postharvest handling systems small scale operations small … · 2015-06-19 · • smallholders in...

6/19/2015

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Postharvest Handling Systems for Small‐Scale Farmers Throughout the World

Beth Mitcham

Department of Plant Sciences

Postharvest Technology Center

Horticulture Collaborative Research Support Program (Hort CRSP)

Small‐Scale Operations

• Local food movement

– Lots of new farmers with small to medium operations

• Small organic operations

• Smallholders in developing countries

Postharvest Principles

• Understand the requirements of your customers

• Select good varieties with flavor and shelf life potential

• Harvest at proper maturity

• Avoid sun exposure to reduce water loss and temps

• Cool quickly to lowest safe temperature

• Protect from physical damage

• Maintain cold chain

• Expedite marketing whenever possible

SAME for LARGE and SMALL‐SCALE OPERATIONS!!

The Best Way to be Sustainableis to Reduce

Postharvest Loss and Waste

Food Loss

Food Loss refers to food that spills, spoils, incurs an abnormal reduction in quality such as bruising or wilting, or otherwise gets lost before it reaches

the consumer.

Food loss is the unintended result of an

agricultural process or technical limitation in storage,

infrastructure, packaging, or marketing.

Food Waste

Food Waste refers to food that is of good quality and fit for human consumption, but that does not get consumed because it is discarded—either before or after it spoils.

Food waste is the result of negligence or a conscious decision to throw food away.

Mitcham, Beth and Michael Reid "Appropriate Postharvest Technology" Postharvest Technology of Horticultural Crops Short Course 2015 (c) Postharvest Technology Center, UC Regents

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Feeding 9 Billion in 2050?

• Reducing postharvest losses must be part of the solution!!

Locations Range Mean Range Mean

From production toretail sites 2-23 12 5-50 22

At retail, foodservice,and consumer sites 5-30 20 2-20 10

Cumulative total 3.5-26.5 32 3.5-35 32

Developed DevelopingCountries Countries

Estimated Postharvest Losses (%) of Fresh Produce in Developing vs. Developed

Countries

Postharvest Losses of Selected Vegetables in Northern Thailand based on Sampling at the Collection Center

Range of losses (%) due to:

Vegetable Physical Damage

Pests & Disorders

Total

Head lettuce 21 – 27 21 – 40 48 - 61Red leaf lettuce 19 – 27 17 – 29 43 – 48Butterheadlettuce

24 – 36 21 – 37 57 – 60

Spinach 17 – 25 18 – 30 35 – 52Cabbage 14 – 19 11 - 18 28 – 32Celery 22 – 24 17 – 36 42 - 58

(Boonyakiat, 1999)

Recommended vs. Measured Tomato Fruit Temperatures

Country Rec. Temp. °C

Farm Wholesale Market

Retail

India 15 25.2±0.6 30.5±2.7 29.1±2.8

Ghana 15 31.2±2.7 30.2±2.5 32.5±2.6

Benin 15 28.5±1.7 29.1±1.2 23.4±2.3

Rwanda 15 30.1±3.0 22.1±1.2 23.4±2.3

Kitinoja and AlHassan, 2010N=30; 3 reps from 10 random samples per site

Postharvest Challenges in Developing Economies

• Lack of information and training

• Lack of market access

• Lack of resources – capital, equipment, supplies

• Poor roads and infrastructure

• Minimal cold chain and transportation options

• Policy challenges

Shading to Protect Produce from the Sun


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Good Packaging Essential1.Protection2.Reuse3.Moisture barrier

Examples of Shipping Containers Used in Developing Countries

Policy and Trade Issues Affect Choice of Packaging

Disruptive technologies

• Game changing

• Revolutionary rather than evolutionary

• Non‐obvious to practitioners

• Initially may be expensive and inconvenient

The history of civilization – a chronicle of disruptive technologies

• Tools• Fire• Agriculture• The wheel• Metallurgy• Mathematics• Gunpowder• The steam engine• Electricity• Radio• The telephone• Flight• Antibiotics• The transistor• Cell phones

Disruptive technologies surprise experts

“The idea of installing ‘telephones’ in every city is idiotic... Why would any person want to use this ungainly and impractical device when he can send a messenger to the telegraph office and have a clear written message sent to any large city in the US? This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us.” (Western Union)


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Horticulture – the First Science• Introduction of plant products for human use

– Food, Fiber, Medicine, Decoration

• Adaptation for human use– Detoxification– Organ enlargement– Organ modification

• Control of growth and development– Architecture– Flowering– Dormancy

• Optimizing production– Control of weeds, pests, and diseases– Ensuring adequate nutrition– Minimizing abiotic stresses

• Drought, Salinity, Temperature

• Improving postharvest life

History of disruptive technologies in horticulture

– Selection

– Grafting

– Irrigation

– Genetics

– Fertilizers

– Pesticides

– Photoperiodism

– Tissue culture

– Molecular manipulation

Small‐holder horticulture

• Proving ground for disruptive technologies– Small scale

– Available labor

– Willingness to innovate

• Innovation in marketing

• Innovation in production

• Innovation in postharvest handling

• Our philosophy – adapt ‘off‐the‐shelf’ technologies to our needs

Innovation in marketing• Market driven

– Produce what the customer wants

– Cultivate niche markets

– Match supply to demand

– Quality above quantity

• Cell phones– A classic disruptive technology

– Market intelligence

– Market contacts

– Finance

Microchips and robotics

Solar energy

Non‐chemical control of pests, diseases & weeds

Innovative irrigation systems

Disruptive technologies for productionSolar‐powered pump


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Water and nutrients

• Solar power for pumping

– Cost of panels is falling

– Small‐sized pumps are reliable, capable

• Drip irrigation

• Hydroponics

– Nutrients and water supply

• What about direct supply of water?

