Food Corporation of India and Its Wheat Storage Management This chapter deliberates on storage management practices of wheat in FCI in their warehouse system and the extent of storage losses due to different factors based on a recent study. Furthermore, food security in India is largely maintained by them through efficient handling and distribution of food grains. FCI handles about 3% of total world cereal production every year. The best example of proper warehouse storage management practices of food grains, mainly for wheat and rice in developing countries can be said to be of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), which has bare minimum losses in long-duration storage of food grains. However, it has been observed that losses during storage in the warehouses are not as high as perceived in the literature, particularly when proper storage management practices are adopted. Extreme dry environmental conditions during storage result in faster seed aging, reducing longevity and quality ( Labuza, 1980). Prolonged storage with high seed moisture percentage also causes a reduction in germination, seedling vigor, accelerated seed aging, increased germination time, electrical conductivity, insect infestation, and eventually loss in seed weight ( Mersal et al., 2006). Fluctuations in environmental factors, such as temperature, dampness, and longevity result in significant nutrient losses ( Kumar and Singh, 1984). Before storing wheat grain, it must be dried to a proper level of moisture content otherwise many problems such as germination and loss of eating quality may occur ( Gu et al., 2000 Ueno, 2003). Besides, biological factors responsible for storage losses are moisture content, insects, pests, microorganisms, and rodents. Environmental factors mainly consist of temperature, relative humidity (RH), rainfall, exposure to direct sun, air velocity, etc. The factors responsible for storage losses are environmental, type of storage structure, duration, purpose of storage, treatment during storage, method of packaging and storing grains, etc. Thus, savings of agricultural produce with proper storage is as good as additional production, which emphasizes the need for proper storage management ( Jha et al., 2015). The qualitative losses in wheat stored in jute bags may be as high as 6.6% and reduction of such loss can be brought down to 2% by storing in metal bins ( Sinha and Sharma, 2004). However, it may be as high as 20–50% in the lesser developed countries, particularly in cover and plinth storage with poorly managed storage facilities ( Jayas, 2012). Storage losses are usually in the range of 1–2%, particularly in the developed countries, when grains are stored in well-managed silos with aeration and drying. Therefore, the dynamics of storage in terms of quality maintenance and losses form crucial components of economic and policy decisions. In many cases, Government agencies store food grains to ensure domestic food security, supply, and price stability in the market, and also to earn foreign exchange through export. While farmers store cereals for the purpose of seed, feed, and their own consumption, marketing agencies and traders store them for economic gain. Cereals, as agricultural produce, occupy an important place in human food, as they are primary sources of energy to the majority of the global population. Thus, the agricultural produce has to be stored safely using proper methods of preservation for consistent supply throughout the year. Although the harvest period of agricultural produce is relatively short, the demand for consumption extends throughout the year. However, after the harvest, several interrelated factors form complex interrelationships that may result in the deterioration of quality during storage. The post-harvest life and quality of agricultural produce depend mainly upon its quality at the time of harvest. This article discusses the role of FCI in food security, warehouse storage management practice as a model, and storage loss level of wheat during storage. The wheat procurement, storage, and distribution system of FCI is unique in the world and handles about 85 million tons of food grains annually by procuring from farmers at the guaranteed Minimum Support Price that meets certain quality standards. However, the storage losses in warehouse storage are also equivalent to silo storage of wheat when proper storage management practices are adopted and the Food Corporation of India (FCI) is the best example of a sustainable food storage system with only 0.3% storage losses in 3 years of wheat storage. Silo storage is considered the best option for wheat storage. 3Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology, Ludhiana, India.2Agricultural Engineering Division, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Pusa, New Delhi, India.1Food Corporation of India, New Delhi, India.
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