In an ambitious plan which may redefine how we preserve our grain, National Consumer Cooperative Federation (NCCF) has begun a move which has been received green signal by the government of India.

Talking to Indian Cooperative, Virendra Singh Chairman of NCCF said “we have been exploring easy to handle and cost-effective means of storing grain. We hit upon the idea of silo bag which can store grains with practically little cost.”

Introducing silo bag for the first time in India Virendra Singh said that it stores grains in a safe, economical and profitable way. Silo bags are designed to achieve the optimal preservation of grains, in the same field of harvest or any other place you prefer.

The bagging process is done by means of a high performance, low cost and easily transportable machine. It has 3 layer polythenes to keeps out air and light.

In terms of capacity of the bag the Chairman said that it may store upto 220 tonne and could be kept for 12 months in the open. Bags can be stored anywhere on farm as long as the ground is clean, well drained and free of sharp objects
The other impressive features are that it could be filled from header or chaser bin at around 200 tonnes per hour and emptied by outloader at up to 180 tonnes per hour

The proposal of NCCF to government was accepted and a high-powered committee was set up to explore it further.
The panel gave its report recently. It was constituted on directions from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), to prepare a plan for the additional grain storage requirement in the next 10 years, in view of the proposed Food Security Bill.

After assessing current and future foodgrain production and procurement, it concluded the government should use new technologies such as silo bags (low cost, airtight, giant-size polythene bags which can store up to 200 tonnes) to meet temporary storage needs during the harvest season.