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。