印度粮仓不足 或造成大量储粮浪费

India expects a record harvest of rice and wheat, but officials have warned that huge food stocks could be wasted due to lack of adequate storage facilities. The government has been criticized for holding on to huge surpluses while millions of people go hungry.

印度的水稻和小麦预计会出现创记录的丰收，但是有关官员警告说，大量储粮可能由于存储设施缺乏而被浪费。印度民众批评政府在数百万人挨饿的情况下还把持大量盈余粮食不放。

By the end of June, farmers across India will have harvested more than 250 million tons of wheat and rice. The bumper crops should be cause for cheer. Instead the country is confronting a challenge of plenty.

到六月底，印度各地农民将收获超过2亿5000万吨水稻和小麦。庄稼丰收本应欢庆，但印度却因粮食过多而面临挑战。

The Food Corporation of India - which stores the grain - has told the Food Ministry that it has neither the warehouse capacity nor the manpower to manage the increase.

储存谷物的印度粮食公司告诉印度粮食部，他们既没有仓库也没有人力资源来管理增产的粮食。

Every year, the government purchases millions of tons of grain from farmers to ensure they get a good price, for use in food subsidy programs, and to maintain an emergency stockpile.

印度政府每年都从农民手中购买数百万吨的粮食，来保证农民能卖得好价钱。这些粮食用于食品补贴项目，同时政府也能储备应急粮食。

Officials say this year’s record production could leave the government with 75 million tons of grain on its hands. With facilities only to store 63 million tons in state-run warehouses, millions of tons could be left out in the open, vulnerable to rain and attacks by rodents, or stored in makeshift spaces, covered by waterproof sheets.

有关官员说，今年创纪录的收成可能会令政府手中拥有7500吨谷物。由于印度国有粮食储存仓库仅能容纳6300万吨粮食，因此数百万吨粮食可能不得不露天存放。这些粮食很容易遭到雨水和老鼠等动物的侵害。也有一些粮食或者被存放在临时地点，用防水布覆盖。

Food Minister K.V. Thomas says the government is taking steps to reduce the huge stockpiles and make space for the new harvest. It has allowed traders to export surpluses and will lease warehouses for one year to expand capacity. But Thomas admits that dealing with the surplus is a big challenge.

印度粮食部长托马斯告诉美国之音，印度政府正在采取措施减少巨大的粮食储备，为新收获的粮食腾出粮仓。政府将允许商人出口盈余的粮食，并将租赁一年的仓库来加大储备量。但是托马斯承认，处理粮食盈余是个巨大的挑战。

“We should understand we are handling 70-71 million tons. It is just like a war-like situation. You have to procure," explained Thomas. "You have to store. You have to transport. And India is such a huge country. This is not an easy job we are doing. ”

他说：“我们要知道我们是在处理7000多万吨的粮食，这就像一场战争。你必须收购，你必须储藏，你还必须运输。印度幅员辽阔，这对我们来说不是件容易的事。”

Minister Thomas says they are also investing in modern food storage infrastructure. But he says that while food grain production has soared in the last two years, new warehouses are coming up more slowly because “they cannot be built in a day.”

托马斯说，政府也在投资建造现代粮食储备设施。但他说，过去两年印度粮食收成急剧增加，但新仓库的建设却进展缓慢，因为“它们不可能在一天之内建成”。

Activists say the problem that needs fixing is not just storage - but getting the food to some 200 million people who are malnourished. U.N. agencies say India has the largest number of hungry people in the world.

活动人士说，需要解决的问题不只是粮食储存问题，还要解决如何向2亿营养不良的民众提供食品的问题。联合国有关部门说，印度忍饥挨饿的人数是全世界最多的。

Biraj Patnaik, a commissioner to the Supreme Court who advises policy makers on issues relating to food security, says the problem has arisen because the government does not want to scale up the distribution of food grains to the poor.

帕特纳依克是印度最高法院专员，专门向印度的政策决策者提供粮食安全方面的咨询。他说，造成现在这种状况的原因是政府不愿意增加对贫困人口的粮食发放。He explains that just three states: Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana - grow most of India’s grain, and the food has to be transported to far flung areas.

他解释说，印度大部分粮食来自旁遮普邦、中央邦和哈里亚纳邦，粮食必须从这里运送到遥远的地区。

“What the government ideally ought to do is distribute it to the people who deserve the food grain to the poorest of the poor," Patnaik said. "In the short run, you need to increase the food subsidy in order to make this distribution happen, and the government is extremely reluctant to increase the subsidy. In my opinion it is being penny wise and pound foolish.”

帕特纳依克说：“最理想的状态是，政府应该把粮食发放给最贫穷的人。从短期来看，政府必须首先提高粮食补贴的数量，这样才能把粮食发放给穷人，但政府非常不情愿。我认为政府这样做其实是‘捡了芝麻，丢了西瓜’。”

The government is hoping to address such concerns. It wants to pass an ambitious law to give cheap wheat and rice to two-thirds of the country’s 1.2 Billion people. The Food Security Bill has already been introduced in parliament and will be debated by lawmakers in the coming weeks.

印度政府希望解决这些问题。政府想建立一条雄心勃勃的法律，以低价将小麦和水稻卖给全国12亿人口中的三分之二。粮食安全法案已经在印度议会中提出，议员们将在未来几周内对此进行讨论。

Food Minister Thomas says if the law is passed, much of the grain will be utilized.

印度粮食部部长托马斯说，一旦这条法案获得通过，大部分的粮食将被有效利用。

“I am pretty confident because of the new Food Security Bill coming, it needs about 62-63 million tons of food grain, and the midday meal scheme, and the scheme for the pregnant women, so all these schemes once we implement, we need more food grains…so with these actions I think we will be able to contain a situation where there is a lot of surplus food grain in the country,” Thomas said.

他说：“我非常有信心，因为议会将讨论新的粮食安全法。这个法案需要6千2百万到6千3百万吨粮食，法案包括午餐计划和孕妇计划等。一旦这些计划得以实施，我们将需要更多粮食。这样我们将可以解决印度目前存在的粮食过剩问题。”

The waste of food grain has raised concerns in a country where more than 40 percent of children are underweight. Last year the Supreme Court ordered the government to supply more food grains to hungry people.

粮食浪费问题已经在印度引起关注，但是印度全国有40%的儿童体重不达标。去年，印度最高法院命令政府向得不到足够食品的人发放更多粮食。

India grows enough food to meet the needs of its 1.2 billion people. It is estimated that about seven percent of food grains are wasted due to lack of storage space and inefficient transportation.

印度生产的粮食足以满足全国12亿人口的需求。据统计，约有7%的粮食由于缺乏储存设施和交通运输不畅而被浪费。