EVALUATION OF POSTPRODUCTION LOSSES OF RICE IN JAVA

"Average rice grain losses in the postproduction system from 1975 to 1987 were estimated by carefully eliminating possible sources of bias and measurement errors. Relative to paddy production, total on-farm losses were 6.06 percent while the total off-farm losses amounted to 3.83 percent. Among farm losses, the largest came during harvesting (2.15 percent), followed by threshing (2.09 percent), drying (0.93 percent), field transportation (0.48 percent), and storage (0.41 percent). The storage loss is attributed to the short period that grains are stored on farms and to the widespread use of polyethylene bags. Between 1975 and 1987 harvest loss tended to decrease whereas threshing loss tended to increase. The potential of reducing losses was estimated by assuming the total replacement of the old techniques with the new improved technology. Reducible losses in the postproduction processes were estimated at: 22.3 percent of harvest loss, 8.8 percent of threshing loss, 32.4 percent of milling loss, and 36.5 percent of cargo transport loss. The total of these reducible losses in the postproduction system of Java was placed at 16.0 percent of total postproduction losses or the equivalent of 1.58 percent of paddy production. Comparative levels relative to paddy production indicate that the highest potential of loss reduction was found in milling (0.713 percent), which was followed by that in harvesting (0.479 percent); the corresponding estimates for threshing and cargo transportation were 0.184 percent and 0.062 percent, respectively. This study revealed that it would be quite difficult to achieve ""at least 50 percent reduction (of losses)"" called for in a resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1975. It also suggests the importance of extension services both agricultural and industrial to reduce postproduction losses by the improved techniques that already exist.