ASSESSMENT OF FARMER LEVEL POSTHARVEST LOSSES
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedhttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlASSESSMENT OF FARMER LEVEL POSTHARVEST LOSSESALONG THE TOMATO VALUE CHAIN IN THREE AGROECOLOGICAL ZONES OF GHANAJ.K. ADDO1, M.K. OSEI1, M.B. MOCHIAH 1, K.O. BONSU1, H.S. CHOI2, J. G. KIM 212CSIR-Crops Research Institute, P.O.Box 3785, Kumasi, Ghana.RDA-National Institute of Horticulture and Herbal Sciences, Suwon, Korea.E-mail: jaddokwaku@yahoo.comABSTRACTThis study sought to identify and analyze the determinants of postharvest losses within the tomato valuechain, key players, their roles in the pre-harvest, harvest and postharvest handling of tomato at farmerlevel unit operations across 46 districts in the Forest, Guinea Savannah and Transition Agro-ecologicalzones in Ghana involving the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper East regions, as well asassess and quantify losses along the tomato postharvest value chain. Parameters evaluated included sociodemographic information of respondents, varieties grown, reasons for growing such varieties, yearsgrown, postharvest practices, loss assessment quantification, reasons for losses, gender in relation toproduction among others. Results indicated that 30.88 % of farmers interviewed belong to Farmer BasedOrganization (FBO) and the remaining, sole farmers. On regional bases 12.5 %, 23.53%, 38.89% and4.06% of farmers from Greater Accra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper East respectively were FBOmembers .Whilst 32.50 % of farmers grow only local varieties, 35.29 % grow exotic ones and 32.35 both,with varied reason for varietal choice. Quantitatively, losses during harvest across regions ranged between4.6 % and 10.85 %, with the highest in Upper East region. During grading and parking, between 3.6 %and 13.75 % of fruits were lost; 2.3 % to 7.4 %; and 2.6 % to 3.3 % during transporting and marketingrespectively. Postharvest losses in the tomato value chain is very alarming and demand that policy makersand other stakeholders redirects their focus towards reducing or eradicating these losses by offeringtraining on postharvest handling of perishable products and this must be conducted with follow ups,feedback and adoption measurement to ensure sustainability.Key Words: Postharvest, determinants, quantitative1.retail level. Not only are losses clearly a waste offood, but they also represent a similar waste ofhuman effort, farm inputs, livelihoods, investmentsand scarce resources such as water.INTRODUCTIONGhana, with a population of over 25 millionpeople and a land area of 238,500 square km, has atotal of over 79 million hectares of cultivated land.Out of this, about 50,000 hectares are suitable fortomato production (SRID, 2010). Ghana is locatedon Latitude 4o 44’N and 11o 11’N, and Longitude3o 11’W and 1o11’N.Tomato ( Solanum lycopersicum L.), belongingto the family Solanaceae is one of the mostuniversally known, widely consumed, nutritious,and widely grown staple fruit vegetable in theworld, and one of the most importantsupplementary sources of minerals and vitamins inhuman diet (Nasrin et al 2008, Babalola et 2010).Solanaceae is the most variable of all crop speciesin terms of agricultural utility and the thirdLosses of horticultural produce especially tomatoare a major problem in the post-harvest value chain.Losses are caused by myriad of factors rangingfrom growing conditions through to handling at15
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights y most important crop family, exceededonly by cereals and legumes and the most valuablein terms of vegetable crops (Van der Hoeven et al.2002). It is an important cash and industrial crop inmany parts of the world. Its position in the wholeworld is after potato and sweet potato both in areaand production (FAO 1995). The fruit of tomato,classified as a vegetable in trade, is a prominent"protective food" (Alam et al., 2007). Tomatoesand tomato-based foods provide a convenientmatrix by which nutrients and other health-relatedfood components are supplied to the body. In areaswhere it is eaten, it forms a very important part ofhuman food (Beecher, 1998). Tomato, for example,forms a very important component of foodconsumed in Ghana and this is evident in the factthat many Ghanaian dishes have tomatoes as acomponent ingredient (Tambo and Gbemu, 2010;Osei et al., 2014). Considering that Ghanaexperiences annual gluts during the major seasonswhen a high percentage of the harvested produce islost, there is the need to identify causes of suchlossesandprobablegiveorsuggestrecommendations to help avert these losses.and Kitinoja and Gorny (2009), recommendedgood harvest management practices especially inpicking high quality tomatoes since postharvesthandling of fresh fruits and vegetables has a directlink with its shelf life. The riper the tomato, themore susceptible it is to spoilage. They reportedthat, handling starts right from harvesting and putestimates of losses in developing countries in therange of 20% to 50% tracing causes of losses to thefield, during transport and marketing practices.Bani et al. (2006) in a research conducted in Ghanato assess losses of tomatoes transported fromBolgatanga to Accra revealed that losses along theroute alone amounted to 20%. Losses ofhorticultural produce are therefore a major problemin the post-harvest chain.Until recently, knowledge of postharvesthandling of fruits and vegetables such as improvedstorage, packaging, transport and handlingtechniques developing countries like Ghana, werevirtually non-existent for perishable crops in mostareas and even if they existed, were not easilyaccessible to indigenes in the production areas, thusallowing for considerable losses of produce.Postharvest losses have been highlighted as one ofthe determinants of the food problem in mostdeveloping countries like Ghana (Ojo, 1991;Babalola et al, 2008). According to Oyekanmi(2007), postharvest loss prevention technologytechniques becomes paramount as more produce istransported to non- producing areas to supply thegrowing population as well as storing for longerperiod to obtain a year round supply. Despite theremarkable progress made in increasing world foodproduction at the global level, approximately halfof the population in the third world does not haveaccess to adequate food supplies. There are manyreasons for this, one of which is food loss occurringin the postharvest and marketing systems. Evidencesuggests that these losses tend to be highest incountries where the need for food is greatest (FAO,1989; Oyewole and Oloko, 2006; Babalola et al,2008). Unfortunately, in many countriesexperiencing serious food problems, there seems tobe no consistent food policy framework whichshould form the foundation of effectiveimplementation of programmes (Ojo, 1991). Foodsupply can be improved either by increase inproduction or more importantly, reduction in loss.Since many researches show that great effort isbeing made in the area of food productionespecially in the developing countries, the declineThe quality and nutritional value of fresh tomatois affected by pre-harvest, harvest, postharvesthandling and storage practices (Sablani et al, 2006).A loss of 50% between harvesting, transportationand consumption of fresh tomato has been reportedby Aworth and Olorunda (1981). Since tomato ishighly perishable, it encounters several problems inits transportation, storage and marketing (Ruth Benet al., 1986). The principles that dictate at whichstage of maturity a fruit or vegetable should beharvested are crucial to its postharvest quality,storage and marketable life. Harvesting marks theend of the growth cycle of tomatoes and thebeginning of a series of stages of very importantactivities that ensure that the consumer gets thevegetable in the preferred state and at the best ofdesired quality. Post-harvest physiologists over theyears have distinguished three distinct stages in thelife span of fruits and vegetables: maturation,ripening, and senescence. Maturation is indicativeof the fruit being ready for harvest (FAO, 2008).Tomatoes are usually harvested when the plant isfresh and high in moisture content and are thusdistinguished from field crops, which are harvestedat the mature stage as grains, pulses and oil seeds.This high moisture content of tomato makes theirhandling, transportation and marketing a specialproblem particularly in the Tropics. Hurst (2010),16
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedhttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlin food production therefore can be traced topostharvest losses. Reduction in postharvest lossestherefore, will increase food availability, hencealleviation of food shortage problems. Managingthe effect of postharvest losses has the potentialtendency to reduce the effect of the efforts put intoproduction and increase marketing efficiency(Bautista, 1990; Okunmadewa, 1999). It is againstthis background that this study which forms part ofa larger study seeks to examine the underlyingfactors that contribute to the massive farmer levelpostharvest losses in the tomato postharvest valuechain, taking into consideration the pre-harvest,harvest and immediate postharvest handlingpractices and how it affects the income of tomatofarmers in Ghana.2.input subsidy extension and presence of financialinstitutions were the available opportunities;inadequate capital, lack of ready market, lack oftechnical know-how and spoilage were theirweaknesses and their main threats were poorrainfall and roads, high taxes, lack of processingfacilities and high transport charges. Quantitativelosses and dynamics of gender spread along valuechain were analyzed using analysis of variance(ANOVA). Analysis of the socio-demographicdata, unit operational losses, gender sensitivityvarietal choice and their dynamics were done inpercentages.3.RESULT AND DISCUSSION3.1 Socio-Demographic CharacteristicsRespondentsMETHODOLOGYThe Forest, Transition and Guinea SavannahAgro-ecologies which encompasses the GreaterAccra, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper Eastregions of Ghana selected for this study. Theseselections were based on the fact that tomatoproduction and marketing takes place significantlyin many districts of these regions. Due to theintricate nature of the subject matter for theresearch and the diversity of outlook of individuals,which drive them in their day-to-day decisionmaking vis-a-vis the categories of individuals thatthe study sought to engage, a number of proceduresand strategies were adopted to gather the necessaryinformation. To address the objectives of the studydata and information were collected by consultationwith staff of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture,field visits of selected farmers, visit to marketcenters, individual interviews and discussion, focusgroup discussions and personal informal interviewswith tomato farmers and traders. This studytherefore employed structured questionnairesdesigned in line with the objectives of the study. Apurposive simple sampling technique was used s because the research, as part of alarger study, targeted farmer-level tomatopostharvest losses assessment. A total of 68 farmers(males and females) were interviewed to elicit theneeded information for analysis. SWOT analysiswas conducted to inform us on how to advicestakeholder in the postharvest value chain fortomato. It was identified that access to land, andplanting materials (seeds) and availability of familylabour were their strengths; availability of inputs,The socio-demographic characteristics of therespondents examined included gender, age, maritalstatus, level of education, household size andexperience in tomato production and handling. Thedistribution of the respondents according to thesecharacteristics is shown in Table I. The resultindicated that women {11 (16.18%)} were involvedin tomato production and handling, though notcomparatively involved as men {57(83.82%)}. Avery important demographic characteristic was agebecause it determines the size, strength and qualityof the labour force. Majority of the farmers werebetween the ages of 30 - 60 years (82.35%). Thisindicated a good supply of active productiveworkforce in tomato production in the study areas.Majority (66.04%) of the respondents were semiliterate. This has had an effect on the adoption ofappropriate agricultural technologies and skills tothe farming