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Flawed harvest takes toll on food security

Analysts say at workshop

Star Business Report
Improper harvests, processing and storage lead to a loss of nearly an estimated 15 percent of grains produced, analysts said yesterday.
For fruits and vegetables, post-harvest losses range between 20-25 percent while losses for highly perishable fruits and vegetables may be as high as 40 percent, they said.
The speakers stressed the need for investment in die post-harvest chain to reduce the extent of losses.
“Post-harvest management in Bangladesh, like in most developing countries in die region, is far from satisfactory,” said Ahmed Hossain Khan, additional secretary of the food and disaster management ministry, at a workshop.
Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and Pacific (CIRDAP) organised the programme at its head office in Dhaka, focusing on the importance of reducing post-harvest crop losses.
"Post harvest management is pivotal in an agricultural country such as Bangladesh," he said.
Khan said the agricultural sector has been given considerable importance in Bangladesh, but little importance has been attached to the post-producdon sector.
The issue of minimising crop losses in post-harvest periods receives more attention as recurrent natural calamities due to climate change and other factors threaten food security for the growing population, at a time when cultivable land is declining.
“It is forecasted that the combined effects of population growth, strong income growth and urbanisation are expected to double demand for food," said Dr Durga P Paudyal, director general of CIRDAP.
"It will be difficult to make our agricultural sector more productive, but it will be easier if there are efforts to reduce crop losses and increase crop production to meet demand for food. "
Dr SM Mahfuzur Rahman, principal agricultural engineer of Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), said traditional practices are followed in Bangladesh to process and store rice.
"Policy and technological intervention to combat post harvest losses will make a significant contribution to food security," he said, stressing the need to disperse technologies to farmers to harvest, thresh, clean, dry, store and mill produce.
With technologies like the self-propelled and power hand reapers, farmers will be able to save ardund 8.43 lakh tonnes of paddy.
"It was also reported that by adopting reaper machines in harvesting, rice farmers could save Tk 326.2 crore from 7.91 million hectares," Rahman added.
Dr Md Shahjahan, national consultant of Horticulture and Agro-processed Foods Sector of Bangladesh Quality Support Programme (BQSP), emphasised the need to establish agro-processing industries in major crop, fruit and vegetable production areas to reduce post harvest losses.
“It will generate income for the neighbouring people and at the same time, increase export earnings from the processed products."