The reduction of food and agricultural wastes is placed at the top of waste management hierarchies because the best means waste management is to reduce waste by not creating it in first place. The reduction of food and agricultural waste can also be achieved through the reuse of products. The reduction and reuse of wastes save natural resources, reduces generation of wastes and reduces the cost associated with food and agricultural waste disposal.
Presently, reducing food and agricultural waste has become the main agenda of many governments, NGOs, and other societies in many countries. Food and agricultural waste is nothing but remnants of our used stuff as vegetables, food stuff, animal waste etc. which people are practicing and reusing them daily by repurposing for their utility since ancient times. Due to modern urbanization and industrialization, the concept of repurposing has changed by new waste management and recycling technology invention, together with use and throw concept.
Many agricultural enterprises use large amounts of agricultural chemicals. The use of these chemicals seems to increase the cost of labor increases. With this increased uses comes the potential for surface and groundwater contamination as a result of improper storage of chemical residue, rinse water, and unused chemicals and the improper disposal of empty containers. State and local authority should be considered before planning any chemical handling system.
Due to industrialization, urbanization and increase in population density, there has been an increase in the accumulation of waste. The waste include radioactive substance, agricultural wastes, food wastes, industrial wastes, municipal wastes. Garbage and paper waste etc. There has been decrease in the availability of open land and space for disposal of waste due to intensive use of agricultural land for residential, industrial and commercial purpose. In order to reduce the load of food and agricultural wastes on earth, the collection, transport, recycling and disposal of food and agricultural wastes needs to improvised.
Today world is paying more attention to the issue of food and agricultural waste management is calling for more decisive action to be address on it. The growing awareness and increase in demand for proper action are rooted in strong moral connotations associated with food and agricultural waste management. These are based on the fact that food and agricultural waste implies unnecessary pressure on environment and natural resources. The land and water resources have been wasted, pollution created and greenhouse gases emitted to no purpose. It is also wonder how we ignore and allow food and agricultural waste thrown away when many hundred millions people in the world continue to hungry every day. This global attention on the issue of food and agricultural waste management is the main Agenda for Sustainable Development of st Century. Many countries are already taking action to reduce food and agricultural waste, but the challenges ahead remain significant and we need to step up efforts. When we strive to make progress towards reducing food and agricultural waste, it can highly effective in our efforts of best management of food cost, environmental problems and greenhouse gases. There is need to be considered main three dimensions. At first we need to know how much food and agricultural crops are wasted as accurately as possible, where and why Secondly we need to more clear about underlying reasons or objectives for reducing food and agricultural waste, must be related to food security and environment. Thirdly, we need to understand how food and agricultural waste, and its measures to reduce it, affect the objectives being pursued. These are the main points in order to help design more informed and better management policies for food and agricultural waste management. An estimation by FAO in suggested that around a third of the world’s food was lost and wasted every year. According to UN environment, globally around fourteen percent of the world’s food is lost from production before reaching to the retail level. The main objectives are reducing food and agricultural waste by better management and know how essentially environmental situation changes are. In the case of greenhouse gas these accumulate throughout the supply chain. Therefore, reducing food and agricultural waste by consumers will have the biggest impact which represents a larger amount of green gas house emissions.