Introduction
India ranks 105th out of 127 countries on the Global Hunger Index (GHI), highlighting the persistent challenge of food insecurity. Approximately 14% of the population is undernourished, while 35.5% of children under the age of five experience stunted growth. Additionally, 19% of children under five suffer from wasting, characterised by low weight relative to their height.
India, one of the world’s largest agricultural producers, faces a paradoxical challenge: while millions go hungry, an alarming portion of its agricultural output is wasted due to post-harvest losses. These losses, encompassing the decay or wastage of crops during storage, transport, processing, and distribution, are a significant bottleneck in the nation’s efforts to achieve food security and agricultural sustainability.
The magnitude of the problem is staggering. According to a study by NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS) conducted between 2020 and 2022, India suffers a food loss of about 17703.33 million dollars annually due to post-harvest losses of crops and allied produce (Table 1, appendix). This loss accounts for approximately 22% of the country’s foodgrain output, translating to around 74 million tonnes of food wasted each year.
The losses are particularly acute in perishable commodities like fruits and vegetables, due to inadequate cold storage facilities, inefficient supply chains, and poor infrastructure. Additionally, food wastage at the consumer end contributes significantly to the issue. Studies suggest that households in India generate 55 kilograms of household per capita food waste annually, contributing to a total of 78 million tonnes of household post-consumer food waste across the country.
Beyond economic implications, these losses exacerbate environmental and social challenges. Wasted food means wasted resources – water, land, energy, and labour – used in production. In a country where nearly 190 million people are undernourished, such inefficiencies are not just a logistical problem but a moral imperative to address.
The root causes are multifaceted, ranging from smallholder farmers’ lack of access to modern technology and storage solutions to fragmented supply chains and market inefficiencies. While government initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) aim to mitigate these losses, the pace of change remains slow.
Addressing post-harvest and post-consumer losses is not just about reducing waste but also about ensuring that India’s agricultural sector becomes more resilient, sustainable, and equitable. Collaborative solutions involving farmers, policymakers, industry stakeholders, and consumers are crucial to creating a more efficient food ecosystem.
Understanding the scale of the Problem
A report by ICAR-CIPHET (2015) quantified post-harvest losses across major crops and commodities in India, estimating economic losses worth ₹92,651 crore at the time. The following table highlights the percentage loss across different categories:
| Commodity | Loss Percentage 2015 (%) | Loss percentage 2022 (%) |
| Cereals | 4.65% – 5.99% | 3.89%-5.92% |
| Pulses | 6.38% – 8.41% | 5.65% – 6.74% |
| Oilseeds | 3.08% – 9.96% | 2.87% – 7.51% |
| Fruits | 6.70% – 15.88% | 6.02% – 15.05% |
| Vegetables | 4.58% – 12.44% | 4.87% -11.61% |
| Plantation Crops/Spices | 1.18% – 7.89% | 1.29% – 7.33% |
| Eggs | 7.19% | 6.03% |
| Fish | 5.23% – 10.52% | 4.86%- 8.63% |
| Meat | 2.71% – 6.74% | 2.34%- 5.63% |
| Milk | 0.92% | 0.87% |
Source: Post Harvest Food Loss
The situation has improved slightly in recent years, as evidenced by the all-India post-harvest loss survey conducted by NABCONS in 2022. The total quantity of food loss amounts to 7,432.13 million metric tonnes, with an estimated value of ₹1,527,871 million (equivalent to USD 17703.33 million). As detailed in Table 1 (annexure), this figure is approximately equal to Afghanistan’s GDP in 2023.
The losses in horticulture (fruits, vegetables, plantations, and spices), amounting to 49.9 million metric tonnes (MMT) annually (Table 1), are primarily attributed to inadequate cold chain infrastructure. This results in reduced availability of fresh produce and lower income potential for farmers. Such inefficiencies are a double-edged sword, affecting both farmers and consumers while straining the country’s agricultural economy.
All these losses directly impact the revenue of farmers and producers. However, the ramifications extend far beyond the farming community. In a country like India, where malnutrition remains a significant challenge, the availability of this lost production could play a pivotal role in improving nutritional outcomes and food security. Furthermore, in a nation grappling with rapidly depleting groundwater levels, such high post-harvest losses also translate to substantial wastage of critical resources like water and energy. The water and energy inputs used in cultivating, processing, and transporting wasted food are effectively squandered, exacerbating the strain on already limited natural resources. Addressing these inefficiencies is not just an economic imperative but also an environmental and social necessity.
Causes of Post-Harvest Losses
Source: Circular-Economy-Report-2022.pdf
As shown in the figure above, post-harvest losses occur throughout the value chain. Key drivers for losses include:
- Limited Access to Technological Solutions: A significant number of Indian farmers still rely on labour-intensive harvesting methods, which increase the likelihood of post-harvest losses. Research indicates that the use of combined harvesters can significantly reduce losses during the harvesting stage by enhancing efficiency and minimising human error.
