The province of Sindh has large fertile land for the cultivation of different types of crops. The climate and irrigation system is also favorable for cultivating enough crops / grains to cater the need of its population. But Sindh is rapidly becoming food insecure province in the face of threat of having less grain storage facilities. It is estimated that the present population of the province is likely to be doubled in the year 2025. This will require large amount of food / grain for the population of the province, for which mere doubling of yield will not be enough, but other methods of conservation of the production based on scientific and modern methods for storing of crops and grains will be needed. Therefore, besides increase in land-utilization for growing of crops, increase in per acre production, use of quality seeds, use of effective pesticides, better land management, introduction of modern storage facilities of grains and its complete infra-structure in the province, based on scientific and international standards, is the need of the hour. Mere encouraging farmers to grow more crops will not protect the province against food insecurity, rather; investment in building modern storage facilities / silos is equally important.
Studies estimate that post-harvest losses of different crops are around 40~45 percent including those caused by inadequate storage facilities. Tons of grain including wheat and rice are spoiled every year due to rains and extreme weather conditions, which can be avoided by keeping grains in protected silos in time. This can save the exchequer millions of rupees. It has been seen in the past that in case of bumper crop of wheat, surplus wheat was exported, but in the very next season, due to low production, wheat had to be imported in order to meet the requirements of the people. So, if there were proper and enough facilities for storage of wheat, government could have saved considerable foreign exchange.
History also tells about the arrangement of storage of grains / crops made by Prophet Hazrat Yousuf, when Egypt was hit by worst famine for seven years. It is, thus, an established fact that self-sufficiency in food grains and adequate arrangements for its storage go hand-in-hand.
1.2 Statement of the problem:
Inadequate modern grain storage facilities and improper management is causing wastage of surplus grains leading to food insecurity to the population of Sindh; this is inspite of favorable weather conditions, adequate cultivable land and human resource.
1.3 Hypothesis:
Present grain storage facilities in Sindh are enough for the present and future requirement of the province.
1.4 Methodology:
The research will be conducted through both ‘qualitative’ and ‘quantitative’ methods. Primary research will be conducted through a visit to department of food and interview with the relevant officers for acquiring first-hand information. The physical condition and the facilities will be done by a visit to such facility. Secondary source material includes books, articles, internet searches, Department of Food Government of Sindh and related individual research papers. The data so obtained shall be analyzed and corroborated with the increasing trend of population for the present and future requirements of grain storage facilities for the year 2025, in order to evaluate the given hypothesis.
CHAPTER NO. 2
THE HISTORY AND NEED OF CONSTRUCTION OF GRAIN STORAGE FACILITIES AND THEIR EVOLUTION WITH THE PASSAGE OF TIME.
Since more than 10,000 years, man uses cereal grain as staple food for their livelihood. Evidences indicate that civilizations practice grain storage to have food supply during the period of scarcity.
In this pre-historic period of agriculture, people observed that dry grains could be stored for longer period than the wet grains. They also learned that certain insects and animals destroyed their crop both while in the field and in storage. They used simple containers like pots, urns and store houses to keep grains.
It was also revealed by the Archeologists that underground grain silos have existed from the era of pre-Neolithic in the Middle East(Natufian,9000to7000BC)and in Neolithic Europe (from4500BCon).However,theseoldersilosareessentiallysmallandshallowpits withnospecificallyrecognizableform,whichmakesdifficulttodifferentiatethem from pits dug for other purposes.
Until the early nineteenth century, Underground Grain Storage (UGS) has been one of the main methods of long-term preservation for large bulks of grain. This practice was common throughout an area stretching from Spain and Morocco in the West, up to India and China in the East, including Southeast Europe (from Hungary to the Caucasus), South Arabia, etc.
With the advent of iron, there appeared ‘bottle shaped’ underground silos which were more than 2 meters deep, with an arrow neck as entrance (manhole),and of at least up to 3tons in capacity.
“Bottle” shaped silos have been found by hundreds in number on ‘Iron Age settlements sites’ in Britain and Northeast France. In central and southern France, many more were used in medieval times; their use was discontinued between the 11th and 16th centuries, except in the South west of the Europe, where it survived till the 18th century. In some parts of Italy (Tuscany, Apulia, Sicily) and of Spain, these UGS lived up to 19th century.
