FOOD RESOURCES

Introduction
Global Food and Beverage industry has been valued at US $ 3668.3 billion in the year 2005. In the Global food processing industry Asiapacific is accounting for 31.10 % of global market. India is the World s second largest producer of food, next to China and has potential to be number one.

India- Resources Overview

Agriculture sector contributes one-fourth of the country s GDP. India is the largest producer of milk, fruits, pulses, cashew nuts, coconuts and tea in world and accounts for 10 % of the world fruit production. India s food grain production is expected to rise to 208.5 million tones by March 2006, from 204.6 million tones in 2005. Horticulture sector (cultivating & managing gardens) contributes 30% of the agriculture GDP and accounts for 8.5% of cultivated area. Cotton production for FY 2005-06 has increased to 18.4 million bales, compared to the previous forecast of 17 million bales. Basmati exports in FY 2005 grown to USD 596 million from USD 432 million in previous year.

India- Resources Overview

Non-Basmati rice exports grew to USD 880.0 million in FY 2005 from USD 483.8 million in previous year. Agriculture output expected to grow by 3% in 2005-06, compared with 1% in 2004, as per a Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) study. Joining the list of biotech mega countries, India now has 14 biotech crops under Consideration CII has estimated that the food processing sector has potential of attracting USD 33 billion (Rs.150, 000 Crores) of investment in next ten years. The food processing industry is one of the largest industries in India. It is ranked fifth in terms of production, consumption, export and expected growth. On the basis of strengths developed in basic resources, it is estimated that the total food production in India is likely to double in the next ten years. These developments are touching the domestic and global markets and hence India is viewed as Future Global Food Factory .

Gujarat Leading state, Impressive Agricultural Performance

Gujarat witnessed Impressive Agriculture Performance in the last five years (2001- 05), with an average growth rate of 24.11 %.

Major crops
Agriculture crops: Wheat, Maize, Mustard, Pigeon pea, Gram, Sugarcane,

Rice, Groundnut, Sesame, Green Gram, Cotton, Tobacco.

Major crops
Horticulture Crops: Guava, Potato, Onion, Cumin and Fennel

Gujarat is the largest producer of, Castor, Tobacco, Isabgul (Psyllium), second largest Producer of Sesame seeds, Cotton and Groundnut in the country. Gujarat has highest productivity in, Mustard, Castor and Cotton, Second highest productivity in Groundnut and Bajara, third highest productivity in Gram, Guar, Banana and Isabgul in India. Gujarat is one of the few states which has comprehensive Agro-Industrial policy & Vision 2010 document for integrated development of Agriculture and Agro based industries. Gujarat is one of the most industrialized states in India and has strengths in Agro based industries in terms of natural resources, established industrial infrastructure, vast pool of technically skilled manpower, and enterprising farmers. Gujarat is launching Agri-net , issuing soil health-cards to farmers, stream lining land records etc; and creating Knowledge centre Krishi Gyan Vignan Kendra SATCOM as a part of e-governance project. A VSAT based real time multi commodity exchange is in operation at Ahmedabad.

Investment Opportunities in Gujarat

Keeping in view the above facts about Gujarat, several opportunities have been scanned and identified and which offers commercial potential for attracting industrial investors from within India or Overseas. These opportunities have been broadly categorized in the following groups and Investment Project Profiles have been prepared for the same:

Agri / Horticulture Infrastructure Projects : Onion Cold Storage, Fresh Fruits-Pack house, Vegetables-Pack house, Mechanized Grain handling and storage at port, Food Parks, Terminal Markets, Spices and Isabgul Irradiation center. Export Oriented Processing Peanut Butter, De-hulled Sesame seed & Roasted Sesame oil, Roasted, salted & coated nuts, Integrated Shrimp farming & processing. Value added Processing based on local resources Tomato, Potato Flakes & Powder, Specialty grades- Guar Gum powder, Refined Sugar, Egg Powder, Baker s Yeast, Fish oil extraction.

Natural Resources based Opportunities Natural food colors, Medicinal Herbs extraction, Neem / Tobacco Oil base Bio- Pesticides, Food Processing Enzymes, and Fish meal base bio-fertilizer. Newer Technology Base Projects / Opportunities Spices Cryo grinding, Freeze Dried Fruit processing Unit, Instant Vegetables in Retort Pouches, Potato Fabricated Chips. Innovative Opportunities Organic Milk & Milk Products, Ice Cream Balls, Castor Derivatives base Perfumery raw materials, Banana Fibre extraction and Textiles production.