population over the years. This agreeswith the findings of Agbannu and Atoma (2010)that level of education influences participation inagricultural productive activities, adoption, transferand application of innovations. This could be acontributory factor to the high postharvest losses intomato production in the study areas because onlyfarmers with good education often appreciate anduse most postharvest technologies available. Thisresult is consistent with the findings of Oduekun(1991) and Fawole and Fasina (2005). Majority ofthe farmers cultivated between 1 and 5 acres of landbut more areas were being put to tomatocultivation. Babalola et al (2008) reported that asscale of production increases, farmers will have tocontend with storage and transportation difficulties.17
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedhttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlWhere these facilities are not available or adequate,losses of produce are inevitable.3.2were in the range of 11.76 % (Upper East) and55.56 % (Brong Ahafo); for exotic, 18.75 %(Greater Accra) and 52.94 % (Upper East); and11.11 % (Brong Ahafo) and 50.00 % (GreaterAccra) growing both. Some have kept the samevarieties be it exotic or local over their entirefarming life, others intermittently changes varieties.Out of the 68 farmers interviewed, between 56.25% and 88.24 % have kept same varieties and 11.76% - 43.75 % intermittently changes their varieties.For a period not less than 5 years, farmers whogrew the same variety were between 17.65 % and29.41 %. About 27.78 % - 62.50 % have grownsame variety of tomato for over 5 – 10 years, and18.75 % - 50.00 %, over 10 years (Table 4).Losses along Value ChainThe tomato postharvest value chain comprisesnumerous unit operations. Considerable losses inboth quantity and quality are experienced at eachunit operation. The Upper East region recorded thehighest losses (10.85% 1.36) at harvest operationsbut least in all other operations down the valuechain (Table 2). These high quantitative lossesmight be as a result of untimely harvesting anddisease infestation. This was followed by Ashantiand Greater Accra. Mean losses during parking andgrading (sorting) were high in Greater Accra andAshanti Regions with Greater Accra scoring as highas 13.75 % 7.85 (Table 2). Handling andTransport operations recorded losses ranging from5.87 % 5.76 – 7.47 % 5.90 (Table 2).3.33.5 Gender Sensitivity in Tomato PostharvestValue ChainGender was indifferent for each unit operationalong the tomato value chain. Male and femalefarmers were involved in land preparation, planting,integrated pest and nutrient management (IPMINM) technology practices, harvesting, sorting,carting and marketing (Table 7). For male farmers,the unit operations and their distribution were: landpreparation between 3.5 % 3.6 and 85.8 % 2.23,with highest in Greater Accra and least in UpperEast; planting between 3.4 % 2.9 and 78.0 % 2.53,Greater Accra being highest and Upper East, theleast; IPM-INM technology practices (1.8 % 1.3(Upper east) – 70.0 % 2.54 (Greater Accra));harvesting (5.0 % 4.7 (U. East) – 37.1 % 2.18 (G.Accra)); sorting (1.9 % 1.3 (B/Ahafo) – 66.0% 3.44 (G. Accra)); carting (3.1 % 1.8 (B/Ahafo)– 69.5 % 3.48 (G. Accra)) and marketing (2.3% 2.1 (U. East) – 85.75 % 2.44 (G. Accra &Ashanti)) (Table 7). Women involvement in theseoperations and their distribution across regionswere very comparable to the men. They are: In landpreparation (3.5 % 3.4 – 42.5 % 1.50), withhighest in G. Accra and least in Upper East;planting (5.6 % 3.8 – 53.3 % 2.66), G. Accrabeing highest and U. East, least; IPM technologypractices (4.0 % 2.6 (U. East) – 52.9 % 2.48 (G.Accra)); harvesting (6.0 % 4.1 (U. East) – 67.3% 2.49 (G. Accra)); sorting (3.4 % 2.6 (U. East) –81.3 % 2.42(G. Accra)); carting (6.0 % 4.7 (U.East) – 75.6 % 2.53 (G. Accra)) and marketing,(2.3 % 2.1 (U. East) – 85.7 % 2.44 (G. Accra &Ashanti)). (Table 7)Reasons for LossesReasons assigned to these losses were many andvaried across regions. In Greater Accra for instance,the critical threat was from destruction by strayanimals before, during and after harvest. About68.75 % of produce ready for harvest were beingdestroyed by stray animals. During grading andparking 57.74 % of the remaining produce werelost. Late arrival of buyers, poor handling ofproduce, destruction by containers and overpacking were major factors for quantitative losses.Similarly, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper Eastregions also recorded significant losses in almost allunit operations with the severity due to poorhandling operations level. Losses ranged from 40 %- 66.67 %; 27.27 % - 66.67 %; and 5.88 % - 37.50% for Ashanti, Brong Ahafo and Upper Eastregions respectively. The least threat thatcontributed to quantitative losses was from harvestpractices where losses at each unit operations wasinsignificant compared to losses from poorhandling of produce (Table 3).3.4Choice of VarietyEasy access to improved seeds, tolerance to pestand diseases, early maturity, better storage potentialwere varied reasons that informed their choice ofvariety over the years (Table 6). Some farmersgrow only local varieties, some exotic and othersboth (Table 5). Farmers growing local varieties18
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights NThe study looked at the effect of some identifiedfactors on postharvest losses in tomato value chainand generally, the key players and determinants ofpostharvest losses in the study area. Result from thesocio-demographic positioning shows that majorityof the farmers fall within an active workforce,majority are married with large families and littleeducation and experience in farming andpostharvest handling operations. Findings from thisstudy can assist policy makers and otherstakeholders in reducing or eradicating postharvestlosses. For example, training on postharvesthandling of perishable products especially tomatomust be conducted with follow ups, feedback andadoption measurement ensured for sustainability.Roads linking farms to market should be improvedto reduce transit losses. Establishment of farmersmarket and cooperative marketing should beencouraged to reduce losses related to marketingfunctions. Establishment of cottage industriesprocessing Tomato into Tomato Ketchup, Juice andpurees should be encouraged. There is the need forprovision of good storage facilities to store theproduce that are harvested before they are taken tothe market. This will help to reduce the losses thatoccur at the farm level. With the reduction ofpostharvest losses, food availability would ing an additional hectare of land. This isabsolutely essential to achieve food security inGhana.5.9.Babalola, D.A., Megbope, T.A, and Agbola,P.O. (2008). Post Harvest Losses in PineappleProduction: A Case Study Of Ado-Odo OttaLocal Government Area Of Ogun State. BowenJournal of Agriculture 5 (1&2)55-062. ISSN:1597-283611. Babalola, D.A., Makinde, Y.O., Omonona,B.T.andOyekanmi,M.O.(2010).Determinants of postharvest losses in tomatoproduction: a case study of Imeko – Afon localgovernment area of Ogun state, Nigeria. ActaSATECH 3(2): 14-1812. Bautista, O. K. (1990). Post-harvestTechnology for Southeast Asian Perishablecrops. UPLB. Laguna, Philippines, p. 5.13. Bani, R.J., Josiah, M.N. and Kra, E.Y. (2006).Postharvest Losses of Tomatoes in Transit.Agric Mech Asia Afr Lat Am. Journal Code:S0084B. Vol.37: NO.2. Pp.84-8614. Beecher, B.R. (1998). Nutrient content oftomatoes and tomato products. National Centerfor Biotechnology Information, U.S. nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9605204.ACKNOWLEDGEMENT15. Food and Agriculture Organization (2008).Basic Harvest and Post-harvest HandlingConsiderations for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables.Postharvest Training CD-Rom on FoodProcessing/FAO manual food handling andpreservationREFERENCES7.Aworth, O.C. and Olorunda, A.O. (1981).Towards reducing postharvest losses ofperishable fruits and vegetables in Nigeria.Proceding of the National Conference inAgriculture. Port Harcourt, Nigeria.10. Babalola, D.A. and Agbola, P.O. (2008).Impact of Malaria on Poverty Level: Evidencefrom Rural Farming Households in Ogun State,Nigeria. Babcock Journal of Economics &Finance 1(1)108- 118We acknowledge RDA-National Institute ofHorticulture and Herbal Sciences, Suwon, Koreafor providing the funds and support for this study aswell as the Director of CSIR-Crops ResearchInstitute for providing as personnel and space forthis study.6.8.16. FAO (1995). Production Year Book, Food andAgricultural Organization, Rome, Italy.Alam, T., Tanweer, G. and Goyal, G.K. (2007).Stewart Postharvest Review, Packaging andstorage of tomato puree and paste. Researcharticle, Volume 3, Number 5, October 2007,pp. 1-8(8). Publisher: Stewart PostharvestSolutions. DOI: 10.2212/spr.2007.5.117. F.A.O, (1989). Prevention of losses fruit,vegetable and root crops: a training manual.United Nations Food and AgriculturalOrganization, Rome, Italy. Pp 1 -318. Fawole, O.P. and Fasina, O. (2005). Factorspredisposing farmers to Organic Fertilizer Uses19
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedhttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlin Oyo state, Nigeria. Journal of RuralEconomics and Development. 14(2) 81-90book of fruit set and development. (Ed. ShaulP. Monselise) CRC press.19. Hurst, W.C. (2010). Harvest, Handling andSanitation Commercial Tomato ProductionHandbook B 1312. CAES Publications.Univ. ions/pubDetail.cfm?pk id 747029. Sablani, S.S., Opara, L.U. and Al–Balushi, K.(2006). Influence of bruising and storageTemperature on vitamin C content of Tomato.Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment4(1) 54 – 56.30. Tambo, J.A. and Gbemu, T. (2010). Resourceuse Efficiency in Tomato Production in theDangme West District, Ghana. Conference onInternational Research on Food Security,Natural Resource Management and RuralDevelopment. Tropentag, ETH Zurich,Swzld20. Kitinoja, L. and Gorny, J. (2009). y for Fruit & Vegetable ProduceMarketers. Chapter 7.Pp 1.1 – 20.621. Nasrin, T.A.A., Molla, M.M.,AlamgirHossaen M., Alam, M.S. and Yasmin, L.(2008). Effect of postharvest treatments onshelf life and quality of tomato. Bangladesh J.Agril. Res. 33(3): 579-58531. Van der Hoeven, R. S., Ronning, C.,Giovannoni, J. J., Martin, G. and Tanksley, S.D. (2002). Deductions about the number,organization, and evolution of genes in thetomato genome based on analysis of a largeexpressed sequence tag collection and selectivegenomic sequencing. The Plant Cell 14, pp.1441–1456.22. Oduekun, F.K. (1991). Factors Affecting theAdoption of Improved Rice ProductionPackage in Obafemi/Owode and Ifo LAG’s ofOgun State. Unpublished Msc thesis, Dept. ofAgricultural Extension Services, University ofIbadan. 117 pp.23. Ojo, M.O. (1991). Food Policy and EconomicDevelopment in Nigeria for Central Bank ofNigeria. Page Publishers Services Limited.Pp.1-9.24. Okunmadewa, F.Y. (1999): ent for Food Crops in Oyo State,Nigeria. Journal or Rural Economics andDevelopment 13(1): 73-8325. Osei, M.K., Bonsu, K.O, Agyeman, A. andChoi, H.S. (2014). Genetic diversity of Tomatogermplasm in Ghana using morphologicalcharacters. International Journal of Plant & SoilScience 3(3):220-23126. Oyewole, B.O and Oloko, S.O. (2006).Agriculture and Food Losses in 2006/Nigera.27. Oyekanmi, M.O. (2007). Determinants ofPostharvest Losses in Tomato Production: ACase Study Of Imeko – Afon LocalGovernment Area Of Ogun State. UnpublishedBsc thesis, Dept of Agriculture, BabcockUniversity28. Ruth Ben, Arie and Susanlurie. (1986).Prolongation of fruit life after harvest. In hand20
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedhttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlTable 1. Selected socio-demographic characteristics of farmers in study areaVariableCategoryNo. of HouseholdsGenderMaleFemale571183.8216.18Age (years) 3030-60 60856411.7682.355.89Educational level (years)No education1-617-12 13161135723.5320.7566.0413.21Marital StatusSingleMarried6628.8291.18 51522.055-10 10282541.1836.76ExperienceinTomato (years)GrowingPercentage (%)Table 2. Quantitative losses along the tomato postharvest value chain across 46 Districts in four regions in thefour agro-ecologies of GhanaRegionMean Losses per operationG. AccraAshantiB. AhafoUpper EastTotal 1.36)7.32(8.23)Grading & 66(7.00)*Figures in parenthesis are standard deviations21Handling & 64(7.47)2.95(5.57)
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedUnit OperationsContainerPoor handlingOver-packingTheftAnimal destructionHarvest practicesLate arrival of buyershttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlPercent Losses per RegionGreater AccraH*G/P* H/T*M*AshantiH*G/P*H/T*M*Brong 022.220.00-Table 3. Losses at the farmer level postharvest unit operationsH* Harvesting.G/P* Grading and Packing.H/T* Handling and Transport.M* .0025.000.0012.50-
Jan. 2015. Vol. 2, No.9ISSN 2311 -2476International Journal of Research In Agriculture and Food Sciences 2013 - 2015 IJRAFS & K.A.J. All rights reservedhttp://www.ijsk.org/ijrafs.htmlTable 4. Type of variety grown over a period of ten YearsVarietyLocalExoticBothTotalRegionsG. AccraAshantiB/AhafoUpper ewed22242268Table 5. Dynamics of variety grown and period of growing same variety or otherwise across regionsRegionSame VarietyG. AccraAshantiB/AhafoUpper EastYes56.2588.2483.3382.35Years grown same varietyNo43.7511.7616.6717.65 518.7517.6522.2229.415 – 1062.5041.1827.7835.29Ashanti (%)52.9429.410.005.8811.76B/Ahafo (%)44.4422.220.0016.6716.6710 18.7541.1850.0035.29Table 6: Reasons for choice of varieties over a 10 year periodReasonsEasily MarketablePest/Disea*. ToleranceEarly MaturityBetter storageEasy access to seedsRegionsG, Accra (%)43.7512.500.006.2525.00Upper East (%)58.825.885.8817.655.88*diseaseTable 7. Dynamics of gender spread and activity across value chain across regionsActivityLand PreparationPlantingIPM* PracticesHarvestingSortingCartingMarketingRegions & Gender Distribution (means)G. AccraM 9.5(3.48)85.7(2.44)F 1.83)5.2(7.5)1.9(1.3)3.1(1.8)17.5(4.04)IPM* Integrated Pest Management. Figures in parenthesis are standard deviationsM Males F 94)8.7(3.59)17.5(4.04)Upper 7)2.32.3(2.1)(2.1)
field, during transport and marketing practices. Bani et al. (2006) in a research conducted in Ghana to assess losses of tomatoes transported from Bolgatanga to Accra revealed that losses along the route alone amounted to 20%. Losses of horticultural produce are therefore a major proble
Small-scale Postharvest Handling Practices and Improved Technologies for Reducing Food Losses Lisa Kitinoja, The Postharvest Education Foundation November 2016 This is a free pdf e-learning manual of 12 self-managed assignments on easy to learn postharvest extension methods. Assignments
control of postharvest losses of root and tuber crop produce was 2.858. Marketing extension services had significant effect on the volume of postharvest losses of root and tuber crop produce in the study area given that the F- statistics of 102.569 is significant at 1% level of significance and that computed F- value was higher than
postharvest best handling practices and optimum postharvest conditions for different types of horticultural crops. LEARNING OBJECTIVES Upon completion of the course, students should have an appreciation for the factors related to quality deterioration and wastage of horticultural commodities after
harvest. From this study, it was revealed that the postharvest quality and shelf life of the fruit in part will depend on some postharvest handling practices and treatments carried out a er harvest. Handling
and Vegetables in the Asia-Pacific Region APO 2006, ISBN: 92-833-7051-1 Reports of the APO seminar on Reduction of Postharvest Losses of Fruit and Vegetables held in India, 5-11 October 2004 and Marketing and Food Safety: Challenges in Postharvest Management of Agricultural/ Horticultural Products in Islamic Republic of Iran, 23-28 July 2005
Farmer, Sr. and Farmer, Jr. James Farmer, Sr. was an over-achieving scholar, with a son, James Farmer, Jr. acting the role of the child desperate to please the iron-fist, ruling father. The relationship hits a snag when while the Farmer family is happily driving along a country road, playing games and singing amongst each other.
13A Fred Coyne (13C), Elsie Coyne nCe Eades (13A), Les Eades (13A), c. 1954 13B Corporal A. P. Farmer 13B Emily Farmer nCe Coyne with Martha and Phoebe Farmer (all 13B), 1890s 13B Eva Ross nCe Farmer (13B), Dolly Wheeler, Emily Keen nCe Farmer (13B), 1920s 13C Bertha Loo nCe Coyne
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