Handling the horticultural produce

How to handle horticultural produce
    Where/ How to handle horticultural produce?
    It has been observed that improper handling of fresh fruit and vegetables is a major cause of deterioration and post harvest losses. To minimize this produce should be handled carefully during entire supply chain. Handling at each stage plays an important role in protecting the quality and enhancing the shelf life of produce. Produce handling plays an important role in following stages of supply chain:
    1. Handling at the time of harvest
    The throwing of produce during hand harvesting or handling should not be allowed. When crops are harvested at some distance from the packinghouse, the produce must be transported quickly for packing.
    • Containers - avoid the use of dirty containers, contaminated with soil/crop residues/ the remains of decayed produce. Containers should be cleaned and disinfected at the end of each storage period.
    • Growers should make certain that harvesting labours are fully conversant with the quality control strategy employed on the farm.
    • Mechanical damage during harvesting and subsequent handling operations can result in defects on the produce and expose to disease-causing microorganisms. The inclusion of dirt from the field further aggravates the process.
    • Every effort should be made to harvest produce at its optimum maturity, as storage life is reduced proportionate to the immaturity and/or over maturity of a vegetable crop.

    2. Handling at the field
    As all fruit and vegetables are tender and have soft texture/skin should be handled gently to minimize bruising and breaking/rupturing of the skin. After harvesting, produce is handled at the field for three main activities before dispatch to the market for sale.
    i. Washing, cleaning and dressing
    ii. Sorting-grading
    iii. Weighment and packaging
    i. Washing, cleaning and dressing/trimming
    After harvest all underground vegetables and most of the leafy vegetables require washing and cleaning before sorting-grading and packing. While washing and cleaning care should be taken that produce does not get damaged while rubbing to clean the outer surface and only clean water should be used for washing to protect the produce from contamination. Removal of extra water is a must before packing to avoid rotting. Eg.
    • Washing with 100 ppm chlorine solution is better to control microbial growth.
    • Vegetables like Cauliflower, Cabbage, Radish and other leafy items require to be dressed by removing unwanted leaves and stalk before sending them for marketing.
    ii. Sorting-grading
    All defective produce such as bruised, cut, decayed and insect infested pieces should be discarded while sorting-grading. This will help to control further deterioration of the produce while in transit. Care should be taken that produce is picked gently and should not be thrown.
    iii. Weighment and packing
    Packing material and package itself play a protective role against mechanical damage, dust and infection. They also diminish the rate of loss of water, or hinder gaseous exchange and thus modify the composition of the atmosphere around the produce. Type of packaging material and pack size for primary and secondary packaging is very important to enhance life of the produce after harvesting. Different types of packs are suitable for different type of produce depending upon the distance of location and transport mode used. Pack should not have inside sharp edges. Proper cushion in the pack helps the produce to sustain jerks/vibrations during transportation. As far as possible, uniformly graded produce should be packed in one type of pack.
    Packing must withstand the following
    • Rough handling during loading and unloading
    • Compression from the overhead weight of other containers.
    • Impact and vibration during transportation.
    • High humidity during pre-cooling, transit and storage.
    After packing, each pack has to be weighed before sending to the market for sale. Each pack should have some extra quantity to take care about the moisture loss during transit.
    3. Handling during loading-unloading
    During entire supply chain loading and unloading mainly takes place at following stages:
    • At field
    • At pack house
    • At wholesale market
    • At retail market
    Following care is required while loading and unloading of produce:
    Care should be taken that all the packs should be gently placed on the transport vehicle.
    • While loading and unloading packs should not be thrown.
    • Hooks should be avoided for picking the bags and crates.
    • Torn bags and broken crates should not be used.
    • Different grade packages should be kept separately.
    4. Handling during transportation
    Post-harvest handling is the ultimate stage in the process of producing quality fresh fruits/vegetables/flowers for market or storage. Getting these unique packages of water (fresh produce) to the point of retail or safely into store with the minimum of damage and exposure to disease risk must be a priority for all growers. Much damage is done to fresh produce during transport and growers should take all necessary remedial measures to ensure that produce leaving the field/firm for markets / storage arrives in the same condition as it left the field or the firm.
    All transport vehicles should be checked for following before loading the produce:
    Cleanliness - The vehicle should be well cleaned before loading.
    Damage - Walls, floors, doors, and ceilings should be in good condition.
    - No sharp object should be there inside the vehicle.
    Temperature and humidity control – For refrigerated transport temperature, humidity and air circulation should be checked before loading.
    Following care should be taken during transportation of fruit and vegetables:
    • Transport vehicle loaded with fresh produce should be driven safely as driving too fast on fields, rough farm tracks or the highway will cause compression damage to produce.
    • Containers, bulk bins or sacks should be loaded onto transport carefully and in such a way as to avoid shifting or collapse of the load during transportation.
    • Bulk loads or open top containers traveling long distances should be covered with Hessian/shade net/plastic to prevent excessive dehydration.
    • Transport loaded with vegetables should not remain grounded (halted) for long periods, as this causes excessive heat build up and will accelerate the onset of breakdown, cause condensation and make produce more vulnerable to diseases. If fresh vegetable deliveries are delayed, vehicles should preferable be placed with covers removed/ in a covered open sided building or at least in the shade.
    • In wet weather however loads of vegetables destined for storage should be covered to protect the produce from getting wet as the first priority.
    • Supervision is needed at all stages of field transport to minimize the accumulation of physical injuries.
    • Nobody should be allowed to sit on top of the loaded packs inside the vehicle.
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    Following type of damages takes place to the produce during transportation:
    • Impact bruises occur when packs are dropped or bounced.
    • Compression bruises results from stacking of overfilled field containers.
    • Vibration bruises may occur when fruits move or vibrate against rough surfaces of other fruit during transport.
    Machinery used during transportation at the filed
    Machineries like Field fork lift system, Trailer system and gondola system are used in transportation of horticultural produce at the field level in Peach, citrus, apple, plum and prune orchard

