Lok Sabha Question No. 3180 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-21
Subject: Damaged Foodgrains
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: RAKSHA NIKHIL KHADSE, KIRTI (JHA) AZAD, MAULANA BADRUDDIN AJMAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## DEPARTMENT OF FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3180

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 21 ST   MARCH, 2017

## DAMAGED FOODGRAINS

3180.

SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE: SHRI KIRTI AZAD: SHRI BADRUDDIN AJMAL:

Will the Minister of CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC

DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  a  large  quantum  of  wheat  and  rice  get  destroyed  due  to poor and inadequate warehousing facility, if so, the details thereof  for the last three years, State-wise;
- (b) the details of the action taken against officials/persons held responsible for such damages;
- (c) whether the Government is aware about a recent seminar  organised by  ICAR  wherein  the  issue  of  damages  to  foodgrain  in    storage  was discussed, if so, the details thereof including action taken/proposed to be taken in this regard;
- (d) the details of the storage capacity required, available and created during the last three years; and
- (e) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government to augment storage capacity and check wastage/damage of foodgrains and the time by which these are likely to be completed?

## A N S W E R

MINISTER OF STATE FOR  CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD & PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI C. R. CHAUDHARY)

(a): No damage of Central Pool foodgrains (wheat & rice) can be directly attributed due to lack of storage facilities. Procured foodgrains are stored by FCI  in  a  scientific  manner  in  covered  godowns  and  in  Cover  &  Plinth  (CAP) storage.  Scientific  codes  of  practices  for  safe  storage  of  foodgrains  are followed during storage. Inspite of all precautions, some quantity of foodgrains  may  get  damaged/become  non-issuable  during  storage  due  to various reasons such as storage pests' attack, leakages in  godowns, procurement of poor quality stocks, exposure to rains, floods, negligence on the part of concerned persons in taking precautionary measures etc. Regionwise wheat & rice accrued as non-issuable/damaged in FCI for last three years are at Annex-I.

- (b): The details of the action taken against the officials of FCI responsible for damage of foodgrains during last three years are as under:

|   S.No | Year    |   Number of Persons |
|--------|---------|---------------------|
|      1 | 2013-14 |                  50 |
|      2 | 2014-15 |                  77 |
|      3 | 2015-16 |                  31 |

(c): International Conference on Controlled Atmosphere and Fumigation in stored products was organized by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research during 6-11 November, 2016 in New  Delhi. Delegates from academic institutions,  companies  and  Government  institutions  from  India,  America, Canada,  Latin  America,  Russia,  Europe,  Africa,  Australia,  UAE,  Jordan  etc. participated in the conference Deliberation was held on the following topics

- (i)    Biological response of organism to CA and fumigants.
- (ii)   Fumigants application technologies
- (iii)  Methyl Bromide alternatives and novel fumigants
- (iv)  Quality preservation
- (v)   Safety and protection of the environment
- (vi)  CA and hermetic storage application technologies
- (vii) Engineering aspects of CA/fumigation
- (viii)Insect resistance to fumigants and pest management strategies
- (ix) Quarantine and integrated CA management and
- (x) Traditional storage system.

During the conference, the industries demonstrated their products for storage of foodgrains.

The knowledge and experience shared by the delegates are helpful to researchers,  industries  and  grain  warehousing  agencies  for  improving  the practices  and  make  warehousing  of  grain  more  efficient  and  environment friendly.

(d): There  is  sufficient  storage  capacity  available  with  FCI  and  State agencies.  The  peak  stock  requirement  for  Central  Pool  foodgrains  generally happens  on  1 st   June  every  year.  Total  storage  capacity  (both  covered  and CAP)  available  with  FCI  (owned  as  well  as  hired)  and  State  agencies  for storage of Central Pool stocks as on 1st June during the last three years with corresponding stock position in central pool is as under:

(Fig. in Lakh Tons)

| As on    | Stock position (capacity   | Storage capacity available for Central Pool stocks Year   | Storage capacity created during last three years   | Storage capacity created during last three years   |
|----------|----------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------|
|          | required)                  |                                                           |                                                    | Capacity created                                   |
| 01.06.14 | 622.31                     | 758.52                                                    | 2014-15                                            | 8.80                                               |
| 01.06.15 | 568.34                     | 726.43                                                    | 2015-16                                            | 7.31                                               |
| 01.06.16 | 534.29                     | 811.94                                                    | 2016-17 (upto January, 2017)                       | 2.60                                               |

The peak stock position has been less than the total storage capacity.

(e)  The  storage  capacities  in  country  are  augmented  by  the  Government  in Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode under Private Entrepreneurs Guarantee (PEG) scheme, where the godowns constructed by the parties / other agencies are  dedicated  for  FCI/State  Agencies  for  9  to  10  years  for  storage  of foodgrains. Godowns are also constructed under plan scheme specifically in the North Eastern States and a few other States. In addition, it has also been planned  to  construct  steel  silos  of  100  LMT  capacities  in  the  country  in  a phased manner in PPP mode.

Steps taken by the Government to avoid damage of foodgrains in storage are at Annex-II .

****

ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (a)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3180 DUE FOR ANSWER ON 21.03.2017 IN LOK SABHA.

REGION-WISE  WHEAT  &  RICE  STOCK  ACCRUED  AS  NON-ISSUABLE/ DAMAGED IN FCI FOR LAST THREE YEARS.

