Roadmap for Answer Writing Introduction Introduce the importance of agricultural storage in ensuring food security and reducing wastage. Briefly mention India’s agricultural production and the role of storage in managing surpluses and ensuring quality food distribution. 1. Key Challenges in Agricultural Storage in India Insufficient ...
In India, cereals and pulses are primarily procured by agriculture marketing societies like FCI and NAFED, whereas milk procurement is done through cooperative societies like AMUL. Procurement by cooperative societies gains both stakeholders' trust as well as public confidence, while procurement undRead more
In India, cereals and pulses are primarily procured by agriculture marketing societies like FCI and NAFED, whereas milk procurement is done through cooperative societies like AMUL. Procurement by cooperative societies gains both stakeholders’ trust as well as public confidence, while procurement undertaken by agriculture marketing societies is often mired in controversy due to various problems.
Issues in the procurement and marketing of cereals and pulses in India:
- Quality grading: The absence of grading or sorting machines in most of the procurement centers leads to the absence of positive incentives for better quality.
- Malpractices in awarding MSP: Due to the absence of grading and encouraging collusion, commodities not qualified for FAQ (fair average quality) are also getting minimum support price (MSP) for which it is otherwise ineligible.
- Episodic procurement: Cereals and pulses procurement happens only once in the Rabi and Kharif seasons, which leaves out farmers who harvest off-season.
- Absence of forward and backward linkages: It impacts the marketing capacity of farmers. They have to sell to local buyers, who don’t guarantee the minimum price.
- Delay in payments: FCI and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) often face a cash crunch as they are dependent on budget allocations.
Model of the milk sector in dealing with issues related to cereals and pulses procurement and marketing in India:
- Transparency: Quality checking through machinery like a lactometer and a centrifuge machine in the milk sector helps farmers to be immune from fraud related to the grading of stock.
- Ease of doing business: Minimal or no restrictions on quantity to sell. It helps small and marginal farmers to sell their products along with the large farmers who generally have greater bargaining power.
- Round-the-year procurement: Like milk collection undertaken every day, allowing agriculture marketing societies to procure cereals and pulses 365 days a year can help those farmers who want to sell according to the market dynamics.
- Dedicated service: Like milk sector co-operatives, agriculture marketing societies need to devote time, energy, and domain expertise to ensure both forward and backward linkages for a smooth marketing mechanism.
- Regular payments: The milk sector is known for daily or weekly payments, which ensure income security for dairy farmers. Such liquidity flow can be adopted by financially empowering agriculture marketing societies as it will build trust among farmers and encourage them to sell produce to the agriculture marketing societies.
- Creating equity fund: The district milk union retains 25 to 50 paise per liter from the payments to dairy farmers to consolidate funds for building their own infrastructure and for other expenses. Such an independent source of income would make agriculture marketing societies less dependent on governments.
The newly established Ministry of Cooperation in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare can adopt the best practices of the milk sector from the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra into the agriculture procurement and marketing societies. Agri Infra Fund as well as the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) of NABARD can be used to strengthen the cereals and pulses procurement and marketing mechanism in India.
Model Answer Key Challenges in Agricultural Produce Storage in India Insufficient Storage Capacity India’s current food grain storage capacity is 145 million metric tonnes (MMT), which is far less than the total food production of 311 MMT, creating a storage gap of 166 MMT. This shortage limits theRead more
Model Answer
Key Challenges in Agricultural Produce Storage in India
India’s current food grain storage capacity is 145 million metric tonnes (MMT), which is far less than the total food production of 311 MMT, creating a storage gap of 166 MMT. This shortage limits the ability to store surplus grains, especially during peak production seasons, leading to inefficiencies and losses.
Many storage facilities lack proper hygiene and infrastructure, resulting in post-harvest losses due to spoilage and infestation. For example, about 10% of the 1,000 lakh metric tonnes of wheat produced annually are lost due to inadequate storage methods. These practices compromise the quality of food grains.
Storage capacity is unevenly distributed across states. While southern states boast a storage capacity close to 90% of their food production, northern states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar fall short, with storage capacity below 50%. This regional disparity exacerbates food security concerns in areas with inadequate storage.
Cold storage is crucial for preserving perishable items like fruits and vegetables, but India faces a shortage in this area. Most existing cold storage is allocated for potatoes, leading to significant post-harvest losses for other crops. This lack of infrastructure affects the overall efficiency of the agricultural supply chain.
Measures to Address Storage Challenges
India must scale up the use of metal silos, which provide better and more scientific storage options. This will improve the handling and longevity of grains, reducing losses.
Storage facilities should be decentralized and set up at the village and Panchayat levels. This is particularly beneficial for small farmers who do not have access to large storage units.
Excess agricultural stock should be managed through measures such as exports or selling surplus in open markets. This would reduce pressure on existing storage facilities.
Private investment in agricultural storage, including cold storage and warehouses, should be incentivized. Encouraging competition will reduce costs and improve infrastructure availability.
The government is already implementing measures like the SAMPADA Yojana and Save Grain Campaign to improve storage. The establishment of an Inter-Ministerial Committee for a large grain storage initiative in the cooperative sector further aims to address these gaps
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