Postproduction management

Postharvest grain losses across all Asian countries have been estimated at 10–15% and, when combined with the loss of quality, represent a potential loss in value between 25–50% at the market. Conservatively, this equates to a value of $50 per ton of rice that farmers are losing. Studies by IRRI in Cambodia, the Philippines, and Indonesia, have found that postharvest losses occur mainly because of spoilage and wastage at the farm level, poor storage, reduced milling yields, and grain quality reduction during processing. The cause of these losses is similar in all countries. These losses result in lower quality rice for consumption or sale, smaller returns to the farmer, higher prices for consumers, and greater pressure on the environment as farmers try to compensate for it by growing more rice.

Smaller landholder farmers suffer most from the lack of information and poor postharvest technology, since up to 95% of their grain is initially dried and stored on-farm. Because these farmers have limited access to knowledge of the appropriate technologies for drying, storage, and milling, they end up with less after milling. If they don’t sell immediately after harvest, the grain further deteriorates at a rapid rate and loses more value and, if they do sell, they have less bargaining power, as they are often selling into a restricted or oversupplied market. The net result for the farmers is a lower price for their harvest and reduced income. By increasing farmers’ knowledge of rice milling processes as well as improving rice millers’ knowledge, better milling yields of a higher quality will result and the value of the crop will be enhanced. By increasing market knowledge and information available to farmers, they will have greater flexibility in seeking markets for their harvest and greater bargaining power.

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