Lok Sabha Question No. 330 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-11-19
Subject: Inadequate Storage Capacity
Ministry: CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION
Asked by: Dulal Chandra Goswami

## Government of India

## Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Department of Consumer Affairs

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 330

TO BE ANSWERED ON 19.11.2019

## INADEQUATE STORAGE CAPACITY

## 330. SHRI DULAL CHAND GOSWAMI:

(OIH)

## Will  the  Minister  of  CONSUMER  AFFAIRS,  FOOD  AND  PUBLIC  DISTRIBUTION miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  a  large  quantum  of  onion,  tomato,  potato,  wheat,  corn,  paddy  and  pulses  go  wasted every year due to inadequate storage capacity as a result of which the farmers are unable to get even the cost price;
- (b) whether the prices  of  the  vegetables  and  foodgrains  sometimes  become  erratic  due  to  erratic supply;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether the Government is implementing a new National Cold Storage Policy for redressal of these problems and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## miHkksDrk ekeys] [kk| vkSj lkoZtfud forj.k jkT; ea=h ¼Jh nkuos jkolkgsc nknkjko½

## THE MINISTER OF STATE CONSUMER AFFAIRS, FOOD AND PUBLIC DISTRIBUTION (SHRI DANVE RAOSAHEB DADARAO)

(a) :  No specific assessment of annual wastage of agriculture produce due to lack of storage capacity has  been  carried  out.  However,  Central  Institute  of  Post-Harvest  Engineering  and  Technology (CIPHET)  under  Indian  Council  of  Agricultural  Research  (ICAR)  has  conducted  a  study  on Assessment  of  Quantitative  Harvest  and  Post-Harvest  Losses  of  Major  Crops  and  Commodities  in India.  This  study,  published  in  2015,  estimated  cumulative  percentages  of  annual  harvest  and  postharvest losses for onion, potato, tomato, wheat, corn, paddy and pulses ranged from 4.65% to 12.44%. As  per  records  available,  there  are  8,038  Cold  Storages  with  Capacity  of  36.77  million  MT  in  the country. In addition, against total stock of foodgrains of 642.32 Lakh MT (as on 1.10.2019), 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 753.93 LMT (as on 30.9.2019) comprising of 624.13 LMT in covered godowns and 129.80 LMT in Cover and Plinth (CAP) storage.

- (b) & (c)  : Prices of food items are, inter-alia, affected by mismatch in demand and supply, shortfall in production owing to adverse weather conditions and seasonality, increased transportation costs, supply chain  constraints  like  lack  of  storage  facilities,  artificial  shortage  created  by  hoarding  and  blackmarketing, etc.
- (d)  :    The  Government is promoting various schemes for development of post-harvest infrastructure, warehouses/cold storages and supply chains to provide remunerative prices to farmers details of which are at Annexure.

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## ANNEXURE

## ANNEXURE  REFERRED  IN  REPLY  TO  PART  (d)  OF  LOK  SABHA  UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.330 FOR 19.11.2019 REGARDING INADEQUATE STORAGE CAPACITY.

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1. The Government is promoting various schemes for development of post-harvest infrastructure, warehouses/cold storages and supply chains details such as:

(i) Schemes  of  Rashtriya  Krishi  Vikas  Yojana  -  Remunerative  Approaches  for  Agriculture  and Allied Sectors Rejuvination (RKVY-RAFTAAR)  and  also  the  sub-schemes of Agricultural Marketing  Infrastructure  (AMI)  &  Venture  Capital  Assistance  (VCA)  of  Integrated  Scheme  of Agricultural Marketing (ISAM) together with Pradhan Mantri Kisan SAMPADA Yojana - PMKSY (Scheme  for  Agro-Marine  Processing  and  Development  of  Agro-Processing  Clusters).  Further, Scheme  of  Integrated  Cold  Chain  and  Value  Addition  Infrastructure  under  PMKSY  provides  for assistance  in  the  form  of  grants-in-aid  upto  maximum  of  ₹10  crore  per  project  for  setting  up  cold chain  infrastructure  which  has  component  of  inter-alia  cold  storage  to  provide  integrated  and complete cold chain facilities without any break from the farm gate to consumer to reduce losses by improving efficiency in collection of farmer produce, storage, transportation and minimal processing.

(ii) Government is also implementing Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) under which financial assistance is available, inter-alia,  for setting up of Post-harvest Management (PHM)  infrastructure  including  establishment  of  staging  cold  room,  evaporative  low  energy  cool chamber,  Pusa  Zero  energy  cool  chamber  in  rural  areas.  The  component  of  PHM  including  cold storage is demand/entrepreneur driven from among entrepreneurs, private companies, cooperatives, farmer groups, etc., through commercial ventures for which assistance ranging from 35% to 50% of the eligible project cost in general areas and hilly and scheduled areas, respectively, per beneficiary is available as credit linked back ended subsidy through respective State Horticulture Missions. Under MIDH, powers have been delegated to State Level Executive Committee (SLEC) of various States for sanctioning of project up to cost of ₹5 crore.

(iii)   National Horticulture Board (NHB) under Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare is implementing the Scheme of Capital Investment Subsidy for Construction/Expansion/Modernization of Cold Storages for Horticulture Products under which credit linked back-ended subsidy @35% of the capital cost of the project in general areas for Cold storage capacity above 5,000 MT and up to 10,000 MT is provided for construction/expansion/modernization of cold storage and CA store. In the case of North Eastern region, capacity above 1,000 MT is also eligible. This scheme is credit-linked and demand driven.