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Book (stand-alone)Guidelines on the measurement of harvest and post-harvest losses
Estimation of maize harvest and post-harvest losses in Zimbabwe. Field test report
2020Also available in:
No results found.In the framework of the Global strategy to improve agriculture and rural statistics (GSARS), FAO provided technical assistance to Zimbabwe on the measurement of harvest and post-harvest losses through sample surveys. The technical assistance was provided in the form of a pilot study on estimating harvest and post-harvest losses for major crops in the Makonde district in the communal and A1 farming sectors. The survey focused on maize and sorghum and included the measurement of on-farm losses. The survey captured losses through interviews of farmers as well as through physical measurements. The number of usable data points for sorghum were too few to provide reliable production and loss estimates, hence the results presented in this report mostly refer to maize. The results show that 5.2 percent of grain is lost at harvest and 3.8 percent lost at drying. The comparison of the loss estimates according to the measurement method used shows mixed results; in A1 farming sectors, farmers’ own loss estimates tend to be lower than physical measurement, while the opposite is evidenced in the communal sector (except for drying). Timely harvesting was used by most farmers to limit losses, followed by stoking when harvesting and the use of chemicals to protect crops from pest infestations during storage. -
Book (stand-alone)Guidelines on the measurement of harvest and post-harvest losses
Estimation of crop harvest and post-harvest losses in Malawi. Maize, rice and groundnuts. Field test report
2020Also available in:
No results found.A study was conducted in two Agriculture Development District (ADDs) of Malawi, Salima and Lilongwe, to pilot a new methodology for estimating on-farm harvest and post-harvest losses. The study was carried-out with technical support from the Global strategy to improve agricultural and rural statistics (GSARS) of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO). This pilot exercise principally aimed at strengthening the capacity of Malawi in generating reliable estimates on post-harvest losses. The data collection was carried out using a household questionnaire which was specifically developed for this exercise. The analysis of the results showed that a significant amount of farm produce is lost during harvesting, followed by threshing. The study also highlighted that on-time harvesting and use of chemicals are considered by farmers as the most effective strategies for preventing on-farm losses, even though farmers are not always in a position to implement these strategies. The authors recommend that a solid baseline on harvest and post-harvest losses be established by replicating on a larger scale this pilot survey for three consecutive years, to account for weather variation and other exogenous factors which may affect losses. The survey would benefit from the integration with existing country-wide data collection systems such as the Agricultural production estimates survey (APES) to ensure low operational costs and sustainability. It is also recommended that Computer assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) should be introduced for future exercises to improve on data quality and timeliness. -
Book (stand-alone)Case studies on managing quality, assuring safety and reducing post-harvest losses in fruit and vegetable supply chains in South Asian countries 2018
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No results found.Fresh fruits and vegetables contribute significantly to food and nutrition security, poverty reduction and to economic development in the countries belonging to the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). Smallholders who make little use of post-harvest (PH) technologies produce most of the fresh fruits and vegetables supplied to mass markets in the Region. The high qualitative and quantitative PH losses sustained in these traditional fruit and vegetable supply chains negatively impact all stakeholders in the supply chain, with farmers and retailers being the most affected. To address these issues, technical innovations and good practices were introduced through pilot demonstrations and training in six fresh produce supply chains in three South Asian countries: The People’s Republic of Bangladesh, The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and The Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka. The findings documented in this publication provide an evidence base for the cost-effective management of the quality of fresh produce and the reduction of quantitative loss in fresh horticultural supply chains in SAARC countries.
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