By TIM ALEXANDER
Illinois Correspondent

URBANA, Ill. — The University of Illinois’ new ADM (Archer Daniels Midland Co.) Institute for the Prevention of Postharvest Loss, established with a $10 million grant from the company, will focus its initial efforts towards reducing world hunger in India and Brazil, according to Steven Sonka, UoI professor of agricultural management.

“(ADM’s) gift is a very large and generous gift, and the problem is enormous,” said Sonka, reflecting on the challenge the fledgling enterprise faces in identifying and reducing causes of postharvest losses that measure millions of metric tons of grains and oilseeds each year to pests, disease, mishandling and other factors.

With global population expected to reach 9.2 billion by 2050, preserving more of the Earth’s bounty of crops is fundamental to feeding the world, according to Patricia A. Woertz, ADM chair, CEO and president.

“This institute will help farmers around the world through training, tools and technologies that can help eliminate pests and disease, enable more efficient grain storage and handling, prevent spoilage and improve crop quality overall,” she stated.

The initiative, announced Feb. 20, is funded through the “Strong Roots” branch of the company’s “ADM Cares” program, a corporate social investment initiative which examines problems and solutions pertaining to global agriculture.
“ADM leadership has publicly noted that postharvest waste is at high levels in some crops and in some countries. If we can reduce the waste, it will  provide more food,” said Sonka.

Institute members will be added in the coming weeks, though their initial agenda is already defined.

“In particular, this institute will focus on staple crops such as corn, soybeans and wheat. We will be working with small-holder agriculture, not giant agricultural combines. We’ll be looking in developing countries, particularly where a lot of harvesting is done by hand,” Sonka explained.

“We have selected India and Brazil as our first targets because of their importance in terms of having large, small-holder agriculture segments and also because we have existing ties we will draw from.”

The next few months will be devoted to studying past data and crafting a more well-defined mission statement before the Institute begins fieldwork as early as in the fall, Sonka said. Foremost experts in their fields employed by several departments of the university will spearhead the research.

“We have faculty from our College of ACES (Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences), our College of Business and College of Engineering (involved),” Sonka said.

“This is a global problem, but the characteristics are very local. Postharvest waste depends on socioeconomics but also climatic conditions. Our goal is to contribute to the more rapid identification and implementation of approaches that will help to reduce postharvest loss. Methods and processes are at the heart of this, and we hope to contribute to developing improved and appropriate methods and processes.”

K.C. Ting, head of  UoI’s Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering for the College of ACES, said reducing crop waste in developing countries relies on site-specific approaches.

“We need to find the appropriate technologies for developing countries. Many of our solutions to these problems are technology- and facility-sensitive, but in developing countries you have to provide solutions that match the local environment,” according to Ting. “The real challenge is to address and solve their problems in a way, and at a cost, that can be delivered to those producers within their infrastructure.”