One third of the value of Indian fruits and vegetables ends up destroyed or spoiled on the way to market, mostly because of bad infrastructure, most of all bad roads.
That is from the International Herald Tribune, May 27 2006.
India fact of the day
Previous post: Economics of the World Cup
Does one third of the quantity of the produce lost really equal one third of its value? How much would the value of the produce change if all of it made it to market? I’m an economics novice, but it seems to me that the value of the lost third might be less than the value of the first or second third due to decreasing demand (unless demand would not decrease). At any rate the value of the last third wouldn’t be higher than the prior two-thirds, right? Take pity on me.
How much fruit or veg gets lost on or on the way to US or European supermarket shelves? I’d be surprised if it was much less.
From the website http://www.800apples2.com/index.html I found this blurp, fwiw:
If any one type of fruit averages less than 3% spoilage, this is considered normal by U.S.D.A. standards. Spoilage less than 3% must be reported to us within one week in order to receive credit. If spoilage averages more than 3% on any one type of fruit, we must be notified within 24 hours of delivery. This would be an excessive amount of spoilage and would have to be dealt with within 24 hours in order to receive an adjustment from the shipper.
> feed 1/3 more people
Not necessarily; it’s just fruit and vegetables. An important part of the diet, but grains and legumes provide most calories probably, and should be more robust.
“One third of the value of Indian fruits and vegetables ends up destroyed or spoiled on the way to market, mostly because of bad infrastructure, most of all bad roads.”
Poor farmers. I wish that they could get better communication facilities.
I know for a fact the US does not lose more than 3% of its produce, however, by the time it gets from California to let’s say New Jersey, it has made several stops, albeit in a temp controlled environment, has been en route 14 -20 days and then is dumped into the local produce megamarts. Whatever is “going bad” (or whatever the term is) is sold to local farmers market at a huge discount. So yes, we get most of our produce, but is it worth it? By that time, most of the vitamins and minerals have degraded and what is left but pesticides, and whatever else US corporate farmers use to keep it looking “fresh” for so long.
Sure the inefficiencies that marked the past several decades of socialist policies have contributed to stagnation and widespread poverty, but the crowded, filthy markets of overpopulated Indian cities are so charming. Haven’t you read anything by Arundhati Roy?
Comments on this entry are closed.