Govt setting up robust system to estimate private grain stock

Amid lack of transparency about foodgrain stocks held in the global market, the government today said it is creating a "robust system" to collect stock details even from private players that will help take corrective policy decisions in the event of price rise.
Timely and accurate information about the foodgrain stock held in different countries and even with domestic and global players will help the governments address the problem of price volatility as also help make food available at a price that is affordable to people, it said.
Addressing an international seminar on 'Approaches and methodologies for private foodgrain stock measurement' organised by UN body FAO here, Agriculture Secretary S K Pattanayak said India has felt the impact of lack of information about foodgrains stocks.

"Within India also, we have felt this impact. Many times, we do not have accurate information on stocks and price within the country witnesses volatility. Therefore, it is important to have access to timely and accurate information," he said.
It was almost like a "black box" regarding stock position of various agriculture commodities by different government agencies and also private trade, he said.
"Nobody knows, which government is holding how much, how much is in public and private stocks. Various economies in the world do not give these details," he noted.

Keeping this in mind, the secretary said, "We have been trying to create a robust system so that we are not subject to inaccurate information."

Right now, public stocks are definitely known and are in the public domain. But measuring the stock held by private trade and organisations is a big challenge, he said.
He is of the view that accurate information and analysis of stocks will help the governments move agriculture produce from one region to another or from one country to the other.
According to Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) India representative Shyam Khadka, measuring reliable information on private foodgrain stocks is a challenge in most countries due to non-existence of a scientific approach and methodology for the purpose.
A multiplicity of private foodgrain stockholders such as farmers, traders, processors, consumers, transporters and exporters further adds complexities to the task of measuring private stocks of foodgrains, he said.

"Evolving a scientific approach and methodology for measuring stocks of foodgrains held privately and commercial storage entities can help predict the direction of future prices and design appropriate public policy and business planning," he said in a statement.
Khadka said the Philippines conducts sample surveys on monthly basis to estimate private stocks of rice and maize. However, suitability of this methodology for a large country like India has not been tested, not even on a pilot basis.
The stock information is relevant to India as the country is the second-largest world producer of wheat and rice, and is among the 10 leading producers of maize and soyabean. In recent years, India is playing a major role in global trade of farm commodities, FAO said.