Kerala's agriculture principal secretary and Agricultural Production Commissioner, Dr B Ashok, won the prize for the best 'policy paper' at the 16th Round of Mid-Career Training Programme Phase-V held at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, from April 7 to 25. 

His paper 'Harnessing India's Agri-Processing & Value Addition Sector' was chosen as the best from among those presented by 40 top civil servants in the country who have completed 26-28 years of service. 

The officers were asked to pick a topic of their choice and submit a write-up of 2500 words in the first week of training. There was one condition, though: The paper should not contain tables or figures. On test, therefore, was not just subject knowledge and analytical acumen but also communication skills. 

Ashok began with the status of India's agri-processing and value addition sector; the investments made in the sector in the last decade, its turnover, export performance and also the employment it had generated.

Once the context was provided, Ashok made a comparative analysis of India's agri-processing sector and that of global leaders. He, for instance, noted that more than 80% of agri produce in America are processed. In the European Union countries, the average was 70%. In China, it was 40%, and in Brazil, 50%. 

But in India, it was just 10%. Ashok noted that there were low levels of processing, especially in perishables like fruits and vegetables. He also noted that India is second in production but 18th in the processing of fruits and vegetables.

This set the stage for him to explain the importance of agri-value addition and processing. First of all, he said that over 40% of perishables are lost after harvest, and this meant an annual loss of nearly Rs one lakh crore. Further, he said that processed goods fetched two to three times the returns from raw goods. 

He gave examples of agri-commodities with high value-addition potential. In fruits and vegetables, there were banana, mango, tomato, onion, and potato. In plantation crops, coconut and cashew. In spices, black pepper, cardamom, ginger, garlic, nutmeg, and clove. In medicinal plants, aloe vera, lemon grass oil, amla, and ashwagandha. 

Ashok then listed six structural bottlenecks that stood in the way of value addition. One, post-harvest infrastructure deficit. Two, inadequate cold chain and storage. Three, fragmented supply chains and smallholder dominance (86% of Indian farmers are small/marginal). Four, finance & regulatory barriers (70% of food processors are unregistered MSMEs. Setting up a processing unit requires more than 12 regulatory clearances). Five, low tech adoption and skilled manpower. Six, high logistics costs. 

After the problems came the solutions. Ashok offered seven. 

One, align state-level policies with national goals for cluster-based processing zones. A national goal, for instance, is infrastructure development. Ashok's state-level policy recommendation is the investment in cold storage, transportation and market linkages. He gave the cold storage infrastructure linked to dairy processing in Tamil Nadu as example. For skill development, another national goal, he cited the skill centres for spice processing in Kerala. 

Two, infrastructure and institutional support for agri-value chain clusters. He called for private participation in the area. Three, integration of food processing outlets, cooperatives and self-help groups into commercial value chains. 

Four, participation of startups and rural entrepreneurs in agri-processing innovation, quality assessment and scale-up support. Ashok argued that startups are using disruptive technologies such as blockchain, AI and the Internet of Things (IoT) for quality control and smart farming. For AI-driven farm management, he referred to the Bengaluru-based Cropin. For IoT and AI-driven quality testing, he held up Mohali-based AgNext.

Five, innovative policy incentives to attract private investment in rural agri-processing clusters. ‘Green processing bonus’ (for units adopting solar, biofuel, or zero-carbon tech) and ‘quality tech integration fund’ (interest subvention or matching grants for IoT, traceability, and blockchain adoption) are two of Ashok's several policy recommendations in this area. 

Six, creation of a skilled workforce for rural agri-processing, and this included women-focused support. 

Seven, leveraging GI (geographical indicator) and indigenous foods for value addition and global premium markets. Banarasi Langda mango, and Araku Coffee were his examples for GI cluster branding. Chhattisgarh’s tribal tamarind & mahua units were his mascots for export-processing units. 

Under this, he also highlighted the importance of story-telling, the use of social media to link origin, community impact and wellness value of a product. For instance, the cosmetic company Forest Essentials speaks about how ayurvedic products are sourced from tribals.

Ashok also suggested regulatory reforms to simplify compliance for small and medium food processors. For instance, he said the multiplicity of regulatory agencies (FSSAI, Pollution Control, Labour) was creating confusion.

He then cited official data to show that agri-processing can create 10 million jobs by 2030.

When asked whether his winning paper will be part of India’s agri-processing policy, Ashok said: “Not necessarily. But it is shared with the concerned ministries.”