Page 40 - Abhivruddhi

Value added products will not only fetch more earnings but will also open
wider markets and longer shelf life for the Agriculture Produce. Longer
shelf life of such products would also help farmers and associated people
overcome limitations inherent to natural perishable produce. Involved
value addition processes would mean new employment opportunities and a
boost to allied industries. Value added products would further boost export
of (processed) food, grains, milk, fruits and flowers.

Enabling Infrastructure: Hospitality Training Institutes:
Like ITI centres which impart training suitable for manufacturing and
similar other industries, India can set up dedicated training institutes
to groom people to work ably and effectively in the hospitality and
similar service sectors. There, the candidates can be taught necessary
communication skills and manners/etiquettes.

Training Institutes for Value Added Food Products:
To train farmers themselves and others to produce value added products
from agriculture produce, a network of institutes should be established. This
will help farming become more sustainable and generate huge employment.
Hands on training in association with existing food processing industries
would help.

Benefits for the Indian Economy
Green (low carbon foot print), Continuous, Domestic Employment:
Since all these activities belong to the Services sector, it will be local
Indians who will get huge employment opportunities and importantly,
profits/earnings will remain within India. Being related to food, health
care and associated tourism, these will be continuous, running usually
throughout the year. Considering the consumption and processes involved,
these will be ‘green’ services leading to low carbon footprint (compared
to say manufacturing). Working on your own natural strengths will be
much easier compared to working in a tough, international competition
(in manufacturing for example) and conflict-free.
Advantages of ‘Produced and Served by India’
To realise FTDE in next three to four years, along with other policies
and missions, India should also undertake the Produced and Served by
India mission. India’s intrinsic strengths in Agriculture, Health Care and
Food sectors have been largely dormant or not fully explored yet. Value
added agriculture products is another unexplored sector which has a huge
and continuous domestic and international demand. This huge unexplored

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