Abstract
While fulfilling the food demand of an increasing population remains a major global concern, more than one-third of food is lost or wasted in postharvest operations. Reducing the 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. Cereal grains are the basis of staple food in most of the developing nations, and account for the maximum postharvest losses on a calorific basis among all agricultural commodities. As much as 50%–60% cereal grains can be lost during the storage stage due only to the lack of technical inefficiency. Use of scientific storage methods can reduce these losses to as low as 1%–2%. This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the grain postharvest losses in developing countries, the status and causes of storage losses and discusses the technological interventions to reduce these losses. The basics of hermetic storage, various technology options, and their effectiveness on several crops in different localities are discussed in detail.
Highlights
Meeting the food demand of a rapidly increasing global population is emerging as a big challenge to mankind
This paper provides a comprehensive literature review of the grain postharvest losses in developing countries, the status and causes of storage losses and discusses the technological interventions to reduce these losses
This paper provides a comprehensive review and discussion on the status of storage losses of major cereal crops, major factors that lead to these losses and possible solutions
Summary
Meeting the food demand of a rapidly increasing global population is emerging as a big challenge to mankind. In developed countries, food loss in the middle stages of the supply chain is relatively low due to availability of advanced technologies and efficient crop handling and storage systems. Minimizing cereal losses in the supply chain could be one resource-efficient way that can help in strengthening food security, sustainably combating hunger, reducing the agricultural land needed for production, rural development, and improving farmers’ livelihoods. According to the World Bank report, sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) alone loses food grains worth about USD 4 billion every year [16] These losses play a critical role in influencing the life of millions of smallholder farmers by impacting the available food volumes and trade-in values of the commodities. This paper discusses in detail the technology interventions, especially the use and effectiveness of hermetic storage in reducing storage losses for smallholders in developing countries
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