Keeping in view the history of the grain storage silos, it can be safely deduced that the importance of storage cannot be denied in any time of our known history. Such grain storage facilities are essential instrument to stabilize farm prices, to maintain healthy competition through competition through the release of stored stocks, tending to increase the farmers income by restricting them to dispose of their produce soon after harvesting and thereby discouraging unnecessary intermediaries. This is also an important source of checking enormous losses caused due to weather hazards and calamities of nature.
CHAPTER NO. 3
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PROVINCE IN VIEW OF 18TH AMENDMENT.
Pakistan’s parliament, on April 20, 2010, passed a landmark consensus constitutional amendment to restore Pakistan’s constitution to its original intent of a decentralized federation of provinces as envisaged in the constitution of 1973.
In terms of 18th Amendment, the longstanding highly centralized agriculture sector was devolved to provinces. This devolution has increased the responsibilities of the provinces in many ways including catering the need of the people.
The attached departments of Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Livestock (MINFAL), the agriculture grading and marketing department, agriculture policy institute, department of plant protection, directorate general of food and agriculture, federal seeds certification and registration department, Pakistan agriculture research council (PARC) and national agriculture research council, Pakistan central cotton committee, Pakistan oilseeds development boards (PODB) have been devolved to provinces. , However, another entity with the name of Federal Food Security and Research Division (FFSRD) has been formed which will cater to all the functions of the former MINFAL in order to ensure food security and coordinate research in the country.
In view of the above, now provinces have become more responsible for enhancing their grain storage facilities, in order to keep the need and requirements of the people of the provinces.
CHAPTER NO. 4
MAJOR CROPS OF PROVINCE OF SINDH,
THEIR GROWING PATTERN AND YIELD.
Sindh is the second most populated province of the country. The area of the province is 140,914km .Though most of the area of the province is dry but still has a huge potential due to the flood plains of river Indus, supporting agriculture. The north-south extent of these flood plains is more than 500 kilometers and with a minimum width of 62km near Benazirabad (Nawab shah) district. Sindh occupies 14.1million hectares, represents 18% of total geographical area of Pakistan.
Agriculture is the main stay of Sindh’s economy. Wheat, rice and cotton are its principle crops. The imbalance between the population growth and agricultural production is a serious challenge in most districts of Sindh.
It is pertinent to mention that Cropping pattern for a place is dependent on several factors, such as soil type, weather elements, like temperature, pressure conditions, precipitation, etc. and other physical factors and the prevalence of various socio-economic factors cause variability in the cropping pattern. This is varying from place to place and hence forming different cropping regions along with the variability of the crops. The cropping pattern may reflect the level of self- sufficiency, food sustainability and even productivity of the region.
There are five crops marked in the first category as the major crops in the province of Sindh, covering 83.96 percent of the provincial cropped area. These are wheat, cotton, rice, oilseeds and sugarcane. Wheat is the leading crop with 29.25 percent, followed by cotton with 20.93 percent, rice 17.93 percent oilseeds 8.76 percent and sugarcane 7.08 percent of the provincial cropped area.
Major crops Area in Thousand Hectares percentage
Wheat 887.40 29.25
Cotton 635.10 20.93
Rice 543.90 17.93
Other Oil Seeds 265.91 8.76
Sugarcane 214.90 7.08
CHAPTER NO. 5
PRESENT SCENARIO, GRAIN STORAGE FACILITIES VIZ-A-VIZ YIELD OF GRAINS IN SINDH.
The present population of around 38 million of the province is likely to reach more than 50 million by the year 2025, if present rate of growth of population continues which is 2.8 % per year. However, this does not include the internal flux of migration due to present law and order situation in the northern part of country. This rapid increase in population during the next 10 ~ 11 years would need doubling the present production of all crops, particularly wheat, rice and sugarcane to meet the increasing food needs of the people.
4It is estimated by the Food department / agriculturist that only about 10 per cent of this requirement will come from increase in acreage, while the rest 90 per cent will have to be met by augmenting crop production. This will need an enormous investment for maximization of per acre yield through provision of good quality seeds, promotion of better land management and improved farm practices and, most importantly, establishing ‘a modern storage infrastructure facilities’ to protect and save the produce, to be used in the times of the need and scarcity.
