Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said the capacity of food grain warehouse in the country will be increased to 3.5 million metric tons.
“There is storage capacity of 2.18 million metric tons of food grains. Currently, we have over 2 million metric tons in stock. There is no space left to store more food grains,” he said while talking to reporters after the inauguration ceremony of a newly constructed LSD in Naogaon on Sunday.
Eight modern steel silos across the country are nearly complete to address this issue, the minister said.
“This initiative will increase the overall storage capacity by 6.5 lakhs metric tons. Additionally, the government has approved the construction of 200 paddy silos with a capacity of 5,000 metric tons each, with 30 already got approval,” he said.
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“If paddy silos are constructed, even if farmers bring wet paddy, there will be an opportunity to store it. The wet rice will automatically dry, eliminating the need to reject the farmers' produce due to moisture,” he added.
Highlighting a significant achievement for the Ministry of Food, he announced that a draft law encompassing various aspects of food production, marketing, and supply will be placed in Parliament.
“If passed, this act is expected to be a landmark legislation that will bring order in the marketing, storage, and harvesting of food crops,” he said.
The minister said the government has decided to procure 12.5 lakhs metric tons of rice and 4 lakhs metric tons of paddy in the current Boro season.
“The deadline for procurement has been set for August 30th. We have already purchased 7,10,000 metric tons of rice and 1,21,000 metric tons of paddy as of Eid. So far, the paddy and rice procurement campaign has been successful."