– I.V. for plants

Non‐chemical control of pests,diseases, and weeds

• Exclusion

– Nets

• Soil sterilization

– Facilitated solarization

• Enhanced resistance

– Chimeric plants

– Conventional breeding

– Molecular genetics

Solar power for cooling

• Costly

– ca. $5,000

• Price falling

• ‘Split’ D.C. A/C units

• Lithium ion batteries

Transport

• Key need in the developing world

• Poor infrastructure (roads, refrigerated facilities)

• Need for small‐scale, refrigerated transport

• Better insulation to reduce refrigeration required

• Innovative refrigeration

– Trucks, bicycles, carts

Better insulation The promise of ‘aerogel’


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Transport cooling

• Small‐scale recreational coolers

• Peltier block coolers

And from cooling to…a different solar dryer

• Production peaks of horticultural products lead to over‐supply and low prices for the best quality product

• Drying is a preservation technique that can capture value from excess product as well as provide nutrition during the off‐season

• Traditional solar dryers depend on clear skies and dry conditions

• We sought a design that would provide good drying under hazy and/or cloudy‐bright conditions

Natural Convection Solar Breadfruit Dryer ‐M. S. Reid & J. F. Thompson January 28, 2012

Fill tray with 1-2kg of product. A 6 tray dryer has a 6 to 12 kg/day capacity and 50 to 100 trays are neededfor a 1000kg/day capacity. It may be possible to stack trays 2 to 3 trays high in the dryer to reduce dryer area.

Cross section of dryer

Clear polyethylene film

Soil

Optional black plastic sheeting over the soil to prevent soil/food contact

0.3m

Staple film to wood pole, allows dryer to be opened

2 m

90m

m

0.6m

0.6m

Drying tray

Wood cross members,support poly film &allow airflow across tray

Thin wood or screen bottom

Stack made of 4 poles pounded into the ground, strengthened with wooden laths at the top, and covered with poly film.Flow rate in stack = 150 m3/hStack height = 2m high with a0.3 x 0.6m cross section.

2 empty trays in preheat section

0.6m trays separatedby 0.1m

5m

Side view of dryer

airflow

What about biotechnology?

• Many of the constraints to horticultural production can be addressed using molecular biotechnology,

BUT• The explosion of information

resulting from the application of the tools of modern biology to plants has only sparingly been applied to horticultural crops

Potential biotechnology targets

• Adaptation for human use– Detoxification– Organ enlargement– Organ modification

• Control of growth and development– Architecture– Dormancy and flowering– Uniformity

• Optimizing production– Control of weeds, pests, and diseases– Ensuring adequate nutrition– Minimizing abiotic stresses

• Drought, Salinity, Temperature

• Improving postharvest life


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• USAID funded grant program

• University of California, Davis (lead)

• 5 year initial award

• Focused on the entire value chain

• Themes

– Information Accessibility

– Innovation

– Gender Equity

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What is the Horticulture Innovation Lab?

• To apply research findings and technical knowledge to increase smallholders’ participation in markets

• To build local scientific and technical capacity

• To facilitate the development of policies that improve local horticultural trade

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Objectives of the Horticulture Innovation Lab

• Showcase and adapt horticultural technologies

• Conduct regional trainings in collaboration with other local institutions

• Disseminate information about effective horticulture technologies

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Horticulture Innovation Lab Regional Centers

• South East Asia‐ Kasetsart University– Postharvest cooling, drying beads, solar pumping and drip irrigation, solar drying, D‐Lab, pest exclusion nets

• East Africa‐Kenya Agriculture Research Institute– Agro Nets, solar drying of mango, postharvest handing, drying beads

• Central America‐ EAP Zamorano– Integrated curriculum, postharvest training, IPM, irrigation, farmer field schools, D‐Lab, macro tunnels, solar pump, pest exclusion nets

• NEW @ UC Davis !!!

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Regional Center Locations

Coolbot room

Solar dryers

Solar irrigation

‘Zero energy’cooler

Drying beads


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For Further Information• Lipinski et al., 2013. Reducing food loss and waste. Installment 2 of Creating a Sustainable Food Future. World Resources Inst.

• Kitinoja and Thompson. 2010. Pre‐cooling systems for small‐scale producers. Stewart Postharvest Review 2:2.

• Kitinoja et al. 2011. Postharvest technology for developing countries: challenges and opportunities in research, outreach and advocacy. J. Sci. Food Agric. 91: 597–603.

• Kitinoja and Kader. 2003. Small‐scale postharvest handling practices: A manual for horticultural crops (4th edition). http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu/datastorefiles/234‐1450.pdf http://postharvest.ucdavis.edu

Questions?


postharvest handling systems small scale operations small … · 2015-06-19 · • smallholders in...

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