'DNA' exclusive: PM calls meet on food storage crisis

Once again the good news for farmers has become a cause of concern for the government. The unprecedented food grain production in the country has made prime minister Manmohan Singh to convene an emergency meeting with the agriculture ministry and the Food Corporation of India to take stock of the storage capacity.

While it is for sure that many farmers will not be able to get space for their food grains in the government warehouses, the emergency meeting by Singh is expected to look for some makeshift arrangements to make the situation mild.

Last week, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had written to the prime minister, saying that the government was not in a position to provide storage to the bumper farm produce and the situation might become worse if serious steps were not taken.

According to government estimates, the country will see food grain production of 252.56 million tonnes, a 3.1 % increase, as compared to last year’s production.

The third advance estimates announced by the agriculture ministry for 2011-12 peg the production of rice at a record 103.41 million tonnes which the wheat production is estimated to touch 90.23 million tonnes, from 88.31 million tonnes in the second advance estimates for this year.

India has a storage capacity of 64 million tonnes, while the country’s food grain stock is expected to reach 74 million tonnes by June this year.

Notably, a lot of food grain got rot in 2011 and the story is set to be repeated this year as well.