Silos will save the Farmers from Suicide
Context :
Adani Agri Logistics gets contract from FCI to build 4 silos complexes in UP, Bihar / 14 Oct 2022
Extract :
Adani Agri Logistics Ltd on Friday said it has got contract from state-owned FCI to build four silo complexes in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Adani Agri Logistics Ltd, has received a Letter of Award (LoA) from FCI, to build silo complexes at various locations across the country.
Adani Agri Logistics will develop and operate state-of-the-art silo complexes at four locations creating a total silo storage capacity of 3.5 lakh tonnes.
The silo complexes will benefit farmers across the states of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
Currently, farmers are forced to deal with a waiting period of two to three days while their agricultural produce makes its way through the traditional farm–to–mandi procurement chain. With the implementation of this project, the processing time will be cut down to merely one to two hours.
This project will benefit general consumers and beneficiaries of the PDS (Public Distribution System), besides generating substantial savings on labour costs, gunny bags and transportation.
The silo complexes will be executed under the Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) mode.
With the addition of 3.50 lakh tonnes storage capacity, Adani Agri Logistics Ltd will now have a total of 15.25 lakh tonnes.
The company operates 77 freight trains (42 container trains, 25 bulk trains, 7 agri trains and 3 auto trains), 8,00,000 square feet of warehousing space, 5,000-plus containers, 0.9 million tonnes of grain silos and fleet of 285 own trucks.
==============================
MY TAKE :
Only yesterday , a TV channel showed 40,000 tons of wheat ( procured by FCI ) stored in the open , completely destroyed by rains and rendered unsuitable for human consumption – enough to feed 80 lakh poor people for one month !
For many decades, FCI has neglected to solve this problem by constructing silos, as observed in my following blogs :
Ø Problem of plenty ?.............................
Extract :
By 1st of June 2012 , stock of food grains with FCI ( Food Corporation of India ) will reach 75.7 million tons
But, no more than 50 million tons can be kept under covered storage !
Rest will be left to rot in the open under the monsoon rains
Even as 1.6 million children ( under 5 ) will die of mal-nutrition in 2012
That is 4,384 children every single day !
A panel headed by Mr. C Rangarajan [ Chief Economic Advisor to Prime Minister ] , recommends following way for disposing the “ Surplus “ stock :
1. Export
· 2 million tons …. thru Government Channels
· 1 million tons …. thru Private Channels
2. Distribute
· 8 million tons… to families below poverty line
· 2 million tons… to families above poverty line
Earlier , a Group of Ministers [ GoM ] headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had shot down the proposal to distribute 10 million tons of surplus food grains to poor people because of “ Fiscal Constraints “ !
For him , saving 1.6 million children at a “ Subsidy Cost “ of Rs 19,500 Crores , works out to a whooping Rs 12,187 per child saved !
Ø A Drop in the Ocean ?.............................
Extract :
As per Hindustan Times ( 14 July, 2013 ) report, Food Corporation of India [ FCI ] lost rice and wheat worth Rs 2050 Crores in transit and storage , during last 3 years
That was a mere 1.1 Million tons
What is a mere 1.1 million tons , compared to 50 million tons of grains planned to be distributed to 800 million poor Indians , every year , under Food Security Bill ?
( Ans : It is a mere Rs 1,25,000 Crores )
If you go by Mr Tariq Anwar - Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing, 30 % of food grains supplied thru the Public Distribution System ( PDS ) , is lost every year !
How about replacing the Public Distribution System ( thru elimination of all middlemen ) , with a Poor Distribution System , under which , poor can simply queue up before the FCI godowns / silos and collect those grains for FREE , before they rot ?
And here is my recent suggestion re construction of Silos :
Ø Selling Farm Laws before selling Farm Crops………………….. [ 24 Sept 2020 ]
Extract :
Dear Shri Tomarji
[ nstomaroffice@gmail.com / ns
I am sure those farmer organizations would send their delegates to meet you. When they do, I request you to consider telling them following :
We will urge companies entering into CONTRACT FARMING agreements
with a farmer, to construct on the farm premises of that farmer,
GRAIN STORAGE SILOS / COLD STORAGE ROOMS ,
to enable a farmer to store his produce for a longer period, without
perishing under our harsh climate.
We will allow the concerned Companies to set off expenses incurred in
constructing these facilities towards their CSR obligations.
Alternatively , we will consider use of already announced Agri Fund of Rs
1 LakhxCrore , for this purpose . We have also provided Rs 700 crore for
setting up COLD CHAIN across the country
==============================
Dear Shri Ashok K K Meena
[ Chairman and Managing Director – FCI / chairman.fci@gov.in ]
Congratulations for this long overdue step to save the grains from rotting
From news report I conclude that each silo would have storage capacity of approx. 80,000 tons and might be costing close to Rs 80 Crore
Context :
Government of India
Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution / 12 FEB 2019
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 State Agencies (both owned and hired capacity), is
# 851.54 LMT (as on 31.12.2018) comprising 724.79 LMT in covered godowns and
# 126.75 LMT in Cover and Plinth (CAP) storage.
As such, there is sufficient capacity for storage of central pool food-grains at the national level.
=============================
With regards,
Hemen Parekh
hcp@RecruitGuru.com / 16 Oct 2022
No comments:
Post a Comment