In
the early 1990s Perendale Publisher Roger Gilbert coined the phrase “Feeding
9.5 billion people by 2050.”
More recently, the FAO (Food & Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations) has forecast that we will need to increase food production by a chilling 70 percent over current levels by that date in order to feed one-third more mouths! Now that statistic is made even more daunting by the accelerating effects of climate change.
One thing that must be kept in mind is the fact that more than one-third of food is lost or wasted in postharvest operations. These losses are typically due to due to moulds, mycotoxins and pests (rodents and insects).
Reducing losses
Reducing these postharvest losses, especially in developing countries, could be a sustainable solution to increase food availability, reduce pressure on natural resources, eliminate hunger and improve farmers’ livelihoods. In many developing nations, cereal grains are the basis of staple food, and account for the maximum postharvest losses on a calorific basis among all agricultural commodities.
As much as 50–60 percent of cereal grains can be lost during the storage stage due only to the lack of technical efficiency. Use of scientific storage methods can reduce these losses to as low as 1–2 percent.
Post-harvest storage losses have a huge impact even in the most developed nations, averaging around 10 percent annually.
And just as important as the loss of food are the economic losses to farmers, the impact on millers of lower quality grain, the increased greenhouse gases that entails from wasted production, etc.
Read the full article in Milling and Grain magazine online, HERE.
More recently, the FAO (Food & Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations) has forecast that we will need to increase food production by a chilling 70 percent over current levels by that date in order to feed one-third more mouths! Now that statistic is made even more daunting by the accelerating effects of climate change.
One thing that must be kept in mind is the fact that more than one-third of food is lost or wasted in postharvest operations. These losses are typically due to due to moulds, mycotoxins and pests (rodents and insects).
Reducing losses
Reducing these postharvest losses, especially in developing countries, could be a sustainable solution to increase food availability, reduce pressure on natural resources, eliminate hunger and improve farmers’ livelihoods. In many developing nations, cereal grains are the basis of staple food, and account for the maximum postharvest losses on a calorific basis among all agricultural commodities.
As much as 50–60 percent of cereal grains can be lost during the storage stage due only to the lack of technical efficiency. Use of scientific storage methods can reduce these losses to as low as 1–2 percent.
Post-harvest storage losses have a huge impact even in the most developed nations, averaging around 10 percent annually.
And just as important as the loss of food are the economic losses to farmers, the impact on millers of lower quality grain, the increased greenhouse gases that entails from wasted production, etc.
Read the full article in Milling and Grain magazine online, HERE.
The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.
For additional daily news from milling around the world: global-milling.com
No comments:
Post a Comment