Though the increase in India’s agricultural productivity can be attributed to the green revolution, India’s tryst with organic farming is centuries old.
In 2012, the global market for organic food touched $63 billion. It is estimated that the organic food market will grow at a CAGR of 20 percent right through until 2020. The Indian food services market is expected to touch INR 52 lakh crores by 2022. With an up-tick in volumes, Indian restaurant owners are aspiring to reduce import bills by exploring local sourcing options. For instance, domestically produced cherry tomatoes could cost INR 200 per kilo whereas imported ones could cost INR 1000 per kilos. Since one is relying on domestic producers who understand local sensibilities, tastes and weather conditions, one can expect the quality of products to be higher than mass-produced products from the west.
Increase in Lifestyle-related Diseases
Traditional Indian diet consisted of vegetables and pulses with coarse grains and cooking media like ghee or mustard oil. However, over a period of time, Indians across classes have ended up indulging in food habits which are high in calories and low in nutrients. All these have resulted in an exponent rise of lifestyle-related ailments. As of 2017, a whopping 61 percent of deaths in India occurred due to lifestyle-related diseases and between 2005 and 2015; the number of overweight people in India has doubled. Shockingly, 26 percent of deaths in India were due to cardiovascular diseases.
To counter this, Indians have been adopting several diet fads such as: low carb; high fibre-low calories; liquid diets; and food specific diets. Fasting intermittently has also become popular, although one may argue that fasting has been a part of Indian culture for so long. Such diet fads may reduce calorie intake but they end up causing havoc with daily nutritional needs.
This story is from the March - April 2019 edition of Business Of Agriculture.
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This story is from the March - April 2019 edition of Business Of Agriculture.
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