To find out the reasons behind post-harvest losses at the farmers' level, ICRIER chose paddy crop and surveyed 600 paddy farmers from three states. It was found that the larger the farm, the lesser the loss. Using a combine harvester reduces losses. The higher the level of education of the head of the household, the lesser the loss. The greater the distance from the market, the greater the loss.
The biggest thing is that losses are higher in small farms. If the size of the farm increases by one unit, the loss of paddy per hectare
reduces by 7%. In india, 86% of the farmers have less than 2 hectares of land, so they suffer more losses. bihar has the highest number of small farms, so the loss per hectare is also higher there. Here small farmers suffer a loss of 3.5 kg per hectare, while big farmers suffer a loss of 1.16 kg and 0.69 kg. The second major reason is the lack of machines with farmers, especially the lack of combine harvesters. Using combine harvesters reduces losses.
Status of food processing in India
India is an agricultural country, where more than half the population is dependent on agriculture. Its geographical location and natural resources make it a large producer of many food items like milk, meat, fruits, vegetables and grains. But, the level of processing of these products is very low.
The 'Ministry of Food Processing Industries' (MoFPI) of the government of India conducted a survey in 2021 by a company named Deloitte. This survey revealed that the level of processing of fruits is very low, only 4.5%. The condition of vegetables is even worse, only 2.7% of vegetables are processed. The level of processing of milk (21.1%) is slightly better. The level of processing of meat (34.2%) is the highest. The level of processing of fish is 15.4%.
The growth of food processing sector is not limited to food items only, but it also gives new heights to the income of farmers, employment opportunities and export market. When food processing increases, the demand for raw material also increases. This means that farmers get better prices for their crops. With the growth of processing sector, farming does not just become a livelihood, but can become a big business.
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