Food Waste: 74 million tonnes of food amounting to 22% of foodgrain output wasted in India every year

NEW DELHI: Around 74 million tonnes of food is lost in India every year, which is 22% of foodgrain output or 10% of total foodgrain and horticulture production, put together, in the country in 2022-23. The loss accounts for roughly 8% of the total 931 million tonnes of food waste globally.
Figures on food waste were shared here during the ongoing International Workshop on Food Loss and Waste Prevention in the South Asian Region.Scientists from Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) shared the country’s food loss data, noting that the post-harvestlosses and food waste varies among geographies in the world. They said it largely depends on the crops and commodities, duration of storage, climate, technological interventions, human behaviour and traditions.

The global data from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Food Waste Index Report 2021 shows that most of this waste globally comes from households followed by food services and retail outlets.
The report noted that 121 kg of consumer level food is wasted each year on a global per capita level with 74 kg of this happening in households. India, on the other hand, reported a waste of 50 kg of food per person per year at the household level which is the lowest in south Asia.
Sharing key findings from the index on the opening day of the workshop on Monday, Clementine O’Connor of UNEP said that almost 28% of agricultural land is used to produce the food which is never eaten or wasted.
The three-day workshop is being organised jointly by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Thünen Institute, Germany. Over 100 delegates from Bangladesh, Bhutan, France, Germany, Indonesia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are participating in it.
Addressing the gathering at the inaugural day of the workshop, ICAR chief Himanshu Pathak pointed out that inadequate storage facilities is one of the key reasons behind food losses.
Flagging the huge loss, he stressed that focus should shift from increasing production to protecting the produced food as the waste is not only causing economic loss but also impacting individual health and climate.
It was shared at the workshop that India’s post-harvest quantitative food loss studies were conducted with pan India coverage through personal inquiry and actual field observations. The data was recorded using uniform data structures developed specifically for cereals, root & tubers, oilseeds & pulses, fruits & vegetables, meat, fish & seafood, and milk & egg.