Punjab food department working on enhancing grain storage capacity

Punjab Food Department which is working on enhancing its present grain storage capacity has planned to revive one of its 'silo's situated at Multan with a capacity of storing 40,000 metric tons grain. This storage facility was built with the assistance of USAID but was not in use for the last 10 years due to various certain reasons, sources in the provincial food department told Business Recorder here on Wednesday.
It may be mentioned here that the food department is mandated to ensure not only the provision of quality flour to general public at affordable prices but also to provide fair returns to the growers through commodity purchase operations. The department fulfils this responsibility through an organised procurement system, strategically located network of permanent and transient storage and regulated supply of wheat for welfare purposes as well as for meeting the demand of the market/consumers.
During last two years procurement campaign for wheat crop, the shortage of storage capacity was badly felt and additional requirement was estimated at about 2.1 million tons. Sitting Punjab Secretary Food, Irfan Ahmad during visit to Multan witnessed the redundant storage facility and decided to revive it to add to the present storage. The department has approached the Pakistan Agriculture Storage and Services Corporation (Passco) to assist it in revival of this silo, which would add to the present storage capacity. Passco has the technical know how on repair, maintenance and revival of such storages, the sources claimed.
The food department hoped to get a detailed report on revival of this silo in a day or two. Then a summary seeking permission with financial requirement will be moved for final approval by the provincial government, the sources added. Meanwhile the work on setting up new silos is also continued. The provincial government in the budget 2011-12 allocated a sum of Rs 230 million for setting up state of the art concrete silos at Dera Ghazi Khan, Rajanpur and Lahore adding another 100,000 metric tons to the total storage capacity.
The sources said that paper work on setting up of silos at Dera Ghazi Khan is in progress and supervisory consultant would be selected in a day or two. It has also been planned to change the mode of construction of this silo. It was earlier planned to be built in EPC mode but the department has realised that it is not viable and now looking at implementing the project in an alternative way, the sources added.