Lok Sabha Question No. 1003 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-13
Subject: Loss of Grains and Horticulture Crops
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dushyant Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1003

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 13 TH  DECEMBER,2022

## LOSS OF GRAINS AND HORTICULTURE CROPS

1003.  SHRI DUSHYANT SINGH:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE क ृ षि एवं षकसान कल्याण मंत्री be pleased to state:

- (a) the latest data on the food losses of grains and horticulture crops during the last five  years,  year  and  State-wise  especially  in  Rajasthan  since  the  'Assessment  of Quantitative  Harvest  and  Post-Harvest  Losses  of  Major  Crops  and  Commodities  in India' study in 2015;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  conducted  any  study  regarding  the  relationship between food wastage and food inflation and if so, the details thereof along  with  the results;
- (c) the details of the amount of food inflation that can be controlled, just by reducing food wastage; and
- (d) the  manner  in  which  the  Government  proposes  to  address  the  issues  of  food industries in Rajasthan and if so, the details of action taken thereon?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

क ृ षि एवं षकसान कल्याण मंत्री

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a): As  per the information received from Ministry of  Food  Processing Industries, the latest study report on 'Assessment of harvest and post harvest losses of major crops and commodities in India' was conducted by Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)-Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology (CIPHET) Ludhiana  and  report  was  released  in  2015.  Recently,  Ministry  of  Food  Processing Industries had commissioned a study namely, 'Study to Determine Post Harvest Losses of Agri Produces in India' through NABARD  Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd. (NABCONS) and submitted their report in 2022. Crop/ commodity wise losses reported in the study is at Annexure-I.

Further, as per the information provided by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, the food grains stock accrued as non-issuable (damaged) in Food Corporation  of  India  (FCI)  in  the  State  of  Rajasthan  for  the  year  2017-18,  2018-19, 2019-20,  2020-21,  2021-22  is  01  tonnes,  nil,  02  tonnes,  84  tonnes  &  63  tonnes respectively.

(b) & (c): As per Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR)- National Institute of  Agricultural  Economics  and  Policy  Research  (NIAP)  ,  there  is  no  such  study  that directly established relationship between food wastage and food inflation.

(d): As  per the information received from Ministry of  Food  Processing Industries (MoFPI), MoFPI is implementing a Central Sector umbrella scheme Pradhan MantriKisan  SAMPADA  Yojana  (PMKSY)  since  2016-17  for  overall  growth  and development  of  the  sector  with  the  aim  to  augment  preservation  and  processing capacity  so  as  to  reduce  post-harvest  losses,  create  off  farm  employment,  and enhancing of value addition & exports of processed food across the country.

Annexure-I Post-harvest losses of major crops and commodities

| Crops/ Commodities        | Loss (%)   |
|---------------------------|------------|
| Cereals                   | 3.89-5.92  |
| Pulses                    | 5.65-6.74  |
| Oil Seeds                 | 2.87-7.51  |
| Fruits                    | 6.02-15.05 |
| Vegetables                | 4.87-11.61 |
| Plantation Crops & Spices | 1.29-7.33  |
| Milk                      | 0.87       |
| Fisheries (Inland)        | 4.86       |
| Fisheries (Marine)        | 8.76       |
| Meat                      | 2.34       |
| Poultry                   | 5.63       |
| Egg                       | 6.03       |

Source: Study to Determine Post Harvest Losses of Agri Produce in India submitted by M/s NABCONS (2022)

The  Terms  of  Reference  of  the  study  did  not  include  estimation  of  State-wise losses. However, while as part of Agro Climatic Zone (ACZ) survey, estimation of select crops in Rajasthan was done. The results are as under:

| Crop       |   Loss (%) |
|------------|------------|
| Bajra      |       5.03 |
| Black gram |       5.74 |
| Chickpea   |       5.83 |
| Coriander  |       5.7  |
| Cottonseed |       2.53 |
| Greengram  |       6.21 |
| Groundnut  |       5.03 |
| Maize      |       5.81 |
| Milk       |       1.35 |
| Mustard    |       4.75 |
| Sorghum    |       6.01 |
| Soybean    |       6.54 |
| Wheat      |       6.25 |

Source:Study to Determine Post-Harvest Losses of Agri Produce in India (2022)

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