India forum: Securing the harvest for food security

Each year, about 1.3 billion tons of food produced for human consumption is lost after harvest and before reaching consumers around the world, according to the FAO. In India, postharvest losses amount to $13 billion.

A Feb. 5 forum in New Delhi, “Securing the Harvest: Improved Grain Storage for Smallholder Agriculture”—convened by the ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss and IFPRI-South Asia—brought together thought leaders, researchers, and practitioners from the public and private sectors to discuss ways to reduce these losses in India.

“If we can mitigate this loss, we can increase our food availability. It will also reduce the stress on the environment leading to less usage of water and pressure on the land,” said IFPRI South Asia Director Shahidur Rashid. But this is easier said than done. “We see that technologies seem to have a place in this battle against postharvest loss, but we recognize that there are a lot of steps between innovative technology and widespread usage,” ADMI Director Alex Winter-Nelson said. “We need to identify the unseen constraints.”

Photo credit: ADM Institute