Assessment of post-harvest handling practices: knowledge and losses of fruits in Bagamoyo district of Tanzania
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Date
2013
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IISTE
Abstract
The harvesting practices, knowledge and post-harvest losses of fruits along the supply chain in Bagamoyo District were investigated. 142 farmers, 50 retailers and 10 wholesalers dealing with fruits were involved in the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The results indicate that, 90.14% of the respondents harvested fruits when they are just ripe and the great market losses were reported to occur due to rotting (microbial) at 63%, physiological at 20% and 17% by insects and rodents. Along the supply chain, mechanical damage was observed to be the major type of loss during harvesting (79%) and transportation (56%) while microbial damage was observed by majority (67%) during marketing. Poor infrastructure from farm to the market was observed to account for large percentage of losses in the market. The findings also shows that all farmers (100%) interviewed have no knowledge on post-harvest losses and management. In the view of the findings, it can be concluded that, post-harvest handling practices and knowledge of stakeholders involved in fruit sub sector in the country are not good enough to prevent the losses. It is therefore imperative to improve educational knowledge, skills and fruits quality from the field to reduce post-harvest losses.
Description
Abstract. Full text article is available at https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234683618.pdf
Keywords
Bagamoyo district, Tanzania, Fruits, Post-harvest practices, Post-harvest loss, Post-harvest management, Harvest
Citation
Kereth, G. A., Lyimo, M., Mbwana, H. A., Mongi, R. J., & Ruhembe, C. C. (2013). Assessment of post-harvest handling practices: knowledge and losses of fruits in Bagamoyo district of Tanzania. Food Science and Quality Management, 11.