Strategies to minimise post harvest losses

by Sapumali GALAGODA

Supermarket dominance in the retail sector, has made quality requirements stricter while safety and seasonality has changed due to global sourcing said Prof. Robert Paul of the University of Hawaii, Manoa. He was addressing a seminar on Post Harvest Losses organised by the Industrial Technology Institute (ITI). Prof. Paul said that improvements to quality and value addition to fresh produce are the key factors in meeting customer needs.

Dr. K.H. Sarananda of the Department of Agriculture said that there are different fresh produce handling chains which are being practised in our country and explained the shortcomings in the research area.

The major drawbacks are, repetition and duplication of activities due to the lack of coordination among research groups.

Dawn Austin of Nidro Exports Ltd elaborating on the technological problems faced by exporters said that only 10 percent of fruits and vegetables produced in the country are exported leaving room for the producers to undermine this small but important amount.

The difficulties of exporting fresh produce were also explained by Austin.

Dr. Nancy Chen from the University of Hawaii, Manoa, said that minimising post harvest losses due to post-harvest diseases is a must.

Post harvest losses in developing countries occur mostly during the 'production retailer' step and account for 5 to 50 percent loss of fresh produce. She said that there are many causes for the loss, especially loss of Papaya due to post harvest diseases. She said that biological control methods of post harvest diseases as well as strategies and interventions should be made to minimise post harvest losses of fresh produce.

The post harvest technology team of the Food Technology Section of the ITI has been developing a variety of methods to reduce fruit and vegetable post harvest losses.

Director (R&D) of the ITI and team leader of the project, Dr. Shanthi Wilson, said that they have developed many methods to reduce post harvest losses and among them were various wax treatment methods (ITI Wax, Chitosan, Cold wax treatment), and hot water treatment, which are consumer as well as environment friendly. Other than these methods, the post harvest team has developed post harvest protocol for export of a variety of perishable products either by air or by sea. They have also developed the maturity indices for fruits such as 'rambutan', - sour banana and lime.

These indices are useful in commercial agriculture where harvest and packing procedures are important components of the supply chain for these fruits.

The team trains exporters and farmers on proper ripening techniques of popular fruits such as banana and mango and many other post harvest technologies.