importance
Importance of Post-harvest technology lies in the fact that it has capability to meet food requirement of growing population by eliminating avoidable losses making more nutritive food items from low grade raw commodity by proper processing and fortification, diverting portion of food material being fed to cattle by way of processing and fortifying low grade food and organic wastes and by-products into nutritive animal feed. Post-harvest technology has potential to create rural industries. In India, where 80 percent of people live in the villages and 70 percent depend on agriculture have experienced that the process of industrialization has shifted the food, feed and fibre industries to urban areas. This process has resulted in capital drain from rural to urban areas, decreased employment opportunities in the rural areas, balance of trade in favour of urban sector and mismatched growth in economy and standard of living including the gap between rural and urban people. It is possible to evolve appropriate technologies, which can establish agricultural based rural industries.
The purpose of post harvest processing is to maintain or enhance quality of the products and make it readily marketable. Prime example of post harvest processing of agricultural products is rice, a major crop in India. Paddy is harvested and processed into rice. Experiments with paddy crop in farmer's field in India have shown that if the crop is harvested at 20 to 22 per cent moisture as traditionally done, the field yield is increased by 10 to 20 percent. Similar is the case with respect to wheat, jowar and other crops.