UPSC Mains 2020 GS3 Q4 — Food processing
What are the challenges and opportunities of food processing sector in the country? How can income of the farmers be substantially increased by encouraging food processing? (Answer in 150 words)
Question Decoded — examiner's intent
- Directive verbs
- What areHow can
- Scope keywords
- challenges and opportunitiesfood processing sectorincome of the farmerssubstantially increasedencouraging food processing
- Implicit sub-parts
- Supply-side and demand-side bottlenecks hindering the sector's growth.
- Strategic potential (opportunities) of India's raw material base and demographic dividend.
- Specific mechanisms through which value addition translates to higher farm-gate prices.
- Role of post-harvest loss reduction in protecting farmer margins.
- Common pitfalls
- Failing to link processing directly to farmer income, focusing only on the macro-economic benefits of the industry.
- Omitting the mention of specific government schemes like PMKSY or SAMPADA which bridge the gap between policy and practice.
- Treating 'challenges' as purely financial (lack of credit) while ignoring structural issues like fragmented landholding and lack of cold chain infrastructure.
- Writing a generic essay on agriculture rather than focusing on the 'processing' and 'value addition' aspect.
- Dimensions required
- Infrastructural (Cold chains, Mega Food Parks)Economic (Value addition, price discovery, export potential)Socio-economic (Employment generation, rural industrialization)Policy (FDI, PLI schemes, E-NAM integration)
- Marks allocation hint
Spend approximately 50 words on the challenges and opportunities (Part 1) using a concise table or bullet points. Dedicate the remaining 100 words to the core of the question: the specific linkages between processing and farmer income (Part 2), ensuring a focus on waste reduction and better price realization.
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