Question : Shortage of Godowns and Cold Storages

(a) whether it is true that there is insufficient number of godowns and cold storages in the country;

(b) if so, the details of godowns and cold storages at present in the country, State-wise;

(c) whether the Government is aware that due to shortage of cold storages/ godowns, agricultural produce either get rotten or farmers have to sell their produce at very low prices;

(d) if so, whether the Government will conduct a survey to find out the quantum of loss of produce and farmers income in value term due to shortage of godowns and cold storages and if so, the details thereof; and

(e) whether the Government is considering to increase/construct more godowns and cold storages to save agriculture produce and loss of income of farmers; and

(f) if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

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(a) to (c): On the basis of peak stock requirement during normal procurement season, the overall storage capacity required for central pool foodgrains in the country is about 650 Lakh Metric Tonnes (LMT). Against this, the total storage capacity available with Food Corporation of India (FCI), Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and the State Agencies, both owned and hired capacity, was 855.98 LMT as on 30.06.2018. This comprised 724.74 LMT covered godowns and 131.24 LMT cover and plinth (CAP) storage. As such, there is sufficient capacity for storage of central pool foodgrains at the national level.

The State-wise details of total number of godowns including silos available with FCI for the storage of central pool stock of foodgrains as on 30.06.2018 are given in Annexure - I.

In a study by NABCONS in 2015 on “All India Cold-chain Infrastructure Capacity (Assessment of Status & Gap)” to assess shortfall in cold-chain infrastructure. The findings of

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the report in respect of cold storages are as follows:

Type of Infrastructure Infrastructure Requirement (A) Infrastructure created (B) All India Gap (A-B)
Cold-storage(Bulk) 341,64,411 MT 318,23,700 MT 32,76,962 MT
Cold-storage(Hub) 9,36,251 MT

As per the report of the study shortfall in number of cold storages was assessed to be within 10% of the nation-wide requirement.

Currently, there are 7916 number of cold storages with capacity of 36.22 million MT in the country (as on 31.03.2018). State wise details of cold storages are at Annexure – II.

(d): At present there is no proposal with Government for conducting a survey to find out the quantum of losses. However, a study was commissioned by Ministry of Food Processing Industries and carried out by Central Institute of Post Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET), Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) which was published in 2015. As per the study quantum of quantitative harvest and post harvest losses were as under:

Crops Cumulative wastage (%)
Cereals 4.65 – 5.99
Pulses 6.36 – 8.41
Oil seeds 3.08 – 9.96
Fruits & Vegetables 4.58 – 15.88
Milk 0.92
Fisheries (Inland) 5.23
Fisheries (Marine) 10.52
Meat 2.71
Poultry Meat 6.74

(e) & (f) Depending on requirement in specific areas and for modernization of the storage facilities, the Government has been implementing the following schemes for construction of godowns including silos in the country:

i. Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) Scheme: Under this Scheme, which was formulated in 2008, storage capacity is created by private parties, Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and State Government Agencies for guaranteed hiring by FCI. A capacity of 141.63 LMT has been created as on 31.05.2018.

ii. Central Sector Scheme: This scheme is implemented in the North Eastern States along with Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand and Kerala. Funds are released by the Government to FCI and also directly to the State Governments for construction of godowns. A capacity of 7,930 MT has been completed by FCI and 5,805 MT by State Governments from 01.04.2017 upto 30.06.2018.

iii. Construction of steel silos: In addition to conventional godowns, construction of steel silos has been undertaken from 2016 for modernizing the storage infrastructure and improving shelf life of stored foodgrains. As on 30.06.2018, a capacity of 6.25 LMT silos has been created.

Further, Government of India is implementing schemes for establishment of cold storages like Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) of Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Pradhan Mantri Kissan SAMPADA Yojana of Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI) under which assistance is available for establishment of cold storage/cold chain. The components are demand and entrepreneur driven from among entrepreneurs, private companies, cooperatives, farmers groups etc. through commercial ventures for which assistance @35% of admissible project cost in general areas and @50% in hilly and schedule area is available as credit linked back ended subsidy.