MORE the foodgrain, less the space to
store them. Fihding itself in such a
piquant situation, the Food Corporation
of India (FU), has embarked on an
ambitious Rs 10 billion project to suitably store the large quantity of foodgrains that it finds itself saddled with.
The current stock of both wheat and
rice grains with FC1 is about 35 million
tonnes (mt) when it was 14 mt only
three years ago. Predictions are that
foodgrain production is likely to soar in
the coming years leading to acute storage problems.
Vaccum process storage' (vps) is the
modem storage system aimed at by the
Fci and this involves the storage of as
much as six mt of foodgrain in a single
Pvc container. Once the containers are
fified with grain, air is instantly sucked
out of them, leaving them vacuumised.
According to Prabhat Kumar, chairperson, FC1, the containers can be
stacked in open spaces without the fear
of the grain getting spoiled or infected
with fungus in the absence of air. Also
they will not discolour and stay thus
even when stored for more than three
to four years.
The vps is now undergoing a feasibility study by the National Industrial
Development Corporation to check its
suitability in Indian conditions and the
report is expected to be ready by the
end of November.
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