context: Policy directives now target huge amounts of grain wasted due to poor post-harvest handling and logistics, indicating the state’s efforts to prioritise food security. High hopes are put on the Food Security Safeguard Law and the revised grain distribution management rules, both in draft.
The anti-food waste campaign is going upstream from restaurants to farms. The latest notice released by State Grain and Reserves Administration proposes comprehensive control of grain waste throughout the process of post-harvest storage, purchase, transportation, processing, and consumption. The Notice stipulates
- strengthening legislative work
- speed up the formulation of Food Security Safeguard Law and the revision of grain distribution management rules
- introduce guiding opinions for reducing post-harvest waste
- guarantee technical compliance for grain and oils storage and processing
- improving grain management and interventions
- strengthen post-harvest service delivery, guiding small farmers in grain cleaning, drying, storage, and sales
- upgrade storage and logistics facilities, promoting smart and green warehouses
- promoting tech application
- support R&D related to grain harvesters, drying facilities, and biological agents used in warehouses
- promote moderate processing of rice, wheat, corn, and soybeans, as well as deep processing of grain by-products
- apply IoT, big data, cloud computing, and 5G to optimise grain transport and product traceability
- strengthening consumer education to prevent food waste
Post-harvest service is an effective yet underdeveloped solution. Collecting grain from small farmers and handling it with modern tech and facilities, 3000 such service centres nationwide are being built by local governments, according to People’s Daily. New ag operators featuring large-scale production with modern machineries, such as family farms and cooperatives, are also playing a role in incorporating small farmers into an efficient grain supply chain, says the piece.