Quantifying horticulture postharvest wastage in three municipal fruit and vegetable markets in Fiji
2014
Underhill, Steven J.R. | Kumar, Salesh
This paper reports on a quantitative analysis of postharvest horticultural loss in three domestic fruit and vegetable municipal markets in Fiji. We found commercial postharvest losses of 0.07 to 2.44% in vegetables and 4.07 to 10% in fruit crops; banana (6%) and orange (10%) were particularly prone to postharvest wastage. Sporadic high–postharvest consignment loss (>15% wastage) was observed in okra and chili. Postharvest losses were due to a combination of postharvest diseases, poor pre–market grading, and postharvest desiccation. Overall mean postharvest wastage for all markets was 2.17%. Compared to previous postharvest supply chain studies in other transitional economies, municipal market postharvest horticultural wastage in Fiji is low. This is thought to be the result of short transport distances, a fast–to–market supply chain and high–throughput market vendor trading negating much of the potential impacts associated with poor postharvest handling practices. Postharvest wastage was mainly observed on arrival at the markets consistent with on–farm and transport stresses being key contributory factors. Although market geographic propinquity to the major horticultural production regions has the potential to influence postharvest wastage, spatial price efficiency and accessibility to commercial transport logistic that appear to favour the more distant central markets, are thought to negate any potential impact.
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