A total of VND40 trillion (US$2.3 billion) will be invested in reducing post-harvest losses in the farm sector in 2010-20, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

The money will be used to implement a Government’s decision issued in September which aims to reduce post-harvest losses in rice, corn, coffee, vegetables, fruits, and seacooking.

The amount will come from the State budget, businesses, farmers and other sources.

The aim is to cut post-harvest rice losses from 11-13 per cent to 5-6 per cent by 2020; from 13-15 per cent to 8-9 per cent for corn; and from 20 per cent to 10 per cent for fruits, vegetables and seafood.

It also targets achieving a farming mechanisation rate of 50 per cent by 2020 from 20 per cent now.

For post-harvest treatment of coffee, vegetables and fruits, it aims to develop advanced technologies in harvesting, drying, processing and preservation systems.

Under the decision, MARD will complete the construction and upgrade of a network of rice warehouses that can store 4 million tonnes.

Speaking at a meeting held in HCM City on Monday on plans to implement the decision, MARD deputy minister Ho Xuan Hung said if the decision targets were implemented well, billions of dollars would be saved from post-harvest losses.

Hung said the Government would encourage the participation of all economic sectors in building rice warehouses, including offering soft loans and reducing taxes.

The country produces about 38 million tonnes of paddy a year and exports 4-5 million tonnes of rice, while its rice warehouses can only store 2 million tonnes. However, the rice warehouses are not distributed evenly, and many have fallen into disrepair and have low usage efficiency, according to MARD.

“The Government will provide free-interest loans for individuals and organisa-tions to buy advanced machinery for post-harvest processing that is not made locally,” Hung said.

Doan Xuan Hoa, deputy head of MARD’s Department of Agro-Forestry Product Processing and Salt Production, said most farmers in the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta dried their paddy on roads or yards of their homes.

The 6,000 dryers that operate in the Delta, the country’s rice granary, can only meet 40 per cent of the demand.

The Delta’s rice warehouses can only store 1.2 million tonnes with a preservation period of three months, meeting only 30-40 per cent of storage demand.

Hoa said the shortages of dryers and stores are the main causes of rice post – harvest losses reaching up to 11-12 per cent.

Ngo Quang Tu, head of the department’s Seafood Processing and Preservation Division, said post-harvest losses of seafood was even higher than rice, reaching 20 per cent.

“To reduce post-harvest losses in seafood catching, it is needed to invest in improving refrigerated storage on fishing ships,” Tu said.

He said provincial authorities needed to work with associations and fishermen to set up fishing ship groups to help improve seafood preservation.

VietNamNet/VNS