Context

• It is projected that India’s population will be 1.64 billion by 2047, of which nearly 0.82 billion will be residing in urban areas. There is a need to strengthen the storage infrastructure to meet the food demand of the population and creation of sustainable  food system. 

Magnitude of Food Wastage

• India is the second largest food producer in the world, with an annual production of about 3,100 lakh tonne. However, currently, the country has a food grain  storage capacity of 145 million metric tonnes (MMT) against the total food production of 311 MMT – leaving  a gap of 166 MMT. 
• This means the existing storage infrastructure can only accommodate approximately 47 per cent of the total produce. 
• When compared to the USA and China, which process 65% and 23%, respectively, of their perishables, India is able to process a meagre 7%, which is quite negligible.
• A study by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) concludes that storage is the major cause of post-harvest losses for all kinds of food in India. 
• Poor systems and techniques of handling, storage, and distribution result in post-harvest losses of around 10-16 per cent for major cereal crops, 26 per cent in the case of wheat, and 34 per cent in the case of vegetables and fruits. 
• The use of scientific storage methods can reduce these losses to as low as 1%–2%. 

Types of Storage Methods

• At present, several structures ensure the safe storage of grains, ranging from small metal bins to tall grain elevators/silos. These storage structures are classified under different categories like traditional storage structures, improved storage structures, modern storage structures, and farm silos. 
• At any given time, 60-70% of grains are stored on the farm in traditional structures like Kanaja, Kothi, Sanduka, earthern pots, Gummi and Kacheri. However, indigenous storage structures are not suitable for storing grains for very long periods. 
• The Shanta Kumar Committee (2015) has recommended modernising storage to ensure enhanced quality of food grains, negligible loss as compared to food grains storage in bag, efficient utilisation of land (silo requires 1/3rd land as compared to conventional storage warehouses), higher operational efficiency, and bring in private investment into the sector. 
• Warehouses or Silos are used for bulk storage of grains. Warehouses are scientific storage structures especially constructed for the protection of the quantity and quality of stored products. 

 ‘World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector’

• To address the shortage of food grain storage capacity in the country, the Government last year approved the ‘World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector’, which has been rolled out as a Pilot Project in different states/UTs of the country. 
• The plan entails creation of various agri infrastructure at the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) level, including setting up decentralised godowns, custom hiring centers, processing units, Fair Price Shops, etc. through convergence of various existing schemes of the Government of India (GoI) under different Ministries.
• The new storage plan is based on the hub and spoke model. Of the total 63,000 PACS across the country, 55,767 will function as spokes and will have a grain  storage capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes each, while the remaining 7,233 PACS, which will function as hubs, will have a storage capacity of 2,000 MT each. 
• The plan will let cooperatives set up decentralised storage facilities across the country in a move to reduce the burden on the Food Corporation of India, cut wastage of farm produce, and help farmers plan their sales better. 
• It will converge existing schemes of the Ministry of agriculture and farmers welfare, the Ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, and the Ministry of food processing industries, and it will utilise the funds  available under the schemes for this purpose. 
• The creation of decentralised storage capacity will range from 500 MT to 2000 MT at the PACS level. 

Way Forward

• Modernisation of post-harvest storage infrastructures, improved warehousing capacity, private sector participation, and hands-on–training on scientific storage methodology can empower farmers/stakeholders in the management and storage of agricultural commodities. 
• The promotion of decentralised local storage system will reduce the wastage of food grains, strengthen food security, and prevent distress sales by farmers. 
• The increased investment in modernisation of warehousing, logistics, cold chain, food processing, and integrated value chain development can enable the goal of becoming a development nation and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.