October 16, 2006

China loses 15 to 20 million tonnes of grains a year in storage 

China loses about 8 to 10 percent of grain (15 to 20 million tonnes) it produces each year to storage and transportation, according to a research by the State Administration of Grain (SGA) released Sunday, Oct 15.

The losses amounts to 18 to 24 billion yuan ((US$2.25-3 billion), the centre said. 

The research also pointed out that the farmers stored about 60 percent of the grain for their use, rather than selling to the governments. The figure accounted to about 240 million households in total.

Fearing stored grain was not enough for them, farmers tend to store more than they require, pointed out Qiao Gexin, vice-minister of the SGA.

For instance, in the Dingtao County of east China's Shandong province, only 100 million of the harvested 250 million tonnes of wheat was sold whereas the rest remained with the farmers for their future use.

Stored grain often end up getting spoilt due to lack of knowledge and advanced equipments in handling storage.

To tackle the problem, the 11th Five-Year Plan would focus on the storage issue, said Qiao.

Experts have also started promoting "Green Storage" of grain, which features compulsory refrigeration of food and pollutant-free pest-prevention system, according to professor Wang Ruolan with the Henan Industry University.