Grain Storage Scheme – uttamhindu.com

information and broadcasting Giving information about the grain storage scheme of the Central Government, Minister Anurag Thakur said that the cabinet has approved the ‘world’s largest grain storage scheme’ in the cooperative sector. On investment, he said the program would start “with an outlay of about one lakh crore rupees”. Under the scheme, a godown of 2000 tonnes capacity will be set up in each block. This will help in strengthening the cooperative sector, as Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) can diversify into food grain storage. There are one lakh PACS in the country, of which around 63,000 are operational. Thakur said the country’s food grain production is about 3,100 lakh tonnes, while the storage capacity is only 47 per cent of the total production. He said that in developed economies, the storage capacity is much more than the quantity of production. Asked about the source of funding, Thakur said funds available with the ministries of agriculture, food processing and food and consumer affairs would be used for this. He said that at present, the grain storage capacity in the country is currently 1,450 lakh tonnes.

Now a storage capacity of 700 lakh tonnes will be set up in the cooperative sector. This will increase the total storage capacity to 2,150 lakh tonnes. Regarding the benefits of capacity building, the minister said that creation of decentralized storage capacity at the local level would reduce wastage of food grains and strengthen the country’s food security system. This will drastically reduce the cost of transporting food grains to procurement centers and then moving the stock from godowns to ration shops. Cabinet approves constitution of an Inter-Ministerial Committee to facilitate ‘World’s Largest Grain Storage Scheme in Cooperative Sector’ by integrating various schemes of Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution and Ministry of Food Processing Industries Gave. To ensure time-bound and uniform implementation of the scheme, the Ministry of Cooperation will implement the project on a pilot basis in at least 10 selected districts of different states and union territories.

It is clear from what Minister Anurag Thakur said about the objective of the scheme that it will strengthen the country’s food security and reduce crop losses. The maximum benefit of the grain storage scheme is going to be given to the small farmer who is not in a position to keep his produce in a safe place, the merchant class takes advantage of the above mentioned weakness of the small farmer. Storage of grains in the cooperative sector will secure the economic interests of the farmers, while the fear of grain crisis in the country will also end. Overall, it can be said that the scheme of grain storage in the cooperative sector meets the demand of the time and is in the interest of the farmers and the country.

– Irwin Khanna (Chief Editor, Dainik Uttam Hindu)