关键词: 减损模拟, 收获环节, 水稻, 损失率

Abstract: Reducing food loss during harvest is a potential way to improve resource efficiency and increase food supply. However, the magnitude and determinants of food loss during harvest have not been seriously studied. This paper uses field experiment data of 25 plots from six experiments conducted in five provinces in China to estimate the magnitude of rice loss during harvest. We found that the rice loss rate during harvest ranges from 1.18% to 6.55% among plots. Moreover, plots harvested by combine harvesters have significantly higher loss than those harvested segmentally. The loss rate of technically advanced combine harvesters is lower than that of common ones, and field humidity and lodging are positively correlated with loss rate. The skills of operators and rice variety are also contributing factors but not statistically significant. Based on the experimental data and the farming condition in rice production areas in China, we estimated that the national average loss rate during harvest of rice is 3.02%. We then simulated rice loss during harvest in alternative scenarios. Under the standards from Guidance on Rice Mechanized Production Technology of the Ministry of Agriculture, the harvest loss rate of rice in China will drop to 2.76%, and then 540 thousand tons of rice can be saved which is enough for one-year consumption of 4.39 million people and is equivalent to saving 78.41 thousand hectares of arable land and 26.1 thousand tons of standardized fertilizer. If all rice fields are high standard farmland, the harvest loss rate of rice in China will drop to 2.08%, and 1.96 million tons of rice can be saved which is one-year consumption of 15.91 million people and equivalent to saving 283.91 thousand hectares of arable land and 94.6 thousand tons of standardized fertilizer. On this basis, we highlight the need to improve agricultural machinery services and farmers’ resistance to abnormal weather.

Key words: harvest, loss mitigation simulation, loss rate, rice