The existing storage facilities are insufficient at various levels to come with large increase in production and presently, hundreds of tons of wheat packed in jute bags are stored in godowns located in the Hawks-bay, Karachi, and other parts of the province which is being damaged due to negligence of local authorities, pilferage and heavy rains.
In order to increase the storage life of wheat, the foremost priority be given to store it in godowns or silos scientifically constructed with proper light and temperature arrangements.
If at present, government will not go for planning for maximization of crops and spending for construction of modern storage facilities, Sindh would face a threat of becoming a food insecure province, especially in view of the 18th amendment when the responsibility rest with the province. In such a situation, encouraging farmers to grow more crops will not protect the province against food insecurity until and unless investment is made by the government in building modern storage facilities/silos.
This situation also becomes grave in view of the post-harvest losses of different crops including those caused by inadequate storage facilities. Tons of grains including wheat and rice are spoiled every year owing to rains and erratic weather conditions as well as sizzling heat wave. This wastage of grains can be avoided by keeping grains protected in silos. Lack of investment and poor utilization of allocated funds for proper rehabilitation of the existing storage facilities and building of modern silos, will continue to cause financial losses to the government.
The same was witnessed in recent couple of years when rains in different districts of Sindh have damaged a large quantity of procured wheat. Past has witnessed million wheat bags lying in the open due to inadequate storage facilities, according to food department reports.
It is pertinent to mention that some time due to bumper crop as well as limited storage facilities available, food department hires private godowns on different rates ranging from Rs. 5 to Rs. 11 per sq. ft in various districts of the province. this is an additional burden on the exchequer and keep the department at the mercy of private godowns owners.
In short, availability of improved and modern silos to store and protect grain always pays off, while their absence adds to shortage and increase in cost of grain in the time of need. Research findings have concluded that better storage facilities help maintain food prices in the society and prevent loss of grain and consequently hunger and famine. Poor storage system is often to be blamed for food insecurity.
There is an urgent need to plan for building modern silos to help reduce province’s post-harvest losses and it is only possible through hefty allocations for the construction of modern storage facilities.
5.1 Present State of Affairs:
At present, Sindh food department has 1457 units / godowns having capacity of 756,220 M. Tons but only 727 units / godowns of capacity 642,220 M. Tons are functional and able to keep grains safe for some period. It is pertinent to mention these godowns are not modern and lack temperature and moisture facilities. These units / godowns are big halls with raised plinth level to protect grains from extreme weather conditions. District wise details are enclosed as annex-A. A glimpse of the storage facilities viz-a-viz wheat crop produced in the year 2013 is as under for better understanding the situation :
Region Storage capacity Yield for the year 2013 Shortage of storage facility
Karachi 156,700 — (+) 156,700
Hyderabad 175,200 260,000 (-) 84,800
Mirpurkhas 96,740 220,000 (-)123,260
Sukkur 168480 645000 (-) 476,520
Larkana 45,100 175,000 (-) 130,000
Total 642,220 1,300,000 (-)657,780
Present godowns / facilities are poorly ventilated halls with no mechanism of controlling temperature and humidity. Sometimes during rain, the roof allows water to damage the grains. Not a single public owned facility is of international standards. The glimpses are as under:
In other words, as of today, keeping in view the yield for the year 2013 constant ( which will definitely continue to increase in coming years), Sindh can only store 50% (approx) of the total produce of the wheat and this does not include other crops and grains which are produced each year. As the province produces a mix of crops so there is dire need of storage facilities not only for wheat but also for other crops such as rice, sugarcane, cotton and other oil seeds.
CHAPTER NO. 6
GRAIN STORAGE PROBLEMS IN SINDH.
The storage of wheat, rice, seeds of pulses and oilseed crops is important due to food value that is attached with the crop and thus storage of food grains is a sensitive problem for the farmers, grain merchants and is a serious issue to the Government for safe storage under hygienic conditions. At present, Sindh is facing grain storage problems at large scale due to either traditional methods of seed storage or short of commercial grain storages and their management.
