Warehouse
Also called: godown · Topic: Agricultural Marketing, MSP, Buffer Stocks and PDS · NCERT: Class 6, Ch 14 "Economic Activities Around Us"; Class 7, Ch 12 "Understanding Markets"
Meaning
A warehouse, or godown, is a large building for storing goods before they are sold, used or sent to shops. In farming, it lets grain be kept safely after harvest. This means produce need not be sold at once at low prices, and stocks can be held for times of shortage. Wholesalers, the Food Corporation of India (FCI) and warehousing corporations all use warehouses.
Example
A wholesaler buys wheat in bulk from farms and stores it in a godown until retailers need it (Class 7, Understanding Markets). At the national level, the Central Warehousing Corporation (1957), state warehousing corporations and FCI's owned and hired godowns store grain for the public distribution system and buffer stocks.
Don't confuse with
- Cold storage: a special warehouse kept at low temperature to preserve perishables such as potatoes and fruit. An ordinary godown suits dry goods such as grain.
Related concepts
- Post-harvest losses
- Warehouse receipt
- Negotiable warehouse receipt
- Electronic negotiable warehouse receipt
- Cold chain