Problems in the Post-Harvest Processing of Rice in Southeast Asian Countries

Abstract

Efforts are being made to improve the post-harvest processing of rice to reduce post-harvest grain losses. Such technical improvements may be realized only when those efforts coincide with those of small rice farmers who are struggling for the improvement of their daily lives. The post-harvest technology for rice in Southeast Asia is closely related to socioeconomic relations among rice farmers and rice millers or rice merchants and to government intervention policies. It is most important to understand these interrelations dynamically in order to modify policies in the direction of helping small farmers and the rural poor. Such modifications would be likely to include improved paddy marketing practices, with the introduction of a paddy quality grading system, promotion of farmer cooperatives, and appropriate price policies. Once such measures have been adopted and improvements in post-harvest technology have begun to benefit the farmers and the rural poor, their own efforts will accelerate the changes. This would lead to increased technical ability and a strengthening of the agricultural cooperatives, better socioeconomic status for the farmers, and truly integrated rural development. This would serve to further prevention of post-harvest losses. These issues will be examined in the light of recent developments in post-harvest rice technology in Indonesia (Java), Thailand, Burma, and Japan.