6.1 Concept of Seed Storage:
The concept of storage is an old practice of keeping seed in store houses, heaps and bags in such a way that seeds / grains should retain both food and seedling value, provided with certain conditions like proper ventilation, fumigation, optimum temperature and humidity etc.
Grain harvest losses can be divided into two segments. First kind of losses start from birds, rats, insect pests and diseases, rain, delay in threshing and storage etc. Secondly, grain losses are attributed threshing, cleanings, drying and storing of grain immediately after harvest.
The ineffective storage occurs due of improper ventilation, lack of control over temperature and humidity, high moisture content in seeds, lack of control rain water, broken walls, floors and ceilings as happens in the case of Sindh, use of old bags, patches of insects and fungus, lack of spray and fumigation etc. Which results in increase number of dormant seeds, sprouting, moulding and rotting, increase of insect damage and bird contamination. However, chemical and biological changes like loss of germination, development of acidity, gluten deterioration and loss of nutritive quality, may also occur.
6.2 Problems in the storage facilities:
A summary of the problems being encountered by the farmers, growers and the department for the godowns where grains (wheat, rice, oil-seeds, seeds etc) are stored are summarized as under:
(i) improper ventilation,
(ii) dampness in the stores.
(iii) stores open to insects, birds, pests, rodents etc.
(iv) Non-existent / ineffective fumigation.
(v) use of old gunny bags
(vi) rain hazards
(vii) insects nests in warehouse
(viii) high temperature and humidity problems in stores.
(ix) overall un hygienic condition of the stores.
6.3 Safe grain Storage Conditions:
There are some factors that affect grain storage and their longevity which include temperature, humidity, light, fumigations etc. It is generally said that scientifically Grains may be stored safe at 5 per cent moisture content with a temperature of 18??C or below. The low temperature prolongs grains life. Although, the government of Sindh has initiated a project for establishing modern grain storage facilities for which pre-qualification has been announced but for the existing facilities which contain almost 642,000 M. Tons of wheat, there can be measures and steps, in order to make them effective for storing of grains. These steps are mentioned below:
(i) Pest control must be ensured at adequate level.
(ii) Proper cleaning of storehouses should be done and rubbish should be wiped out.
(iii) The mud plaster should be done at least one month before storage of grains, by cementing ceiling cracks and leakages.
(iv) The proper ventilation for air crossing should be maintained in store houses.
(v) The seed must be dried before storage in the godowns and store houses must be kept dry and well aerated.
(vi) The storage area should be safe from rain.
(vii) The slope should be given to the floors of the warehouse for removal of water.
(viii) The bags should be kept on the raised floor or high plinth of the stores. The bags should not come in direct contact with floor which may damage the seed.
(ix) The insect pest proof gunny bags should be used for storing seeds.
(x) The old bags should be avoided and new ones should be dried before use. If old gunny bags, cloth bags and containers are required to be used to store grains, the same should be fumigated before use.
(xi) The local method of coal smoke may be used in the storage facilities and store houses for killing the insect pests.
(xii) The fumigation of the storehouses should be done well before grain storage and godowns must be disinfected by spraying Malathion (50% EC).
(xiii) The wheat grains stored in bins and bags may be added with neem leaves which are natural repellant. They must be dried first under shade before use.
CHAPTER NO. 7
REASONS FOR INADEQUATE FACILITIES IN SINDH.
The federal government and provincial government remained eager to establish grain storage facilities in the province and a project of grain storage at Karachi was envisaged in late eighties but it could not be completed. However, some storage facilities were established by the department but that were not modern and old godowns like structures with raised plinth level- a conventional method of storage of grains. A synopsis of incomplete grain storage facilities is as under:
7.1 Analysis of incomplete grain storage facilities at Karachi ‘ a case of neglect and loss of national ex-chequer.
A project of grain storage was visualized, planned and sanctioned by the government in mid- seventies. It comprised of 16 grain silos, each with a 3,125-ton capacity, at Deh Bijar Bhutti, near Superhighway, Karachi. During early eighties the National Logistic Cell (NLC) with federal resources had undertaken the construction of Grain Silos of 50,000 tones capacity with an estimated cost of Rs. 50.061 million on the land arranged by the Sindh government.
