Old eating habits, lack of post-harvest facilities blamed for huge rice losses

MANILA, Philippines - Sometime in January 1973, a significant event took place in Malacanang. It was the launching of a nationwide movement called the Kilusan ng Wastong Pagkain sa Bagong Lipunan.

The movement had a two-fold objective: rice conservation and proper nutrition. It hoped to impart to the people the proper handling of rice and to change their eating habits.

The movement was organized primarily to re-examine the Filipinos’ antiquated traditional food habits, especially those related to cereal consumption.

In the matter of rice conservation, economists and statisticians have reported that too much rice is being wasted. They claim that millions of cavans of rice are lost from the time palay is harvested to the time rice is served on the dining table.

“In the matter of eating, so much rice actually goes down the drain. You must have noticed when you eat in restaurants that almost every one leaves a morsel of rice on his or her plate, after eating. All this is the result of lack of awareness of the importance of conserving rice,” said Jesus Tanchanco, chairman of the food and agro-industry committee of the Federation of Philippine Industries (FPI).

“Sa mga simbahan noon, kung maaalala natin, ang kakakasal, dahil na rin sa ating naging kaugalian, ay hinahagisan ng bigas bilang sabi nga,  tanda ng masaganang buhay. Ilang daang kinakasal sa ating bansa ang noon ay gumagawa ng ganitong kaugalian na kung pagsasama-samahin ang dami ng bigas na nasasayang o nawawala, ay magkakahalaga ng libo-libong piso?” Tanchanco pointed out.

According to him, studies have shown that the Filipino diet lacks calories. He said Filipinos eat too much rice, corn, and cereals and too little of other food items such as fruits and vegetables.

“As a result, many of our children are malnourished. Even among adults, there seems to be a lack of energy for work and initiative. Moreover, the Filipino diet is deficient in vitamins, minerals and proteins. As a result of our imbalanced Filipino diet, our children are malnourished since they lack calories, vitamins, minerals and proteins which other food items can provide.” he said in a recent interview.

According to the Bureau of Postharvest Research and Extention (BPRE), the Philippines is losing over P30 billion worth of rice every year due to lack of post-harvest fa-cilities such as palay dryers and rice mills. During the drying operations alone, 4.5 percent of palay harvest is lost due to inadequate or ineffi-cient drying facilities or a loss of 408,764 metric tons of milled rice.

“Ang pagpapatuyo ng palay ay isa sa pinakamaselan na gawain matapos ang anihan. Ang porsyen-to ng nawawalang palay kung hindi wasto ang pagpapatuyo ay umaabot ng limang porsyento. Kung may inaaning 16.2 million metriko toneladang palay bawa’t taon, ang halaga ng nasasayang na palay ay mga P10 bilyon,” BPRE said.

Even in transporting palay, because of improper transport and handling; and in storage, because of deficient storage facilities, rodent infestation and other factors, millions of pesos worth of palay are lost every year.