Record Details

Wasted Food

CGSpace

View Archive Info
 
 
Field Value
 
Title Wasted Food
 
Creator Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
 
Description About 300 million people could be fed just by saving annual post-harvest losses of cereal grains and legumes in the Third World, according to a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Inadequate drying, improper sanitation and bad storage techniques are some of the factors which lead to the destruction of grain by fungi, insects and rodents. UNEP's industry and environment office has produced comprehensive guidelines which stress simple and inexpensive techniques to reduce food losses. It suggests that governments establish national food conservation units to assess food losses and identify problems in existing post-harvest systems.
A successful example of appropriate technology is given in a study of on-farm maize drying and storage in the African tropics. The lowest cost storage system consists of a crib made from branches and trunks of trees that grow on the farm or in nearby forests. This was found to store and dry maize cobs just as effectively as any of the more expensive structures which use imported materials.
Dehusking the cobs and placing them in the improved crib allows them to begin drying, and also makes it easy to administer liquid insecticides. When maize has dried to 14-15 % moisture content, it can be shelled and placed in sacks in the same crib.
About 300 million people could be fed just by saving annual post-harvest losses of cereal grains and legumes in the Third World, according to a recent report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Inadequate drying, improper...
 
Date 2014-10-02T13:13:04Z
2014-10-02T13:13:04Z
1986
 
Type News Item
 
Identifier CTA. 1986. Wasted Food. Spore 1. CTA, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
1011-0054
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/44418
 
Language en
 
Relation Spore, Spore 1
 
Publisher CTA
 
Source Spore