eChapters

Abstract

Meat is considered to be a highly perishable food commodity because of its biological composition. Thus, to extend its shelf life and maintain its nutritive value, there is an urgent need to find out alternatives for synthetic anti-microbial and anti-oxidants. This will not only serve the purpose of meat product manufacturer’s but will also satisfy the consumers’ demand for minimally processed meat products devoid of synthetic preservatives. This review discusses the natural antimicrobial and anti- oxidants sources viz., various essential oils, their composition and application in different meat and meat products. Essential oils from basil, rosemary, thyme, oregano, ginger, basilica, balm, coriander, rosemary and clove have exhibited a better potential to be used as an antimicrobial agent in meat and meat products. They owe their anti-microbial properties to the phenolic compounds present in them. They dislocate cell membrane and disrupt functionality of bacterial cell membrane and eventually leading to the release of intracellular components. However, essential oils are not widely used due to the pungent and intense aroma imparted to the food, thus there is still need to work out on the novel technologies which can not only increase food shelf life but at the same time, are sensorially acceptable to the consumers.

Abstract

Agro-food industries generate a large amount of by-products and wastes. These byproducts and wastes have a negative impact in terms of the environmental concern due to the increase of pollutant disposal, and industrial sustainability because of high costs related to their management. These byproducts and wastes are rich in minerals, sugars and proteins. The composition and characteristics of wastes from different food processing industries vary and rely upon the production technique and the nature of the product. India is the second largest producer of rice/paddy in the world and the utilization of rice bran is gaining importance. However, a small fraction of these have been utilized. In case of fruits and vegetables, industrial processing of potato generates between 70 and 140 thousand tons of peels worldwide annually. Moreover, 37% of world’s total annual production of banana is shared by India. Hence, to minimize the disposal fees and trash collection new policies and methods have been developed for handling and treatment of wastes and byproducts. This chapter envisages the status of different agro-food industrial byproducts and wastes for the development of different food and non-food products.

Abstract

The interest in the utilization of industrial by-products is increasing day by day and is major reason for exploring different meat, poultry and fish industry waste and optimization of extracting conditions of different valuable compounds. Utilization of these by-products in effective manner can be positive for meat industry economy as well as environmental pollution of the country. Besides the potential revenue losses, non-utilized or underutilized by-products accounts for the extra cost for their disposal. Meat producers are converting these by-products into value added edible and inedible form. Among the most prominent current uses of meat, poultry and fish waste are food ingredients, water treatment, cosmetic and personal care products, biogas/biodiesel, biomedical and pharmaceutical application. Several studies have dealt with the production of several value-added products such as gelatin, collagen, enzymes, specific proteins, bioactive peptides, chitin, chitosan, and pigments fro m the meat industries waste. Recently, in the food and pharmaceutical industry, an increasing number of new applications have been found for products generated from meat, poultry and fish industry waste; in different products as foaming agents, emulsifiers, biodegradable film-forming materials, colloid stabilizers, and microencapsulating agents, in line with the growing trend to replace synthetic agents with more natural ones.

Abstract

India ranks in the world’s five largest producers of over 80% of agricultural produce items. Processing of agricultural produce generates substantial amount of crop residues which can have tremendous value to farmers. However, a large portion of the residues is burned on farm primarily to clear the field from straw and stubble; which affects the environment, soil health and crop yield.The conversion of crop residues to eco-friendly and valuable product like biochar is need of the hour. Biochar is an organic amendment which slowly releases C in the soil, and is stable over the years. Various applications of biochar like reduction in greenhouse gases emission, sequestering C in the soil, increasing crop yield, used as combusting fuel and livestock feedmakes it a promising candidate for sustainable agriculture and environment.

