Centre moving from traditional storage of food grains to steel silos to prevent wastage: FCI official

In a bid to stop spoilage of food grains at storage facilities, the Central government is preparing to change the storage system and bring in stainless steel 'silos', informed Deputy General Manager (Lucknow, UP Region) of Food Corporation of India Jag Prasad.

Storing grains in jute bags and keeping them in the warehouses leads to wastage as rats and insects etc tend to feed on it. However, storing them in silos will help prevent them from getting infected.

Speaking to ANI, Prasad said, "We are thinking beyond traditional storage. Instead of filling in sacks, we will now move towards bulk storage in silos, which is more safe, economical and in which we can store for a long time. The entire structure of silos is made of stainless steel."

He further informed that the silos, which are vertical in shape, will also help increase the storage space capacity.

"This is a very ambitious scheme of the Government of India. Manufacturing of silos is going on at 11 places in Uttar Pradesh, out of which we will get three silos by March or April 2022. We will start by storing wheat in it," Prasad said.

According to Prasad, the capacity of silos will be nearly 24 lakh tonnes.

"Foodgrains get moisture when stored in traditional warehouses. In silos, we can control both its temperature and moisture," he said.

"The location of setting up silos is being decided, where local procurement from farmers is more so that when the farmers bring the grains, they can be procured and stored there," he added.

Presently, the grains are first put in jute bags and loaded in trucks. Following which they are weighed.

"Whereas now automatic bags are installed in silos and the automatic machine weighs the grain on its own," Prasad said.

"In countries like Thailand, Philippines, Bangladesh, rice is stored in silos only," he informed.

( With inputs from ANI )

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