(Fig. in Tons)

| Sl. No.   | Regions           | 2013-14   | 2013-14   | 2014-15   | 2014-15   | 2015-16   | 2015-16   |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|
| Sl. No.   | Regions           | Wheat     | Rice      | Wheat     | Rice      | Wheat     | Rice      |
| 1         | Bihar             | 802.758   | 3106.65   | 8.67      | 694.98    | 21.891    | 24.5      |
| 2         | Jharkhand         | 617.562   | 4.53      | 0         | 2.67      | 0         | 0         |
| 3         | Orissa            | 159.41    | 925.38    | 3929.478  | 3179.339  | 18.804    | 7.14      |
| 4         | W.B.              | 7930.69   | 4609.16   | 60.72     | 59.77     | 0         | 12.4      |
| 5         | Assam             | 3.038     | 177.7     | 9.3       | 87.322    | 92.149    | 27.756    |
| 6         | NEF               | 477.557   | 1350.211  | 0         | 95.416    | 0.357     | 210.028   |
| 7         | Arunachal Pradesh | 0         | 3.3       | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 8         | Nagaland          | 2.829     | 29.429    | 0         | 38        | 0         | 10.6      |
| 9         | Manipur           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 10        | Delhi             | 34.328    | 0         | 2.591     | 0         | 15.56     | 0.491     |
| 11        | Haryana           | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 12        | H.P.              | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 13        | J&K               | 0         | 0         | 952       | 5168      | 0         | 0         |
| 14        | Punjab            | 53.747    | 18.884    | 7.168     | 37.425    | 11.351    | 18.38     |
| 15        | Rajasthan         | 13.019    | 0         | 2.761     | 0         | 0.215     | 2.19      |
| 16        | U.P.              | 941.332   | 168.24    | 301.924   | 20.11     | 50.021    | 66.047    |
| 17        | U. Khand          | 90.021    | 0         | 7.531     | 0         | 0         | 0         |
| 18        | A.P.              | 246.939   | 228.57    | 48.826    | 2213.298  | 683.867   | 1518.357  |
| 19        | Kerala            | 58        | 297       | 62.698    | 334.987   | 13.369    | 165.542   |
| 20        | Karnataka         | 8.481     | 37.155    | 697.597   | 50.228    | 4.85      | 30.376    |
| 21        | Tamil Nadu        | 54.803    | 238.983   | 220.072   | 156.914   | 15.04     | 15.331    |
| 22        | Gujarat           | 405.453   | 38.505    | 192.588   | 2.658     | 14.999    | 0.617     |
| 23        | Maharashtra       | 1178.1    | 56        | 35.339    | 68.642    | 56.347    | 0         |
| 24        | M.P.              | 54.077    | 22.865    | 0         | 80.183    | 0         | 0         |
| 25        | Chhattisgarh      | 197.297   | 53.452    | 16.421    | 1.6       | 6.252     | 0.857     |
| Total     | Total             | 13329.441 | 11366.014 | 6555.684  | 12291.542 | 1005.072  | 2110.612  |

******

## ANNEXURE-II

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (e)  OF  UNSTARRED QUESTION  NO  3180  TO  BE  ANSWERED  ON  21 ST   MARCH,  2017  IN  LOK SABHA

## STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT AVOID THE DAMAGE OF FOODGRAINS IN STORAGE

Before  the  commencement  of  Rabi  and  Kharif  Marketing  Seasons,  Ministry  of  Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Department of Food & Public Distribution, Govt. of India issues  uniform  specifications  for  procurement  of  foodgrains  for  the  Central  Pool.  These uniform specifications are circulated to F.C.I. and all State Govts./agencies with instructions to ensure that foodgrains are procured strictly in accordance with the uniform specifications.

2. Foodgrains procured by F.C.I. and State Govts/agencies are stored in covered godowns as well as in CAP (cover and plinth).
3. During  storage,  the  following  steps  are  taken  for  safe  storage  and  preservations  of foodgrains:
3. (i) All godowns are constructed as per specifications.
4. (ii) Foodgrains are stored by adopting proper scientific code of storage practices.
5. (iii) Adequate dunnage materials such as wooden crates, bamboo mats, polythene sheets  are  used  to  check  migration  of  moisture  from  the  floor  to  the foodgrains.
6. (iv) Fumigation  covers,  nylon  ropes,  nets  and  insecticides  for  control  of  stored grain insect pests are provided in all the godowns.
7. (v) Prophylactic  (spraying  of  insecticides)  and  curative  treatments  (fumigation) are carried out regularly and timely in godowns for the control of stored grain insect pests.
8. (vi) Effective rat control measures, both in covered godowns as well as in CAP storage are used.
9. (vii) Foodgrains in 'Cover and Plinth' (CAP) storage are stored on elevated plinths and wooden crates are used as dunnage material. Stacks are properly covered with  specifically  fabricated  low-density  black  polythene  water  -proof  covers and tied with nylon ropes/nets.
10. (viii) Regular  periodic inspections of the  stocks/godowns  are  undertaken  by qualified and trained staff and all senior officers. The health of the foodgrains is  monitored at regular intervals by a system of checks and super checks at different  levels.  Following  Checks  and  Super  checks  are  conducted  in  the godowns by FCI to ensure proper preservation of foodgrains in the storage.
- a) Fortnightly inspection of stocks on 100% basis by Technical Assistant.
- b) Monthly inspection by Manager (QC)
- c) Quarterly inspection by AGM (QC)
- d) Super Checks by Regional, Zonal and FCI Hqrs Squads.
15. (ix) The principle of 'First in First Out' (FIFO) is followed to the extent possible so as to avoid longer storage of foodgrains in godowns.
16. (x) Only covered rail wagons are used for movement of foodgrains so as to avoid damage during transit.
17. (xi) Damage Monitoring Cells have been set up at District, Regional and Zonal levels to regularly monitor quality of stocks and reduce damages.
18. *****