India’s wheat left to rot due to lack of storage

[marmar]

NEW DELHI—In fields along a northern Indian highway, mountains of grain have turned black with mildew after getting soaked in the rain.

The millions of tons of wheat rotting because India ran out of warehouse space to hold another bumper crop illustrate a core problem of the nation’s food crisis: India can grow plenty of food but cannot store or transport it well enough to nourish its 1.2 billion people.

Warehouses are overflowing and huge quantities of wheat and rice are stored in fields under tarpaulins and thin plastic sheets, risking decay.

......(snip)......

“The rotting of food grain is tantamount to criminal neglect in a country which has one of the highest rates of child malnutrition globally and the largest proportion of hungry people,” said Biraj Patnaik, an adviser to India’s Supreme Court on food policy issues. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1176287--india-s-wheat-left-to-rot-due-to-lack-of-storage?bn=1

[Canuckistanian]

1. Why don't they tax some of those IT billionaires

And solve this problem?

America faced the same problem in the 1800's. Lots of production, but no storage and transportation infrastructure. The government stepped in and created co-ops and rail lines.

Why can't India do the same with it's booming economy?

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Why don't they just donate what they can and export the rest?

[FrodosPet]

3. Transportation

It still has to be transported to storage, then loaded on ships or trains, and sent to places which needs it. They then need to process it into useful products and send it out to retail locations.

Warehousing, transportation and access - the REAL perpetrator in most food shortages.

[johnd83]

4. Corruption...

India's government is extremely corrupt. It makes our government look amazingly honest. Also, they have a caste system that indoctrinates them to not care about the lower castes. It is technically illegal but it still has a lot of sway. Any anarchist who things we don't need rules and regulations should spend a few months living in India without any money. (I've visited India. It was quite a shock.)

[Kaleva]

5. My step-daughter went to India last year.

It was quite the eye opener for her to see so many people live in squalor. On the bus trip from the airport to their hotel, the bus driver got mad about the traffic and refusing to drive any further, kicked everyone off the bus. They had to walk miles, carrying their luggage, and it wasn't until late in the night before they got to their hotel.