Does an organization like Food Corporation of India take the assistance of PCI in controlling the rat menace?
Yes, rats are responsible for a large part of the damaged stock in storage as they contaminate even more with their feces and urine, making the grain unfit for human consumption. Stored grain pests like beetles and weevils are probably statistically more important. With appropriate storage and pest management practices in place, the nation could save some 20 million tonnes of grain every year! More than all the grain stored today in warehouses across the country and enough to feed the nation! The FCI has a charter to conduct its own pest management and this is sometimes contracted out to the Central Warehousing Corp (CWC). We have never been approached by either government agency to conduct these services. Have you made any estimates of losses to the economy due to pests and how much the nation could save by taking pest control measures? I believe the nation’s capacity for food production is large enough for our annual needs whilst generating an adequate surplus for export as well as s
