Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) in 2010 for implementation of
      the provisions of the Act. The Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) issued against stocks of
      farm produces deposited by the farmers in warehouses would help the farmers in seeking loan
      from banks. It would help overcoming the situation of distress sale of agricultural commodities
      by the farmers during peak harvest season. Warehouses need to be registered with the WDRA for
      issuing NWRs. The warehouses are inspected by the empanelled inspection agencies prior to
      grant of registration to ensure that basic requirements of scientific and safe storage of agricultural
      and other commodities are fully met by the warehouses.
            The Authority has notified 123 agricultural commodities including cereals, pulses, oilseeds,
      spices, vegetable oils, edible nuts and other commodities like rubber, tobacco, tea, coffee
      makhana, etc., and 26 horticultural commodities such as potato, dehydrated onion, garlic, ginger,
      turmeric, apple and resins for issuance of NWRs.
      Central Warehousing Corporation
            Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) is a Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) set up 1957
      under this Department to provide scientific storage facilities for agricultural produces,
      implements and other notified commodities. By August 2018, CWC is operating 431 warehouses
      with a total storage capacity of 100.28 lakh MT including 44 custom bonded warehouses, 29
      container freight stations/inland clearance depots, 3 air cargo complexes and 3 temperature
      controlled warehouses for providing services to the export/import trade. CWC has 19 associate
      state warehousing corporations (SWCs) with a total capacity of 352.65 lakh MT.
            CWC also has a 100 per cent owned subsidiary company namely, Central Railside
      Warehouse Company Limited (CRWC) for development of Railside Warehouse Complexes
      (RWCs). CRWC has 19 RWCs with had a total storage capacity of 3,46,267 MT in August 2018.
      Post Harvest Management of Foodgrains
      Quality Standard for Foodgrains
            The government exercises due control over the quality of foodgrains procured for the
      central pool. The Quality Control Cells of the Ministry at New Delhi and the field offices at
      Bengaluru, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Pune, Guwahati, Chennai
      and Patna monitor the quality of foodgrains procured, stored and issue for distribution by FCI
      and state governments and their agencies. During 2017-18, 1170 Food Storage Depots were
      inspected by the officers of quality control cells.
      Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute
            Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute (IGMRI), Hapur and its field
      stations at Ludhiana (Punjab) and Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh) are engaged in the training and
      applied Research and Development (R&D) work relating to grain storage management. The
      IGMRI also conducts various training courses on storage, inspection of foodgrains, pest control,
      etc, for the officers of storages agencies and pest control operator, etc.
      Central Grain Analysis Laboratory
            The Central Grain Analysis Laboratory (CGAL) located in New Delhi assists the
      Department in monitoring the quality of foodgrains at the time of procurement, storage and