- Lack of Adequate Storage Facilities: One of the primary reasons for high losses, particularly in perishable commodities like horticultural crops, is the absence of proper storage infrastructure. Facilities such as warehouses with controlled temperature and humidity are essential to preserving the quality of produce and reducing spoilage
- Insufficient Farmer-Market Linkages: Poor connectivity between farmers and markets leads to extended travel times and sales delays, resulting in substantial losses during the final stage of marketing farm produce. Studies have shown that regions with a higher density of markets report significantly lower losses during transportation, highlighting the importance of improving market access.
Disproportionate Impact on Smallholders: Smallholder farmers, who constitute over 80% of the farming community in India, are disproportionately affected by post-harvest losses. Limited financial resources make it challenging for them to invest in essential infrastructure such as mechanised harvesters, storage facilities, and efficient transportation systems. Addressing these systemic issues is crucial to reducing losses and ensuring equitable benefits for small-scale farmers.
Post- Consumer Food Wastage
So far, we have discussed the wastage of harvested crops before they reach the consumer. However, an equally important yet often overlooked issue is the significant losses that occur at the consumer level.
Food waste, while more prevalent in developed nations, is a critical challenge in India. India’s post-consumer wastes are approximately 55 kilograms of food per person annually. This adds up to over 78 million tonnes of food each year, an amount sufficient to feed more than 370 million people.
A staggering 60% of this waste comes from Indian households, compared to 26% from food services and 13% from retail outlets. This demonstrates that households in India are the largest contributors to food waste, beyond that of the private sector.
In urban areas, food waste is largely driven by defective produce and overproduction in the retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries. Buffets top the list, generating 22% of the waste, with in-service restaurants following closely at 20%. Weddings and social gatherings also contribute significantly, with food waste ranging from 10–15%. In cities like Mumbai, restaurants overproduce by up to 30%, with an expectation of serving a greater consumer base. Key causes of food waste in households include miscalculations in meal preparation, a diminished appreciation for food, and a decline in traditional Indian value systems that emphasise minimising waste.
Reducing this waste is crucial, not only to achieve national nutrition goals but also to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions (especially methane) from landfills and prevent resource wastage.
Way Forward
Post-harvest losses in India represent an urgent issue that demands immediate attention due to their profound economic, social, and environmental impacts. With losses amounting to over ₹1.53 lakh crore annually and millions of tonnes of food wasted, addressing this inefficiency is crucial for ensuring food security, improving farmer livelihoods, and conserving vital resources like water and energy.
To combat these losses, a multifaceted approach is needed. First, significant investments must be made in cold chain infrastructure, such as temperature-controlled storage and transportation, to minimise spoilage of perishable goods. Strengthening market linkages is also essential to reduce delays and inefficiencies in the supply chain. Promoting farmer cooperatives can help smallholder farmers, who make up over 80% of India’s farming community, gain access to shared resources like combine harvesters, storage facilities, and efficient transportation. Training programs to improve post-harvest handling practices and the adoption of technology-driven solutions, such as mobile platforms for market access, are equally vital.
On the policy front, the government has introduced initiatives like the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Sampada Yojana to modernise food processing and infrastructure. However, gaps remain in execution and outreach, particularly for smallholder farmers. Policies must focus more on addressing systemic issues such as fragmented supply chains, limited credit access, and poor infrastructure in rural areas. Moreover, robust monitoring and evaluation mechanisms are required to ensure that government schemes translate into tangible benefits.
While addressing post-harvest losses is critical, it is equally important to consider the losses that occur further along the chain, particularly at the consumer level. Potential strategies to address food waste at the consumer level include exploring alternative methods of food consumption and strengthening family culture and values around food. Solutions to reduce wastage align closely with strategies employed in developed countries. These include: adopting the principles of reducing, reusing, recycling, and composting food waste; donating surplus food to food banks; setting up public fridges outside restaurants to offer leftovers to those in need; conducting food waste audits for restaurants; allowing customers to choose portion sizes and encouraging them to take home leftovers; training staff to minimise waste etc.
In conclusion, reducing post-harvest losses and food waste is not just an agricultural challenge but a national imperative that intersects with food security, environmental sustainability, and rural development. Addressing these issues holistically requires significant investments in infrastructure, strong policy implementation, and community-driven solutions. By reducing inefficiencies at every stage of the food value chain—from farm to fork—India can ensure better resource utilisation, improve farmer incomes, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and provide more equitable access to food for its population. Collaborative efforts between the government, private sector, and local communities will be critical to creating a more resilient and sustainable agricultural system.