{"id":284268,"date":"2024-02-24T19:00:47","date_gmt":"2024-02-24T13:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=284268"},"modified":"2024-02-26T17:43:09","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T12:13:09","slug":"kurukshetra-feb-2024-summary-food-storage-infrastructure-explained-pointwise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/kurukshetra-feb-2024-summary-food-storage-infrastructure-explained-pointwise\/","title":{"rendered":"[Kurukshetra Feb 2024 Summary] Food Storage Infrastructure- Explained Pointwise"},"content":{"rendered":"

A resilient food storage infrastructure holds the key to agri-food systems sustainability in India. It will ensure food and nutrition security for our future generations, and also help us achieve our socio-economic, and environmental development goals.<\/p>\n

\"Storage
Source- Yojana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n
Table of Contents<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
What is Food Storage Infrastructure Systems?<\/a>
\nWhat is the importance of Food Storage Infrastructure System?<\/a>
\nWhat are the Govt Initiatives for Food Infrastructure in India?<\/a>
\nWhat are the Challenges in the Food Storage Infrastructure?<\/a>
\nWhat should be the way forward?<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>What is Food Storage Infrastructure Systems?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

Storage Infrastructure-<\/strong><\/span> Storage infrastructure plays a critical link in the whole system of food grains procurement to its distribution for consumption.<\/p>\n

Types of Storage Infrastructure in India
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
Traditional Storage Structures<\/strong><\/td>\nKanaja<\/span>, Kothi<\/span>, Sanduka<\/span>, earthern pots<\/span>, Gummi<\/span> and Kacheri<\/span> are different types of traditional storage infrastructure in India. 60-70% of grains<\/span> are stored on the farm in these traditional structures.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Modern storage structures<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nWarehouses<\/span> and farm silos<\/span> are the modern storage structures used in India. These are scientific in nature, especially constructed for the protection of quantity and quality of stored products.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>What is the importance of Food Storage Infrastructure System?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Avoiding the Post Harvest Losses-<\/strong> As per NABARD study<\/span>, there are large post harvest losses in the agricultural and allied sectors (Cereals<\/span>~4-6%, Pulses<\/span>~6%, Fruits<\/span>~6-15%). The use of scientific food storage methods can reduce the post harvest losses to as low as 1%-2%<\/span>.<\/p>\n

2. Food Security for the large Indian Population-<\/strong> India\u2019s population is projected to grow to 1.64 billion by 2047<\/span>. Strengthened storage infrastructure will help to meet the food demand of the population and creation of sustainable food system<\/span>.<\/p>\n

3. Preventing Collapse of Food Supply System-<\/strong> Resilient food storage system will help in preventing a collapse of the food system in the advent of natural calamities<\/span> (flood<\/span>, droughts<\/span>) and outbreak of pandemics like COVID-19<\/span>.<\/p>\n

4. Economic Support to farmers-<\/strong> The storage infrastructure provides economic support to farmers by ensuring better prices for their produce by reducing the need for distress sales<\/span>.<\/p>\n

5. Employment generation-<\/strong> The construction and operation of these storage facilities help in generating local rural employment<\/span>, thereby boosting rural economies.<\/p>\n

<\/a>What are the Govt Initiatives?<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Integrated <\/strong>Cold Chain and Value Addition Infrastructure scheme<\/strong><\/td>\nThe cold storage capacity of 8.38 lakh MT<\/span> has been created under this scheme.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
National policy on Handling, Storage and Transportation of Food Grains (2000)<\/strong><\/td>\nThis policy promoted the participation of the private sector in building warehouses<\/span> and storage infrastructures.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Food Corporation of India (FCI) schemes\u00a0<\/strong><\/td>\nFCI schemes like private Entrepreneurs Guarantee<\/span> (PEG<\/span>) Scheme<\/span>, Hiring of godown through Private Warehousing Scheme<\/span> (PWS<\/span>) have helped in the creation of 1923 warehouses<\/span> (Owned\/Hired) with a capacity of 371.93 LMT<\/span> for storage of Central Pool food grains.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
World\u2019s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\nThe plan entails creation of various agri infrastructure<\/span> at the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS<\/span>) level, like setting up decentralised godowns<\/span>, custom hiring centres<\/span>, processing units<\/span>, Fair Price Shops <\/span>etc. through convergence of various existing schemes of the Government of India (Gol) under different Ministries.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)<\/strong><\/td>\nPACS has a huge member base of more than 13 crore farmers. NABARD is extending financial support to PACS to create agriculture infrastructure.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tax Benefits<\/strong><\/td>\nThe Income Tax Act, 1961 allows for a deduction of up to 150%<\/span> on expenditures incurred towards setting up cold storage<\/span>. The setting up of cold storage is also exempt from service tax and
\nexcise duty.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

<\/a>What are the Challenges in developing Storage Infrastructure?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

1. Shortage of Storage Infrastructure- <\/strong>There is shortage of storage infrastructure in India to the tune of<\/span> 166 MMT.<\/span>\u00a0(The total food grain production in India is about 311 MMT and total Storage Capacity in India is only 145 MMT).<\/p>\n

\"Agri
Source- Yojana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

2. Prominence of traditional storage infrastructure-<\/strong> 60-70% of grains<\/span> are stored on the farm<\/span> in traditional storage infrastructure<\/span>. However, this Indigenous storage structures are not suitable for storing grains for very long periods.<\/p>\n

3. Inefficiency of PACS and agricultural cooperatives-<\/strong> The Primary Agricultural Credit Societies and the agricultural cooperatives suffer from inefficient capacity in executing storage infrastructure<\/span> works. For ex-<\/strong> Only about 63,000 out of 1 lakh PACS are currently operational in India.<\/p>\n

4. Low Private and Govt investment-<\/strong> Despite the focus of government on creation of modern storage infrastructure, the low CAPEX in the annual budget<\/span> and less private investment has dampened the pace of development of storage infrastructure.<\/p>\n

5. Low Skill Levels-<\/strong> The Indian youth lack the necessary skills to operate and manage these advanced storage facilities.<\/p>\n

<\/a>What should be the way forward?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

1. Promotion of decentralised local storage systems-<\/strong> The promotion of decentralised local storage system<\/span> will reduce the wastage of food grains, strengthen food security and prevent distress sales by farmers.<\/p>\n

2. Increasing investment in the post-harvest infrastructure-<\/strong> Efforts must be made to increase investment in modernisation of warehousing<\/span>, logistics, cold chain, food processing, and integrated value chain development<\/p>\n

3. Modernization of the existing storage to include horticultural crops-<\/strong> The existing warehousing infrastructure must be modernised to include perishable commodities<\/span> like fruits, vegetables, milk, meat, fish, etc., which have high post harvest losses.<\/p>\n

4. Exploration of PPP and FPO route-<\/strong> The PPP and FPO route must be explored to create modern storage systems<\/span> in India.<\/p>\n

5. Training and Skill Development-<\/strong> The youth must be made skilful by training them in creation and maintenance of modern storage systems in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read More- The Hindu Businessline<\/a>
\nUPSC Syllabus- GS 3- Indian Agriculture<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A resilient food storage infrastructure holds the key to agri-food systems sustainability in India. It will ensure food and nutrition security for our future generations, and also help us achieve our socio-economic, and environmental development goals. Table of Contents What is Food Storage Infrastructure Systems? What is the importance of Food Storage Infrastructure System? What… Continue reading [Kurukshetra Feb 2024 Summary] Food Storage Infrastructure- Explained Pointwise<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10357,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[130,1,10627],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-284268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-7-pm","category-uncategorized","category-yojana-and-kurukshetra-summary","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10357"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284268\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}