Can food processing prevent grain wastage?
13.2% of food is wasted from farm to shop worldwide. 17% is thrown away in shops and homes. Overall, about 30% of food never reaches anyone's stomach. In poor countries, most of the food is wasted while travelling from farm to warehouse and shops. In rich countries, most of the food is thrown away in homes, meaning people buy more than they need and throw away the leftovers.
There has been no major government survey on food wastage in India. But, some surveys have been done to know how much food is lost after harvesting. ICAR-CIPHET conducted surveys in 2012 and 2015. NABCONS conducted a survey in 2022.
Grain production in india has increased a lot. In 1966-67, we used to produce 7.4 crore tonnes of grain, which increased to 33 crore tonnes in 2022-23. We are also a big exporter of rice. The production of fruits and vegetables has also increased. But, with the increase in production, the losses are also increasing. The use of machines is less here and the system of transporting things from the warehouse to the shops is also weak.
These surveys show that the loss after harvesting has reduced a bit, but it is still very high. According to the 2022 survey of NABCONS, between 2020 and 2022, we have suffered a loss of Rs 1.53 lakh crore (18.5 billion dollars) every year due to the loss of crops and farming related things.
Post-harvest losses: More in grains, slightly less in fruits and vegetables!
The loss of grains, pulses and oilseeds in india is more than the global level. The main reason for this is the use of less machines in farming and poor storage and transportation facilities. The loss of grains in china is only 2.22%, whereas in india it reaches 4.44%. fruits and vegetables suffer more losses than cereals and oilseeds. But this loss is less in India compared to the global average.
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