Plant-based foods offer an excellent opportunity for doubling farmers' income: Plant-based Foods Industry Association

A dedicated session on the 7th day of India Startup 360 AVCC Expo 2022 brought key stakeholders to address steps to empower farmers with plant-based foods opportunities. The virtual meeting was moderated by Dr Parthasarathy Iyengar, CEO, India Startup 360, with a powerful panel of the Plant-Based Foods Industry Association (PBFIA).

Sanjay Sethi led the conversation with an appeal to everyone to support the plant-based foods movement, pointing toward the only plant-based Venture Capital firm present in the meeting- Ahimsa venture capital. He said, "This sector needs more VC firms to come forward and support the hundreds of promising startups in plant-based foods sectors."

Sethi expressed, "Farmer co-operatives can be a paramount step for the plant-based foods industry. The private sector must come forward. There is a rapidly growing global market for protein isolates and India is well-positioned to tap this market. In addition to already popular soy protein and pea protein; there is a need to scale up protein isolates from other commodities: wheat, rice, pulses and millets. India has rich plant biodiversity to be a resourceful logistics for all these commodities. This can bring an opportunity to enable an ecosystem of income generation, train farmers and take initiatives for their skill development."

The key speakers were Pratichee Kapoor, director - Big Bets: the Middle East, Indian Subcontinent & Africa, Indian Subcontinent & Africa, Kerry Ingredients; Pranav Rajkumar, Investment lead - Ahimsa Venture Capital; Joice Mathew, CEO - Jackfruit World; Dr Divya Kummari, from Australia, Former Research Scholar, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Aditi Sharma, Volunteer - PBFIA.

Some of the steps that can help farmers involve seed farming training, fair prices and fair-trade terms, increase participation of women/ youth, warehouse services to hold the supply and avoid food wastage, and establishing more Farmers Producers Organizations.