Abstract:
India is an agrarian country with a long history
of traditional food processing practices and Short food
supply chains (SFSC). However, last few decades saw a
huge investment and steady increase in large scale integrated food processing units to combat globalization, food
security and India’s export demands. Recent outbreak of
COVID-19 has manifested the drawbacks in the existing
production and supply chain system with a wide range of
issues and enforces the need for a more balanced approach.
This scenario can be commonly observed in many other
agrarian developing nations. This article discusses various
issues concerning the existing integrated food processing
sectors such as high energy consumption, greenhouse gas
emissions and food insecurity during disasters and pandemic outbreaks. Moreover, we emphasise a more sustainable approach with a better balance and understanding
between SFSC and integrated food processing. A potential
solution in this scenario would be, rejuvenating SFSC and
traditional food processing approaches along with integrated food processing units. An approach of this kind,
opens up new possibilities for a next generation processsupply system.
