Foodgrain output for 2025 to 26 reached a record 376.56 million tonnes, and horticulture output is estimated at 377.8 million tonnes. | Photo Credit: T. NARAYAN

India has never grown so much. Foodgrain output for 2025 to 26 reached a record 376.56 million tonnes, and horticulture output is estimated at 377.8 million tonnes. Yet only 16 to 17 per cent of what we grow is processed, and post-harvest losses are valued at over ₹1.5 lakh crore. This gap remains one of the least discussed failures in our food economy. When surplus produce cannot be preserved, processed or connected to demand in time, food is wasted and farmers lose income.

Our infrastructure response has taken two shapes. One bets on scale, with 25 operational Mega Food Parks. The other bets on proximity, with 74,363 micro units formalised under PMFME and 311 of 409 approved cold chain projects now complete. Which model serves farmers better is a genuine debate, and my view cuts against both camps.

Scale without proximity does not help a farmer far from the park. A micro unit without market access, quality systems or working capital rarely survives its first couple of years. What matters is whether a processing asset sits within reach of the farm gate, is reliably run and is plugged into buyers. I would rather see a handful of well used clusters near production belts than one impressive facility running below capacity, and fewer micro units that thrive than thousands formalised only on paper.

Processed food needs nuance too. Retail sales of ultra processed food in India grew from $0.9 billion in 2006 to nearly $38 billion in 2019, and FSSAI has proposed a red hexagon front of pack warning for products high in fat, sugar and salt. But India’s story is not the Western one. With barely a sixth of our produce processed, the choice is rarely between a fresh apple and a packaged snack. It is often between a preserved, safe, fortified product and no product at all. Processing remains part of the answer to both wastage and nutrition security.

Many forms of processing simply preserve agricultural produce and extend its usable life. Fruits and vegetables can be converted into aseptic pulps and purées, dehydrated, frozen or pickled. Spices and herbs can be cleaned, standardised and processed into powders or extracts. These methods help retain the value of seasonal produce, reduce spoilage and make it available across markets for longer periods.

In a country where only a fraction of agricultural produce is processed, the choice is not always between fresh food and a packaged product. It can be between preserving the harvest in a safe, usable format and losing it before it reaches the consumer. Responsible processing can therefore support food security, nutrition and better farmer incomes.

With the monsoon below normal, the balance between domestic security and global reliability is likely to resurface in World Food Day commentary. Processed produce gives policymakers room to manage it, since it can be held and moved far more flexibly than raw harvest.

Climate raises the stakes. The 2026 monsoon ended 12.6 per cent below normal, the weakest in over a decade, with 313 of 741 districts deficient. Erratic weather is changing how crops move from farm to factory, with produce arriving in sudden surges or not at all. When crops cannot wait, processing close to the farm gate becomes a climate adaptation strategy as much as an efficiency play.

What would move the needle? Set a target for processing a larger share of perishable produce. Link cold chain and processing assets to crop clusters, and complete the projects already approved. Give small processors shared access to testing, packaging and contract manufacturing. Use technology to connect farmers, processors and buyers with transparent pricing and predictable offtake. This is the work we focus on, because predictable demand makes processing investment worth making.

India has shown it can feed itself and much of the world. On World Food Day, India’s progress should be measured not only by how much food it produces, but by how effectively that produce is preserved, processed and made available to consumers. The fight against food waste will not be won in the field alone. It will be won where the harvest meets the processing plant, and that is where our investment should go.

Published on October 17, 2026