Global food woes spur largest ever grain storage programme
Centre may merge schemes under various ministries to develop scheme
NEW DELHI: India is working on developing the “world’s largest grain storage” programme by merging various schemes of the Union ministries of agriculture and farmers welfare; consumer affairs, food and public distribution; and food processing, two people aware of the development said.
The proposal, which has been circulated among the Union ministries and departments for consultations, comes amid rising global food prices in the wake of disruptions caused by the war in Europe and the covid-19 pandemic.
Nations are increasingly worried about their food security after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine disrupted the world’s foodgrain supply, sending prices to record levels.
The two nations are among the world’s top grain exporters, especially wheat and barley. While India was less affected by the disruption in grain supplies, prices of edible oil and many other foods shot up sharply because of disruptions in production and shipping.
Though India has the world’s highest arable land, the country suffers from low agricultural productivity. The country can play a larger role in global food markets by raising the productivity of Indian farms.
Adequate grain supplies have, however, allowed India to provide subsidized food to the poor following the pandemic despite the Ukraine war.
India extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana to provide free foodgrain to the poor by an additional three months till 31 December, taking the scheme’s total expenditure to ₹3.91 trillion.
Queries emailed to a spokesperson of the Union ministry of cooperation on 30 November and spokespeople for the ministries of agriculture and farmers welfare; consumer affairs, food and public distribution; food processing on 29 November remained unanswered till press time.
India’s centrally held cereal stocks, which supply subsidized grains to nearly 800 million people, slipped to a five-year low this year, Food Corporation of India (FCI) data showed.
FCI, a statutory body under the ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, is responsible for the storage of grains to help meet the requirements of the public distribution system and other welfare schemes undertaken by the government of India, such as the PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana.
The storage capacity for central pool stocks in the past five years varied from 75 million tonnes (mt) to 85 mt, according to FCI.
“We have been lagging behind in terms of stored grains and storage capacity. So now, the government is trying to ramp up. The most important thing in the storage plan will be to see if it’s going to modern storage or if the old system will be followed, where each man carries a sack and builds a storage pyramid. A mechanized system is far more transparent and much more modern. We don’t even have 2 million tonnes of storage in silos. The storage plan has been in the works for a long time, and it’s only now the government is trying to implement it,” said Ashok Gulati, agricultural economist and former chairman of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices.
To meet any contingency situation such as drought, a strategic reserve of 2 mt of rice and 3 mt of wheat is maintained at the national level at different FCI godowns, out of the foodgrain procured at the minimum support price, the ministry had said in a written reply to a parliamentary question in September 2020.
While India has made gains over the past decade, it is still ranked 68th in a food security index of 113 nations published by the Economist Impact and Corteva Inc.