Population Action International (1997) More than three billion people, or half of humanity, subsist on less than $2 a day, and both the number of people and the proportion of total population living in such extreme poverty are rising. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 1997) 840 million of the world s 1.1 billion poor live in rural areas, where 15 million die each year from starvation and related diseases. About 80 countries do not produce enough food to feed their populations. Sub-Saharan Africa produces less food per person today than it did 30 years ago (McLaughlin, 1984). The latest assessment for only 93 developing countries indicates that there are nearly 800 million seriously and chronically undernourished people (INTERPAKS, 1996).

 Childers and Urquhart (1994) estimated that some 1.4 billion people now live in absolute poverty, 40% more than 50 years ago. Nearly one of every four human beings alive today is existing only on the margins of survival, too poor to obtain the food they need to work, or adequate shelter, or minimal health care, let alone education for their children. International Labor Organization data (Childers and Urquhart, 1994) also indicate that the world s population is increasing by about 250,000 every day nearly 100 million every year. The number of those formally unemployed is already approximately 400 million in the South, equivalent to the entire population of Western and Northern Europe. Merely to hold employment at these levels requires the creation of some 40 million new jobs every year.

 Global food supply has improved enormously since the early 1960s. World food and agricultural production has never experienced more favorable conditions than in the 1980s and 1990s. The agricultural sector on average has kept up with population growth and demand for agricultural produce. Agricultural production has increased and world food supplies are 18% higher than 30 years ago (FAO, 1997).

 The world grain harvest in 1994, at 1,747 million tons, was up 2.9% from the depressed 1993 harvest of 1,697 million tons. World grain production (mainly wheat, corn, and rice) has shown an upward trend, with the exception of slight fluctuations in some years due primarily to drought and other natural disasters (Foster, 1992). In the decade of the 1990s, global grain yields per hectare were nearly 2.5 times the 1.15 tons per hectare of the 1930s (Pinstrup-Andersen and PandyaLorch, 1994).

 World meat production has shown an increasing trend with 184 million tons in 1994, up from 177 million tons in 1993. The impressive gain in overall meat output boosted per capita production to 33 kilograms, the highest ever achieved. Pork continued to widen its lead over beef as the world s most popular meat, and poultry production continued to be the most dynamic subsector of the meat industry. These increases in meat production are consequences of improvement in income levels, since meat becomes a more important component in diets as income increases (Rozelle, Huang, and Rosegrant, 1996).

FOOD RESOURCES:

FOOD IS THE CHIEF ESSENTIAL MATERIALS WHICH THE BODY NEEDS FOR ITS WELL-BEING

SOURCES OF FOOD:
PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES OBTAINED FOOD THROUGH HUNTING AND GATHERING. NOW GREAT MAJORITY OF PEOPLE OBTAIN FOOD FROM CULTIVATED PLANTS AND DOMESTICATED ANIMALS. o MAIN FOOD SOURCES:    CROPS. LIVESTOCK. AQUACULTURE.

CROPS:
2,50,000 SPECIES OF PLANTS. ONLY ABOUT 3000 HAVE BEEN TRIED AS AGRICULTURAL CROPS. ONLY 300 FOR FOOD. 100 ON A LARGE SCALE. MOST OF WORLD S FOOD IS PROVIDE BY 20 CROPS.

 WHEAT, RICE AND CORN ARE THE THREE CROPS ON WHICH HUMANITY DEPENDS FOR THE MAJORITY OF ITS NUTRIENTS AND CALORIES. TOGETHER, ABOUT 1.6 MILLION METRIC TONS OF THESE THREE GRAINS ARE GROWN EACH YEAR, ROUGHLY HALF OF ALL AGRICULTURAL CROPS.

 WHEAT AND RICE ARE THE STAPLE FOODS FOR MOST OF THE PEOPLE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. IN HIGH LATITUDES POTATOES, BARELY,OATS ETC ARE THE STAPLE FOOD. CASSAVA, SWEET POTATOES AND OTHER ROOTS AND TUBERS ARE STAPLE IN AMAZONIA, AFRICA AND SOUTH PACAFIC. DROUGHT RESISTANT SORGHUM AND MILLET ARE STAPLES IN THE DRY REGIONS OF AFRICA.

