Grainful employment

It’s not just the rats that famously devour India’s foodgrain stored in government warehouses; it seems, cattle, too, are unwitting beneficiaries of India’s generous farm procurement policies. Given the serial bumper harvests and chronic shortage of warehousing facilities, some proportion of foodgrain is stored in the open under plastic sheeting. Although the mandated duration for such storage is six months, some grain is stored thus for two years at a stretch. Obviously, this grain becomes even more unfit for human consumption. What happens to it? Apparently, it is sold at a discount to poultry and dairy units as animal feed — and the profits don’t necessarily go to the exchequer.