UPSC Mains 2024 GS3 Q14: model answer
Elucidate the importance of buffer stocks for stabilizing agricultural prices in India. What are the challenges associated with the storage of buffer stock? Discuss.
What the question wants
Role of buffer stocks in price stability and storage problems.
How to structure it
Intro: what buffer stocks are; FCI norms. Body: (1) importance for prices (OMSS, pulses and onion buffers); (2) food security role; (3) storage challenges; (4) reforms. Conclusion.
- 1(1) importance for prices (OMSS, pulses and onion buffers)
- 2(2) food security role
- 3(3) storage challenges
- 4(4) reforms
Model answer
Buffer stocks are reserves of foodgrains and other staples held by the government. FCI keeps wheat and rice above set norms for each quarter, and NAFED holds pulses and onions under the Price Stabilisation Fund.
- 1Good harvest: procure at MSP
- 2Store in FCI / NAFED buffers
- 3Lean season or shock: release via OMSS
- 4Supply rises, prices cool
- 5Rebuild stock next season
Importance for price stability
- Procurement at MSP sets a floor price for farmers in good harvests.
- Open Market Sale Scheme: wheat sold in 2023-24 brought down flour prices.
- Onion and pulse buffers released in lean seasons; Bharat Atta and Bharat Dal at subsidised prices.
- Supply for NFSA and PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana for about 81 crore people.
- Strategic reserve against drought, war and global price shocks.
Storage challenges
- Stocks often far above norms, raising carrying costs and the food subsidy.
- Covered storage shortfall; grain kept in CAP (cover and plinth) gets damaged.
- Losses from pests, moisture and leakage.
- Regional mismatch: procurement in Punjab-Haryana, storage gaps elsewhere.
- Perishables like onions need cold chain; losses can exceed 25%.
- WTO rules on public stockholding; India relies on the peace clause.
Reforms
- Steel silos under PPP; the World's Largest Grain Storage Plan in the cooperative sector (2023).
- Decentralised procurement; scientific storage and irradiation for onions.
- Liquidation policy to keep stocks near norms.
Buffer stocks protect both farmers and consumers; efficient storage makes this protection affordable.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
buffer norms OMSS Price Stabilisation Fund silos peace clause
Where most answers lose marks
- Ignoring perishables.
Fresh examples from current affairs
Ramesh Chand committee to examine sugarcane farmers’ and sugar sector issues
On 14 October 2026 the Centre set up a committee under Prof. Ramesh Chand, former NITI Aayog Member, on issues raised by sugarcane farmers. It will examine returns to cane growers, the ex-mill Minimum Selling Price of sugar, how sugar recovery is tested, weighment at mills, and deductions on mechanically harvested cane.
UPSC angle: Prelims: chair, terms of reference, ex-mill MSP of sugar. · Mains GS-III: cane pricing, sugar sector economics, farm incomes.
14 Oct 2026
WPI inflation rises to 11.39% in September 2026, led by fuel and food
Wholesale Price Index inflation (base 2022-23) rose to 11.39% in September 2026, provisional, from 9.92% in August. Fuel and Power led at 25.85%, with mineral oils at 40.02%. Primary Articles rose 8.67%, Manufactured Products 9.76% and the WPI Food Index 8.66%. July's final figure stayed at 9.78%.
UPSC angle: Prelims: base year, group weights, monthly figures, release schedule. · Mains GS-III: inflation, its causes and control.
14 Oct 2026
Cotton Corporation of India showcases procurement reforms: digital slot booking, traceability, Kasturi Cotton
The Textiles Ministry, through the Cotton Corporation of India, held a reform showcase in Hyderabad on 6 October 2026 under Reform Utsav 2026. It covered the Kapas Kisan digital platform for registration, slot booking and Aadhaar-enabled payments, traceability and the Kasturi Cotton Bharat brand, and the High-Density Planting System to lift yields.
UPSC angle: Prelims: CCI, Kasturi. · Mains GS-III: MSP procurement, textiles.
4 Oct 2026
Sugar stock limits cut to 1,000 quintals and 15 days ahead of festivals
The Centre has capped sugar dealers' stocks at 1,000 quintals and a holding period of 15 days from 15 October to 30 November 2026, to stop hoarding in the festive season. Kolkata's metro area and Assam get a 2,000-quintal limit. Retail sugar prices are down 15 per cent from the August peak and ex-mill prices about 28 per cent.
UPSC angle: Mains: Stock limits vs market efficiency.
1 Oct 2026Learn the concept
Question text as printed in the official UPSC question paper: https://www.upsc.gov.in/sites/default/files/QP_CSM_2024_GenStud_III_03102024.pdf The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.