‘21 mn tonnes of wheat wasted every year’
11 Jan 2013 7:10 AM IST
India stands out for its glaring lack of infrastructure and food storage facilities, in a new study that says 21 million tonnes of wheat - equivalent to the entire production of Australia - goes waste in the country.
The report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on global food wastage found that as much as 50 % of all food produced around the world never reaches a human mouth.‘Considerably greater levels of tonnage loss exist in larger developing nations, such as India for example, where about 21 million tonnes of wheat annually perishes due to inadequate storage and distribution, equivalent to the entire production of Australia,’ said the 'Global Food Waste Not Want Not' report, released here on Thursday.
‘In neighbouring Pakistan, losses amount to about 16% of production, or 3.2 million tonnes annually, where inadequate storage infrastructure leads to widespread rodent infestation problems,’ it said.
Overall, wastage rates in vegetables and fruit are even higher than in grains.
At least 40% of all fruit and vegetable is lost in India between the grower and consumer due to lack of refrigerated transport, poor roads, inclement weather and corruption.
According to the latest survey, wastage tends to move up the distribution chain as the standard of development improves and regional and national transport, storage and distribution facilities fail to match the improvements made at the farm level.
The report by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers on global food wastage found that as much as 50 % of all food produced around the world never reaches a human mouth.‘Considerably greater levels of tonnage loss exist in larger developing nations, such as India for example, where about 21 million tonnes of wheat annually perishes due to inadequate storage and distribution, equivalent to the entire production of Australia,’ said the 'Global Food Waste Not Want Not' report, released here on Thursday.
‘In neighbouring Pakistan, losses amount to about 16% of production, or 3.2 million tonnes annually, where inadequate storage infrastructure leads to widespread rodent infestation problems,’ it said.
Overall, wastage rates in vegetables and fruit are even higher than in grains.
At least 40% of all fruit and vegetable is lost in India between the grower and consumer due to lack of refrigerated transport, poor roads, inclement weather and corruption.
According to the latest survey, wastage tends to move up the distribution chain as the standard of development improves and regional and national transport, storage and distribution facilities fail to match the improvements made at the farm level.
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