Despite bumper harvest, grain drain continues

Ludhiana: Tens of thousands of bags of rice have gone up in smoke and continue to smolder and burn in Khamano near Ludhiana. Spread over two kilometers the bags of grain has been lying in the open for the last five years.

A similar story in Fatehgarh Sahib - where wheat has been rotting in the open for the past few years - and now brand new grain from this year's harvest has been left to suffer the same fate. Punjab had a bumper wheat harvest this year.

The state has covered storage capacity of 106 lakh tons and 64 lakh tons of grain in lying in the open. Punjab is the biggest contributor to the government's buffer stock and has procured 109.4 lakh tonnes. The state also needs an additional 71 lakh tonnes of storage space.

Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal blames the Centre for the situation.

Private warehouse owners aren't helping either - they say land prices have shot up - but government agencies refuse to pay higher rent, making their business nonviable.

Grain is rotting because there is no storage space. There is no storage space since the financial viability of storage in an expensive land state like Punjab has long gone. The big question - is the government willing to save money on rent but not willing to save precious grain that feeds millions but is now rotting in the open.

The Ministry of Food and Civil Supplies says new covered storage space of more than 152 Lakh metric tonnes will be created in 19 states. In the meanwhile, the Food Corporation of India has been ordered to hire additional godown space from private sources.

The Centre has also decided to allocate an additional quantity of 150 lakh tonnes of foodgrain to the poor as mandated by the Supreme Court. The Centre is putting the onus on state governments now to lift the additional allocated food grain and distribute it without further delay.

Poll	What should be done with the grain rotting in various states? Distribute surplus grain through PDS system Rent private warehouses and prevent further damage Export surplus production

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