Abstract

Food lost during the production chain is referred to as postharvest loss. Reducing postharvest loss can effectively feed starving mouths while conserving resources and decreasing the pressure to produce more. There are five main areas where postharvest loss can be reduced – harvest, storage, transportation, processing, and retail. New approaches and technologies in each of these areas will increase the amount of food available for human consumption. The total loss due to poor post- harvest processing of agricultural products in India when valued in terms of monetary reflects a tremendous loss in the economy. Annual value of harvest and post-harvest losses of major agricultural produces at national level to be of the order of Rs. 92,651 Crore calculated using production data of 2012-13 at 2014 wholesale prices. Deficits in food items or financial loss should not have occurred if postharvest losses were reduced through proper processing and preservation from harvest to consumption. Both the government and private sector need to invest in research so as to improve and modernize post-harvest facilities for attaining more efficient market infrastructure and distribution channels. Research and extension activities have to be closely coordinated particularly in the public sector for the benefit of farmers, traders and consumers.

Pulses are important ingredients of human diet and principal source of protein of high biological value particularly for vegetarians. These are excellent feed for animals endowed with an unique ability of biological nitrogen fixation, carbon sequestration, soil amelioration, capable to sustain under harsh climate and an integral component of sustainable crop production system. It is expected that by the year 2050 world human population will climb to 9.7 billion, India 1.6 billion and that of Odisha will be more than 5.75 crores. It will be a great challenge by agricultural scientists for assured food security of billions of hungry human mouth with nourishing food especially pulses, oilseeds and other dietary ingredients. Current production of pulses are not sufficient to meet the requirement. In Odisha it is expected to have a shortage of 1.7 lakh tones of pulses towards 2030 if the current rate of production will not increase. The fact is almost similar for nation although India contributes 24 per cent of global pulse production but imports about 2.0 million tones every year. The deficit will further mount as the per capita consumption on dal of an Indian is increasing. It necessitates to increase pulse production which is not happening keeping pace with need (Jena et al., 2015).

In the post-green revolution period, the incessant rice-rice/wheat crop rotation has undoubtedly made the country surplus in cereal production but has marginalized pulses. This has raised serious concern about sustainability of the production system. Recognizing the importance of pulses for meeting dietary requirements of vast vegetarian population on one hand and their role in improving soil health and conserving natural resources on the other, the efforts were made to develop high yielding, short duration and disease resistant varieties of different pulse crops which can help in diversification and intensification of popular cropping systems. As a result, several new cropping systems have been designed, developed and advocated for rainfed and irrigated areas.

Abstract

This paper studies the role and status of Indian Agricultural Market Intelligence System (IAMIS) in improving the economic returns of agri-sector in India. Marketing intelligence makes agricultural marketers, including agri-entrepreneurs, aware and updated and reduces risk in decision making. India produced 275.112 million tonnes of food grains in 2016-17 and the projected requirement is 311million tonnes in 2030. Income of farmers has increased at a CAGR of 10.61% and number of farmers has declined at a CAGR of -0.25% from 1993-94 to 2014-15. Acreage remains stagnant. Given this background, to exploit full potential of agricultural production, market intelligence has a great role. The DES and Department of Food with their 435 market information systems (MIS) units transmit daily information through public media. The essential prerequisite of ensuring farmers’income is that they need credible information about “likely price situation”. Agriculture Marketing Intelligence System (AMIS, 2011) has emerged with the aim to provide services in agriculture and allied sectors. ICAR (1991) took initiatives under World Bank to assist National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) and Export Market Intelligence Cell (EMIC) was set up in Tamil Nadu with ten State Agricultural Universities. This paper uses globally available price forecasting models (ARIMA, GARCH, etc.)on 20 crops to provide an idea of the existing status and policies in agricultural market intelligence.

Abstract

Entrepreneurs take responsibility of their ‘business’ tad differently than their counterpart, the traditional businessman. A businessman walks on the pre-defined route whereas the entrepreneur creates his own alley-way, which if successful, becomes the rulebook for that trade. Lately, ecological issues have taken centre-stage as climatic changes have endangered the sustainable growth of the business. A new breed of entrepreneurs, alias ecopreneurs, functions in this ‘new’ space and endeavour to frame an innovative business landscape. Ecopreneurs possess singular focus on the safe-keep of the ecology. But in order to sustain the efforts of businesses in ecology, it is imperative that they remain economically viable too. Thus, ecopreneurial process is not only about fulfilling the business’ responsibility towards ecology, but also about the marketability of the product or service. In order to evaluate the ecopreneurial process, organic farming is considered as a case. In this paper, selected organic farms are analysed in an environment - market continuum, developed particularly for this study which is in tandem with the works of Schaltegger (2002) and Blake and Mouton (1964).The study reveals inadequacy of market performance of the individual and farm level ecopreneurs in the state of West Bengal, in spite of their strong inclination towards care for the environment.

