Post Harvest Management of Horticultural Crops

Modes of transport- Road transport

Modes of transport

The different modes used for transport of horticultural produce are

1. Road transport
2. Rail transport
3. Marine transport
4. Air transport


Road Transport
Pre-cooled products can be transported through well-insulated non-refrigerated trucks for up to several hours without any significant rise in product temperature. There are considerable cost savings without any loss of quality if trucks are only insulated, rather than refrigerated, for short-distance shipping (eg. milk tanker).

If the product is not pre-cooled and shipping distance is long, a ventilated truck is a better choice than an insulated truck without ventilation and without refrigeration. Ventilation alone does not usually provide a uniform cool temperature, but it may help dissipate excessive field heat and respiration heat, and thus avoid high temperature injury.

The transportation of vegetables may be done by trucks, public vehicle, tractor-trolley, bullock-carts etc. depending on situations considering speed, timely, cheap and economics of operation. Highly perishable produce like tomato, mushroom, beans, radish, GLV etc., are transported by road to long distances, subjected to spoilage quickly in comparison to garlic, onion, potato, etc., and need special care while handling during transit. Road transport can be done either in unrefrigerated or refrigerated vehicles.
Unrefrigerated road transport - Closed or open sided vehicles are mostly used for transportation during short journeys, for example between a market or packing station and the retail outlet. Unless the vehicle is insulated and product pre-cooled, this type of vehicle is generally unsuitable for long distance transportation.



Fig. Unrefrigerated road transport vehicles



Fig. Transporting tomato and banana from farm to local market in plastic crates