To support the ever-increasing population, it is essential to increase the production of crops, boost agricultural activities and food trade in the same proportion. The world population is increasing continuously and it is estimated to reach 10 billion by the year 2050.
The global agriculture market has grown from $11 trillion to $12.1 trillion in 2022, which is expected to grow to $16.67 trillion by the year 2026. Madhya Pradesh, located in the heart of the country, is an agricultural state. Agriculture contributes 47 per cent to its GSDP. That's why Madhya Pradesh is proudly called "Food Basket of India". The state has bagged Krishi Karman Award for 7 times. In view of this, there are immense possibilities in agriculture and food processing sector in the state.
Madhya Pradesh is the largest producer of oranges, spices, garlic, ginger, gram and pulses in the country. The area under cultivation of organic products is also significant in the state. It is the second largest producer of soybeans, wheat, maize, citrus fruits, onions and flowers. It is third largest producer of oilseeds, horticulture, chilly, aromatic, medicinal plants and milk. It is the largest producer and exporter of "Sharbati Wheat". Sharbati wheat flour is considered to be of the highest quality in the country.
The agro-climatic zone of the state is divided into 11 parts. This shows diversity in agricultural produce. The 10 major river basins and inland water bodies spread over 0.3 million hectare in the state, rivers and canals spread over more than 17 thousand kilometers, abundant availability of water from more than 60 thousand hectare small and big ponds further boost agricultural production in the state.
Madhya Pradesh has a lot of opportunities for investment in the agriculture sector, with a special focus on capital investment in the development of quality seeds, fertilisers, fodder production and supply, manufacturing of agricultural machinery and equipment and irrigation projects. Along with this, Artificial Intelligence (AI), blockchain and related digital services are also being promoted in the state to meet the current challenges in agriculture and food processing value chain.
The Madhya Pradesh government has taken initiatives to set up mega food parks, agro-processing clusters, integrated cold chain and value-added infrastructure, enhancing food processing and preservation capabilities.
Several measures are also being taken to boost the agriculture, food and dairy processing sectors. Along with the Central Government initiative of PM Formalization of Micro Food Processing, the state government is working for capacity building of state entrepreneurs and providing support to farmer producer organisations, self-help groups and helping unorganised micro food processing enterprises to face the challenges. Producer cooperatives and cooperative societies enable micro enterprises to avail common services along their entire value chain.
The size of the world food processing market in the year 2021 was $5.7 trillion. The sector is expected to grow at a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 7.60 percent by the year 2030, with Asia Pacific being the leading area in the region.
Emerging markets like India, Indonesia, China, Malaysia will drive rapid global growth. Manufacturing and pre-production will rapidly move to these markets to get closer to the growing customer base. India's food manufacturing industry is worth over US Dollar 400 billion and is expected to grow. It will reach US Dollar 535 billion by the year 2025-26. India has a strong position in food production globally and is ranked as the second largest producer of agricultural and allied sector products after China.