Post-Harvest Losses and Reduction Techniques in Crop Production: A Review

Post-Harvest Losses are fast becoming a major problem causing huge losses for farmers and various countries at large. This challenge has resulted in various attempts to reduce the losses as much as possible. Crop production is essential to food security sustenance, hence post-harvest losses are undesirable as it results in a threat to life and a reduction in Farmers income. This study reviews post-harvest losses, with the focus on developing countries, as they are mostly affected. It is imperative to study post-harvest loss taking cognizance of its ability to pose threat on food security most especially in the developing countries where a high post-harvest loss occurs during storage. The post-harvest losses in vegetables, fruits, and cereals were studied. Measures and technologies that can be adopted to reduce post-harvest losses has been discussed. Many developing countries are still struggling to minimize post harvest losses because of lack of modern techniques, technologies and approaches, and this has continued to cause food insecurity across many developing nations. Smart farming techniques like the internet of time (iot), extension trainings and the use of various advance storage structures has been identified as measures for reducing post-harvest losses of crops. The application of these measures will drastically reduce post-harvest losses and this reduction will definitely result in a wider advantage.