Improved farm techniques coupled with farmers’ training at grassroot levels can reduce post-harvest foodgrain losses which may translate into fall in the food prices, said Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
A significant amount of the food produced in developing countries is lost after harvest due to poor post-harvest management and lack of mechanised farm techniques. The causes of post-harvest losses, which some estimates suggest could range from 15 to as high as 50 per cent of the overall production, are manifold.
These include harvesting at an incorrect stage of maturity, excessive exposure to rain, drought or extreme temperature, contamination by micro-organisms and physical damage that reduces the value of the product.
In India, however, experts estimate crop damage to the tune of 20 per cent worth Rs 100,000 crore every year due to spillage, damage from inappropriate tools, chemical contamination or rough handling (including heat build-up) during harvesting, loading, packing or transportation.
FAO believes that food losses contribute to high food prices by removing part of the supply from the market. They also have an impact on environmental degradation and climate change as land, water, human labour and non-renewable resources such as fertiliser and energy are used to produce, process, handle and transport food that no one consumes.
The foodgrain loss aggravates hunger. Therefore, the agency stressed that with adequate investment and training food losses could be drastically reduced.
Many of the losses, which can be significantly reduced if there is adequate training, occur because of erroneous transport and packing practices. FAO, collaborating with the World Bank and others, has trained thousands of people in three continents to handle harvested food properly.
Another major problem, further highlighted during the 2008 food crisis, is the inadequate and insecure storage facilities in many developing countries where FAO believes that it’s interventions and collaborating donor agencies can make a significant impact.
To make technologies such as metallic silos accessible to small farmers, interventions also are needed in other areas. In many developing countries farmers cannot afford the materials to build the silos, so FAO has set up revolving funds and loans to facilitate the diffusion of better storage containers. Other interventions involve establishment of innovative institutional mechanisms such as warehouse receipt systems.
Post-harvest foodgrains losses still represent a problem in many countries, FAO said. In western supermarkets, fruits and vegetables are graded according to generally acceptable trade standards so if produce is bruised, wilted, unripe, misshapen, of incorrect size or just generally unsightly it will not be put on the shelves. There is often no alternative market for such produce, which is then thrown away. This is presently less of a problem in developing countries.
With population expected to peak in 2050 and greater urbanisation in many developing countries, meaning higher-value food will have to be moved over longer distances, greater efforts are needed to reduce significantly food losses in the entire food chain. At the very least, there will have to be significantly greater investment in cold and dry storage infrastructure and first-stage processing equipment.
