National Food Administration calls for saving grain and eliminating waste during harvest season

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, October 15 (Xinhua reporter Liu Yangyang) Food is the first necessity of the people, and grain is the source of food. In recent years, China's grain output has increased year after year, yet post-harvest grain loss and waste threaten food security. How much waste is there exactly? How much room is there for saving grain and reducing loss? On the eve of World Food Day on October 16, the reporter conducted an exclusive interview with Ren Zhengxiao, Director of the National Food Administration.

China's post-harvest grain loss is at least 70 billion jin per year, close to 6% of total annual output

“China's grain has had consecutive years of bumper harvests, market supply is ample, and the current food security situation is good, but we must remain vigilant in times of peace, not forget to save in times of harvest, and not waste in consumption.” Ren Zhengxiao came straight to the point: currently, grain loss and waste has become an important factor endangering food security in China and even globally.

Ren Zhengxiao analyzed that, viewed domestically, the total grain production and demand are currently in basic balance, but having a large population and little land is China's basic national condition. With population growth, advancing urbanization and upgrading of the consumption structure, China's grain consumption will continue to show rigid growth, and grain supply and demand will remain in tight balance for a long time. At the same time, China's post-harvest grain loss and waste is relatively serious. According to estimates, post-harvest loss at the farmer household level alone reaches more than 70 billion jin each year, and waste in the consumption stage is even more astonishing.

What causes the huge post-harvest grain loss? Ren Zhengxiao believes that, from the current situation, domestic post-harvest grain loss is mainly reflected in three aspects: farmer household grain storage, grain storage and transportation, and grain processing. Because farmer household grain storage containers are generally simple and crude and for other reasons, the loss rate of farmer household grain storage is about 8%, and grain loss in this stage alone reaches 40 billion jin each year; because of factors such as open-air grain storage and problematic storage in dangerous old warehouses, loss in the grain storage and transportation stage reaches 15 billion jin; because of mistaken consumption habits, some finished grain is excessively pursued as refined, fine and white, and some is processed in a low-level, extensive way, causing loss in the grain and oil processing stage of more than 15 billion jin.

There is great room for saving grain and reducing loss in the grain circulation stage

“The potential for saving grain and reducing loss in the grain circulation stage is very great.” Ren Zhengxiao stressed that, especially by starting with scientific grain storage by farmer households, guiding processing enterprises to transform and upgrade, and moderate processing, much can be achieved in reducing post-harvest grain loss.

At present, there are 210 million grain-growing farmer households nationwide, and less than 4% have implemented the special project for scientific grain storage by farmer households. Among domestic grain and oil processing enterprises, those with production capacity below 50 tons/day account for about 20%, and backward production methods directly lead to a large amount of processing loss and waste. From pilot experimental data, moderate processing can effectively raise the yield rate of finished grain and reduce the loss of grain ration resources.

At present, the National Food Administration is vigorously implementing the special project for scientific grain storage by farmer households. So far, a total of 8.17 million new-type grain storage containers have been allocated to 26 provinces across the country. After the containers were applied, the loss rate of farmer household grain storage fell by about 6%, and grain storage loss can be reduced by 900,000 tons each year. Through vigorously carrying out the construction of storage facilities and the renovation of dangerous old warehouses, and promoting new grain storage technologies, the average loss rate of dangerous old warehouses and open-air grain storage has fallen by nearly 3%.

Ren Zhengxiao said that the next step will be to speed up expanding the implementation scope of the special project for farmer household grain storage, and at the same time, in response to the characteristics of large grain-growing households and family farms, develop and research new large grain storage containers to help farmers reduce losses. It will speed up the transformation and upgrading of processing enterprises and raise the utilization rate of grain processing. In addition, by scientifically formulating and revising standards for the grain and oil processing industry, it will guide moderate processing, continuously raise the comprehensive utilization rate of by-products, and reduce the loss and waste of grain ration resources.

Implementing “paying equal attention to increasing grain output and saving grain and reducing loss” is a strategic choice for continuously safeguarding national food security

Solving the problem of feeding more than 1.3 billion people has always been the top priority in governance. Ren Zhengxiao believes that the factors endangering food security are many-sided, but from the supply perspective, they are mainly the two major problems of difficulty in stabilizing and increasing output and large post-harvest loss.

Ren Zhengxiao said that while insisting on vigorously developing grain production, we must vigorously reduce post-harvest grain loss. Reducing post-harvest grain loss means saving the use of cultivated land and freshwater resources and reducing agricultural consumption and emissions; it means developing “invisible good farmland” and achieving “output increase” without land. Under China's basic national and grain conditions, implementing the policy strategy of “paying equal attention to increasing grain output and saving grain and reducing loss” is a strategic choice for continuously safeguarding national food security.

This week is the 2014 National Grain Love and Grain Saving Publicity Week, whose theme is “Save a grain of food, we are taking action.” Ren Zhengxiao stressed that this year's activity, while vigorously calling on and advocating that the public save and cherish grain, placed “action” in a prominent position. To eliminate loss and waste and safeguard national food security, in addition to government promotion, more importantly, the whole people should make cherishing grain and opposing waste a behavioral habit and practical action.

In Ren Zhengxiao's view, saving grain and loving grain should start with oneself, start with children, and start with every family, turning every meal into a real “Clean Plate Campaign.”