Address at the Inauguration of Food Processing Park

ADDRESS

I am indeed delighted to participate in the inauguration of the Food Processing Park developed by the Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) at Kakkancherry. I greet the Kerala Industrial Infrastrcuture Development Corporation (KINFRA) and the entrepreneurs who have established food processing units in this Park.

Introduction

I find that the Kinfra food park at Malappuram has a tie-up with United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to assist the units in training and research. The entrepreneurs would get UNIDO-approved processing technology and training in coconut products and others. The park has the potential to become a very good export unit and I am sure the local farmers and the entreprenures will benefit from this venture.

The Unit presently appear to have 15 allottees and 3 of them have started production in the site. The main product coming out of this park is vegetable oil and it has a good turnover of Rs.75 Crores. However, I find the palmolin required for refining is coming from other countries. This situation has to change. Our farmers have to be educated to take up cultivation of palmolin in the local farms and the high yield variety palmolin must be processed by this unit which will be beneficial both to the farmers and the entreprenures. This type of value addition is what we are looking for from our entreprenures. They can even resort to contract farming on the lines of Punjab with the support from the State Government. The other two units which have been started are catering to the needs of packaging elements required by the oil industry and the ice cream unit. The turnover from these units require enhancement.

Infrastructure & connectivity

The establishment of this park at a cost of Rs.19.5 crores and with the infrastructure such as water, power and drainage system and roads has definitely enhanced the economic activity in the region. Now is the time we should increase the economic activity by creating more units in the park for which the technology can be drawn from Defence Food Research Laboratory and Central Food Technology Research Institute of Mysore. These institutions have been working in the area of food processing and food preservation for over 3 to 4 decades. They have infrastructure and facilities required for preservation, storage, testing and quantity production required by the armed forces and the trade. The park can have periodic meetings with the local entreprenures and arrange networking of these institutes for determining the products which can have a viable off- take for the local and the export market.

Kerala has a number of people living in the gulf and the middle east region. They are very keen to have homely food which the park can manufacture, export and provide in a ready to eat form. Some of the products which have already been developed and the technologies available for transfer are Halwa, Upma, rava idly, pulav, khichdi, bisse-bela bath, avial, potato peas curry, mutton and vegetable soups, omelets and scrambled egg etc. Production of these items in the park will automatically give the farmers in the region a ready market and remuerative prices for their agricultural output. Our agricultural universities can work with food processing units and provide them technology and know-how for these products.

Core Competence of Kerala

Kerala is rich in coconut. The park has got to take up coconut products as their core-competence, like packaged coconut water, for which the technology is available with DFRL, Mysore. Similarly, they can work on Copra and coconut oil in a big way which is a delicacy being used by every south Indian family for their cooking. As a by-product they can also work on coir products coming out of coconut shells. This type of multi-products production and integration will make the industry cost effective and competitive in the national and international market.

Fish Processing and opportunities

I would like to share with you the experience of fishing industry in a sea faring country. There a ship goes to the sea and catches lot of fish and store in the deck. The fish are transferred to another ship. The entire process of washing, cleaning, cutting and addition of preservatives preparing it as food are done in the processing lab. The third ship comes and collects the entire packaged value added goods from the second ship for transporting into the international market.

I would visualize a similar situation in this Food Processing Park in the form of agricultural produce coming into the park, getting processed, valued added and packaged and delivered to the second set of vehicles for conveyance to the market.

Coconut, Vegetables and fruits processing

Kerala is rich in coconut, fishing, plantains, cashew nuts, and jackfruit. All these items can be converted into a cashable product. For example if we take coconut all parts of the coconut tree are useful as a household product. The leaves are used for thatched roof, it stem can be used for producing broom stick, trunk of the tree can be used as beams, coconut water can be used as a beverage, coconut in different forms can be used for preparing chutney, additives to the curry, copra for producing oil. The entire economics of the coconut if judiciously used the benefits will be multifold. This has to be done by the food processing unit through large cooperatives so that coconut growers get sufficient revenue.

Similar projects can be undertaken for utilizing the other agricultural products like fruits, vegetables, milk and poultry produced in Kerala.

The core technologies needed for such processing would involve cold chains, packaging, processing, aseptic packing and weighing and sensing equipment. Such facilities must be established by the Infrastructural Development Corporation and given on hire for different entrepreneurs.

In the India 2020 document, Vision for transforming India into a developed nation has been projected. It involves integrated development of: Agriculture and Food Processing, Education and Healthcare, Information and Communication Technology, Infrastructure and self-reliance in critical technologies. Agriculture and Food Processing are the most important areas for development relating to this park. 70% of our population of the country are working in the area of agriculture. Even though they produce 200 million tons of products the farmer is not getting adequate remuneration for the efforts he puts in. Food items produced in such parts require value addition through technology. Particularly, I would like the food processing industry in Kerala to set a modern trend in quality, ensure availability of the product in the right time and at the right price. Every product coming out of this center should have a label of what it contains, what are the additives, what preservative material has been used, what is the shelf life and also an assurance certifying the quality of the products. With this approach, Kerala food processing units can become globally competitive. KINFRA can also support a programme for making a mobile agro-processing unit which can travel in the whole region. With this model, entrepreneurs can establish smallscale food processing industries in the region depending upon local needs and resources.

Conclusion

Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) has taken the initiative of bringing out a number of industrial units in the state. They have chosen difficult and remote areas for implementing their projects. Once the projects have started there has been automatic boost to the region and people have been migrating from different areas. This is a healthy sign and the corporation must continue with this effort. Entreprenuers should make use of all the infrastructure and facilities provided by the corporation and establish fully integrated industries in the region. The corporation should also create a network of educational institutions, R&D labs, infrastructural labs, entreprenuers and farmers in the region for maximizing the gain from such parks.

With these words I inaugurate the Food Processing park and wish them all success.