Abstract

Agricultural development in India provides support to a large section of farmers who operate on small holdings and have very limited risk bearing capacity. Farmers are often exposed to natural vagaries, which adversely affect their agricultural production and farm income. Moreover, there is huge financial exclusion in rural sector of the nation. If there is a crop failure, farmers are crushed under the burden of debt. Farmers seek to avoid risk in terms of various managerial and institutional mechanisms. But it is widely believed that ‘Crop Insurance’ is the only institutional mechanism available against production risk in farming. Unfortunately, penetration of crop insurance schemes in India has been low in terms of the area of land insured and the number of farmers covered. There are the problems of low risk awareness and lack of insurance culture among the farmers. In this backdrop, the paper documents the findings of a survey of 140 farmers, which was taken up in some selected villages of North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. The study shows that likelihood of this awareness increases with increase in landholding size, education level, borrowing history and social participation of the farmers, whereas it decreases with the non-farm income and livestock of the farmers. The author proposes measures to promote and spread awareness of crop insurance among the farmers as a risk mitigation tool in farming, which will increase farm production and stabilize the fluctuation in farm income. The study provides valuable policy measures to the government in better designing of their crop insurance products and will also help the private agro-insurance business, which is recently taking off in the country.

Abstract

India is the second largest food producing country in the world. Food processing is one of the key industries in the country and a sector that has direct linkage between agriculture and industry. Being the second largest producer of fruits and vegetables along with its strategic geographic location and proximity to food importing nations, India is in an advantageous position in terms of exporting processed food. As per estimates, Indian food processing sector stood at USD258 billion in the financial year 2015. The growth and development of this industry have direct impact on the Indian economy. The aim of the present study is to discuss about the growth of the food processing industry, analyse its strengths and weaknesses and generate possibilities of entrepreneurial development towards the expansion of the sector. This study has been a secondary data analysis based on data collected from journals, magazines, web searches and reports from various government and private agencies.

The study has identified the main drivers aiding to the growth of the sector. It includes strong domestic demand, rising export opportunities; supply side advantages for exporters due to rising global demand and strong policy support from the Government. On the other hand, fragmented market, infrastructure support, namely cold chain, innovation and skill development are the major hurdles that have to be overcome. This article makes an attempt to explore entrepreneurial opportunities and few areas where new business could be initiated. The entrepreneurial opportunities highlighted in this paper are based on Drucker’s opportunity construct that entrepreneurs have an eye more for possibilities created by change than the problems.

Abstract

Out of 1.37 billion populationof India 67 % lives in rural areas whose major source of income is agriculture and allied activities (World Population Review, 2019). In simple words, the livelihood of this vast majority is closely related to rural enterprises. Fostering rural entrepreneurship may be affected by several issues, infrastructure being one of them. This paper attempts to examine the relationship between infrastructure investment by the state and rural entrepreneurship in India, with ‘Gross Fixed Capital Formation’ and ‘Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing, Value Added’ considered as proxy variables. Time series econometrics is compiled with the data collected from World Bank Database for the period of 1961-2017. The study has established evidence in support of greater investment in infrastructure enhancing rural entrepreneurial opportunities in India.