LIVESTOCK

 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS ARE AN IMPORTANT FOOD SOURCE. THE MAJOR DOMESTICATED ANIMALS USED AS FOOD BY HUMAN BEINGS ARE RUMINANTS CATTLE, GOATS, CAMEL ETC. RUMINANTS CONVERT WOODY TISSUE OF PLANTS(CELLULOSE) , INDIGESTIBLE TO PEOPLE BUT EARTH S MOST ABUNDANT ORGANIC COM;POUND, TO HUMAN FOOD. MILK IS PROVIDED BY MILCHING ANIMALS.

AQUACULTURE
AQUACULTURE

IT IS THE PRODUCTION FROM AQUATIC HABITATS-MARINE AND FRESH WATER. FISH AND SEA FOOD CONTRIBUTE ABOUT 70 MILLION METRIC TONS OF HIGH QUALITY PROTEIN TO THE WORLD S DIET.

 ALTHOUGH AQUACULTURE PROVIDES ONLY A SMALL AMOUNT OF THE WORLD S FOOD AT PRESENT, BUT IT IS AN IMPORTANT SOURCE OF PROTEIN FOR MANY COUNTRIES, ESPECIALLY IN ASIA AND EUROPE. FISH AND SEA FOOD CONTRIBUTE UP TO ONE-HALF OF THE ANIMAL PROTEIN AND ONE- FOURTH OF THE TOTAL DIETRY IN JAPAN.

WORLD FOOD PROBLEMS

 FAO ESTIMATES THAT ABOUT 840 MILLION PEOPLE REMAIN CHRONICALLY HUNGRY, NEARLY 800 MILLION OF THEM IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD.

THOUGH THE NUMBER HAS BEEN DECREASING 2.5 MILLIONS PER YEAR OVER THE LAST 8 YEARS , BUT WORLD S CHRONICALLY HUNGRY AND UNDERNOURISHED PEOPLE BY 2015 WILL BE MET 100 YEARS LATE IF THE PRESENT TERND CONTINUES.

IN INDIA ALONE, MORE THAN 300 MILLION PEOPLE ARE FOOD INSECURE AND POVERTY STRICKEN.

TYPES OF FOOD INSUFFICIENCY:

UNDERNOURISHMENT MALNOURISHMENT OVER NUTRITION

UNDERNOURISHMENT
IT IS THE LACK OF SUFFICIENT CALORIES IN AVAILABLE FOOD, SO THAT ONE HAS LITTLE OR NO ABILITY TO MOVE OR WORK.

AVERAGE MINIMUM DAILY CALORIC INTAKE OVER THE WHOLE WORLD IS ABOUT 2500 CALORIES PER DAY.

PEOPLE WHO RECEIVE LESS THAN 90% OF THEIR MINIMUM DIETARY INTAKE ON A LONG TERM BASIS ARE UNDERNOURISHED. THEY TEND NOT TO HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY FOR AN ACTIVE AND PRODUCTIVE LIFE. THEY ARE MORE SUSCEPTIBLE TO INFECTIOUS DISEASES.

THOSE WHO RECEIVE LESS THAN 80% OF THEIR MINIMUM DAILY CALORIC INTAKE ARE CONSIDERED SERIOUSLY UNDERNOURISHED. CHILDREN IN THIS CTEGORY SUFFER FROM PERMENANTLY STUNTED GROWTH, MENTAL RETARDATION ETC.

AROUND 130 MILLION CHILDREN PER YEAR DIES OF DISEASES THAT COULD BE PREVENTED WITH A BALANCED DIET, CLEAN WATER AND SIMPLE MEDICINE.

MALNOURISHMENT
IT IS THE LACK OF SPECIFIC COMPONENTS OF FOOD, SUCH AS PROTEINS, VITAMINS OR ESSENTIAL CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.

DEVELOPED COUNTRIES: TOO MUCH FOOD BUT LACK OF NUTRIENTS IN FOOD.

IN POORER COUNTRIES, PEOPLE OFTEN LACK SPECIFIC NUTRIENTS BECAUSE THEY CAN T AFFORD THE EXPENSE FOR A BALANCED DIET.

MALNOURISHMENT CAUSES,
MARASMUS KWASHIARKOR ANEMIA GOITER PELLAGRA CHRONIC HUNGER

OVERNUTRITION
IN RICHER COUNTRIES, THE MOST COMMON DIETARY PROBLEM IS TOO MANY CALORIES! OVERNUTRITION CONTRIBUTES TO OVERWEIGHT, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, HEART ATTACK AND OTHER CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES.

