On World Food Day, Agrizy has highlighted the role of technology-led quality assurance in reducing avoidable food waste by ensuring that products meet prescribed quality standards throughout processing. While India continues to record strong agricultural output, the challenge extends beyond production to ensuring that food is processed safely, maintains its quality and reaches consumers.
India’s food grain production for 2025-26 is estimated to reach a record 376.56 million tonnes, representing a 5.3% increase, or nearly 18.8 million tonnes, over the previous year. Fruit production is estimated at 121.48 million tonnes, up 3.25%, while vegetable production is projected at 221 million tonnes. Despite this growing output, only 4.5% of fruits and 2.7% of vegetables are currently processed, indicating significant scope for expansion. The Union Minister for Food Processing Industries has called for the country’s overall food processing level to increase to around 25% by 2030. Alongside expanding processing capacity, stronger quality assurance and fewer avoidable product rejections will be important to ensure that more agricultural produce reaches consumers.
Agrizy’s approach to reducing food waste centres on quality assurance across the entire value chain, beginning with cultivation and extending through raw material handling, processing and manufacturing. By addressing quality concerns at different stages, the company aims to minimize avoidable losses and improve the utilization of agricultural produce.
At the farm level, Agrizy works with farmers on organic farming and Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practices to support sustainable cultivation and reduce dependence on chemical pesticides. These practices are particularly relevant for crops such as ginger and turmeric, where effective pest management can help maintain produce quality and reduce the risk of pesticide residues exceeding prescribed Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs).
Over the past year, Agrizy has processed nearly 18,500 metric tonnes of fruits and vegetables. Its processing capabilities include pulping, powdering, dehydration and freezing, which help extend the shelf life of perishable produce and retain its quality and nutritional value. These methods also enable agricultural produce to be used across a wider range of food products and applications, helping reduce dependence on immediate consumption or sale after harvest.
Also Read: The Road to Greener Logistics: Jindal Stainless Deploys Electric Trucks
At its manufacturing sites, Agrizy combines established food safety and quality checks with technology-enabled monitoring. IoT-enabled Total Polar Compounds (TPC) meters monitor cooking oil degradation, while temperature-monitoring devices track cooking temperatures. IoT-enabled computer vision systems also monitor hygiene practices, including the use of gloves, hairnets etc., These checks help teams identify deviations early and take corrective action to maintain production standards.
By focusing on quality from cultivation and raw material handling through processing and manufacturing, Agrizy aims to reduce avoidable product rejection and food wastage, helping more of the produce grown reach customers in usable form.
Mr. Vicky Dodani, Co Founder and CEO, Agrizy said: “Technology helps our teams identify deviations early and take corrective action before they affect product quality, making it proactive rather than reactive. These checks prevent the rejection and wastage that would otherwise follow, and by strengthening quality control at the source we have reduced rejection rates by 50 percent. Reducing food waste starts with getting quality right, from the very beginning.”
Public investment is building a strong backbone. Under PMKSY, 311 [NM7.1] completed integrated cold chain projects have created preservation capacity of 46.83 lakh metric tonnes [NM8.1] and processing capacity of 153.01 lakh metric tonnes [NM9.1] a year. The PLI scheme for food processing has drawn investments of more than Rs 9,000 crore [NM10.1] and employment for over 3 lakh people [NM11.1], with sales of supported products up 10.58 percent [NM12.1] and export sales up 7.41 percent [NM13.1]. With fruit and vegetable output above 340 million tonnes [NM14.1] a year, India has significant scope to strengthen processing and preservation closer to farms. Agrizy believes that processing facilities located near production clusters, supported by reliable quality systems and access to buyers, can help reduce avoidable losses and create better opportunities for farmers and processors..
Climate adds urgency. The 2026 monsoon ended at 87 percent [NM15.1] of the long period average, the lowest since 2015 [NM16.1], so produce can arrive in sudden surges or not at all. Processing close to the farm gate turns that uncertainty into an opportunity, because a preserved, safe product can reach buyers long after the harvest. It is a climate adaptation strategy as much as an efficiency play.
On World Food Day, Agrizy believes the next step for India’s food processing sector is not just to process more food, but to ensure that more of what is processed meets quality standards and reaches consumers. This requires investment in processing and infrastructure near farming clusters, shared testing and packaging facilities for smaller processors, and technology that helps identify quality issues early. By combining stronger infrastructure with technology-led quality assurance, India can make better use of the food it grows and reduce avoidable wastage across the value chain.
