A Study on the Current Scenario of Different Segments of Food Processing Units in Kerala

Abstract

The food processing industry has vital role in the economic development and can trigger improvement in productivity, agriculture and improve the income of farmers. They can also provide a boost to many small scale industries, but does the food processing sector have any influence in the growth of the economy, do they face problems in the current scenario, what factors are responsible for the constraints that they face, do they have a bright future even after the adverse climatic condition that are prevailing in Kerala. The study focuses its attention on issues that affect the various segments of food processing units and also tries to identify the difficulties faced by the various units. The research design is based on sample survey. The population is 366 units in Trivandrum and for the study, 60 food processing units were selected. It was found that the future prospects of food processing units were to improve market share of their products through cost efficiency and high quality products. For overcoming the marketing problems, the units should adopt some good marketing strategies and make some innovations in marketing methods and government departments have to give awareness and should provide proper guidance about the different schemes of MSMEs.