Agroindustrial project analysi

146 AGROINDUSTRIAL PROJECT ANALYSISbut not having them on hand can bring an entire processing operationto a halt.Physical facilitiesFood losses after harvest have been estimated at 10-30 percent. 32The major causes of losses are pest and insect infestation andmicrobial infiltration. 33 Proper storage can partially eliminate thesecauses (see chapter 3, the subsections "Competing uses of raw material.Losses" and "Determinants of Quality. Handling and transport;Storage"). Inventory facilities should include preparationfacilities, such as drying houses, as well as storage structures. Thestorability of, and appropriate storage facilities for, cereals, legumes,animal products, fruits, and vegetables are discussed below.CEREALS. Grains contain more than 20 percent moisture at harvestand are highly susceptible to deterioration from microbialgrowth and pest and insect damage. Cereal grains (seeds consistingof a seed coat and an embryo of reserve nutrients) are resistantto deterioration when they are dried to a moisture contentbelow 14-15 percent. Drying treatments increase the storagestability of unmilled grains because, at moisture levels of about 14-15 percent or above, microbial growth may create "hot spots"(localized areas of temperature increase) that can char the storedgrains. Grains that are improperly dried in a field can develop moldand musty odors. Even in the United States, with its developedagroindustrial technology, losses in stored grain from insects, pests,and microorganisms were estimated to be as high as 9 percent ofthe total crop in 1974.34 If its storage of unmilled cereal grain isin bins, storage huts, and bags, a plant can minimize adversechanges in the grain's nutritional value and taste by ventilating thesupply to prevent the moisture from condensing and by protectingthe supply from insects and rodents. At moisture levels below 14-32. E. A. Asselbergs, "FAo Action Programme for the Prevention of FoodLosses," speech delivered to the Agribusiness Management for the Developedand Developing World Food System Seminar (Boston: Harvard University,Graduate School of Business Administration, May 31, 1978).33. E. R. Pariser and others, Post-Harvest Food Losses in Developing Countries(Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Sciences), pp. 47-109.34. Robert M. May, "Food Lost to Pests," Nature, vol. 267 (June 23, 1977).