Floods cause significant post-harvest losses in the Philippines

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT, Philippines - Sept. 27, 2013 - PRLog -- OLONGAPO CITY, September 25, 2013 - Flash floods not only destroy farmlands and properties but also stored rice supplies. For years, solutions to combat this problem are in very high demand.

According to a recent report by the Food and Agriculture Organization, new technologies can help. The FAO toolkit describes in page 29 that, “Improved rice-storage bags in the Philippines have helped cut losses of that staple grain by 15 percent.”

With the looming shortages and the now expected increase in the price of rice commodities, the country is embattled in its efforts to become rice-sufficient on this supposed “Year of Rice”. At this point, spoilage of rice is unforgivable.

Last month, 277,386 bags of imported rice bound for Cagayan de Oro worth P272 million was damaged when flood waters entered a NFA warehouse in IloIlo.

Meanwhile, recent early morning flash-floods in Olongapo, Subic and Dinalupihan, left a trail of destruction affecting thousands of local residents. While it is fortunate that human casualties were kept to a minimum, those who survived have to struggle with the apparent spoilage and rationing of rice supplies.

Such could’ve easily been avoided if farmers and suppliers used modern innovations in storing their rice stocks. Technology being produced nearby provided what could’ve been the solution to this yearly and costly problem.

GrainPro, Inc., whose manufacturing and sales headquarters are located in Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, has been in the business of developing and distributing ultra hermetic™, or airtight, storage solutions for dried agricultural food products like rice, coffee and corn. The company has been around since 1992 and in SBMA since 2007. Its products are being distributed in over 80 countries around the world.

Some ultra hermetic storage innovations by GrainPro that could fight the effects of extreme weather, particularly against flooding, include the GHF Cocoon™, the GrainSafe™, and the SuperGrainbag™. These products are designed to effectively negate the spoilage of precious food crops and keep them stored without compromising the stored crops’ quality.

“All of these products were designed with weather and the negative impact of floods in mind. It is unfortunate that there are still many in the food and agriculture sector that haven’t tried or even heard of these products. They could’ve stood a chance against the floods and we wouldn’t be facing problems with our supply of food staples,” said GrainPro Philippines President Tom De Bruin.

This is why it’s important that this message be shared to everyone because the solution is in our own backyard but very few know about this. We could’ve all benefitted with this knowledge especially during these times of tremendous calamity.

Visit GrainPro.com (http://www.grainpro.com/) for more information about GrainPro Philippines, Inc. and the solutions they can offer. You can also call them at +63 47 252 7884, or by email at customerservice@grainpro.com. We encourage readers to use the hashtags #ReduceHunger or #GrainPro on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/grainpro) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/gpphils) to support the fight against food spoilage.

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ABOUT GRAINPRO

GrainPro, Inc., a profitable, green, “not-only-for-profit’ company has, through its innovations created a revolution in safe storage and drying of grains and seeds primarily for use in the developing world, and now used in over 80 countries. This revolution in safe storage and public health protection has quietly been spreading “under the radar” and is a central part of the story of American technology’s contribution to the alleviation of world hunger that deserves to be told.

SOURCE: GrainPro Philippines, Inc., Lot 46 Efficiency Avenue, Subic Bay Gateway Park I, Subic Bay Freeport Zone, 2222 Philippines

WRITTEN BY: Victor Dela Casa, PR and Media Officer - GrainPro, Inc.

RELATED LINKS:

http://www.grainpro.com

http://www.thenewstoday.info/2008/07/09/over.277t.bags.of.rice.inside.nfa.warehouse.damaged.html

http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/196220/icode/

(For wide distribution)