UP plans two lakh MT boost in grain storage capacity; DMs asked to identify land for warehouses

Lucknow: The UP govt has launched an exercise to expand foodgrain and farm produce storage capacity by at least two lakh metric tonnes (MT). District magistrates have been directed to identify and secure suitable govt land for constructing new warehouses and cooperative godowns.The move comes amid concerns raised by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) over inadequate storage facilities in UP.Officials said the revenue and cooperative departments have identified 26 sites across 34 districts, mainly in central and eastern UP, for developing storage infrastructure. These facilities are expected to create an additional 82,500 MT of storage capacity in the first phase.Of the proposed units, 14 godowns will be built under the State Agriculture Development Project, while 12 others will come up under the Centre's World Largest Grain Storage Programme, which seeks to develop decentralised storage facilities through cooperative institutions.The initiative is part of the state's broader strategy to strengthen rural cooperative networks and improve storage, procurement, distribution and marketing systems for farmers. The govt believes enhanced storage capacity will help reduce post-harvest losses, support procurement operations and improve the availability of farm inputs at the grassroots level.In a communiqué sent to all DMs, cooperative commissioner Yogesh Kumar said the department needs land for godowns that will facilitate distribution of foodgrains, fertilisers and improved seeds.

He said that 1,916 cooperative committees have already been formed across gram and nyay panchayats to support the expansion of cooperative services and directed district administrations to expedite land identification.The proposed facilities are expected to serve multiple purposes beyond grain storage, including acting as hubs for agricultural input distribution and other cooperative activities.Simultaneously, the govt has launched a campaign to streamline the management of public land that could be used for such projects. In a separate communication, revenue secretary Kanchan Verma pointed out that many govt land parcels are yet to be formally recorded in revenue records, making them vulnerable to encroachment and complicating their management.She directed district administrations to conduct a special drive from July 10-25 to identify and register all unrecorded govt land.