Reducing On-Farm Food Losses

In the OIC Member Countries

4. CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ON-FARM FOOD LOSSES

4.1 Main Causes of On-Farm Losses

The complex issue of “lost yield” versus “food loss” is a difficult mix to unravel. Harmful insects,

pathogens, nematodes, weeds, rodents, and other animals have an impact on crop yield through

a chain of events that links the injuries they inflict on crop stands, to losses in crop quantity and

quality via injuries cause, resulting in volumetric and economic losses (IITA 2010). These pest

problems are responsible for significant losses that are estimated to range from 26-40% of the

attainable, uninjured yield in major food and cash crops (Oerke 2006). Even greater levels of

crop losses have been known to occur, depending on the nature of the crop, the nature of the

pests, weather events, and any climatic conditions favoring pest outbreaks and damage.

Some examples of integrated pest management being promoted by CGIAR (IITA 2010) include:



Cultural practices such as mulching, pruning, early harvesting and planting, grafting,

roguing (removing affected plants), host-free period, and hand weeding;



Pest control treatments such as soil solarization, hot water treatment, pheromone traps,

sticky traps, bagging fruits, hand picking insects, and irradiation;



Classical biocontrol, augmentative release, and exchange or redistribution of natural

enemies between regions;



Bio-pesticides such as Trichoderma, Pseudomonas, Bacillus subtilis, nuclear

polyhedrous virus, Bt, Neem, entomopathogenic fungi, and nematodes; and



Conventional and marker assisted breeding and genetically modified crops.

Some of these practices are simple and low-cost and can be implemented by farmers. The

incorporation of living mulches is an example of an innovative cropping system for integrated

soil and pest management in cereal-based farming systems, minimizing pest infestation,

sustaining permanent soil cover, and increasing soil fertility (Chabi-Olaye et al. 2005).

Yields gaps are complex and difficult to pinpoint, but an idea of the potential range of production

in comparison to the global averages can be observed from the FAOSTAT (2013) production

yield database. Countries that can utilize irrigation consistently tend to have higher average

yields than those countries that are rain dependent. Red indicates yields that are above the

world average.