A Global Showcase of India’s Food Economy: Indusfood 2025

Govt initiatives were taken to promote Indusfood:

1. National Food Security Mission (NFSM): Boosts production of essential crops like wheat, rice, pulses, and cereals, ensuring a steady supply for the food industry.
2. Operation Greens: Enhances the value chain for tomatoes, onions, and potatoes, stabilizing prices and improving production efficiency.
3. Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY): Provides food security to the poor, ensuring consistent demand for agricultural products.
4. PM POSHAN Scheme: Improves child nutrition in schools, indirectly boosting demand for processed food products.
5. Mega Food Park Scheme: Creates infrastructure connecting farmers, processors, and retailers, facilitating growth in food processing and exports.
6. Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLISFPI): Encourages innovation and high-quality food product manufacturing, enhancing global competitiveness.
7. PLI Scheme for Millet-based Products: Promotes millet production and exports, positioning India as a global leader in healthy food options.
8. Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana (PMKSY): Aims to improve the food processing sector, enhance value addition to agricultural and marine products, reduce wastage, provide better returns to farmers, and create agro-processing clusters, thereby boosting exports and generating rural employment.

Indusfood contributed Indian economy:

1. Boosted Exports: Indusfood has played a pivotal role in increasing India’s food and beverage exports, especially in the processed food sector, by connecting Indian businesses with global buyers and opening new international markets for Indian products.
2. Enhanced Visibility: The event has helped raise India’s profile in global markets, positioning the country as a competitive player in the international food industry and attracting attention from global businesses and investors.
3. Facilitated Networking and Collaboration: Indusfood provides a platform for networking, fostering collaborations and partnerships between Indian producers and international buyers, strengthening business ties and creating long-term trade relationships.
4. Business Deals and Trade Growth: The trade show facilitates on-the-spot business deals, accelerating trade and ensuring the quick global distribution of Indian food products, thus enhancing India’s share in the global food trade.
5. Attraction of Investment: Indusfood helps attract both domestic and foreign investment in India’s food and beverage sector, driving innovation, infrastructure development, and overall growth.

Issues associated with the food economy:

1. Food Security: Climate change and unsustainable farming threaten food production. Limited access to food due to poverty and insufficient income. Uneven food distribution, especially between urban and rural areas.
2. Poverty: Low wages and unstable employment prevent access to food. Gender inequality limits women’s access to resources and opportunities.
3. Climate Change: Extreme weather events like floods, droughts, and rising temperatures disrupt food production. The expansion of biofuels reduces land available for food crops.
4. Food Waste: Inefficient storage, poor distribution, and supply chain issues lead to significant food wastage.
5. Other Issues: Corruption in food distribution impacts quality and availability. Natural disasters disrupt food production and access. Health constraints, such as diseases like HIV/AIDS, limit people’s ability to work and access food.

Conclusions:

Indusfood 2025 marks a significant milestone in the growth of India’s food and beverage industry, showcasing the nation’s expanding potential in the global market. As an integrated farm-to-fork trade show, it not only highlights India’s diverse agricultural capabilities but also underscores its commitment to sustainable food systems. The event’s impressive scale, with participation from exhibitors, international buyers, chefs, and industry professionals, demonstrates the growing influence of India’s food economy. With concurrent shows like Indusfood Manufacturing and Indusfood Agritech, the event further cements its role as a comprehensive platform for fostering global business partnerships and driving innovation across the food and agricultural sectors. Indusfood continues to play a vital role in positioning India as a hub for international trade, offering immense opportunities for growth, collaboration, and investment in the food industry.

Prelims Question: