Introduction
The reason we have chosen to write about food processing is the huge thrust on this sector given by the Government through the Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MOFPI). Various schemes under the Kisan Sampada Yojana have been released by MOFPI; all of them relate to food processing and have the regular ingredients of a cold chain facility plus many more – to span the entire food processing chain.

Sampada
SAMPADA is the acronym for the ‘Scheme for Agro-Marine Produce Processing and Development of Agro-Processing Clusters’. There are three schemes under the umbrella of Kisan Sampada Yojana: Setting up Mega Food Parks, Creation of Infrastructure for Agro Processing Clusters, and Creation/Expansion of Food Processing/
Preservation Capacities (CEFPPC). The net outlay is Rs. 6,000 cr, and the scheme is targeted to benefit 20 lakh farmers and generate 5,30,500 direct and indirect employment by 2019-2020. To give a brief background, during the 9th Plan MOFPI operated, inter-alia, a scheme for creation of backward linkages with the objective of increasing capacity utilization of food processing units including the fruit based wine industry by ensuring regular supply of raw materials through contract farming. The scheme continued during the 10th Plan with the addition of component forward integration. In order to plug the gaps in the backward and forward integration and to optimize the capacity utilization of food processing units, MOFPI has launched the revamped scheme. It is applicable to perishable horticulture and non-horticulture produce. The sectors eligible to avail the assistance under the scheme are:
a) Horticulture
b) Milk and milk products
c) Meat, poultry, fishery, marine, piggery
d) Ready to eat/ ready to cook food products
e) Honey, coconut, spices, mushrooms
f) Retail shops for perishable food products
Eligible components and facilities linked to food processing, for which assistance may be availed, are:
(a) Backward Linkage
i. Integrated pack-house(s) (with mechanized sorting and grading line/ packing line/ waxing line/ staging cold rooms/cold storage, etc.)
ii. Milk chilling centre(s)/bulk milk cooler(s)
iii. Pre-cooling unit(s)/ chillers
iv. Reefer boats
v. Machinery and equipment for minimal processing and/or value addition such as cutting, dicing, slicing, pickling, drying, pulping, canning, waxing, etc.
vi. Machinery and equipment for packing/ packaging

(b) Forward Linkage
i. Retail chain of outlets to be set up by processors and/or organizations with farm level infrastructure under component at (a) above for perishable food products. These would have facilities such as frozen storage/ deep freezers/ refrigerated display cabinets/cold rooms/ chillers/ packing/ packaging, etc.

ii. Distribution centre for the retail chain of outlets with facilities like cold room/ cold storage/ ripening chamber.
Note: The retail outlets can be set up in rural areas or near the farm gate as well.

(c) Transport
Refrigerated/ insulated transport/ reefer vans in conjunction with components at the Backward Linkage and/or Forward Linkage components as above. This scheme can be a game changer for the Indian food processing Industry. For more details, visit www.mofpi.nic.in

Events
Here are a few updates regarding the events that have happened or are planned. ISHRAE chapters all over the country are pushing for more and more programs in the field of refrigeration and cold chain.
• ISHRAE Pune Chapter started with a technical training session on the theme ‘Refresh your Basics’ by Arvind Surange. It aimed at giving newcomers in the field an understanding of the cold chain sector and refresh the knowledge of those already in the field.
• PHD Chamber of Commerce organized a National Conclave on Cold Chain Development in Delhi.
• A Fisheries Conference was held in Visakhapatnam.
• ISHRAE Ahmedabad Chapter, through its Women-in-ISHRAE arm, invited Aditi Surange for a talk on ‘Introduction to Cold Chain’. It was a well-attended session.