REGULATION OF COLD STORES
Most of the problems relating to the marketing of fruits and vegetables can be traced to their perishability. Perishability is responsible for high marketing costs, market gluts, price fluctuations and other similar problems. At low temperature, perishability is considerably reduced and the shelf life is increased and thus the importance of cold storage or refrigeration.
The first cold store in India was reported to have been established in Calcutta in 1892. However significant progress in the expansion of the cold storage industry in the country has been made only after independence.
An ad-hoc survey of the cold stores carried out by the directorate of marketing and inspection in 1955 showed that the total available cold storage in the country was only 77 thousand tonnes. The survey also highlighted the need to regulate the cold storage industry in a planned manner.
With a view to ensuring the observance of proper conditions in the cold stores and to providing for development of the industry in a scientific manner, the govt of India and the ministry of agriculture promulgated an order known as "cold storage order, 1964" under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act,1955. The order is applicable in respect of every cold store with a capacity more than 8.4 cu m. The jurisdiction of this Order extends to the whole of India except West Bengal. Under this order, it is obligatory on every operator of the cold store to obtain a licence from the Licensing Officer before using the installation for storing any food stuffs eg. fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy products. The Agricultural Marketing Advisor to the govt of India is the Licensing Officer.
The directorate of marketing and inspection is enforcing the cold storage order. The field staff posted in the regional and sub offices located in different states regularly inspects the cold stores and offers necessary guidance for better and scientific preservation of foodstuffs. Besides the directorate of marketing and inspection gives general guidance on all technical matters concerning the setting up of cold stores to the intending entrepreneurs.
The govt of India constituted a Central Cold Storage Advisory Committee consisting of official and non official members, representing the growers, owners, machinery manufacturers, research organizations etc. The Committee advises the govt on all matters pertaining to the enforcement of Cold Storage Order and the future development of the industry.
At the end of 1973-74 there were 1503 cold stores in the country with a capacity of 18.70 lakh tonnes. Uttar Pradesh had the maximum number of cold stores of 9.37 lakh tonnes followed by Bihar with 169 cold stores with 2.10 lakh tonnes capacity and West Bengal with 133 cold stores with 3.15 lakh tonnes capacity.
Out of 1217 cold stores licensed during 1970, 1021 representing 84% of the total were owned by the private sector, whereas 121 and 75 were owned by the public and co-operative sector respectively. The respective capacity are 13.88 lakh tonnes, 0.25 lakh tonnes and 0.73 lakh tonnes. Though numerically the cold stores in the co-operative sector were less than those in the public sector the capacity was more. The National Co-operative Development Corporation(NCDC) has formulated a scheme for financial assistance for setting up new cold stores in the co-operative sector.
Potato is the most important commodity which is presently placed in the cold stores accounting for as much as 92 % of the total capacity in the country. The remaining 8% is being utilized for other perishables viz. fruits, vegetables, meat, sea-foods, dairy and poultry products.
With the attainment of self-sufficiency in the production of food grains, greater attention is being paid to the increased production of protective foods such as fruits, vegetables, fish, poultry and dairy products. These products being highly perishable are required to be kept in cold stores. Owing to the inadequate cold storage facilities at present considerable losses occur in the case of these commodities. There is enough scope for expanding the cold-storage industry with a view to providing facilities for preserving and prolonging the shelf life of these protective foods which are essential for human health.
Consumer protection. In the marketing process the producers and consumers are the two weak ends of the chain. It is incumbent on the part of the govt to protect the interests of both of them. Producers are are sought to be protected through the regulation of the markets, grading at the producers level and other similiar measures . Consumer's interests on the other hand are safeguarded by grading under 'Agmark' at the level of traders. The progress towards making the consumer quality conscious is slow. With the growing popularity of semi-processed foods the danger of sub-standard food articles being marketed has become manifold. With this in view steps have been taken in many directions. eg. Acts relating to grading and standardisation of agricultural commodities, certification marks in respect of manufactured goods, pure food laws, laws relating to weights and measures, and laws relating to the manufacture of fruits and vegetable products have been passed and enforced. Commodities such as ghee, vegetable oils, butter, honey and powdered spices are being graded and marked under 'Agmark' under the provisions of the Agricultural Produce (Grading and Marking) Act 1937. The Agmark attempts to provide a third party guarantee for the consumer. It not only certifies the purity of the product but also gives an indication of their quality by the grade-desiganting mark. The economic incentive to the producer-manufacturer is reflected in the premium the Agmarked product fetches in the market over the ungraded products.
Running parallel to the enforcement of laws, certain measures to complement the effort of achieving the overall objective of consumer protection are also being adopted. Monopoly procurement of foodgrains being operated by the Food corporation of India and other state departments achieves the two objectives of ensuring a remunerative price to the farmers and a uniform and reasonable price commensurate with the quality of the produce to the consumers.
The task of consumer education and protection is formidable and the govt machinery alone will be inadequate to accomplish this task. There is a need of active consumers' movement as in other countries. The Consumers' Guidance Society has been established with the objective of educating the consumers about their rights and responsibilities and advising them on the quality of products available in the market. Similiarly it has advised the producers and manufacturers to abide by such standards as are necessary for the health and safety of the users.
