Abstract
Proper postharvest storage of grain is more important than the intensive and extensive farming in securing food for a nation, because losses are not only a waste of food but also represent a similar waste of human effort, farm inputs, livelihoods, investments and scarce recourses such as water. Postharvest losses of stored crops are very common problems in developing countries, like Ethiopia, which has a negative impact on the food security program. This is because poor storage systems make grains vulnerable to attacks from insect and rodent pests, which lead to a considerable amount of losses. In order to help and address the problem of small scale agriculture towards development into a modern production sector, strengthening the postharvest sector or system is essential. It is important to understand postharvest losses in both quality and quantity since it is related to lost income and /or value of commodities produced and hence part of measure and primary concern to bring a food secured nations through modern agricultural production. Postharvest quantity and quality loss of cereal grains in developing countries appears to be initiated mostly at farm-level, so the potential remedies for the problem are needed at the same level. The objectives of this review are, therefore, to assess the available literatures on the postharvest losses of stored grain in an attempt to identify priority areas of the problem; to identify the causes of losses of stored crops in order to avoid the causes for the reduction of losses; and to identify the possible strategies that can reduce losses and maintain quality of the grain during the storage period. Keywords: Factors, losses, postharvest, stored grain. DOI: 10.7176/FSQM/96-04 Publication date: April 30 th 2020
Highlights
Grains are the main source of nutrition for one-third of the world’s poorest population in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia
In Ethiopia, grain crops are grown annually on approximately 12.5 million hectares of land; of these, 1.5 million hectares is covered by pulses out of which 443,074.68 hectares is dedicated to Fababean with annual production of about 8,389,438.97 quintals (CSA, 2014)
EXTENT OF POSTHARVEST LOSSES OF STORED GRAIN Postharvest loss could occur in crops along the supply chain, starting at the time of harvest till its consumption or end uses (Kidane et al, 2010; FAO and World Bank, 2010)
Summary
Grains are the main source of nutrition for one-third of the world’s poorest population in Sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia. Losses resulting from poor post-harvest management of grains are among the key constraints to improving food and nutritional security in Africa, including Ethiopia (Midega et al, 2016). According to Sori and Ayana (2012), S. zeamais can cause heavy infestation on maize and sorghum grain stored under traditional storage facilities and resulted in weight losses up to 41-80%. Despite the severe losses incurred by insect and rodent pests under poor storage facilities, many farmers in Ethiopia remain using traditional storage structures to store their grains which provide an abundant food source for the pests and aggravate the damage. Farmers store grain in traditional storage facilities such as gotera and gombisa (Dubale et al, 2012) According to these authors, on-farm storage structures such as gombisa makes maize susceptible to bio-deterioration especially under hot and humid climate. This review intended: (1) to assess the available literatures on the postharvest losses of stored grain so as to identify priority areas of the problem; (2) to identify the causes of losses of stored grain in order to show the weight of the problem and its influence on food security and the economy of a country; and (3) to identify the possible strategies that can reduce losses and maintain quality of the stored grain during the storage period
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