Food wastage is an area of prime concern
Food loss and waste is a global problem, but unaffordably high in India. Minimising food wastage should be taken up as a priority. According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organisation, one-third of all food produced for human consumption, roughly 1.3 billion tonnes, is lost or wasted. The Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET), Ludhiana, estimated the harvest and post-harvest loss of nearly Rs 93,000 crore in 2012-13 — nearly 16 per cent of fruit and vegetables and 6 per cent of cereals were lost. Missing processing capacity, transport links and storage facility are to blame for most wastage.
Reducing post-harvest loss can increase the amount of food available to farmers for their own consumption and for sale. It can contribute to addressing the country’s hunger and malnutrition problem. With nearly 200 million people undernourished, India ranks 97th among 118 countries on the 2016 Global Hunger Index. Food produced but unavailable for consumption exacts an environmental toll, using up water, degrading land and producing emissions of greenhouse gases. So far, governments and industry have stressed on the need for storage. The focus needs to be on moving the produce from the field to the consumer. This means marketing freedom for farmers, motorable roads, refrigerated vans and smooth movement across state borders, besides investing in the food processing industry, particularly close to the areas of production. This will minimise food loss during transport.
As the sale of packaged and processed food with an expiry date becomes more commonplace, better packaging to extend the life of packaged food and practices to distribute food bought but unused by the consumer also become salient.
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