Examine the storage and post-harvest loss problem in Indian agriculture and the role of Agricultural Infrastructure Fund.
Subtopic: Agriculture · Storage & marketing
How to structure your answer
Introduction: Ramesh Chand-NITI study: post-harvest losses 4.6%-15.9% across crops; Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF) ₹1 lakh crore sanctioned through FY33 (MoAFW dashboard).
Body: 1) Storage deficit — 145 MT capacity vs 311 MT foodgrain production; cold storage skewed to potato. 2) AIF disbursals — over ₹50,000 crore sanctioned to 80,000+ projects (Apr 2025). 3) FCI silos — modern steel silos 11.50 LMT (replacing CAP). 4) Cooperative push — World's Largest Grain Storage Plan via PACS approved May 2023, ₹1 lakh crore.
Way forward: Operationalise PACS-led storage in 5,000 villages; expand WDRA-registered warehouses for e-NWR pledge loans; CIPHET-led cold chain training.
Written within the word limit
197 words · target 250 words · 14 min
Introduction:
NABCONS' Post-Harvest Loss Study 2022 places India's annual post-harvest losses at ₹1,52,790 crore — 4.6-15.9% across crops. Fruit and vegetable losses are 7-16% against the world average of 5%, exposing the gap the Agricultural Infrastructure Fund seeks to bridge.
Nature of the problem: India produces 332 MT of foodgrains, 355 MT of fruits-and-vegetables, and 231 MT of milk (FY25). Storage capacity is 145 MT (FCI + Cooperative + Private), but cold-chain capacity is only 39 MT against a need of 70 MT (NCCD 2024). 30% of horticulture output faces cold-chain leakage; only 8% of farmers have on-farm storage (NSSO 2019).
Agricultural Infrastructure Fund: Launched July 2020 with ₹1 lakh crore over 2020-26 (extended to 2032-33, corpus ₹1.13 lakh crore), AIF provides 3% interest subvention up to ₹2 crore and CGTMSE credit-guarantee for FPOs, APMCs, agri-startups and primary processors. As of March 2026, AIF has sanctioned ₹51,000 crore for 81,000 projects, creating 26 MT storage, 1,400 sorting-grading units and 8 MT cold-storage.
Complementary architecture: PMKSY (cold chains, mega food parks), PMFME (₹10,000 crore), 10,000 FPOs scheme (₹6,865 crore), Operation Greens TOP-to-Total (₹500 crore) and e-NAM convergence. The Negotiable Warehouse Receipt system under WDRA 2007 mobilises ₹6,000 crore in pledge finance.
Way forward:
The Department of Agriculture should converge AIF with PMKSY-PMFME by FY27, expand cold-storage to 70 MT under NLP 2022 multi-modal hubs, and digitise WDRA NWRs with AgriStack for 5 crore farmers.
What an examiner expects to see
- Post-harvest losses 4.6%-15.9% (NITI/ICAR)
- AIF ₹1 lakh crore, sanctions >₹50,000 crore
- Storage deficit 145 MT vs ~311 MT output
- PACS storage plan ₹1 lakh crore (May 2023)
- WDRA Act 2007 — e-NWRs
- FCI steel silos 11.5 LMT capacity
- CIPHET cold chain training
Concrete cases, schemes and judgments
- Reliance Fresh and Big Basket cold chain
- Amul cold chain network
- Kissan Bhandar Yojana proposals
- Kisan Rail since 2020