New Delhi. New areas of India - China cooperation have emerged in food grain storage sector following the recent visit of an official delegation led by Prof KV Thomas, Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution to China from 7th to 11th June, 2010. Briefing media persons here today, Prof. Thomas said that a team of technical experts and construction engineers from FCI and CWC and some State Agencies will visit China to further study the modern storage construction and preservation methods used for foodgrain storage.

A Government of India delegation led by Prof K.V Thomas, Hon’ble Minister of State for Agriculture, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution visited China between 7th – 11th June, 2010 to study modern foodgrain storage facilities in China, its applicability in India for large scale foodgrain storage and to explore areas of cooperation in this sector. The other members of the delegation were Shri Siraj Hussain, Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Food Corporation of India; Shri Naveen Prakash, Joint Secretary in the Department of Food & Public Distribution; Shri BB Pattanaik, Managing Director, Central Warehousing Corporation and Shri B Ashok, Private Secretary to the Minister.

The delegation met officials of the State Administration of Grain which is the main agency for coordinating procurement and storage of foodgrains in China. The delegation also visited the Academy of State Administration of Grain which specializes in grain quality control and research and is the apex grain testing laboratory in China. The Hon’ble Minister also met Chinese Vice Minister of Agriculture, Mr Niu Dun, and discussed matters of mutual importance. The delegation also made field visits to modern foodgrain storage facilites at Dalian port, Shanghai and Guangzhou and also visited the Dalian Commodity Exchange. During these field visits, the members of the delegation witnessed modern technology being used for silos and flat-type warehouses with climate-control and mechanized handling and interacted with field officials on the storage, temperature control and preservation techniques being employed.

During the discussions with Chinese officials, it was decided that a team of technical experts and construction engineers from FCI and CWC and some State Agencies will visit China to further study the modern storage construction and preservation methods used for foodgrain storage. Similarly, a group of technical experts from China will be invited to visit India during October/November 2010 to visit storage facilities in this country and interact with the officials of FCI/CWC.

Under the 7-Year Guarantee Scheme of the Government, about 127 lakh tonnes of additional storage capacity is to be created in various parts of the country in addition to 50 lakh tonnes in DCP States. Parts of these new facilities will be created in the form of silos and temperature-controlled warehouses.