Guidelines for Entrepreneurs
Features Of Agro-Industry
The Agro industries processes raw materials which are subject to seasonality, perishability and variability. There are also cyclic variations in their availability. These unique features of Agro industries' necessitate the industries' integration with the farmers to source raw material supply. In addition to this, the decision of selecting an agricultural product depends upon the demand -supply position, procurement of proper machinery, appropriate technology, scale of operations and the profit margin. In case of Agro Industry, product selection also depends on degree of processing envisaged. Agro Industry can be from simple handing and preservation of fresh fruits and vegetable to highly complex products like ready to eat foods etc. This is clearly shown in the following table:
I II III IV
Manual-Mechanical* Mechanical* Mechanical-Chemical* Chemical*
Types of Processing Activity
Cleaning Ginning Cooking Texturization
Grading Milling Pasteurization Chemical
Packing* Cutting Canning Alteration
Pre-cooling* Mixing Dehydration  
Refrigerated Vans*   Freezing  
Cold storage with   Weaving  
multi-chambers*      
Retail outlets*   Extraction  
    Assembly  
Fresh Fruits Cereal Dairy Products Instant foods
  Grains Fruits and Vegetable Textured
Fresh Vegetable Meat   Vegetable
  Spices Meats Products
Eggs Animal Feeds Sauces  
    Textiles and Garments  
  Jute    
  Cotton Oil  
  Lumber Furniture  
  Rubber Sugar  
    Beverages  
As you move from level I towards level IV, the technology inputs required, the investment requirements, and complexity of management, specially marketing of finished products, becomes more and more complex. Level I also covers the entire cold chain from the farms to the consumers for handling fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers.
 
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