by pna.gov.ph
Vietnam - Small-scale paddy fields, non-synchronous mechanisms, poor infrastructure, and lack of drying and storing facilities were among the major reasons for the high post-rice harvest loss rate in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, experts said.
The delta, the Vietnam's rice granary, has posted a post-harvest loss rate of 13.7 percent, according to the Southern Institute for Agriculture Engineering and Post Harvesting Technology (IAEPHT).
Of the loss, harvesting and husking account for three percent, drying accounts for 4.2 percent, and preservation accounts for 2.9 percent. The average post-harvest loss rate in Southeast Asian countries is 10 percent.
With the Delta's current post-harvest rate, a farmer will lose about USD 570 per hectare annually when yielding three rice crops a year, while the entire delta region will lose about USD650 million per year, according to the IAEPHT.
Speaking at a seminar in Tien Giang Province on Wednesday, organised by the ministries of Industry and Trade, Agriculture and Rural Development and Tien Giang People's Committee, Pham Van Tan, deputy director of the IAEPHT, said though the rate of mechanism in rice cultivation had increased significantly in recent years the post-harvest loss rate had increased due to poor farmers not applying the mechanism synchronously.
Most harvesting is now done by combine machines, which are able to meet the harvesting demand during peak harvest season. However, the use of certain combine harvesting machines, such as the Japanese brand Kubota, have caused the number of paddy grains falling into fields to increase two times higher than that of a manual harvest, said seminar participants.
To reduce post-harvest losses, the engineering sector should undertake research into different types of imported harvesting machines suitable for small-scale fields in the south, the particpants added.
If the reduction of post-harvest losses is done well, the Delta can increase it's number of paddy grains by about 3 million tonnes per year. The delta, which possesses 2.1 million square metres of land devoted to rice cultivation, produced 23 million tonnes of paddy grains last year.
Le Van Banh, head of the Mekong Delta Rice Research Institute, said the reduction of post-harvest losses can only be achieved through synchronously implemented mechanisms.
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