Successive years of record foodgrain production have left government warehouses saddled with tonnes of grain, far in excess of the requirement. According to official estimates in early June, the government had about 65 million tonnes (mt) of grains in its warehouses, but its total storage capacity, which included covered area plinth (CAP), was estimated to be 63 mt. The Food Corporation of India (FCI), the government’s nodal agency for procurement storage and distribution of grains, is responsible to ensure that not only the grains are stored properly, but are distributed to states. In an interview with Sanjeeb Mukherjee, chairman and managing director Shiraj Hussain said by the end of financial year 2012, the country should have the required storage capacity. Edited excerpts:
How good or bad is the current grain storage scenario in the country?
As on early June, we had foodgrains stocks of 65 mt, while cumulative storage available with FCI, state warehouses and others totalled 63 mt, which means that more than 90 per cent of the foodgrain available in the country is kept in scientific facilities.
Why is this space scarcity?
One big and most important reason is the low off take by the states of the additional grains allocated by the centre. The corporation works on the philosophy of input and output. Meaning, as grains come by way of procurement it is offloaded through regular PDS allocations. But, if one side is not working, then it creates a huge storage crisis.
For example in May 2010, the government had made an ad hoc allocation of 3 mt of wheat and rice to the states, of which only 40 per cent was lifted within the validity period, which expired in December.
Similarly in January 2011, special additional allocation of 2.5 mt of grains was done, of which just 21 per cent was lifted by June. Lifting of ad hoc allocations for the above poverty line families is not only poor, even for the below poverty line families it is not up to the mark.
So, how do you tackle that?
We have written to the states to improve their lifting so as to create space. Also, we try and shift as much as possible from producing states to the consuming ones for which support from the railways has been enlisted.
What are the procurement levels this year, particularly of wheat?
Wheat procurement this year is expected to be 27.9 mt, which is an all-time high. And for rice, as on June 28 this was almost 31.28 mt.
The country is gearing up for the Food Security Bill, which will entail upping the annual grain procurement to almost 65-70 mt annually, from the current level of 55-60 million tonnes. How do you plan to create storage capacities for this added volume?
We have embarked on an ambitious programme to create additional storage capacity of 15 mt in the next couple of years, of which almost 4 mt will come into operation by the end of this financial year. So presently, we have storage of 63 mt and by the end of this year, it will rise to 67-68 mt. Hence, we are well prepared to meet the requirements under the proposed Food Security Act.