"From the house of food security"

Trade isn't about goods. Trade is about information. Goods sit in the warehouse until information moves them. (Unknown)
A warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns and villages(Source- Wikipedia). This is the simple definition of warehouse, but its importance and working system is not that plain. It helps all segments of market right from producer to consumer. 
Farmers usually don't get the price which they should get. In lump sum we can say the return on investment part for farmers in most of the cases has been discouraging.
Why does such problem occurs? 
The main reason is glut of farm produce, which mismatches the demand and supply. 
What could be the possible solution? 
Obviously adding the time value to produce. And this can be done by storing the produce. This follows another problem i.e. farmers need instant cash to carry on their farming and meet the household expenses. Again the warehouse which can ensure loan from a bank based on the value of the produce vis a vis buy his faith for retention of  quality and quantity. These processes are of great importance when we talk of country like India where about 80% of farmers are marginal with less than 1 ha of land holding.

The importance of warehousing is not only for micro economics purpose rather it plays vital role in macro economics as well.  Warehousing plays very important role in promoting agriculture marketing, rural banking and financing and ensuring Food Security in the county.  It enables the markets to ease the pressure during harvest season and to maintain uninterrupted supply of agricultural commodities during off season. Hence, it solves the problems of glut and scarcity, which are the usual problems in agricultural marketing. Though warehousing is an independent economic activity, yet is closely linked with production, consumption and trade.  Development of agro processing and agricultural marketing, needs a strong warehousing system. Warehousing is the most important auxiliary service for development of trade and commerce.

The warehousing capacity available in India, in public, cooperative and private sector is about 108.75 million MTs and as estimated by the Sub Group on Warehousing and Bulk Handling set up by the Working Group on Agricultural Marketing, Secondary Agriculture and Policy required for internal and external trade, additional 35 million MTs warehousing capacity is required during the 12thFive Year Plan period for the storage of all major crops.

About 65-70% of total foodgrains produced in the country are stored at farm level. There are estimates that substantial quantity of foodgrains (about 6.0% to 10% of total production) are damaged due to moisture, insects, rodents and fungi.

If we critically analyze the problem of warehouse one of its biggest loop is still logistics. Traditionally Indian logistic industry is made of core service providers and contracts are issued for trucking, shipping, Inland Container Depot (ICD), Container Freight Station (CFS) etc. There is a gradual shift towards 3PL (providers who bundle services such as transport, warehousing, freight forwarding etc.) and 4PL (who work as business process providers; manage co-ordination with various 3PL). This shift is driven by global customers’ demand for more control, higher technology and one-stop solutions for all logistics needs. Global logistics management is new generation futuristic concept where a single supplier will be able to meet customers’ logistic needs across geographies.

Although the warehousing industry is so lucrative and profit yielding venture still there is lack of interest in this by private party. Primary reason being the gestation period and the initial investment. Govt. launched number of scheme to attract investor still it turned upside down.

Comparative Analysis of warehousing industries in India
Parameters	Current scenario	What's needed
Industry maturity	Highly unorganized	A well planned warehousing facilities with integrated supply chain
Manpower Management level Clerical Level Labor	Average Average Poor and highly unskilled	Proper training and exposure Proper training Stability and training
Logistics	Very poor	Encourage the SCM through seasoned logistics firms.
Size of warehouses	Poor	Warehouses should be of reasonable size to increase the efficiency and gain from economy of scale.
Location of warehouse	Highly scattered	A warehousing park and site can be made to work on large scale. It will also make the thing work more efficiently and effectively.
Value added services	Nascent stage	Need to develop to ensure better service and also reduces the transit losses in many cases.

In 2009, Chinese warehousing estate industry assumed rapid development. It has become a distinct operating mode to construct and lease warehouses. The construction of new types of logistics centers and logistics parks is booming. Some international giants of warehousing estate are accelerating the construction of logistics network in China. Meanwhile, some domestic-funded and private enterprises have also established the development objectives and plans and present outstanding development trend. The warehousing state industry has broad development prospect.

It is not too down the lane when China was way back from us in this industry, but somehow they got to now the importance of this industry and attracted lots of investment in this sector. With the formation of Warehousing development and regulatory authority (WDRA) in India we can expect more organised and regulated warehouse now. In fact WDRA has to strengthen itself which will make the presence of this industry visible. This can be done by maintaining proper data of warehouses the statistics of present and future need of warehouses etc. This in-turn will attract the investment and interest in this sector. 

Few positive points with India-

• Private parties are preferring to invest in partnership with Govt. which addresses the problem of both "Symbiosis".
• Private players have also understood the profit associated with this sector so they are keen in investing.
• With FDI in retail sector the Giant retailers (directly or indirectly) will make this industry more lucrative and efficient.
• With the concept of product differentiation and stiff competition, the private industries will get bound to focus on this industry.

Backed with a huge market and disposable income the industry promises to grow to serve the masses. The current habit of saving of the Indian population is watching a slight twist towards being generous. This change of mind set will  build expectation among customers and the tendency of better service to the service providers.