WASHINGTON, DC, US — Representatives from India recently took part in a corn wet milling course hosted by the US Grains Council (USGC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and attended a grain storage facility management workshop that included visits to facilities in Illinois.

The starch industry is one of India’s fastest growing sectors, with projected 20% growth over the next five years and will be key in exports of value-added co-products, the USGC said. India’s government also has launched an ambitious grain storage expansion project to support the nation’s food security.

The goal of the April 22-27 program was to further train the delegation in proper practices and highlight the impact of various corn origins on their operations, which can help in the long term in increasing profitability as well as maximizing efficiency. The delegation also received expert insight on topics that included the uses of modified starches, mycotoxin management, alternative wet milling processes and discussion on equipment.

“India’s budding starch industry continues to show high potential and has proven to be a key partner for the Council in showing how our efforts promote a ‘win-win’ atmosphere, as Council efforts have been able to both test and analyze Indian corn samples, to get a better understanding of yields and how plants can work to optimize their operations,” said Reece Cannady, regional director for South Asia, USGC.

Following the two-day course, a course on grain storage management and grain quality was conducted by the USGC. This was achieved through a half-day lecture session that included a thorough overview of the US sampling, scaling and binning systems, while also detailing proper silo management and the importance of monitoring factors such as carbon dioxide levels, inventory levels and aeration. Discussions also focused on how using tools for these indicators can improve safety within grain facilities and minimize or eliminate interventions when staff members enter grain bins. 

The delegation was able to get a first-hand look at this process through visits to grain elevators operated by Topflight Grain and Total Grain Management (TGM), as well as a visit to the Illinois Crop Improvement Association lab, which is used to analyze samples for the USGC’s Corn Harvest and Export Cargo Quality Reports.

This training provided insights as to how India’s grain industry can continue to develop its much more manual storage system, especially with the government of India’s launch of the world’s largest grain storage investment plan that would create storage for more than 700,000 tonnes of grain. 

“By giving our delegation members training on storage management and how best practices can minimize losses, we hope to continue to create instances that will benefit the local industry and help them make key advances that would increase their profitability and productivity,” Cannady said. “Grain storage management is one of the most important aspects of any operation and the work the Council has done to measure the impact of storage in tropical climates can play a large role in this market in mitigating quality deterioration.”