Country not short on cold storages, as thought

After decades of food wastage and post-harvest losses of farm produce, the Centre appears to have finally taken note and conducted its own study into the country’s cold chain infrastructure.

Titled ‘All India Cold-chain Capacity Assessment (Status & Gaps)’, the study was undertaken by the National Centre for Cold-chain Development (NCCD) and Nabard Consultancy Services.

Lower gap The study found that there is a lower gap in the country’s cold storage capacity than estimated earlier although significant gaps persist in the number of pack-houses and reefer vans.

The study notes that the country had cold stores with capacity of 31.8 million tonnes (mt) in space, which brings the gap to 3.5 mt. It breaks from a National Spot Exchange Ltd (NSEL) study from 2010 that estimated a gap of 61 mt and is regularly used as a reference figure.

Importantly, it also discovered that against a requirement of 62,000 reefer vehicles, there were less than 10,000 at present.

The country also required 70,000 pack houses but only 250 were operational currently.

Gap in connectivity “The most important finding is that a large portion of cold storage capacity already exists in the country, unlike what has traditionally been said. That said, there is a gap in terms of connectivity and the number of reefer vans and pack-houses,” said Sanjeev Balyan, the junior Agriculture Minister, while releasing the study here on Thursday.

“After this study, we can now focus on the gaps and the connectivity to help farmers and consumers,” he added.

Officials said it was the first such study to be conducted by the Government and took actual per capita consumption of food items based on National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) data in order to realistically assess existing market demand.

The gaps were found to be particularly acute in north India while West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh had the largest capacities, directed mainly towards storage of potatoes.

“We felt that the NSEL study was questionable in its assumptions. The new findings are partly based on a study by the National Horticultural Board which partnered with Hansa Consulting where every cold storage facility was physically visited and studied. All the coordinates have been tagged and can be found on our farmers’ portal,” said Siraj Hussain, the Agriculture Secretary.

Various studies over the years have shown the extent of wastage of produce in India, among the world’s largest producers of rice, wheat, pulses, potato, onion, tomato, banana and mango.

Post harvest losses A study undertaken by the Central Institute for Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana, earlier this year found post-harvest losses for fruit and vegetables at between 4.6 per cent and 15.9 per cent and between 4.7 and 6 per cent for cereals.

The Food Corporation of India had responded to an RTI query in 2013 stating that as much as 1.94 lakh tonnes of foodgrain had been wasted between 2005 and 2013.

As recently as Wednesday, a senior Commerce Ministry official had said that around 3-4 million tonnes of onion was wasted each year due to lack of storage facilities and poor handling.

“The study shows where intervention is required. For instance, we now know it’s not cold storage that needs investment but pack-houses. A roadmap will be laid for how to achieve this,” said Sanjeev Chopra, Mission Director, National Horticultural Mission.

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