    5. Handling at wholesale market
    At wholesale market produce may get damage at the following stages:
    • Unloading – Handle gently
    • Storage - store in cool, clean and shaded place
    • Loading for retail dispatch

    6. Handling of produce at retail market
    • It should be ensured that produce is unloaded at the shop with proper care.
    • After unloading only required quantity of produce should be displayed in the shop for sale. Display of large quantity produce not only reduce the shelf life of produce, it gives customer a opportunity to pick and choose from a large lot, which results in loss of freshness/luster and damage of the produce by customers touching and mis-handling. Normally the harvested produce stays at retail market for longer duration. Therefore special care is required to store and protect the produce from mishandling by the customers.
    • Produce which is not kept on display should be stored only in polythene bags or in wet gunny sacs to maintain its freshness.
    • Periodic water spray on leafy items helps in maintain the quality for longer period or centralized air conditioned shop.
    • Customers should not be allowed to break/put pressure, squeeze or damage the produce during sale.

    7. Handling at customer end
    Last person to handle the produce in entire supply chain is consumer. When customer purchases the fruit, vegetables and flowers, lot of damage is already taken place, sometimes this damage is not visible at the time of purchase, but develop within few hours of purchase. Visibility of any damage to the produce itself is an indication that produce should be consumed as early as possible to avoid further deterioration. Users who have refrigeration facility may buy 3-4 days requirement at a time.
    At low temperature if produce stored in following manner it can be kept fresh for a longer period:
    Green leafy vegetables - wrap in wet cloth and store.
    Beans, Brinjal, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Radish, Carrot, Chilli, Capsicum and rooty vegetables – keep in polythene bag and store. Before keeping in bag extra moisture should be removed.
    Apple, Guava, Onion and Garlic should be avoided along with other vegetables due to their typical flavor/aroma.

Last modified: Tuesday, 5 June 2012, 7:07 PM