Abstract

Agriculture is the backbone of India’s economic development and has experienced immense growth in the past few decades. Agriculture not only involves the participation of male workers but also experiences active participation of all family members, as well. Women, as part of the family, take up agricultural activities as an extension to their household chores. The Government and voluntary agencies have also recognised the need for women in the farming community to become self-reliant and active participants in the agricultural sector. Increasing awareness and educating themselves with the passage of time, farmers have made themselves aware of new techniques of farming and growing and established themselves as agricultural entrepreneurs in the long run. Many initiatives supporting women entrepreneurs and creating a supportive ecosystem for women to become agricultural entrepreneurs have been initiated by the state. The case of Anita Devi popularly known as the Mushroom Lady of Bihar has been taken up in this paper to substantiate with evidence how government initiatives have helped her gain success and grow as an agricultural entrepreneur. This study aims at disseminating how such initiatives help in creating an ecosystem that motivates agricultural entrepreneurs in general and women in particular.

Abstract

This paper is rooted in the issue of the failure of Green Revolution which was intended to achieve self-sufficiency in the agriculturally dominant country of India, following its independence. However five decades later, the current focus of the country is on engaging in a sustainable and economically feasible agricultural practice using principles of agro ecology. This paper tries to explore the potential of application of organic farming in a vast country like India. The author posits that organic farming can help India reverse the damage caused by Green Revolution by allowing for natural methods of agriculture rather than a severely mechanical form. This paper focuses on the modern concept of organic farming combining tradition, science and innovation, and the debatable issues surrounding organic farming particularly dealing with its economic feasibility and sustainability prospects. It is acknowledged that for the successful implementation of organic farming there has to be appropriate matching of the supply and demands the organic products. However, there is a need to address the challenge of adoption of organic farming in a diverse country like India because of its huge variance in education, income, living standards and health of the existing and potential consumers. The prospect of organic farming is discussed from the perspective of consumer awareness and state initiatives, in this paper.

Abstract

The agriculture and allied sector provide livelihood for 58% of India’s population. A large population and rising disposable incomes are key growth drivers. Growing external demand has increased its contribution to exports. The demand for processed food has also led to increasing requirements for agricultural inputs, hybrid seeds, machinery and fertilizers. Investment opportunities in storage infrastructure and agrochemicals also present immense opportunities. Organised retail has made India attractive for multinationals. The industry has a combination of multiple organisational forms, like associations, co-operatives, government (departmental) undertakings, foreign entities, trusts and companies, private and public. Unlisted companies encompass a vast range (private limited companies, family business, group-owned firms, and joint ventures are major actors.) The form and complexity of business ownership highlights Corporate Governance (CG) debate. Given this background, our objective is to understand the CG characteristics of unlisted agricultural and allied companies operating in India, the driving forces for improving CG practices, and the need for a policy framework in supporting good CG. We propose to examine the extent of control in the various types of entities and explore the mechanisms that contribute to the development of an efficient CG framework. Using data from the Prowess database, on 2,879 firms, from 2012-2013 to 2016-17, we analysed how CG problems are caused and how it can be alleviated. The results provide stakeholders and agri entrepreneurs with an overview of the policy and managerial issues that arise in the debate on CG of companies in this key sector. Finally, we conclude how the unlisted companies are likely to stimulate growth and development if CG mechanisms are enhanced.

Abstract

Trade Related Agreements on Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) widely affects the agricultural sector which is largely unorganised in India. At the same time this sector remains the bread winner for majority of the population of the country. The Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) affect the extensive and intensive margins in agricultural trade. This paper draws attention of enterprises in the field of agricultural biotechnology which has genetic modification (GM) as one of its core activity. GM is of benefit in terms of value additive features but also of great concern for the community in conservation of biodiversity. Food & Agricultural Organisation (FAO), being aware of the pitfalls of implementing IPRs in agriculture, constituted an expert panel to study the issues pertaining to the sector. They came up with very clear directives to the FAO on the course of action. This paper aims to focus on this area to identify the micro-level dynamics of IPRs in agriculture and its effects on the rural enterprises in India. The impact of IPRs and its ramifications, the issues of agricultural productivity and its future trajectory, are to be understood from the perspective of an entrepreneur’s policy decisions. This will lead to identification of policies that would help in harnessing IPRs for the growth of Indian agriculture.

