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GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3900
ANSWERED ON 27TH MARCH, 2026
POST-HARVEST LOSSES OF KEY CROPS IN MAHARASHTRA
3900. SMT. RAJANI ASHOKRAO PATIL:
Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state:
(a) whether Government has assessed post-harvest losses of key crops in Maharashtra;
(b) extent of losses in cotton, fruits and pulses;
(c) storage and processing infrastructure created;
(d) support for value addition and agri-processing; and
(e) the reason for persistence of wastage and distress sales despite focused schemes?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES
(SHRI RAVNEET SINGH)
(a) & (b): The Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) estimates post-harvest losses
from time to time for various agri-produces in the country through commissioning of studies based
on primary surveys. Two studies were commissioned by the Ministry through (i) Indian Council of
Agriculture Research (ICAR) -Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology
(CIPHET), 2015 with reference year 2012-14 and (ii) NABARD Consultancy Service Pvt. Ltd
(NABCONS), 2022 with reference year 2020-22. As per the latest study conducted by NABCONS,
the estimated percentage of Post-Harvest losses of various agricultural produce covered in
Maharashtra state is placed at Annexure-I.
(c): Under the various scheme of Government, the details of the cold storages and processing
capacity created across country as well as in the state of Maharashtra is placed at Annexure-II.
(d) & (e): There is some level of post-harvest losses and wastage and rare instances of selling of
produce at less than optimal prices due to less than optimal processing capacity and cold storages,
constraints at the farm gate level, climate volatility, etc. To address the above issues and holistic end
to end development of food processing sector, the MoFPI supports the creation and expansion of
the processing/preservation capacity through implementation of various schemes viz. Central Sector
umbrella scheme- Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), Centrally sponsored "PM
Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) Scheme" and Central Sector
Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industries (PLISFPI). These schemes aim
for the overall development of food processing sector, including creation of modern infrastructure
with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet, reduce post-harvest losses
and wastages and create higher value-addition, providing better returns to farmers, creation of
employment opportunities, reducing wastage, increasing the processing level and enhancing the
export of the processed foods.
Apart from MoFPI, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare has launched the
Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) Scheme in July 2020 under the Atmanirbhar Bharat package
in order to improve post-harvest infrastructure and create community farming assets. The AIF
Scheme facilitates sanction of medium to long term loans by Banks and other lending institutions
for the setting up of cold storage facilities, warehouses and processing units, aimed at reducing crop
wastage, enhancing value addition and provide better returns to farmers.
*****ANNEXURE-I
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (a) & (b) OF RAJYA SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3900 FOR ANSWER ON 27TH MARCH, 2026 ON “POST-
HARVEST LOSSES OF KEY CROPS IN MAHARASHTRA”
Products wise post-harvest losses (%) in Maharashtra
Crop Total Farm Loss Total Market Loss Overall Total Loss
Bajra 3.4 0.81 4.21
Banana 4.15 1.91 6.06
Black gram 6.66 0.82 7.48
Chickpea 4.59 0.8 5.4
Citrus 6.71 2.08 8.79
Cottonseed 2.55 0.44 2.99
Eggs 4.00 1.55 5.55
Grapes 4.9 1.83 6.73
Green gram 5.03 0.87 5.9
Groundnut 5.09 1.07 6.16
Maize 4.1 1.2 5.3
Mango 6.06 2.54 8.6
Marine Fish 6.9 1.9 8.8
Meat 2.1 0.68 2.78
Milk 0.32 0.33 0.65
Mushroom 8.3 0.95 9.24
Onion 4.63 2.15 6.78
Paddy 3.87 0.57 4.44
Pigeon pea 5.64 1.26 6.90
Pomegranate 3.73 2.29 6.02
Poultry Meat 2.36 2.42 4.78
Safflower 2.64 0.38 3.02
Sorghum 4.93 1.22 6.16
Soybean 7.59 1.26 8.84
Sugarcane 6.26 2.35 8.61
Sunflower 3.81 1.12 4.93
Source: NABARD Consultancy Service Pvt. Ltd (NABCONS), 2022
*****ANNEXURE-II
ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED
QUESTION NO. 3900 FOR ANSWER ON 27TH MARCH, 2026 ON “POST-HARVEST
LOSSES OF KEY CROPS IN MAHARASHTRA”
State wise distribution of Cold Storages as on 31.01.2026 in the Country
S. No. Name of the State Number. Capacity (MT)
1 Andaman & Nicobar Islands (UT) 4 2210
2 Andhra Pradesh & Telangana 480 1996340
3 Arunachal Pradesh 2 6000
4 Assam 45 212662
5 Bihar 316 1490200
6 Chandigarh (UT) 7 12462
7 Chhattisgarh 132 586863
8 Delhi 97 129857
9 Goa 29 7705
10 Gujarat 1032 4086046
11 Haryana 388 891494
12 Himachal Pradesh 89 181318
13 Jammu & Kashmir 102 404814
14 Jharkhand 60 250077
15 Karnataka 271 930379
16 Kerala 202 96655
17 Lakshadweep (UT) 1 15
18 Madhya Pradesh 341 1498651
19 Maharashtra 672 1259932
20 Manipur 2 4500
21 Meghalaya 4 8200
22 Mizoram 3 4071
23 Nagaland 5 8150
24 Orissa 182 579321
25 Pondicherry (UT) 4 185
26 Punjab 780 2642715
27 Rajasthan 192 661876
28 Sikkim 2 2100
29 Tamil Nadu 188 399690
30 Telangana 117 627131
31 Tripura 14 46354
32 Uttar Pradesh 2489 15101408
33 Uttrakhand 62 206848
34 West Bengal 517 5952997
8831 40289226
(Source: Directorate of Marketing and Inspection (DMI) upto 2009, National Horticulture Board (NHB),
National Horticulture Mission (NHM), Horticulture Mission for North East & Himalayan States
(HMNEH)) and MoFPI
*****
Details of approved projects under Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)
with processing capacity the Country:
Components Total Number Cold Storage Ripening Processing
of PMKSY Approved of Cold capacity Chambers Capacity
Projects Storages (LMT) (MT/day) (LMT/Annu
m)
Operation 10.15
41 76 1.34 -
GreensCold Chain 397 617 10.56 6465 146.25
CEFPPC 503 - - - 115.33
Details of approved projects under Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY)
with processing capacity in Maharashtra:
Components Total Number Cold Storage Ripening Processing
of PMKSY Approved of Cold capacity Chambers Capacity
Projects Storages (LMT) (MT/day) (LMT/Ann
um)
Operation
6 12 0.20 - 2.11
Greens
Cold Chain 77 97 1.948 3190 51.65
CEFPPC 76 - - - 24.72
*****