Parliament Question: Steps to strengthen post-harvest infrastructure

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3269 ANSWERED ON 20TH MARCH, 2026 STEPS TO STRENGTHEN POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE 3269. SMT. RAJANI ASHOKRAO PATIL: Will the Minister of FOOD PROCESSING INDUSTRIES be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has assessed the extent of post-harvest losses of fruits such as grapes and oranges in Maharashtra; (b) the latest estimates of losses at various stages of harvesting, storage, transportation and marketing; (c) the cold storage, pack-houses, ripening and processing capacity created in major fruit- growing regions under Central and State schemes; (d) the support extended to Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) for aggregation, value addition, and market linkages; and (e) the reasons why wastage and distress sales continue to remain high despite targeted interventions and the steps proposed to strengthen post-harvest infrastructure, logistics and farmer incomes in the State? 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 Harvest and Post-Harvest losses of fruits at various stages in the state of Maharashtra are as follows: Post-harvest losses in Maharashtra for Fruits (%) At Farm Level At market level Total loss Total loss Farm Farm Market Crop Harvesting in farm in market Storage Transport Transport operations level Banana 1.24 0.02 1.04 4.15 0.82 1.91 Citrus 1.59 1.15 1.06 6.71 0.77 2.08 Grapes 1.45 0.54 0.35 4.9 0.51 1.83 Mango 1.99 0.13 0.9 6.06 1.13 2.54 Pomegranate 1.31 0.28 0.31 3.73 0.76 2.29(c): Under the various scheme of Government, the details of the cold storages, pack-houses, ripening and processing capacity for various commodities including fruits is placed at Annexure. (d) & (e): MoFPI through implementation of various initiatives and schemes viz. Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana (PMKSY), Prime Minister Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) and Production Linked Incentive Scheme for Food Processing Industries (PLISFPI) aims for the overall development of food processing sector across the country. MoFPI, through its schemes, provides grant-in-aid/incentives to the eligible entities including Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) all over the country. These schemes aim towards creation of modern infrastructure with efficient supply chain management from farm gate to retail outlet which includes storage, transportation, creation of market linkages etc., thereby help in reducing post- harvest losses and facilitating enhance farmer incomes and creating off-farm employment opportunities. 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 ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (c) OF RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3269 FOR ANSWER ON 20TH MARCH, 2026 ON “STEPS TO STRENGTHEN POST-HARVEST INFRASTRUCTURE” 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 MoFPIDetails 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 - Greens Cold 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 *****