Post Harvest Management of Horticultural Crops

Factors to be considered for reducing losses

Factors to be considered for reducing or avoiding losses during transport

• To ensure that vehicle is in good condition
• Drive the vehicles properly, smoothly
• Minimize movement of containers inside the vehicle
• Use horizontal dividers or racks inside the transport.
• Protect commodities from rain, sun and wind
• While transporting without packaging, provide sufficient cushioning on the floor and all the four side walls.
A range of different handling and stacking methods are used for perishables within the transportation systems.

Bulk transport
Produce handled in bulk in general is either of low value or relatively resistant to bulk handling. The maximum depth to which produce is stacked depends on the commodity, for example citrus fruits may be loaded 1-1.5 m deep with some padding on the floor. Produce loaded loose and transported on poor roads or long distances should not be stacked more than 1 meter and should always be placed on some form of floor and wall padding such as leaf, grass or foam rubber.

Palletization

Handling produce as units of 24-60 containers on a pallet has greatly improved produce handling and efficiency in marketing. Pallets are made from a range of materials eg. wood, moulded plastics. Disposable pallets have also been developed using plastic and fiberboard. The main problems faced in the adoption of palletization have been:

• Variation in pallet sizes; 1200 x 1000 mm is the most common pallet size although many shippers use 1200 x 800 mm size. There are many other pallet sizes available but these are used to a lesser extent.
• Pallets do not always efficiently use the floor space of a vehicle.
• The variation in shape of the ships’ hold means that a different stowed pallet does not always optimize on the space available
• Cost of pallet
• Space occupied by the pallet in the vehicle
• Return of the non-disposal pallet
• Do not trample or travel sitting on the commodities.