Abstract

Among the 29 Indian states, 14 are linked with 585 regulated mandis with electronic national agricultural market. Across the states, 7.35 million farmers with 53,163 commission agents are registered in these regulated mandis. Every year Government of India announces modified agricultural policies to safeguard the interest of the farming community. Amongst the policies, one of the mechanisms to protect the producers from price fluctuations is Minimum Support Price (MSP). While determining MSP, government takes into account cost of production, cost of living, as well as economic and socio-political factors. For the past two decades, it has been observed that one MSP graph is moving upward but still the farming community seems dissatisfied. The reasons behind MSP variation among states include offering bonus prices additionally with MSP by some states, due to variation in government procurement procedures and policies. As a result, MSP is playing an important role in manoeuvring of prices amongst the various state markets. MSP deviation provides chances for the private sector to take undue advantage and the farmers are adversely affected. The study analyses existence of deviation in mandi prices of staple food between two states from year 2007 to 2018. It will disclose whether centralized price system reduce the cost of government and aid the farmer to get fair valuation.

Abstract

Entrepreneurship essentially involves economic and dynamic activities, risk- assuming and idea generation that help in developing, organising and managing a business opportunity for profits. Entrepreneurship in agriculture is not merely confined to farm activities but also involves activities interlinked and interdependent with core and peripheral agricultural activities. Impediments in the pathway of agricultural entrepreneurship in West Bengal are characterised by fragmented landholding, low financial resources and thereby debt stickiness & dependence on short-term agricultural loan. Though disbursements of short-term credit have increased substantially, the rate of increase is low. For most farmers, insurance for financial or crop crisis is unheard or have hardly any implication. The paper tries to explain the performance of various agricultural insurance schemes in terms of coverage and the benefits being delivered in India and in West Bengal. The paper analyses whether the recipients consider the schemes as an effective risk mitigation tool or merely a habit of credit-dependence in West Bengal through a diffusion model. The paper concludes with the focus on possible entrepreneurial opportunities that may offer more customised agri-insurance policies, where regional disparities could be considered and individual interests be given little more importance.

Abstract

Packaging industry is considered to be one of the world’s largest industrial sectors. In the past few years, food processing has undergone several paradigm changes with respect to production, distribution, storage, processing and retailing. This increasing dynamism in the food industry, while on one hand placing a lot of challenges on the packaging industries, is on the other hand opening up opportunities for entrepreneurs to foray into food processing and also packaging industries and develop appropriate solutions in response to the needs of the market and environment. This study aims at exploring the state of packaging industry and packaging technologies in developing countries, with special emphasis on India, against the backdrop of increasing concern for prevention of food losses and therefore highlighting the need for new innovative ideas for food packaging. The authors posit that customer awareness about safety of processed food has given rise to tremendous possibilities of entrepreneurship opportunities in the area of safe and hygiene packaging. However market preferences, state reputations and cost benefit analysis play major roles in packaging of processed food products.

Abstract

More than one-third of food is lost or wasted in post-harvest operations in India. Decreasing the post-harvest losses (PHL) may be a sustainable solution to increasing food availability and improving farmers’livelihoods. As per Associated Chambers of Commerce of India, India loses approximately US$ 14.33 billion annually on account of PHL (ASSOCHAM, 2017). The objective of this study is to analyse the agricultural wastes that are produced in the value chain for a modern trade retailer, identify their causes, and discuss methods for minimising field wastages. A case study approach has been used to depict the agricultural value chain (vegetable segment). A field visit was conducted to a farmland and a privately operated Collection Center in Barasat area of West Bengal. The author discusses solutions towards minimising harvest wastages in the farm by focusing on waste reduction. Post-harvest wastages beyond the farm can be reduced by undertaking measures that focus on waste management. Going forward, adoption of technologies by farmers may lessen inefficiencies such as wastages and improve their income. Further scope for research lies in exploring joint interventions by private players, government agencies, non-profit organisations and entrepreneurs through public-private partnership models or through development of clusters for creating sustainable value chains and achieving greater profitability.