An overview of reducing rice yield loss to improve national food security

¹ Research Center for Behavioral and Circular Economics, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, Indonesia.
² Research Center for Cooperative, Corporation, and People’s Economy, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta, Indonesia

^* Corresponding author: ashari.sp@gmail.com

Abstract

Concerning national food security, rice has a significant role as a staple food, although it is not the only source of carbohydrates. The government made various efforts to meet the sufficiency of rice. So far, the fulfilment of rice still relies on increasing production and productivity. Another potential way to raise the availability of rice is by reducing the losses along the supply chain. This paper examines the rice yield loss related to supply chain activities, magnitudes, and factors affecting yield loss. The study uses the literature review method. The study results show that rice yield loss can occur in almost all supply chain activities, such as harvesting, threshing, drying, storage, milling, and distribution. The amount of yield loss varies considerably among supply chain activities and across the rice centre region. Modern agricultural tools and machinery, especially combine harvesters, can reduce yield losses. Factors affecting yield loss include land area, harvest time, varieties, tools and techniques of harvesting, threshing equipment, and season. The study results recommend that success in reducing yield loss could be achieved by using more modern agricultural tools and machinery and implementing good handling practices (GHP), supported by good agriculture practices (GAP) and good distribution processing (GDP).