Rice post-harvest - Food and Agriculture …

1 THE SITUATIONRice post -harvestsystem: an efficient approachTotal rice post - harvest losses forAsia are estimated to have beenabout 14 percent in 1997, whichrepresented about 77 milliontonnes and US$ billion. Most ofthese losses occurred as a result ofinadequate storage and storage is critical forrice, and between 4 and 6 percentof total rice crops are lost duringstorage. FAO recommendes use ofthe small metal silo as a feasibleand valuable option for reducingsmall- and medium-scale ricefarmers food losses. Thistechnology is already improvingthe socio-economic conditions ofagricultural communities. The rice post - harvest systemfocuses on both preventing foodlosses and improving the efficiencyof the technologies that are usedto add value to rice and its by-products.

2 The aim is to generatemore employment and income and,consequently, to improve foodsecurity, which is one of FAO smost important mandates. rice farmers are willing to investin post - harvest technologies thatare affordable and add quality andcommercial value to rice SITUATIONIn developing countries, post - harvest losses destroy about 15 to 16 percent of therice crop. This figure is even greater (as much as 40 to 50 percent) in countrieswhere there are challenging natural events and climatic conditions, such asregular heavy monsoons. The rice post - harvest system concept is an efficient,modern approach that focuses on preventing post - harvest losses and ensuringthe quality and safety of the rice crop during its processing and storage.

3 Thesystem also includes procedures that add value to both primary and secondaryrice products, as well as by-products. Some stages in the rice post - harvest system are more critical than others,particularly in tropical and subtropical areas where rice is more vulnerable todamage and more likely to suffer qualitative and quantitative losses. Amongthese critical stages, drying and storage are especially important. Sometechnological advances have been made in the area of rice storage techniquesand equipment, and FAO is playing an important role by contributing to thetransfer of new post - harvest technologies for storage, which include small metalsilos for storing grains at the household level (see photos). The metal silo forhousehold use varies in capacity from 100 to 4 000 kg.

4 For a family of fivepeople, a silo of 1 tonne capacity can maintain the quality and safety of rice forup to a year, thereby contributing significantly to household food security. A siloof this size costs about US$55 and lasts for between 15 and 20 the other critical post - harvest operation for rice drying effortsare being made to improve small rice driers. For example, small portable electricfan driers have been developed by IRRI, and are becoming an important ally tosmall- and medium-scale rice farmers in terms of increasing their food securityand ensuring the safety of their rice crops. rice farmers are beginning tounderstand and accept the need to invest in post - harvest technologies becausenot only are these technologies affordable, but they also offer the potential toincrease profits by adding quality and commercial value to the final rice post - harvest system provides afull and comprehensive approach that canbe applied to paddy and its derivatives( husks, bran, and polished rice grain,both broken and whole).

5 Its mainconcerns should be to: a) improve thecapacity in implementing the main ricepost- harvest operations so that theyFROM THE FIELD TO THE CONSUMERFAO/12737/Ch. Errathbecome more efficient and ensure avaluable final primary product; b) developand use processing technology that addsvalue to secondary and by-products, aswell as to primary ones; c) consolidatedevelopment of the rice post -harvestagro-industry, not only technically butalso commercially, economically,politically, socially and environmentally(see Figure).CONTACTDANILO J. MEJ A L. Industries OfficerAgricultural and food Engineering Technologies Service (AGST)Room B619bis Tel.: (+39) 57055027 Fax: (+39) 57054960E-mail: and Agriculture Organizationof the United NationsViale delle Terme di CaracallaRome 00100 ItalyGETTING THE MOST FROM rice The rice post - harvest system also includes ways of processing and using rice by-products atthe domestic level.

6 For example, rice husks can be used first as fuel and then, after theyhave been burned, as fertilizer. Households can also produce rice pellets for feeding theirown fish (see photo) or selling to aquaculturists. These pellets are made out of flour,which is ground from broken grains and mixed with rice bran. post - harvest technologyplays an important role in such small-scale agro-industries, which generate extra incomeand improve the well-being and food security of households and communities. FIGURE 1. post - harvest system approachFAO/Vo-Tong XuanFAO/18436/P. CeniniFAO/Mej a/FriedrichAD/I/Y4875E/1