Faced with foodgrain storage problems, India is exploring the possibility of using Chinese technology to store rice and wheat for longer periods, Minister of State for Food and Agriculture K V Thomas said on Thursday.
Official data shows that the country's godowns are currently filled with 60 million tonnes of grains, and about 1.7 million tonnes are lying in the open in Punjab.
"China has better storage technology although it uses traditional silos and flat godowns for storing foodgrain, just like we do. But their moisture and temperature control system is far superior," Thomas told reporters in New Delhi.
Thomas, who returned from a five-day visit to China last week, spoke on how the country stores foodgrains for longer periods through modern storage technology. The minister had visited storage facilities at Dalian Port, Shanghai and Guangzhou in China.
The minister noted that China, one of the largest producers of foodgrains in the world, manages to store 150 million tonnes of foodgrains in its godowns -- which is much higher than India's 40-60 million tonnes.
He said, "The government will soon send a team of experts to China to study the applicability of its technology in India for largescale foodgrain storage."
FCI chairman and managing director Siraj Hussain, who was with the minister during the visit, observed, "China has made huge investments to build good storage facilities and we have not. We are broadly looking at using their technology to control moisture and temperature."
In India, foodgrains are purchased and stored in various godowns maintained by the Food Corporation of India, besides the Central and State Warehousing Corporations.
The government is promoting construction of storage facilities through various schemes.
