Philippine Daily Inquirer

POOR PACKAGING SPOILS 50% OF FARM PRODUCE IN ASIA

- By Jovic Yee @jovicyeeIN­Q

With 50 percent of the fresh produce of developing countries in Asia lost to insufficie­nt or inefficien­t postharves­t facilities, officials are now calling for better packaging to help ensure food security and provide better income for farmers.

During the first Associatio­n of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Packaging Conference, Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato dela Peña sought the need for the 10-nation bloc to develop and strengthen government-industry partnershi­ps to help minimize food waste.

Based on studies, Dela Peña said that developed countries usually reported a food spoilage and produce damage rate of 5 percent at most.

However, in developing countries like the Philippine­s, the figure balloons up to 50 percent due to “insufficie­nt packag- ing, lack of packaging appreciati­on, and absence of trained and skilled packaging specialist­s.”

In the Asean region, most farmers use baskets, sacks, plastic bags, cartons, wooden crates or foam plastic boxes to transport fruits and vegetables.

Rosa Rolle from the UN Food and Agricultur­e Organizati­on said that while most of these packages were cheap and accessible, they were of poor quality and did not prevent the produce from being damaged during transport from farm to market.

For example, she said that 29 percent of tomatoes packed using these materials usually ended up in the trash. The figure was higher for mangoes at 38 percent, and cauliflowe­rs at 52 percent.

To prevent further losses, Rolle said that government­s should step in and help farmers avail themselves of better packaging options, such as the use of plastic crates.

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