The Food Corporation of India (FCI) is poised to establish a Food Museum at its birth place, Thanjavur, as part of its golden jubilee celebrations. Union Food and Consumer Affairs Minister Ram Vilas Paswan is to lay the foundation stone for the new complex that would house its branch office here on Friday.
Upon completion, the Food Museum would have exhibits and depicts that would trace the history of FCI from its humble origins in the granary of South India, bringing to life the activities such as paddy procurement, establishment of dryers, hulling at the modern rice mills, storage, and transportation.
The proposed two-hall museum will feature the evolution of storage facilities from open yards and scientific godowns to the present day silos that ensure low wastage and easier loading or handling for transportation by the rail wagons.
Mechanised conveyors and stocking technologies would be depicted in the panels, A.S. Arunachalam, FCI General Manager, Tamil Nadu, told The Hindu .
Stating that the FCI was providing around 30 lakh tonnes rice a year to meet the demand of the Tamil Nadu population, Mr. Arunachalam said the consignments were usually sourced from Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Odisha, and Chattisgarh. The State could generate only the balance six lakh tonnes rice for meeting the local demand. Besides, the FCI supplied around two lakh tonnes wheat to Tamil Nadu from Punjab, Haryana, and Madhya Pradesh.
Interestingly, the then Food Minister C. Subramaniam launched the Food Corporation of India in Thanjavur in 1965 and that had grown into a national edifice. The launch was a follow-up of an Act of Parliament which established the FCI to provide the best price for the farmer producer and ensure affordable price for the consumers.
The FCI also operated a solvent plant at its erstwhile Modern Rice Mill plant at Sembanar Koil in Nagapattinam district to extract rice bran oil.
FCI was first started in Thanjavur in 1965
The museum will trace evolution of storage facilities
