Horticulture sector is still facing a lot of challenges in terms of high post-harvest loss and gaps in post-harvest management and supply chain infrastructure?Discuss major strategies to enhance its production ?10M

Horticulture refers to the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers and other plants for human food, non-food uses and social needs. India is the domicile for numerous horticultural crops of commercial significance. 30% of the India’s GDP accounts from horticulture and provides about 37.1% of the total exports of agricultural commodities. 

 Indian horticulture which is imperative to cater to the country’s estimated demand of 650 Million MT of fruits and vegetables by the year 2050. 

Facts 

• Total Horticulture production in 2020-21 is estimated to be 326.58 Million Tonne, an increase of about 5.81 Million Tonne (increase of 1.81%) over 2019-20.
• Increase in production of Fruits, Vegetables, Aromatics & Medicinal Plants and Plantation Crops, while decrease in Spices and Flowers over previous year, is envisaged.
• The Fruits production is estimated to be 103.23 Million Tonne compared to 102.03 Million Tonne in 2019-20.

• The production of Vegetables is estimated to be 193.61 Million Tonne, compared to 188.91 Million Tonne in 2019-20. 

• Onion production is estimated to be 26.29 Million Tonne, compared to 26.09 Million Tonne in 2019-20.
• Potato production is estimated to be 53.11 Million Tonne, against production of 48.56 Million Tonne in 2019-20.

Causes of Post Harvest Losses :

1.Physiological and Biochemical Aspect: Example: Respiration plays a very significant role in the post harvest life of the fruits. In most of the fruits, the rate of respiration increases rapidly with ripening. The sudden upsurge in respiration is called the ‘climacteric rise’, which is considered to be the turning point in the life of the fruit.

2.Mechanical Injury :Owing to their tender texture and high moisture content, fresh fruits and vegetables are very susceptible to mechanical injury. Poor handling, unsuitable containers, improper packaging and transportation can easily cause bruising, cutting, breaking, impact wounding and other forms of injury.

3.Parasitic Diseases: High post-harvest losses are caused by the invasion of fungi, bacteria, insects and other organisms. Microorganisms attack fresh produce easily and spread quickly, because the produce does not have much of a natural defence mechanism and has plenty of nutrients and moisture to support microbial growth. Post harvest decay control is becoming a more difficult task, because the number of pesticides available is falling rapidly as consumer concern for food safety increases.

4.Sites of losses:Losses may occur anywhere from the point where the food has been harvested or gathered up to the point of consumption. For the sake of convenience the losses can be broken down into the following sub-headings

1. Harvest. The separation of the commodity from the plant that produced it. In the case of roots, tubers and bulbs the commodity is lifted out of the soil.
2. Preparation The preliminary separation or extraction of the edible from the non-edible portion, e.g., the peeling of fruits and vegetables. 
3. Preservation is the prevention of lose and spoilage of foods. For example, the sundrying of fruit, the use of refrigeration and the use of funficides to inhibit mold growth in fruits. 
4. Processing is the conversion of edible food into another form more acceptable or more convenient to the consumer, for example, the manufacture of fruit juice and the canning of fruits and vegetables
5. Storage is the holding of foods until consumption. Most storage is common storage (ambient temperature) but there are extensive storage capacities that can hold food under refrigerated or controlled atmosphere conditions.   

5, Transport losses are due to the following:

1. Unsuitable transport containers;
2. Overloading of mixed fruits and vegetables (in some developing countries people and even animals ride on top of the load); 
3. Irresponsible driving; 
4. Lack of feeder roads loading to highways or collection centres; 
5. Rough roads;
6. Heat accumulation or very poor ventilation within the transport vehicles; 
7. Virtual absence of refrigerated and insulated trucks; 

6.In addition, where machine is used for harvesting losses may be fairly high because the agricultural machinery that is used to harvest the crops leaves some of the commodity in the field and mechanically damages some of it. Considerable quantities of foods a may be discarded at the point of harvest because they are of the wrong size, shape or colour.

Major strategies to enhance its production 

 1.Precooling Good temperature management is the most effective way to reduce post-harvest losses and preserve the quality of fruits and vegetables.Example :modern cold storages should be built and old one should be upgraded, so that other products also can be kept there and it will also increase profitability of the cold storage owner

2.Sanitation is of great concern to produce handlers, not only to protect produce against post harvest diseases, but also to protect consumers from food borne illnesses.

3.Grading :Essentially all fruits and vegetables sold in modern markets are graded and sized into two or more grades according to trade standards. Sophisticated marketing systems require precise grading standards for each kind of product.

4.Waxing Food grade waxes are commonly applied to replace some of the natural waxes removed in the washing and cleaning operations to reduce water loss and to improve appearance. It also provides protection against decay organisms.

5.Packaging :Packaging of fresh fruits and vegetables has a great significance in reducing the wastage. Packaging provides protection from physical damage during storage, transportation and marketing. 

6.State and central government should make urgent efforts to export surplus produce and provide managerial, technical and financial assistance to farmers or farmers’ cooperatives.

7.Small sized cold storages should be built and it should be located possibly near agriculture field . This will reduce transportation cost and as a result more farmers will be encouraged to use this facility.

8. lack of quality consciousness on the part of horticulture producers increase post harvest losses, on the other hand because of the lack of the hygienic awareness among lower class consumers, saves many produce from complete wastage. Because they purchase them on a relatively low price. Thus, though it reduces quantitative loss of horticulture produce, it is hazardous for human health.

9.Government should give financial incentives to establish multichamber/ multi- product cold storage and for the existing cold storage adequate finance should be made available at concessional rate of interest so that they can be

Best Practices to be followed :

1.Farmer Field School (FFS) approach on the lines of Indonesia should be adopted and be promoted to fill up knowledge gap between researchers and actual practitioners (farmers). This approach was pioneered and first promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as a practical way of diffusing knowledge intensive integrated pest management (IPM) concepts