Post harvest Management of Horticultural Crops (2+1)

Quality systems

Management of quality in horticulture industries in whole distribution chain from farm gate to final point of sale requires holistic approach. To achieve this, it is necessary to monitor and prevent quality problems as early as possible in the production or initial post production process rather then relaying on end point.
Among quality assurance systems

• 1. ISO 9000 series was used initially but it is a slow process.
• 2. HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) risk management approach systems - It enable to assess the risk and thus identify what go wrong, establish control to minimizes the likelihood of such an occurrence and take corrective action to manages those wrongs.
The 7 steps in HACCP are

• Identify and assess all hazards
• Identify the critical control points
• Identify the critical limits
• Establish the monitoring procedures
• Establish the corrective actions
• Establish a record-keeping systems
• Establish verification procedures

Based on HACCP, many systems has been established such as

• EurepGAP – European Good Agriculture Practices
• SQF 2000 ™ - Safe Quality Foods