By Ashok Gulati & Raya Das,
September 29 is designated by the United Nations (UN) as the International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste. It is jointly convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), as it has important implications for food security and saving our environment. An FAO 2023 report estimates that food which is lost between the harvest and retail amounts to 13.2% of the global food production. Interestingly, UNEP estimates that 17% of food is wasted between the retail and consumer’s stomach. Together, food loss and waste (FLW) amount to about 30% of the global production, which never reaches the human stomach. Even if half of this is saved and used, it could easily feed the hungry people, and abolish hunger for all. Besides, it could help reduce at least 8-10% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, and 38% of total energy usage, making our planet breathe better. But alas, both these dreams remain unfulfilled as of today. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the potential benefits, and commit ourselves to reduce FLW by at least 50%, thus contributing to the UN’s sustainable development goals, for the people and for the planet.
Where does India stand in the global scenario of FLW and how can it help eliminate hunger and save the environment? The all-India post-harvest loss survey by Nabard Consultancy Services (NABCONS) in 2022 reveals that the country suffers staggering food losses worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore ($18.5 billion) with a loss of 12.5 million metric tonnes (MMT) of cereals, 2.11 MMT of oilseeds, 1.37 MMT of pulses, etc. Around 49.9 MMT of horticultural crops are lost annually due to poor cold chain infrastructure, reducing both the availability of fresh produce and the income potential for farmers. The NABCONS survey does not identify food waste at the consumer end, but that too is likely to be significant given the way Indians love lavish weddings and other feasts.
While existing surveys primarily estimate quantitative losses, ICRIER-ADMI research ventured into estimating quality losses also, besides the quantity losses. A comprehensive survey of 1,200 farmers was conducted across Punjab, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh for key crops such as paddy, wheat, soya bean, and maize in 2022. The study revealed that soya bean has the highest post-harvest loss among the studied crops, at 15.34%, followed by wheat at 7.87%, paddy at 6.37%, and maize at 5.95% including quantity and quality losses. Such significant losses point to the urgent need for enhancing technological interventions across the value chain to prevent food loss between harvest and retail. The study shows that food loss largely occurs during harvesting, threshing, drying, and storage stages, predominantly due to low levels of mechanisation and inadequate logistics infrastructure.
Farmers who use combine harvesters, for instance, see a marked reduction in paddy losses compared to those relying on traditional manual methods. The overall loss in paddy drops to just 2.84% if the mechanisation in harvesting and drying have been adopted at the farm level (ICRIER-ADMI, 2022). According to the All-India Debt and Investment Survey in 2019, only 4.4% of cultivator households in India owned tractors, and a mere 5.3% owned either power tillers, combine harvesters, or threshers. Small and marginal farmers, who constitute over 86% of Indian agricultural households, often cannot afford to buy costly machines. For paddy, 97% households use combine harvesters in Punjab, whereas in Bihar only 10% paddy-producing households use combine harvesters. To promote farm mechanisation, farmer producer organisations and custom hiring centres can play a crucial role through group leasing arrangements and “uberisation” of farm machinery.
The availability of proper drying and storage infrastructure also plays an important role in reducing food losses. Traditional sun drying methods are fraught with risks, including the addition of foreign matters, uneven drying, and exposure to moisture, which can lead to mould and mycotoxin contamination. Solar dryers and dehydrators offer a solution to reduce losses and extend the shelf life for perishables. These green technologies are cost-effective for small-scale farmers, climate-friendly, and need to be encouraged with appropriate policy.
Furthermore, storage infrastructure remains inadequate in India. According to the Indian Grain Storage Management and Research Institute, in 2021, post-harvest losses accounted for approximately 10% of total food grain production due to poor and inadequate storage infrastructure. Recently, the government of India has launched a major grain storage plan. This initiative is part of a broader strategy aimed at modernising the agricultural system. The plan entails expansion of storage capacity by 70 MMT over the next five years. If implemented properly, it holds potential to reduce post-harvest losses at the storage level.
Mechanisation, enhanced storage, and efficient transportation systems are key areas where technology can make a difference. Yet, beyond technological solutions, policy support is critical to ensure that small and marginal farmers can access these technological changes. To make enhanced use of hermetic bags in India a possibility, there is the Jute Packaging Material Act (JPMA), 1987. It makes the use of jute bags mandatory for packaging rice and wheat grains. Even though jute is biodegradable, it is a water guzzler, hydrophilic, and labour-intensive crop, and the usage leads to frequent rodent attack, pilferage, and infestation due to the tropical climate. Hence, there is a need to revisit the JPMA for faster expansion of the use of hermetic bags, which has a potential to lower storage and transit losses.
In a country where climate change and malnutrition still pose a major challenge, it would be only wise to focus on reducing FLW. Reducing post-harvest losses is not just a matter of improving economic efficiency, but also of providing food security to people while building resilience in our food systems. Thus, by saving the people, we can save the planet.
Ashok Gulati & Raya Das, Respectively distinguished professor and research fellow, ICRIER.
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