November 28, 2022

Embracing digital technology to minimize post-harvest losses in the soybean sector

Soy and Oil Seeds

Kenya

In the soybean post-harvest system, grain storage is a critical phase. During this stage, it is essential that the dried produce is stored properly to guarantee the conservation of grain quality and nutritional value, reducing post-harvest losses commonly experienced at this phase. The control and monitoring of factors such as the moisture level of grains are essential in minimizing these losses. Another crucial factor in the storage phase is inventory control. Meticulous record-taking and tracking of grain stocks are essential for farmers and aggregators before storage.

According to World Food Programme, smallholder farmers in developing countries regularly lose up to 40 per cent of their harvest due to inadequate storage. Soybean smallholder farmers often lack the necessary knowledge and efficient grain storage equipment to handle grain storage as efficiently. Most methods they employ at the post-harvest stage are traditional and mainly unreliable.

2SCALE, through its partnerships with Prosoya and Equatorial Nut Processors in Kenya, facilitated the provision of digital weighing scales and moisture meters to soybean aggregators at the community level and training on how to use them. With the production of soybean in these partnerships increasing significantly, the introduction of these technologies at the local level was vital.

Farmers in the Prosoya partnership were supported with 20 moisture meters and 20 digital weighing scales. The Equatorial Nut Processors partnership procured 8 moisture meters and 8 digital weighing scales.

Digital moisture meters

A moisture meter is a technological device that measures the level of moisture in grains. Smallholder farmers have different traditional methods of determining the moisture levels in grains. Lenah Nandokha, a farmer and aggregator in Bungoma County explains,

We used to measure moisture levels by biting into a grain. If it broke easily, that indicated that it was dry. If not, then they would ask the farmer to dry their soybean further or dry it for them at a small fee. Another method we would use is putting salt in a dry bottle, adding a few grains into it and shaking it together. If the salt stuck to the grains, it would indicate that the moisture level of the grains was still high.

While this may be the method that has been passed through generations, the error margin is huge and it contributes to post-harvest losses. The grains might be dry on the surface but could be holding moisture within. Also, the grains used in testing cannot be used again and will have to be thrown out, meaning losses.

Digital moisture metres, on the other hand, are more efficient and effective at measuring the moisture content of grains. With this easy-to-use technology, farmers can easily determine moisture levels by simply inserting the device into the bag of grains and it will quickly and efficiently determine the moisture level. The moisture meter provides an accurate reading of the level of moisture of the grains being tested. The soybean farmers and aggregators were advised to keep the moisture level of grains below 13. This technology, therefore, ensures accuracy, saves time and energy and reduces losses.

The traditional methods took a lot of effort, time and resources. With the digital moisture meter, all we have to do is take the readings from the screen. It has been of great help because it is fast and very accurate.

Lenah adds.

Digital weighing scales

At the post-harvest stage, weighing is an essential step in stock-taking. Farmers and aggregators use these readings to determine the return or income from their work throughout the season. Therefore, accuracy is crucial.

Some farmers have easier access to analog weighing machines. These have a more traditional display where the needle points at a number to show the weight measurement when the bag of grains is hung on it. This can make it hard to get the exact measurements, especially in cases where the needle is between two numbers. Others use a 2 kg tin, locally known as ‘gorogoro’ to measure the weight of their soybean. This is often inaccurate and prone to fixing by ‘conmen’ who would want to steal from the farmers. This happens when they place a cardboard in the tin, reducing its capacity without the farmers’ knowledge.

The digital weighing machine, however, has a screen that provides precise and accurate weight measurement. There is also reduced effort required to use the digital scale compared to the analog one. Additionally, the weighing capacity of the digital weighing scale is higher, reducing the time spent weighing bags of grains. Sammy Nabangi, a lead farmer and aggregator in Bungoma County has witnessed the impact of shifting to the digital weighing scale. He elaborates,

The analog weighing scale we used before would sometimes cause losses to our aggregation centre and the farmers we serve. This is because when the bag being weighed is heavy, the scale’s needle would bounce around a little and the final reading was not always precise. We would sometimes get notified by off-takers that our grains were not weighed accurately. The digital weighing scale, however, has eliminated cases of inaccurate readings and we get properly compensated for our produce.

Adopting modern post-harvest handling technologies in the soybean partnerships in Kenya is contributing significantly to the reduction of losses experienced by the smallholder farmers and local aggregators during the storage phase. Consequently, farmers earn more income from their high-quality produce.

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