Rice is wasted through natural calamities, harvesting, processing, storage, transport, selling, over eating and other mishandling activities.
This post, How palay is wasted, is a sequel of above mentioned article. However it only covers the postharvest practices and it includes approximate values.
According to a study conducted by the Philippine Center for Postharvest Development Mechanization (PhilMech) and Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice), 16 percent of total harvest is lost during harvesting, threshing, drying, milling and storage. The approximate postharvest losses last year 2011 was 2.66 million metric tons (MMT) based on the total harvest of 16.68 MMT.
Breakdown of losses: 1) 5.8% during drying because many are drying their palay on roads. 2) 5.5% during milling, about 88% of millers are still using single pass equipment with low recovery rate of 50 to 57% percent. Use of multi-pass mills, which have higher recovery rate of 65 to 70%, is recommended. 3) 2.2% during threshing. 4) 2% harvesting. and 5) 1% during storage and piling.
Adding all the values, 5.8 + 5.5 + 2.2 + 2 + 1, equates to 16.5 percent. Maybe it is really 16.5%, 2.75 MT, total losses.
Authorities are exerting efforts educating farmers. Hope they also help in acquiring and construction of modern equipment and new postharvest facilities. If the huge postharvest losses can be minimized, then the rice self sufficiency wanted by the President may come true.