Post Harvest Food Loss

The Ministry of Food Processing Industries is mandated to create post-harvest infrastructure and processing facilities, inter-alia, to boost the overall development of the food processing sector including reduction in post-harvest losses; enhancing value addition etc. The Ministry estimates post-harvest losses in various agriculture commodities through various studies based on primary surveys. Two studies were commissioned by the Ministry through (i) Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (ICAR-CIPHET) titled “Assessment of Quantitative Harvest and Post Harvest Losses of Major Crops and commodities in India” (2015); and (ii) NABARD Consultancy Service Pvt. Ltd (NABCONS) titled “Study to Determine Post-Harvest Losses of Agri Produce in India” (2022).

The comparative findings of these two studies are as under:

Post-harvest losses of major crops and commodities

Crops/ Commodities	Loss (%)
	As per ICAR-CIPHET Study (2015)*	As per NABCONS study (2022)**
Cereals	4.65 – 5.99	3.89-5.92
Pulses	6.39 – 8.41	5.65-6.74
Oil Seeds	3.08 – 9.96	2.87-7.51
Fruits	6.70-15.88	6.02-15.05
Vegetables	4.58-12.44	4.87-11.61
Plantation Crops & Spices	1.18-7.89	1.29-7.33
Milk	0.92	0.87
Fisheries (Inland)	5.23	4.86
Fisheries (Marine)	10.52	8.76
Meat	2.71	2.34
Poultry	6.74	5.63
Egg	7.19	6.03

This information was given by the Minister of State for Food Processing Industries, Shri Prahlad Singh Patel in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.

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MJPS/RR