Comparative Analysis of Public and Private Foodgrain Warehousing in Vidarbha Region of Maharashtra

The study has analysed the investment pattern and profile of commodities stored in the warehouses along with evaluation of economic, technological and financial feasibility of warehousing in Vidarbha region of Maharashtra. The primary and secondary data about the functioning of Maharashtra State Warehousing Corporation (public) and Buldhana Urban Warehousing (private) were collected for the period 2000–01 to 2011–12. The study has used internal rate of return (IRR), benefit-cost ration (BCR) and net present worth (NPW) for analysing the data. The investment has been found higher on machineries in public than private warehouses but investment on building and land was higher by private than public warehouses. The average space occupied by different commodities has depicted the same pattern, though quantity varied, the space occupied was highest by rice, followed by wheat, pulses, oilseeds and other commodities. The study has identified the constraints faced by the farmers in availing warehousing facility and has suggested adoption of P-P-P models for increasing infrastructure in warehousing and dissemination of market information among farmers to get better returns from their produce.