Modern wheat silo in Chattogram to tackle natural disasters and food shortage

Constructing modern silos to store grains can effectively help tackle the food shortage crisis and natural disasters through the long-term preservation of grains. To serve precisely that objective, the foundation of a modern steel silo to store wheat was laid at the Concrete Wheat Silo Campus, located on the banks of the river Karnaphuli in Chattogram. The event was marked by a ceremony, where the Minister of Food Sadhan Chandra Majumder, MP, was present as chief guest and Md. Ismiel Hossain, Secretary at the Ministry of Food, was present as a special guest.
The silo will be constructed jointly by Bangladesh-based Confidence Infrastructure Limited and USA-based GSI Group LLC. As a part of the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project co-funded by the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank, the construction of the silo will be supervised by the Directorate General of Food.
This silo will be capable of preserving grains for two to three years in an automatic temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. Moreover, wheat preserved in the silo will not require chemical or pesticide interventions to ensure quality control, which is not possible in traditionally used silos. Due to a lack of scope to control the humidity and temperature in silos currently in use at the local distribution centers, storing grains regardless of the season or for long periods of time is not possible. In such a circumstance, this silo will play an effective role in the long-term preservation of wheat.
At the ceremony, Chief Guest Sadhan Chandra Majumder, MP, said, “Development of the nation is not possible without ensuring food security. Therefore, our government continues to attach great importance to the country’s agriculture. Under the guidance of our Honourable Prime Minister, we are working to modernize our agriculture. As a part of this process, we have decided to install modern silos to preserve grains so that at any given time and in any given circumstance, our people have access to adequate food supplies. We will continue undertaking various initiatives to ensure our food security.”
Special Guest Md. Ismiel Hossain praised the timely initiative of the government and expressed strong hope that as a result of such steps, in the near future, food security in Bangladesh will be further strengthened especially during times of crisis. He also called upon the Ministry of Food as well as everyone else to continue working together to ensure the food security of the nation.
Regarding laying the foundations, Salman Karim, Managing Director of Confidence Group, said, “It is our collective duty to make sure that the unstoppable journey of Bangladesh towards development is not hampered for any reason. Ensuring food security for the people of the country is a part of that responsibility. We convey our gratitude to the Government of Bangladesh for placing faith in us to construct this very important silo. We will work tirelessly to ensure smooth completion of the construction of this silo.”
Also in attendance at the ceremony were Shakhawat Hossain, Director-General of The Directorate General of Food; Rupam Kishore Barua, Member of the Board of Directors of Confidence Group; and Md. Rezaul Karim Sheikh, Project Director of the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project, along with others.
Rupam Kishore Barua, Member of the Board of Directors of Confidence Group, said, “We convey our gratitude to the Government of Bangladesh for its faith in our notable expertise and experience in the engineering and construction sectors. This initiative of constructing a modern silo to store grains is special to us because through this; we will have collectively taken one more step to ensure the food security of the people of Bangladesh. As always, we will make the fullest application of our expertise and experience while implementing this project.”Under the Modern Food Storage Facilities Project, eight modern silos, including this one in Chattogram, will be constructed in eight geographically important regions in Bangladesh. Two of the silos will be used to store wheat, while six will be used to store rice. Out of the eight regions, Bangladesh-based Confidence Infrastructure Limited and USA-based GSI Group LLC will jointly build silos in three regions – a 48,000 metric tonne capacity rice silo in Barishal, a 48,000 metric tonne capacity rice silo in Narayanganj, and the 114,300 metric tonne capacity wheat silo in Chattogram. The core objective of the project is to build up an effective food storage system at the government and family levels for post-disaster emergency situations.
It is mentionable that in the silo campus, 5 acres of unused, low-lying land has been developed and made suitable for the construction of the silo. In the silo construction area, boundary walls and a two-storied silo site office has been constructed. Currently, construction of the steel silo which is capable of preserving 114,300 metric tonnes of grain, is about to commence under Package W-24. Confidence Infrastructure Limited and GSI Group LLC signed an agreement with the Directorate General of Food in April of this year to construct the wheat storage silo in Chattogram. According to the agreement, the construction of the silo will be completed by March of 2024.