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Punjab seeks 35 lakh tonne more space as food grain storage crisis looms
Of 260 lakh tonne storage of all types available in the state, 195 lakh tonne is already occupied and 135 lakh more is expected to need storage in 4-5 months
Chandigarh In an admission that a food grain (wheat and rice) storage crisis looms ahead, the Punjab food and civil supplies department has asked the Centre to allow storage of 35 lakh tonne by way of covered area plinths (CAP). This means that the state will hire open spaces on which grain, mostly, wheat will be stored on a raised platform and covered with tarpaulin. Of 260 lakh tonne storage of all types available in the state, 195 lakh tonne is already occupied and 135 lakh more is expected to need storage in 4-5 months.
“It is a crisis situation. Our godowns are full, as the wheat and rice of previous two years is still to be moved out. We have asked for more space from the government of India and are floating tenders shortly,” director agriculture, Anandita Mitra told HT. She added that the department had carried out a storage gap analysis with the state procurement agencies – Markfed, Punsup, Pungrain and ware housing corporation. The bids would be called for storage for three years.
In the rabi marketing season that starts from April 1, 135 lakh tonne additional wheat will need storage in godowns. Currently, there is 155 lakh tonne of storage capacity in covered godowns in which the state agencies store 10% over the capacity. Of 111 lakh tonne wheat that is stored in state godowns, 63 lakh tonne is in covered godowns and 48 lakh tonne is still in open, facing the vagaries of weather. In addition, 84 lakh tonne of rice is also stored in the state godowns.
‘Slow movement from godowns worrying’
What is worrying the government is the slow movement of rice and wheat from the state godowns to consuming states, by the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which is the centre’s agency for the public distribution system. “The average monthly movement of wheat from the state is 7 lakh tonne and rice is 6 lakh tonne. This is 2-3 lakh tonne less the monthly average of the previous year. We are making temporary arrangements to store wheat in rice mills,” said an officer in the food directorate.
The CAP storage capacity in state is 100 lakh tonne and 5.75 lakh tonne is stored in silos. “Through this, the total movement would be 50 lakh tonne and going by situation, we will face a tough time in managing wheat storage,” the officer said, adding that the FCI had been asked to move stocks faster.
As per the storage gap analysis Amritsar, Ferozepur, Tarn Taran, Muktsar, Gurdaspur, Nawanshahr, Hoshiarpur, Rupnagar, Mohali and Patiala need storage space, where as requirement in Faridkot, Mansa, and Bathinda was found to be negligible. The department is also studying the vulnerability of existing CAP storage centres to the vagaries of weather.
