Group Members

B.Sc(Hons)Agri. 2ndSemester(even)
1) Firdoos Abbas ( 15-arid-5277)
2) M Riaz ( 15-arid-5314)
3) M Qasim Mir ( 15-arid-5312)
4) Ashiq Hussain (15-arid-5268)
5) Ejazullah (15-arid-5274)
6) Samiullah (15-arid-5340)
Post Harvest losses
of Horticultural
Crops
 Introduction

Control of
post harvest Losses
losses

Post Harvest
losses of
horticultural
crops
Factors
Secondary affecting
causes post harvest
losses

Primary
cause
INTRODUCTION
• It is any change in the quantity or quality of
produce after harvest that prevents or
alters its intended use or decrease its value.
 Post-harvest losses occur between harvest and the
moment of human consumption. They include on-farm
losses, such as when grain is threshed, winnowed and
dried, as well as losses along the chain during
transportation, storage and processing.
 Agriculture plays a major role in Pakistan's economy
contributing 25 percent to the GDP
 Within agriculture the horticulture i.e. fruits,
vegetables and floriculture is an important sub-sector
 Horticulture share 12% in agriculture value addition
 High post harvest losses (20-40%)
 Including 5-8 per cent at the time of harvesting, 15-
20 per cent during the management of harvested
crop, five per cent during storage and 10-12 per cent
at the time of transportation of these fruits and
vegetables.
 The magnitude of postharvest losses in fresh fruits
and vegetables is an estimated 5 to 25 percent in
developed countries and 20 to 50 percent in
developing countries, depending upon the commodity.
Asia :
Losses of cereals and oil seeds are lower,
about 10-12%, according to food Cooperation
of India.

 Some 23 million tonnes of food cereals, 12

million tonnes of fruits and 21 million tonnes
of vegetables are lost each year with the
total estimated value of 240 billion rupees
Types of Losses:
 Qualitative
 Color
 Flavor & taste
 Texture
 Overall acceptability
 Quantitative
Moisture
Stored energy
Nutritive
Pest and diseases
 Physiological
Injury
Bruise
Rotten
Stages of Losses
 Harvesting
 Maturity
 Field Handling

 Packaging
 Wooden Boxes
 Belly Packing
 Lose Packing
 Transportation
 Farm to Pack House
 Pack House to Market
 Storage
 Temporary storage
 Cold Storage
 Marketing
 Improper Grading
 Infrastructure
Factors affecting post harvest losses
 Severalfactors influence post harvest losses in fruits
and vegetables

 These include :
Physical
Physiological
Mechanical
Hygienic condition
 Certain other factors :
Insect and mite attacks
Disease due to non infectious pathogens
Pathological rots

 Environmental factors:
Temperature
Relative
humidity
Oxygen balance
Primary Causes
 Mechanical injury
 Pathological Action
 Environmental factors
Secondary Causes
 Inadequate harvesting
 Inadequate transportation facilities
 Inadequate marketing system
 Unavailability of needed tools and equipments
 Lack of information
Mechanical Injury
 Caused by careless handling during harvesting,
packaging, transportation, & storage
 Mites & birds are also responsible for mechanical
injury
 Mechanical injuries like bruising & cracking of fruits
and vegetables render them more prone to attack by
organisms & significantly increase rate of water loss
and gaseous exchange
 Fruits and vegetables receive maximum mechanical
injury during harvesting if proper means of pickling
and harvesting are not adopted
Pathological Action
 Fruits & vegetables are also prone to microbial
spoilage caused by fungi, bacteria, yeast & mould
 Beside attacking fresh fruits and vegetables these
organisms also cause damage to canned and processed
products
 It is estimated that 36% of vegetable decay is caused
by soft rot bacteria
 The most common pathogens causing rots in fruits and
vegetables are fungi such as Alternaria, Rhizopus,
Penicillium, Fusarium and among bacteria Erwinia &
Pseudomonas cause extensive damage
 Environmental factors
 Temperature
 Relative humidity
 Gas composition
 Temperature
 Most important environmental factors that influences
deterioration of harvested commodities
 Rate of deterioration of perishable however increase
two to three fold with every 10 C increase in
temperature
 High temperature also increase rate of respiration in
fruits and vegetables which subsequently lead to
break down of inner tissues
Relative Humidity
 High temp & relative humidity favour growth of
microorganisms which cause extensive damage to the
produce
 Decaying of fruits & vegetables are increased by high
temperature coupled with high relative humidity
Secondary Cause
 Inadequate harvesting
 Inadequate marketing system
 Inadequate transportation facilities
 Inadequate storage facilities
 Lack of information
 Poor maintenance
Inadequate Harvesting & Handling
 Inadequate harvesting facilities and rough handling
during harvesting cause great losses
 Besides use of improper machinery & equipment in
mechanical harvesting cause serious loss
 Harvesting of fruits and vegetables during rain or
immediately after rain creates condition favorable for
decay organisms
 Harvesting during hotter part of the day results in
faster senescence, shrivelling & wilting of fruits and
vegetables
Inadequate Transportation Facilities
 In most developing countries, roads are not adequate
for proper transport of horticultural crops
 Also, transport vehicles and other modes, especially
those suited for fresh horticultural perishables, are
in short supply
 The majority of producers have small holdings and
cannot afford their own transport vehicles
 Longer shipment and distribution period eventually
cause heavy losses
Inadequate Marketing System
 Growers can produce large quantities of good-quality
fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables, but, if they do
not have a dependable, fast, and equitable means of
getting such commodities to the consumer, losses will
be extensive
 It is accentuated by lack of communication between
producers and receivers, and lack of market
information
 Sometimes growers do not know about market
demands of fruits and vegetables, it cause losses
Inadequate Storage facilities
 Inadequate storage facilities at producing or
marketing centre leave the produce to natural causes
of losses i-e decay by organisms, respiration,
transpiration and other biochemical reactions
 Inadequate storage facilities causes serious losses to
high perishable fruits and vegetable
 A well developed storage facilities is needed to
increase shelf life of horticultural products
Lack of Information
 Human element in postharvest handling of
horticultural commodities is extremely important
 Most growers do not know well about harvesting,
packaging, transporting, and marketing or how, to
maintain quality, due to lack of information, which
causes extensive losses
 An effective and far-reaching educational (extension)
program on these aspects is needed critically now and
will continue to be essential in the future
Poor Maintenance
 In many developing countries, some good facilities
that were built a few years ago are currently “out of
order” or not functioning properly because of lack of
maintenance and unavailability of spare parts.
 This problem is especially true of public-sector
facilities
 Any new project should include in its plan adequate
funds for maintenance to ensure its success and
extended usefulness.
Control of Post Harvest Losses
 Adequate harvesting and handling practices
 Better transportation facilities
 Better storage facilities
 Better marketing system
 Dissemination of information technology