Forum on Improved Grain Storage

The forum, held on February 5, 2020, at the ICAR Lecture Hall in New Delhi, India, brought together thought leaders, researchers, and practitioners from the public and private sectors to discuss ways to reduce postharvest losses in India and South Asia.

A complete set of photos from the event is available in our Flickr album.

Welcome and opening session

Speakers in the opening session:

4:20 | Dr. Shahidur Rashid, IFPRI South Asia director
9:22 | Dr. Alex Winter-Nelson, ADMI director
14:10 | Dr. Ashok Gulati, Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)
25:25 | T. Nanda Kumar, Former secretary to the Government of India

Session 1: Scope and scale of the postharvest loss problem

Order of presenters (with links to presentation slides as relevant)

1:19 | Dr. P.K. Joshi, Agricultural Economics Research Association (AERA) President: Remarks on the issue of postharvest loss
7:35 | Dr. Prasanta K. Kalita, University of Illinois professor: Scope and Scale of Postharvest Loss and Waste
21:00 | Sarwar Mahmud, Government of Bangladesh Ministry of Agriculture: Impact of Postharvest Loss on Food Security – Perspectives from Bangladesh
32:40 | Anil Kumar Jha, Deputy Director, Bihar Ministry of Agriculture: Government of Bihar Initiatives to Reduce Postharvest Losses
43:10 | Dr. R.K. Singh, Director, ICAR Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology: Post-Harvest Unit Operation Management to Reduce Losses
55:40 | Audience question and answer
1:12:30 | Joshi concluding remarks and session summary

Session 2: Evidence on the effectiveness of improved storage in enhancing food safety and food security

Order of presenters (with links to presentation slides as relevant)

1:55 | Dr. Rajkumar Jat, Chief Scientist, Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA): Promoting and Disseminating Improved Storage Systems in Bihar
11:20 | Dr. Chayan Saha, Bangladesh Agricultural University: On-Farm Grain Storage Solutions for Smallholders in Bangladesh
For additional information, read Saha’s blog post about the development of the BAU-STR dryer for drying grain in Bangladesh
21:13 | Dr. Pallavi Shukla, Johns Hopkins University: Demand and Pricing Policy for Improved Storage Technology
For more information, read Shukla’s blog post on the topic.
29:50 | Dr. Kathy Baylis, University of Illinois: Quantifying the Impacts of Hermetic Bags for Small Farms in India
Additional information: Policy paper on improved storage technology in India
56:53 | Audience question and answer
1:03:50 | Dr. Ashok Gulati closing remarks and session summary

Session 3: Benefits, barriers, unintended consequences, and potential facilitators associated with improved storage systems.

Panel discussion 1

Session chairman: Dr. Bob Zeigler, Director General Emeritus, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)

Panel members:

Mr. Alexandre Doyen, Regional Manager Africa, Vestergaard
Dr. Shyam Narayan Jha, Assistant Director General, ICAR Division of Agricultural Engineering
Mr. Vijay Kumar, CEO, National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX)
Mr. Sanjeev Asthana, Managing Director, iFARMS

Panel discussion 2

Session chairman: Dr. A. K. Padhee, Director, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)

Panel members:

Shri Sanjay Puri, President, Roller Flour Millers Federation of India
Dr. Hari Sudini, Principal Scientist Groundnut Pathology, ICRISAT
Mr. Ravinder Giri, Project Manager, HarvestPlus
Ms. Pragya Nehru, Deputy Director Food & Agriculture, Confederation of Indian Industry
Mr. Amrendra Mishra, Managing Director-Oilseeds, Archer Daniels Midland Co.

Session 4: Breakout discussions summary

Summary of breakout group discussions on the following topics:

4:35 | Group 1: On-Farm Storage – led by Dr. Md. Monjurul Alam, Bangladesh Agricultural University
8:14 | Group 2: Public Grain Distribution – led by Dr. Avinash Kishore, IFPRI
12:03 | Group 3: Private Market Systems – led by Dr. Kathy Baylis, University of Illinois
15:27 | Group 4: Public Private Partnerships – led by Ms. Maria Jones, ADMI
18:22 | Question and answer period and concluding remarks by session chairperson T. Nanda Kumar.

Closing session

Speakers for the closing session include:

00:00 | Dr. Shahidur Rashid, Director, IFPRI South Asia
9:27 | Dr. Ashok Gulati, Infosys Chair Professor for Agriculture, Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER)
40:42 | Dr. Alex Winter-Nelson, Director, ADMI