MODERN AGRICULTURE
The expansion of monocultures Today monocultures have increased dramatically worldwide, mainly through the geographical expansion of land devoted to single crops and year-to-year production of the same crop species on the same land. Available data indicate that the amount of crop diversity per unit of arable land has decreased and that croplands have shown a tendency toward concentration. There are political and economic forces influencing the trend to devote large areas to monoculture, and in fact such systems are rewarded by economies of scale and contribute significantly to the ability of national agricultures to serve international markets.

MODERN AGRICULTURE
The technologies allowing the shift toward monoculture were mechanization, the improvement of crop varieties, and the development of agrochemicals to fertilize crops and control weeds and pests. Government commodity policies these past several decades encouraged the acceptance and utilization of these technologies. As a result, farms today are fewer, larger, more specialized and more capital intensive. At the regional level, increases in monoculture farming meant that the whole agricultural support infrastructure (i.e. research, extension, suppliers, storage, transport, markets, etc.) has become more specialized.

ECOLOGICAL DISEASES MODERN AGRICULTURE

They may be grouped into two categories: Diseases of the ecotope which include erosion, loss of soil fertility, depletion of nutrient reserves, salinization and alkalinization, pollution of water systems, loss of fertile croplands to urban development

ECOLOGICAL DISEASES MODERN AGRICULTURE

Diseases of the biocoenosis, which include loss of crop, wild plant, and animal genetic resources, pest resurgence and genetic resistance to pesticides, chemical contamination, and destruction of natural control mechanisms.
Under conditions of intensive management, treatment of such "diseases" requires an increase in the external costs to the extent that, in some agricultural systems, the amount of energy invested to produce a desired yield surpasses the energy harvested

Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems

The natural mix of chemical pesticides and fertilizers, such as occurs when agricultural chemicals seep into groundwater, may have a broad range of effects on human and animal health, a new study shows. Combinations of commonly used agricultural chemicals, in concentrations that mirror levels found in groundwater, can significantly influence the immune and endocrine systems as well as neurological health.

Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems

"The single most important finding of the study is that common mixtures, not the standard onechemical-at-a-time experiments, can show biological effects at current concentrations in groundwater," said Warren P. Porter, the lead author of the study and a UW-Madison professor of zoology and environmental toxicology. Although used worldwide, "tests for these compounds in combination are very rare, although they frequently co-occur."

Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems

The experiments performed by Porter's group suggest that children and the developing fetus are most at risk from the pesticidefertilizer mixtures. Their influence on developing neurological, endocrine and immune systems, said Porter, portend change in ability to learn and in patterns of aggression.

Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems

The privately funded Wisconsin study focused on three commonly used farm chemicals: aldicarb, an insecticide; atrazine, a herbicide; and nitrate, a chemical fertilizer. All three are in wide use worldwide and are the most ubiquitous contaminants of groundwater in the United States.

Pesticide, fertilizer mixes linked to range of health problems

"Herbicides can have neurological impacts and hormonal impacts and immune impacts," he said. "They are not the harmless chemicals they are sometimes portrayed to be. They can be every bit as biologically active as insecticides or fungicides." "Thyroid disruption in humans has multiple consequences," Porter said. Some of these include effects on brain development, level of irritability, sensitivity to stimuli, ability or motivation to learn, and altered immune function.

Indian Vital Statistics : Fatal Figures

Hardly 10 per cent of Indian farmers are covered by crop insurance. Debt drove nearly 1 lakh members of farming community to commit suicide between 1998 and 2003, says a government report. 17,000 farmers and their kin killed themselves each year for six years. 12% of all suicides in the country was in the farming community. 2002 worst year. 16% of suicides among farmers. Agriculture provides nearly 600 million direct and another 200 million indirect jobs. The total annual rural debt of Punjab was Rs 24,000 crore in 200304 -- is more than its gross annual earnings from agriculture. (Source: The Telegraph, April 24, 2006)

Indian Vital Statistics : Fatal Figures

There is a total of about 455 million acres of land that is cultivated in India and only about a third of it is covered by irrigation. The four states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala have recorded over 8,900 suicides between 2001-2002 and 2005-2006. 70% of the Andhra's 78 million people are dependent on agriculture. Due to the acute distress, more than 1500 farmers committed suicide, mainly in Wayanad district, which is unprecedented in the history of Kerala. Rural development expenditure as percentage of GDP between 1985-1990 was 14.5%, which came down to 5.9% in 2000-01. The expenditure on agriculture research is only around 0.3 per cent of GDP.