Every year, around 1.3 billion tonnes of agricultural produce worldwide are lost in the post-harvest phase (before first processing), with an estimated value of $1,000 billion (Gustavsson et al, 2011).
Indeed, raw agricultural commodities suffer losses as a result of several factors: pests, fungi, bacteria, humidity or natural aging of the product. Average post-harvest losses vary from year to year, depending on the product under consideration, the year's climatic conditions and the accompanying technical interventions deployed.
These losses are particularly acute in developing countries, which lack the infrastructure and technical solutions needed to limit and control deterioration factors.
At the same time, we are witnessing the growing development of more sustainable agricultural production methods (organic farming, integrated farming) in response to growing consumer demand for more natural products:
- 4 out of 5 French people say they want a more natural diet.
- 7% of Europe's UAA is farmed organically (AB).
- In France, more than 70,000 farms cover 2.3 million hectares.
- The organic market in France will be worth over 12 billion euros in 2019.
The need to disinsectize legumes immediately after harvest, and organic and premium-quality cereals using a clean process that poses no risk to users, consumers or the environment, is growing to meet customer specifications (particularly for AB and label production).
Fumigation (gassing) with phosphine (PH3) is effective (Ciesla, 2018), but its use is not compatible with AB production and, the constraints of implementation and safety of use may discourage some potential users, particularly storage farmers.
Replacing phosphine fumigation with exposure to an inert gas (nitrogen or carbon dioxide (CO₂), under the same operating conditions, is easy and frees us from some of the constraints of phosphine use that currently put off producers of AB or label products (IGP, label rouge, CRC wheat, etc.), especially those with modest production volumes.
These new pesticide-free production methods require sustainable solutions to reduce post-harvest losses.
To limit the risk of long-term post-harvest spoilage and maintain spoilage factors at risk-free levels, the rigorous application of Good Storage Practices (GSP) is essential.