Post-harvest loss in foodgrains at 6%: ICAR

COIMBATORE: Post-harvest loss in foodgrains in India worked out to six per cent and 18 per cent in case of fruits and vegetables, a top official in the Indian Council for Agriculture Research (ICAR) said today.

S K Nanda, Project Coordinator, All India Coordinated Research Project, ICAR, Ludhiana, said about two per cent loss of food grains was accounted for storage done by farmers for seed purpose

He was speaking after inaugurating a 21-day training programme on 'recent advances in stored product insect pest management' at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University here.

Appreciating TNAU for having released eight insect trap devices to control storage insect pests of food grains, he said the storage insect egg removing device would be considered for adoption by farmers at the national level in the 12th plan through 100 Krishi Vigyan Kendras.

K Ramaraju, Director, Plant Protection, TNAU, said 14-17 million tonnes of foodgrains are lost due to storage pests, which if prevented could feed one-third of the population.

About 15 insects had ben identified as major pests of stored grains in India and eight, including rice weevil and pulse beetle were found to be major insect pests in Tamil Nadu, he said.

Twenty five agricultural scientists from 10 states are participating in the programme.