Dramatization of figures is invariably resorted to by human beings for getting the desired attention. Probably this trait is embedded in the psyche of people since time immemorial and there is always a thin dividing line between an outright lie and a reasonable fact. This practice is especially popular with politicians who indulge in over estimation of their achievements, especially during the election time! Even scientists are not immune to this malpractices, if it can be called one, as reflected by a recent study which says that two thirds of publications withdrawn in reputed periodicals are due to deliberate distortion of results and unsubstantiated claims! An interesting report on post harvest food losses in India reveals how a nation can indulge in whole sale cooking of figures, obviously to highlight the need for investing on projects that can save these losses. Interestingly the loss figures of 30-50% being mentioned routinely in government circles during the last 5 decades remain the same in spite of pouring billions of rupees by the government on R & D, infrastructure and other areas! If this is not shameful what else it is! Is it not pathetic that no sustained studies have been conducted nationally to put down precisely what losses occur from the farm to the fork? A few scientific field studies do indicate that the post harvest losses are no more than 1-8% in case of most durable foods while the corresponding figures for perishables are slightly more, in the range of 6-18%. yet the Prime minister of this country had the gumption to solemnly declare before the country that one third of the food produced in India go waste! Here is an excellent piece of analysis on this subject which must make every Indian hang his head in shame for the sheer callousness, mismanagement and insensitivity to the welfare of its citizens!
"The figure has been in the air for long, so it has become acceptable. However, there is no hard study to back this number," said Pronab Sen, principal adviser in the Planning Commission. Sen told Business Standard the figure might just be a "guesstimate as he has serious doubts if such a study could even be conducted, especially for vegetables, which are seasonal and too diversified, unlike food grains and fruits". The 35-40 per cent loss claim does not even figure in the Planning Commission's working group report on agriculture marketing infrastructure for the 12th Five-Year Plan. It states that among vegetables, the post-harvest loss ranges between 6.8 per cent and 12.4 per cent, with the lowest loss in cauliflower and the highest in tomato. According to a study by the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR), among fruits, the minimum post-harvest loss is in sapota and the maximum in guava at 18 per cent. "The number for fruits is still believable as fruits are not seasonal in nature, but vegetables are seasonal, which makes data on production and wastage even difficult," said Sen.
Among cereals, the post-harvest loss ranged from 3.9 per cent to six per cent, with the lowest loss in sorghum and the highest in wheat. In pulses, the lowest loss was seen in chickpea at 4.3 per cent and the highest in black gram at 6.1 per cent.
A department of industrial policy and promotion paper on multi-brand retail in 2010 had said: "As per some industry estimates, 25 to 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables and five to seven per cent of food grains in India are wasted". This paper quoted industry estimates and not any hard study. However, even this number does not match the 35-40 per cent wastage being cited by the government now. The traders' community, too, has slammed the government for "cooking up" the figure. "Based on the ICAR study and the Planning Commission working group report, these post-harvest losses are nowhere around the staggering percentage quoted by the government. It appears that the government is coming up with these bogus figures for making up a case for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders".
Looking back every Five Year Plan coming out of the corridors of National Planning Commission must be viewed with some apprehension because most data based on which planning is done in this country must be more of guestimates rather than real field generated information through scientific and representative studies. If at all there is a country in this Globe which consistently fails to keep the target dates for completion of any project, it is none other than India. Time over runs were between 50% and 500% and one can imagine the cost over runs as a result of these costly management lapses during the last 3-4 decades. The tragedy is that no politician seems to be serious or unduly worried about such enormous wastage of resources of the country while the neighboring China is galloping towards numero uno status in the world through their well planned and executed development projects on time in all critical sectors of economy. The astronomical sized financial scams, whether in coal sector or telephone sector do not speak well of the country's track record as a serious nation, capable of rubbing shoulders with countries like the US, the EU, China, Korea or Brazil.
V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
"The figure has been in the air for long, so it has become acceptable. However, there is no hard study to back this number," said Pronab Sen, principal adviser in the Planning Commission. Sen told Business Standard the figure might just be a "guesstimate as he has serious doubts if such a study could even be conducted, especially for vegetables, which are seasonal and too diversified, unlike food grains and fruits". The 35-40 per cent loss claim does not even figure in the Planning Commission's working group report on agriculture marketing infrastructure for the 12th Five-Year Plan. It states that among vegetables, the post-harvest loss ranges between 6.8 per cent and 12.4 per cent, with the lowest loss in cauliflower and the highest in tomato. According to a study by the Indian Council on Agricultural Research (ICAR), among fruits, the minimum post-harvest loss is in sapota and the maximum in guava at 18 per cent. "The number for fruits is still believable as fruits are not seasonal in nature, but vegetables are seasonal, which makes data on production and wastage even difficult," said Sen.
Among cereals, the post-harvest loss ranged from 3.9 per cent to six per cent, with the lowest loss in sorghum and the highest in wheat. In pulses, the lowest loss was seen in chickpea at 4.3 per cent and the highest in black gram at 6.1 per cent.
A department of industrial policy and promotion paper on multi-brand retail in 2010 had said: "As per some industry estimates, 25 to 30 per cent of fruits and vegetables and five to seven per cent of food grains in India are wasted". This paper quoted industry estimates and not any hard study. However, even this number does not match the 35-40 per cent wastage being cited by the government now. The traders' community, too, has slammed the government for "cooking up" the figure. "Based on the ICAR study and the Planning Commission working group report, these post-harvest losses are nowhere around the staggering percentage quoted by the government. It appears that the government is coming up with these bogus figures for making up a case for allowing FDI in multi-brand retail," said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the Confederation of All India Traders".
Looking back every Five Year Plan coming out of the corridors of National Planning Commission must be viewed with some apprehension because most data based on which planning is done in this country must be more of guestimates rather than real field generated information through scientific and representative studies. If at all there is a country in this Globe which consistently fails to keep the target dates for completion of any project, it is none other than India. Time over runs were between 50% and 500% and one can imagine the cost over runs as a result of these costly management lapses during the last 3-4 decades. The tragedy is that no politician seems to be serious or unduly worried about such enormous wastage of resources of the country while the neighboring China is galloping towards numero uno status in the world through their well planned and executed development projects on time in all critical sectors of economy. The astronomical sized financial scams, whether in coal sector or telephone sector do not speak well of the country's track record as a serious nation, capable of rubbing shoulders with countries like the US, the EU, China, Korea or Brazil.
V.H.POTTY
http://vhpotty.blogspot.com/
http://foodtechupdates.blogspot.com
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