Rice post harvest management-Bangladesh context Debashish Chanda, Ph.D Post Harvest & Business Model Specialist IRRI Bangladesh

Why is Post-Harvest Management Important? Food Safety Quality assurance Better storage Better protection from pests Reduce losses (quantity & quality) Better marketing opportunities

Post harvest losses in Bangladesh (Present scenario) Production of Rice per year = around 30 million tons Post harvest loss of Rice = 10 – 15 % per year (approx) Post harvest loss of F & V = 30 – 40 % per year (approx) In value losses (all crops) cost = around 30,000 crore BDT If we can reduce these losses only 3% , we can save 1.0 million tons food crops.

Causes of post harvest losses Generally these include: Inefficient harvesting and handling methods Labor shortage during harvest season Harvesting immature and over-mature crops Poor processing techniques Limited drying facility Excess rain-fall expose Lack of storage facilities Rough transportation/load/unload No or poor access to new technology No farmers friendly business model

Post harvest steps Harvesting (cutting – field drying – hauling) Stacking/Piling - Threshing (and winnowing) Moisture control (drying) Fine cleaning (for seed) Bagging Fumigation (for seed) Storage (paddy storage) Parboiling & milling Transportation - Marketing

Harvest Handling Harvest in dry and sunny weather to avoid extra moisture Harvest only in appropriate ripening stage (80-85%) Use combine harvester if available/possible Do not mix grain for milling with seed production Take moisture measurement after harvesting Avoid delays in threshing and drying after harvesting

Harvesting Harvesting mainly manually (almost 99 %) Very rare use of reapers and combine harvesters Combine harvester is more appropriate and cost effective

Field drying Leaving the cut crop in the field and exposing it to the sun for drying Panicle drying, usually farmers dry their paddy 2-3 days in the field Dry up to 17-18% For seed its better thresh after cutting and then dry

Threshing Most of the farmers now use mechanical thresher like fully mechanized open drum power thresher and pedal thresher

Drying for storage Drying traditionally (sun drying) Use bite test to get m/c

Mechanical dryer Low-cost seed dryer Flat bed dryer Mechanical dryer

Cleaning & grading for seed Pre-cleaning (for both seed and milling) Fine cleaning (for seed) Grading (for wheat, barley, maize, etc)

Storage

Storage technology IRRI Super bag Cocoon

Parboiling Parboiling (5-10 min) Soaking (min 12 hours) Drying (12% - 16%)

Milling

Post harvest flow chart Pre-drying in field Harvesting Harvesting Threshing Winnowing Drying Hauling Parboiling and drying For milling Storage Utilization by consumer Marketing Marketing Processing (pre cleaning, fine Cleaning, grading) and fumigation for seed Packaging

Thank You