Under the center’s umbrella scheme, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY), the ministry of food processing industries is implementing the mega food park scheme, introduced in 2008. This scheme aims to provide modern infrastructure facilities for food processing along with value chain enabling, from farm to market. Mega food park scheme (MFP) is a mechanism to link agricultural production to the market in an effective manner by bringing together farmers, processors, and retailers on a single platform, ensuring to maximize the value addition, minimize the wastage, increase the farmer’s income and creating employment opportunities, particularly in the rural sector.
MFP Scheme is based on the cluster approach and envisages the creation of state of art infrastructure in the well-defined agricultural and horticultural zone for setting up of the modern food processing unit and the industrial plots provided in the park with a well-established supply chain.
As of date ministry of food processing has approved funding of 37 mega food parks in 23 States and union territories, which are under various stages of implementation. A total of 21 mega food parks are fully operational. Consisting of a supply chain infrastructure including collection centers, primary processing centers, central processing centers cold chain, and around 25 to 30 fully developed plots for entrepreneurs to set up food processing units.
1. Collection centers
They will work as a point of aggregation of produce (collection of the produce from individual farmers group of farmers self-help groups).
The purpose of the collection center is to provide the raw material to the next stage i.e., the primary collection centers.
They will be managed by the local entrepreneurs and will serve as the farm level aggregation point.
2. Primary collection centers
These will be receiving the raw material from the collection centers and that will be processed further in the central processing centers
A single primary collection center would be serving multiple collection centers in the proximity.
Primary collection centers will provide the facility of sorting, grading, washing, and storage of the farm produce.
3. Central processing center
CPC is an industrial park in a large area comprising of different business houses owned in large units
The Parks will provide the facilities of electricity water effluent treatment specialized services like warehousing, cold storage, logistics, backward integration with the network of primary processing centers and the collection centers also.
Each fully operational Mega Food Park will provide direct or indirect employment to about 5000 persons while the primary objective is to provide food processing infrastructure along with the value chain from the farm to the market. Food processing near the farm and facilities for transportation, logistics, and centralized processing centers will impact by reducing wastage and creation of efficient supply chain.