A piece land measuring 70 acres, was allotted to the Sindh Food Department in the year 1982-83. The construction started in the same year by the NLC as a federally funded project with the capacity of 50,000 tons storage for Sindh Food Department. 11 Silos were completed in addition to a residential colony involving expenditure to a tune of Rs. 47.0266 million, whereas; foundation work on the remaining 5 silos was also carried out. Imported machinery had also been arrived on the site.
Interestingly, due to no funding and outstanding liabilities, NLC on 31-12-1993, placed an advertisement for sale of the Silos prominent dailies of the country. Food department approached NLC to refrain from sale of Silos on the question of ownership. Economic Coordination Committee also took up the matter in its meeting in the year 1996.
After two years with no progress, Planning and Development Department Govt. of Sindh, submitted a proposal to the Chief Minister Sindh in 1998 directing the Communication and Works Department to take over the possession of the Silos and land for auctioning it through Sindh Privatization Commission, as the Food department has shown its inability to takeover on the grounds of technical and recurring financial cost which was duly approved. The Food Department in their view has a stand that such type of Silos is not useful due to special technical requirements and heavy maintenance cost. The food department had proposed to the government that conventional method of storing grain in godowns packed in jute bags was cost-efficient while grain silos is a sophisticated job for which the food department lacks expertise and funds.
It is further interesting to note that in the year 2001, the Food Department in a correspondence with the Chairman Privatization Commission has disowned the ownership of the Silos on the pretext that they are not transferred to the department.
In this way, due to poor planning, bureaucratic hurdles, lack of decision making and vision, national exchequer has lost an amount of Rs. 47 million with no benefits at all.
CHAPTER NO. 8
EFFORTS BEING UNDERTAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT FOR HAVING GRAIN STORAGE FACILITIES FOR 2025
It is a fact that Sindh is facing grain storage problems at large scale throughout the province. Food grain storage is a sensitive and serious subject for the Government which is for safe storage under hygienic conditions. The increase in production of wheat as in the year 2008, the department procured only 0.566 million metric tons . The existing storage facilities available are insufficient at various levels to cope up with large increase in production. To highlight the government efforts for establishing storage problems, it is necessary here to mention the present storage problems
8.1 Storage Problems:
(i) Lowcapacity stores.
(ii) Un-cleaned and filthy storehouse.
(iii) Improper ventilation, leaky and dampness in store houses.
(iv) Inconvenient storages(with broken walls, ceilings and floors).
(v) Un-proof store houses to insect pests, rodents and birds.
(vi) Improper spray and fumigation use of old gunny bags.
(vii) Rain hazards.
(viii) Insectnest.
(ix) High temperature and humidity problems.
(x) Unhygienic conditionsstores.
The provincial target of 1.300 million metric tons procurement is much in excess of its storage capacity of around 0.642 million metric tons. The remaining 0.658 million metric tons procured wheat would be put in privately rented godowns and rest of open field at the mercy of extreme weather conditions. The storage problem results infinancial losses to the provincial exchequer. The unsafe and unscientific storage of wheat crop in poorly maintained godowns sometimes damages the grains.
During last couple of years, the department is purchasing much more wheat, while the storage capacity of godowns is just 0.642 million metric tons. The rest of the wheat was kept under the open sky, and rented godowns.
Global environmental challenges, recent devastating floods in recent years and rains in Sindh have necessitated the construction of modern storage facilities. Therefore, the present Government is serious about food security and taking all necessary steps for the storage of wheat.
The Government of Sindh has decided to establish modern grain bulk storage facilities (BSFs) of a total capacity of 250,000 metric tons under a public private partnership in five districts of the province of 50,000 metric tons each at the following places.
(i) Ghotki,
(ii) Khairpur,
(iii) Sanghar,
(iv) Shaheed Benazirabad and
(v) Karachi.
The basic aim behind this project was to encourage private investment in the agricultural industry leading to improved operational efficiencies and reduce financial loss to the government and consumers from wastage/damage during grain handling and storage. Every year thousands of tons of wheat is being damaged in Sindh during rainy season because of unavailability of proper storage facility. This whole project is very expensive as it has been designed to incorporate modern grain storage system and technology to ensure the quality of stored grain. The project was envisaged in the year 2010-2011 and pre-qualification was called for the first time in February, 2012 .
