Grain stocks hit a new high; Grain Bureau to organize special autumn grain inspection

According to the website of the National Grain Bureau, the Grain Bureau issued a notice today requiring solid efforts in the 2015 autumn grain purchase and autumn safe grain storage work. The notice shows that provincial-level grain administrative departments and Sinograin branches must jointly organize a special inspection of autumn grain purchase, safe grain storage and safe production during the period from mid-October to the end of November.

The Grain Bureau stated that China's grain stocks have currently reached a new high, and the quantity of grain stored by various grain and oil storage enterprises is larger than ever before; the quantity of state policy-related grain stored in open-air and simple storage facilities is also larger than ever before. The contradiction of insufficient warehouse capacity in major grain-producing areas is prominent, and the phenomenon of old and dilapidated warehouses “storing grain while sick” still exists in some areas; some enterprises lack safe grain storage equipment and have backward technical measures, especially in Northeast China and the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, where a considerable portion of open-air and simple storage facilities have hidden dangers for safe production such as fire safety issues, as well as risks of condensation in autumn and mildew at the top; in some areas of South China, the grain temperature of grain stored under outdoor awnings remains persistently high, making pest and mold control difficult; due to poor sales and distribution, some grain has also been stored beyond its proper period, affecting the quality and safety of stored grain. Soon all localities will again usher in the peak period of autumn grain purchase, and the task of freeing up and consolidating warehouses to prepare for purchase and ensure the implementation of the state grain purchase policy is arduous.

The notice requires that grain departments and grain enterprises everywhere make solid efforts in autumn grain purchase and autumn safe grain storage work.

First, strictly implement the main responsibility of grain purchase and storage enterprises. Sinograin must strengthen internal supervision of purchase activities carried out by entrusted purchase and storage sites and externally leased warehouses, and effectively assume the main responsibility for central-authority policy-related grain purchase, safe storage, safe production and inventory supervision. COFCO Group, Chinatex Corporation and AVIC International Holding Corporation must also strengthen management of policy-related grain purchase and safe grain storage undertaken by their subordinate enterprises. Various grain storage enterprises must, in accordance with the requirement that “whoever damages the grain is responsible,” fully implement the enterprise's main responsibility for safe grain storage and safe production. Effective grain preservation technical measures must be adopted for different forms of grain storage, and in particular, safety patrols and grain condition inspections must be strengthened for open-air and simple storage facilities and externally leased warehouses; problems and hidden dangers must be dealt with promptly, and grain damage accidents and safe production accidents must be resolutely prevented. They must actively cooperate with grain administrative departments in supervising and inspecting autumn grain purchase and in inspecting safe grain storage and safe production.

Second, effectively implement all work related to autumn grain purchase. Grain departments everywhere must intensify publicity of the state grain purchase policy, safe grain storage and safe production, promptly carry out grain sales and distribution and free up and consolidate warehouses, accelerate the construction of new grain warehouses and the repair and renovation of “dangerous warehouses and old depots,” and increase purchase and storage capacity as much as possible. In principle, traditional mat-and-basket grain bins must no longer be built for newly purchased grain entering warehouses this year; newly built grain storage awnings must undergo strengthened safety assessment, and newly built open-air and simple grain storage facilities must be equipped with compliant ventilation and grain condition detection facilities and equipment. At the same time, farmers must be helped and guided in drying, sunning and cleaning new grain, the quality gate for grain entering warehouses must be strictly controlled, and hidden dangers to safe grain storage must be prevented and eliminated from the source.

Finally, make every effort to fight the “tough battle” of safe grain storage and safe production. Grain departments and grain enterprises everywhere must, in light of the actual situation of current grain purchase and storage work and the characteristics of grain storage in autumn and winter, fight the “tough battle” of safe grain storage and safe production in two stages.

In the first stage, general surveys and rectification work for safe grain storage and safe production must be rapidly carried out before this year's autumn grain purchase. In accordance with grain ownership and management responsibilities, careful arrangements must be made to conduct classified screening of safe grain storage and safe production conditions, identify key enterprises and key warehouse types, implement responsibilities at every level, ascertain the base situation as soon as possible, establish ledgers of hidden dangers for safe grain storage and safe production, and adopt targeted measures one by one to resolve them. In this stage, particular efforts must be made to remove accumulated heat, lower grain temperature and prevent top caking, and to solve the problems of excessively high temperature in individual grain piles and easy condensation when temperatures drop in autumn.

In the second stage, safe grain preservation work for winter and spring must be done well around the end of the year. The focus must be on making use of the temperature difference between inside and outside in winter to carry out thorough ventilation and cooling, adopting necessary heat insulation and cold preservation measures, and laying the foundation for safe grain preservation in the coming spring and summer. National relevant regulations and technical specification requirements must be strictly implemented, with emphasis on the two key points of open-air grain storage and leased-warehouse grain storage; in accordance with the characteristics of grain storage and operations in the two stages, necessary on-site training must be organized at different levels, and relevant grain research institutes and universities must actively provide technical guidance and support.

The notice also requires solid conduct of the special inspection of autumn grain purchase, safe grain storage and safe production. Provincial-level grain administrative departments and Sinograin branches must jointly organize a special inspection of autumn grain purchase, safe grain storage and safe production during the period from mid-October to the end of November.