In India, surplus grains are stored with government agencies like Food Corporation of India (FCI) and Central and State warehousing Corporations. As per the report of ICAR-Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET), around 5-6% of total food grain production is lost owing to various issues associated with storage and management of food grains in India.

These include

• Inefficient procurement strategy: The procurement for wheat and rice remains open-ended, but the disbursal of these stocks remains largely restricted to Public Distribution System only. On 1 January 2020, the actual food grain stock with the FCI was more than three times the stocking norms of 21.4 MT. Due to this, the gap between the storage facilities and the food grains stock in the central pool held by FCI has been increasing in recent years.
• Improper storage management: Often the stock stored in the warehouse remains in storage for more than its shelf life making it prone to rodents, moisture, pests. Also, this storage space cannot be utilized for fresh stock arrivals of the next season.
• Unscientific storage infrastructure: About 80 per cent handling and warehousing facilities are not mechanized and traditional methods for loading, unloading and handling of food grains are used. Much of the stock also gets damaged because of seepage of water in the absence of proper plinth or height of ground or due to floods and rains.
• Issues with cold storage: India’s cold storage capacity is unorganized and its distribution is highly uneven across the states. The existing cold storage lacks supporting infrastructure such as integrated pack-houses, reefer trucks, ripening units etc.

In this regard, the government has taken various steps to improve the situation. These are

• National Policy on Handling and Storage of Food Grains, 2000, to reduce storage and transit losses at farm and commercial level and to modernize the system.
• Private Entrepreneurship Guarantee Scheme formulated in 2008 in which storage capacity is created by private parties, Central Warehousing Corporation and state governed agencies for guaranteed hiring by the FCLA central scheme is being implemented in the North Eastern States along with Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Kerala where funds are released by government to FCI or state governments for construction of godowns.
• In addition to conventional godowns, construction of steel silos has been undertaken in PPP mode.
• Various government guidelines on Cover and Plinth storage, covering of stacks, regular monitoring mechanism and First-In-First-Out principle are being implemented.
• Government is supporting the creation of well-equipped scientific storage facilities to the farmers through the scheme of Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure.
• Government is also funding research in radiation techniques through Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) and BARC to extend the shelf life of food products.

Recently, the government has announced a Rs 1 trillion fund for entrepreneurs to set up facilities to procure, store and market agricultural produce. Apart from these steps, the government needs to act on the recommendations of Ashok Dalwai Committee such as promoting integrated agro- logistics systems and preparing a district and state wise storage plan.