Largest Agri-Storage Plan of World Launched

Context

In the Co-Operative Sector, the Govt. of India announced a plan which is known as the “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan”

About

• Under the above Grain Storage Plan, the govt has inaugurated a pilot project in eleven Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.

• Storage infrastructure of 700 lakh metric tons capacity to be set up by the government. over the next five years and the allocated cost is approximately Rs1.25 Lakh Cr.

• This storage facility will enable the farmers to store their produce and may sell it at the right market time as per their own suitability. This also will enable them to take loans from banks for further investment purposes in farming.

The Objective and Features of the World Gain Storage Plan

• It will generate the storage capacity of 100%
• It will integrate PACs with the food grain supply chain and it will be done with the collaborative effort of NABARD and NCDC.
• Various existing schemes have been converged such as AIF, AMI etc to enable PACs to participate in the project and can avail subsidies and interest subvention benefits.

About PACS

• PACs stands for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.
• This is the Grassroot level arms of the co-operative credit structure (Short-Term)
• It deals directly with the rural borrowers and also deals with providing loans etc.
• It is the base of Cooperative Credit Structure.
• It is the link between the borrower and the higher financial agencies.

About NCDC

• NCDC stands for National Cooperative Development Corporation.
• It was established in 1963 and it was a statutory corporation of govt. of India
• It provides loans and finance different projects in the rural industrial co-operative sectors.

Producer Organisation (PO)

• It is a legal entity.
• It is formed by farmers, mill producers, fisherman, weavers, artisans, craftsmen etc. who are said to be primary producers.
• It provides for sharing of profits among the members.
• Its prime motto is to ensure better income for the producers.

FCI and storage under it

• FCI Stands for Food Corporation of India.
• Nowadays the government is increasingly emphasising the role of cooperatives in various meetings.
• As per the latest data, below are the statistics.
• Total storage capacity by FCI = 361.62 Lakh tonnes as of Feb 1 2024.
• Of this capacity, 146.86 Lakh tonnes is owned by FCI and the balance 214.76 Lakh tonnes is hired.
• Also the storage capacity with state government agencies is another 400.74 lakh tonnes.
• Together, it adds up to 762.36 lakh tonnes of World’s largest Storage Facility in India..
• The new storage plan aims to add another 700 lakh tonnes capacity over the next five years through cooperatives, in effect, double the existing capacity.

Conclusion

The Govt. of India has launched world’s largest Agri Storage Plan which was costing at Rs 1.25 Lakh Crore was a huge applaudable step by the govt. It will empower the farmers in all the way. This will enable the farmers to properly store and sell it at the appropriate market as per their own suitability which will definitely yield a better result in terms of efficiency of production. Economically it will also help the farmers to take loans from banks for further investment purposes in farming.

Source: The Times of India

UPSC Prelims Practice Question:

Q.Consider the following statements regarding the World’s Largest Agri-Storage Plant

1. Under the above World’s gain storage plan the govt has inaugurated a pilot project in eleven Primary Agricultural Credit Societies.
2. It will integrate PACs with the food grain supply chain and it will be done without the collaborative effort of NABARD and NCDC.
3. It will enable us to create better fuels for nuclear fission.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below:

a. 1 Only

b. 2 Only

c. 1 & 2 Only

c. None

Ans: “a”

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