The Food Waste Reduction Roadmap aims to provide growers with advice on how best to measure food surplus and waste on farms.
Wrap estimates around 3.6 million tonnes of food is either wasted on farms or is deemed surplus to requirements. It is estimated this causes a £1.2 billion loss to the sector, which is equivalent to seven per cent of the total food harvest.
Peter Maddox, director of WRAP, said: “Measuring food surplus and waste is the first step to tackling the problem, and our guides will show where action is needed on farm – whatever the scale of production or crop type, and whether hand or machine-harvested.
"They are intuitive to use and set out the actions necessary to measure consistently to make comparisons over time, and between growers. I am delighted to have had the involvement of so many influential sector bodies in developing these guides.”
Wrap research found around 19% of all lettuces went unharvested in 2015, worth an estimated £7 million.
Organisations including the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), British Growers Association (BGA) and the National Farmers Union (NFU) were consulted on the Roadmap.
Andy Mitchell, chair of the Courtauld 2025 Fresh Produce Working Group, added: “As food producers, we want as much of this produce to feed people, but food waste is also a big driver of climate change, as well as a key driver of significant loss of commercial potential of the crop.
"These reasons make it critical to tackle this for the long-term sustainability and viability of our crops. Consistent and accurate measurement is the first step and we would encourage other businesses to use this new guidance from WRAP.”
Wrap is working with governments, citizens and partners to help halve food waste by 2030 (UN Sustainable Development Goal 12.3).
To view the Food Waste Reduction Roadmap, click on the document attached.