World Grain - November 2017 - 44

FEATURE: FIGHTING TOWARD ZERO HUNGER

it's a really exciting time to be in Bihar
and we're hoping to grow our funding
base and our partnerships so we can do
more there."
OTHER PROJECTS
ADMI also is having success reducing postharvest loss in rice in neighboring Bangladesh, which has malnutrition
rates among the highest in the world
with more than 54% of preschool-age
children (about 9.5 million) stunted and
underweight, according to the FAO.
ADMI is collaborating with the
USAID-funded Feed the Future
Innovation Lab for the Reduction of
Post-harvest Loss program at Kansas
State University on a rice value chainfocused PHL reduction research project

with Bangladesh Agricultural University.
The project encompasses three main
components: mycotoxin detection; appropriate drying and storage technologies;
and gender issues in post-harvest loss
prevention.
Spencer said a 2010 study found the
estimated total postharvest loss of rice
paddy in Bangladesh was about 14%,
of which drying and storage losses are
2.3% and 3.8%, respectively.
"Our researchers in Bangladesh
have recently reported that with properly dried grains stored in hermetically
sealed bags, zero insects were found six
months after storage," Spencer said. She
noted that a postharvest loss reduction
target of 5% has been set for the project
at the household or farm level, and this

New ADMI director named
The ADM Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest
Loss (ADMI) announced in October that Dr. Alex WinterNelson has been selected as the institute's new director.
Winter-Nelson has served as the director of the College
of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
(ACES) Office of International Programs at the University
of Illinois for the past five years.
"Since its inception in 2011, the ADM Institute for the
Prevention of Postharvest Loss has made terrific strides in
raising awareness about postharvest loss and food waste,
building a community of interest on the issues, improving
our understanding of the nature of the problem, and identifying technical solutions,"
Winter-Nelson said. "As I take on the directorship of ADMI, I owe a debt of gratitude to
the staff and the past directors who have put the Institute where it is today. I am excited
about the chance to work with partners at the University of Illinois and around the world
to take ADMI into its next phase."
In addition to new leadership, ADMI has become part of the Office of International
Programs (OIP). He said the move to OIP will allow ADMI to leverage expertise in international partnerships to create a sustainable future for the institute.
In his role as the director of the Office of International Programs, Winter-Nelson
launched the International Food Security at Illinois (IFSI) program dedicated to using University of Illinois expertise to build food systems that enhance food security. This move
brings ADMI in closer alignment with this group.
Winter-Nelson succeeds Dr. Prasanta Kalita, who left the position this summer after
serving as director of ADMI for several years.
Winter-Nelson is a professor in the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, in addition to his director appointment. He has been at the University of Illinois since
completing doctoral studies in applied economics at Stanford University in 1992. WinterNelson has authored dozens of scholarly papers appearing in academic journals and
books and coauthored The Atlas of World Hunger, winner of the 2011 James M, Blaut
Innovative Publication Award from the Association of American Geographers.
44

reduction loss could mean a corresponding reduction in household food expenditure for rice roughly equaling 5% to
10% more household income.
South America is another continent
that is on ADMI's radar.
"We've done a lot of work in Brazil,"
Spencer said. "The needs in Brazil are different than in India. In India, we are doing a lot of one-on-one work with smallholder farmers. Brazil will involve larger
projects. Grain transportation, for example, is a huge issue there. Dr. Richard
Gates (professor in the Department of
Agricultural and Biological Engineering
at the University of Illinois) has been
leading a pretty successful project there
on transportation and carbon dioxide loss
in grain."
The world's leading soybean producer and exporter, Brazil transports 60%
of its crop by truck from farms to processing, storage and export terminals.
Spencer said only 20% of Brazil's more
than 1.7 million kilometers of roads are
paved, and thus issues such as poor
road conditions, improper truck mainWHQDQFH RYHUORDGLQJ DQG LQH൶FLHQW
transfer of grain are major causes of
postharvest grain loss.
As part of a PHL transportation study
funded by ADMI, University of Illinois
researchers have found that carbon dioxide concentration increased with harvest
moisture, temperature and trip duration,
ranging from 2,000 to 200,000 parts per
million and tending to accumulate at the
bottom of trailers over time. Lower carbon dioxide levels were observed with
drier beans, shorter trips and fewer damaged beans.
She added that recent research has
shown that monitoring carbon dioxide
provides earlier detection of spoilage than
conventional temperature monitoring, and
in the absence of fungal growth, carbon
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matter loss due to grain respiration.
ONLINE COURSES
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far as possible, ADMI has developed
an online postharvest loss course with

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World Grain - November 2017

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