes, will generate increased demand for food grains and non-food grain crops. Therefore, Indian agriculture has to achieve a higher growth rate targeted at four per cent per annum on a sustainable basis.
Why Pune?
Maharashtra is a major producer of food crops as well as cash crops. Main crops include rice, jowar, bajra, wheat, pulses, vegetables, and fruits. The principal cash crops cultivated in the state are sugarcane, turmeric and several oil seeds, including groundnut, sunflower and soybean.
The state has huge areas under fruit cultivation. The fruits which have added to the treasury of the state are the Nagpur oranges, oranges of Bathplug, the Alphonso mangoes and the grapes of Nashik. The total irrigated area which has been used for crop cultivation is over 33, 500sq km.
Maharashtra is an extremely progressive state in terms of adapting modern technologies. Neighbouring states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Karnataka are also major crop producers of India. Substantial export of perishable products takes place through these states. Pune, our venue, enjoys a locational advantage of being close to Mumbai, where India's biggest perishable cargo complex exists, enabling quick export of these products.
Indian food industry
India is the world's second largest producer of food next to China, but accounts for less than 1.5 per cent of International food trade. The Indian food sector is poised for a rapid growth and has the potential to become a reliable outsourcing partner in the food industry, given its strength in the primary food sector.
The Indian food brands are now increasingly finding prime shelf space in retail chains across the United States and Europe. Prominent among the areas waiting to be tapped are canning, packaging, refrigeration for dairy, poultry, fisheries, meat, ready-to-eat products, cereals and grains, soft drinks consumer product groups like confectionery, chocolates, cocoa products, soya-based products, mineral water, high-protein foods and nutraceuticals, apart from health food and health food supplements, a rapidly-rising segment of the food processing industry.
The Ministry of Agriculture is aiming to double the production of all food crops through National Food Security Mission (NFSM), National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North-East and Himalayan States (HMNEHS) and National Horticulture Board (NHB) and disseminating latest and modern practices of production and post-harvest care.
On the export front, APEDA is targeting agricultural and processed food exports in the range of Rs 4,000-5,000 crore ($15 billion) in the coming years. The need of the hour in India is increased productivity of grains and building of an effective supply chain to ensure that what is produced in the farm reaches the consumer in good shape.
The greater use of machinery has, therefore, become necessary in India, where plenty of produce is available for value addition and food processing, but there are technical constraints in enhancing production and productivity because of inadequate exposure to high technology and inputs, coupled with advanced production practices, preservation, logistics and marketing.
As a result, India is emerging as one of the hottest destinations, not only for food processing and packaging machinery and equipment imports from European and South-east Asian countries, but also for agro-food products from international suppliers.
Naqvi said, “The food industry, which is currently valued at $39.71 billion, is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11 per cent to US$65.4 billion by 2018. Food and grocery account for around 31 per cent of India’s consumption basket.”
He further mentioned, “Accounting for about 32 per cent of the country’s total food market, the government of India has been instrumental in the growth and development of the food processing industry.”
“The government, through MoFPI, has approved proposals for joint ventures (JV), foreign collaborations, industrial licenses and 100 per cent export-oriented units,” he added.
“The Indian food and grocery market is the world’s sixth largest, with retail contributing 70 per cent of the sales. Food has also been one of the largest segments in India's retail sector, which was valued at $490 billion in 2013. The Indian food retail market is expected to reach Rs 61 lakh crore ($894.98 billion) by 2020,” Naqvi said.
Challenges for food and beverage industry
Speaking about the challenges faced by the food and beverage industry, Naqvi stated, “I believe access to the right information at the right place is badly needed. Foodtech Pune does just that.”
“Putting prospective investors in touch with the right people. One can walk in to FoodTech with a dream to start a food business and go back with firm contacts in hand that will make it happen.”
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