8.2 Project Details / Description:
The Government of Sindh is responsible for execution and implementation of the Project. In order to modernize the province’s grain storage infrastructure and to encourage greater private sector participation in the wheat sector, a Public Private Partnership model has been proposed for the introduction of modern bulk grain storage facilities in Sindh.
The Project is an important part of the Government’s strategy towards developing Sindh’s agri-sector. It is hoped that a successful implementation of the Project will give private sector comfort over the Government’s commitment for working together with the private sector in addressing many of the challenges faced by Sindh’s agri-sector.
In order to work out on this project, the government of Sindh has engaged International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as Transaction Advisor for the Project.
8.3 Key objectives for the Project include:-
a. Increasing grain storage capacity in the province with modem grain clearing and handling systems.
b. Reducing inefficiencies and avoidable costs occurring in the existing wheat value chain.
c. Delivering better qualify wheat to millersand other consumers.
d. Introducing the concept of proteinbased segregation of wheat produced by the Authority.
e. Encouraging greater private sector investmentin storage and handling of grain, and
f. Enhancing the Government’s ability to providelonger-term food security.
The Project is for 250,000 metric tons of capacity to be built in five districts of the province, each site will comprise of a 50,000 metric tons facility. The storage facilities are to be built using concrete or steel, as stipulated in the design specifications to be made available to qualifying bidders at a later stage.
The Project is structured as a 23-year Build-own-Operate (BOO) contract which includes a construction period of up to 03 years (Concession Agreement). At the end of the Concession Agreement, ownership of all project land and facilities will remain with the winning bidders (the “Operator”), who will have no further obligations towards the government of Sindh, unless the Concession Agreement is extended on mutually agreed terms.
Duration the period of the Concession Agreement, the Operator will be responsible for receiving wheat procured by the government of Sindh from farmers in bulk. Each consignment of wheat received will be checked for quality, cleaned, segregated based on average protein content, and stored until instructionfor release are received from the Authority.
These district have been identified based on existing storage deficits, and importance towards ensuring food security in the province. The exact locations within the identified districts will be selected by Prequalified Bidders with consultation of the government of Sindh, based on requirements for availability of land and other utilities, transport accessibility and suitability for constructing heavy structures. The Operator will acquire the corresponding land under his sole responsibility and will bear all costs and expenses related to the acquisition of land for the Project.
In return for the Operator’s services, the government of Sindh will pay the Operator a concession fee per metric ton, which will comprise of a fixed (based on storage capacity) and variable (based on handled volume) element. The fixed element will be an availability based payment, payable regardless of actual capacity utilized by the government of Sindh during the year. The variable element will be paid for the volume of grain handled (i.e. Received and dispatched) by the Operator during the year.
The level of concession fee per metric ton payable by the government of Sindh to the Operator will be subject to the government of Sindh’s acceptance of outcome of the bidding process in the next stage of the Project.
8.4 An analysis and an updated Position of the Project:
Sindh Food Department has invited pre-qualification applications from prospective bidders in respect of a project for the financing, construction and operation of bulk grain storage and handling facilities in the province on Build-Own-Operate basis as mentioned earlier.
In the previous pre-qualification process, M/s Matco Rice (Pvt) Ltd, M/s Pak-Turk Consortium and M/s Fauji Akbar Portia & M/s China Harbour Engineering Company Consortium were declared pre-qualified.
Now, the government of Sindh has decided to conduct fresh pre-qualification process for re-tendering of modern grain bulk storage facility.
8.5 Reasons for delayed response from the bidders / investors:
Investors’ concerns are that provincial government will not be able to pay high storage cost of these storage systems. According to the previous tender’s terms and conditions, a bidder / investor could bid only for the complete project not for the single unit…..meaning thereby if a party bids for development of storage facility in Sindh, it has to arrange an amount of over Rs 10-12 billion to initiate the project.
Moreover, investors are of the that multiple fines, high cost, high consultancy fee and strict conditions were some of the reasons for which not a single company participated in the tender and a modern storage facility project was delayed.
CHAPTER NO. 9
AN OVER VIEW OF THE MODERN GRAIN
STORAGE FACILITIES IN THE WORLD.
There are many companies in the world manufacturing modern grain facilities and handling systems. These storages facilities are mechanically and electronically controlled and require less man power and provide a latest and modern way of keeping grains for a longer duration / period. The details and types of some of the grain storage facilities are as under:
9.1 Farm Grain Bins and Silos:
These farm bins and silos range from 12′ to 48′ (3.66 m to 14.63 m) in diameter. They are made up of galvanized steel sheets. They have complete ladder system inside and outside the silo. A man-sized inspection hatch is also attached with every silo. The roofs have weather-tight closure to provide complete safety from rain and snow. Such type of structures and silos and are commonly used in China, Japan, Russia and other parts of the world. Such types of bins and silos are mostly build at or near the field where crops are grown so that not much cost of transportation is required. This gives the farmers an added advantage either to sell the crop in the market or store it in the silos for future requirement. such type of silos and bins are equally good for government departments for easy maintenance.
9.2 Thermal Insulation Silos:
1. Thermal insulation
Due to thermal insulation, grain temperature change gradient inside silos is lower than that outside and thus not likely to have condensation of moisture.
2. Safe grain storage
In this system , storing in a low temperature increases the grain storage stability, keeps the grain quality and prolongs the safe-storage period.
3. Low fabrication cost
With installing an insulation layer (polyurethane froth, rubber sponge, glass fiber etc.) on the outer wall, insulation silo can have a low fabrication cost compared to concrete silo.
9.3 Assembly type steel silos:
1. Large capacity:
The capacity of One single-silo is up to 18,000 tons. these are attached to each other and provide comprehensive configurations for different requirements.
2. High accuracy:
Complete advanced processing equipment and technology are introduced from USA to effectively ensure working accuracy and reduce damage to galvanized layer.
3. Less residues:
These assembly silos have external installable stiffeners contribute to less grain residues on silo walls.
4. Detachable and movable:
With standardized and modularized production, components and parts have a high standardization and good interchangeability, thus can be partially replaced or completely transferred.
CHAPTER NO. 10
AN ANALYSIS FOR FUTURE NEEDS FOR OF GRAIN SILOS IN SINDH.
From the discussion in previous chapters of this research paper, it is evident that at present, Sindh Food Department (SFD) has only 50% of the grain storage facilities in the province against the grain (wheat) SFD purchased from the growers last year. Further, these facilities are old enough and constructed years ago and do not have any modern facility like temperature, moisture controls instruments. It is also a fact that at present, province has a population of 38 million, which if increases at the rate of 2.8% will cross 50 million by the year 2025. The present yield of the province is around 40 M. Ton for wheat only for the year 2014.
Regarding the future requirement of the province, the thumb rule for calculating the wheat requirement of a person in a year is approx 126 kg/ person /year . By use of simple arithmetic and keeping in view the assumption that population of the province would be approximately fifty (50) million in the year 2025, if it grows at a rate of 2.8% per year, the wheat requirement would be 6,300,000 M. Ton per year in 2025. This huge quantity of wheat can either be achieved by enhancing use of uncultivated land into use or increase in per acre production and most importantly by storing grains in modern scientific storage facilities, whenever province have bumper crops, as done in developed countries. It is pertinent to mention that presently only 642,220 M. Ton of grains can be stored in the godowns of the department.
It has also been witnessed in the past in Sindh that wheat was destroyed due to poor storage facilities due to rain and extreme weather conditions and thus province and the country lost a considerable amount of money which could be saved otherwise.
However, SFD has finally decided to establish modern grain bulk storage facilities (BSFs) for only 250,000 M. tons with the collaboration with International Finance Corporation (IFC). The same is still under process and nothing has been done although the prequalification was called in February, 2012 and recently SDF has again called for retendering in the month of January 2014. It means that if the construction works of BSFs starts at the end of this year, this will take at least next three years to complete, which seems to be quite away from reality at present moment.
On the other hand, these BSFs will only enhance the storage capacity to 892,200 M. Ton, even less than 1.0 million M. Ton. Keeping in view this scenario, it is obvious that if more aggressive steps would not have been taken to establish BSFs of 250,000 M.ton quickly and to come up with another such project of same quantity, the province would again face shortage of modern bulk grain storage facilities.