Post-Harvest Losses in Jordan
Post-Harvest Losses in Jordan
M. Y. Mahadeen; Omar B. Allahham
Ministry of Agriculture, Amman, Jordan
Keywords: Postharvest ,losses ,Agriculture Jordan
1. Introduction
The problem of post-harvest losses in Jordan as in many other developing countries has not been given the proper attention. Therefore it is very difficult to give an exact estimation of the real figures of post- harvest losses for the different fruit and vegetable commodities, due to the lack of any, detailed, will prepare investigations in this field. Another reason that makes the estimation of post harvest losses very difficult is the lack of worldwide accepted parameters for estimating these losses. Some experts gave a rough estimation of about 30% as post- harvest losses of fruits and vegetables.
2. Post-Harvest losses causes in Jordan:
The major reasons behind post-harvest losses in Jordan are:
1. Un-proper harvesting (premature harvesting, fruit bruising, scratching, damage to the peduncle, un-proper placement of fruit in the container).
2. Un-proper handling of produce in the field after harvest. (Hauling uncovered, retaining for long time in the field).
3. Un-proper packaging ( unsuitable container selection in respect to size, kind and ventilation, overfilling, packing produce of various maturity and ripening stages in the same container).
4. Failure of pre - cooling treatments to remove field heat.
5. Un-proper loading and transportation (over load, uncovered produce, vibration damage due to bad shape of farm roads).
6. Lack of post harvest treatments to control physiological disorders and to reduce losses caused by pathogens.
7. Keeping produce exposed to direct sunlight (roadside marketing and retail buyers).
8. Consumer squeeze produce by hand to check if it is ripe or not (peaches, grapes, Figs etc.).
3. Post-Harvest Losses Policy:
The Jordanian Government encourage improvements in post-harvest handling facilities to assure quality and safety of produce by providing incentives to those who want to implement such facilities (such as proper preparation for market, cooling, cold storage, refrigerated transport, etc) :
1. Existing modern facilities that are capable of exporting products to the EU markets and would like to expand and help market the products of small-scale producers who are willing to follow the quality and safety requirements;
2. Encourage Associations or companies formed by a large number of small-scale producers to jointly build a modern packinghouse with cooling and cold storage facilities that can be utilized for at least 8 months per year; and
3. Encourage & Improvement of post-harvest handling facilities that serve the produce export sector, such as the cold storage facility at the Amman airport and modernization of the refrigerated transport trucks to improve their ability to maintain product temperature and to reach destination markets in the shortest time possible.
4. Provide a good roads to reach wholesale markets
4. Other Policy Practices:
1. Provide the relevant information and adapting it to the Jordanian conditions before disseminating it via a website, publications, posters, and other effective means of communication;
2. Encourage conducting studies of the cost/benefit ratio (return on investment) of various post-harvest technologies, such as proper maturity, shading the harvested product, quality sorting, packaging to reduce water loss, type of shipping container, cooling, and refrigerated transport by Government research Agricultural Agencies; and
3. Training quality and safety assurance personnel, marketers of fresh produce, and workers who handle fresh produce on proper procedures for maintaining quality and safety of fresh produce.
5. Technical Rules for the mandatory standard for Jordanian exports:
Jordanian government has tried to apply the technical rules of the mandatory standard for Jordanian exports a document that specifies which properties of the service or product or production methods and systems of management and also includes terms, symbols and data packaging and labeling also the requirements' of the label applied to the product or methods of production or limited to any of them and its mandatory applicable on domestic production and imports:
1. The application of agricultural products technical regulations, instructions and quality control will lead to develop and improve marketing system.
2. Poor competitiveness and quality of Jordanian Agricultural products.
3. Production should be linked to the requirements of the markets and encourage the contractual cultivation.
4. Promote and increase the competitiveness of the National Agricultural Products and encourage the access to the national median and had the confidence of the Broker, Merchant, and the Consumer.
5. Improve the products competitiveness of price and quality.
6. Encourage the establishment of a specialized export crops achieved integration between production and marketing approach and rely on contract farming.
7. Increase exports to traditional markets and markets of high-value products and maximize the competitive advantage offered by the Jordan Valley.
6. NGOs work on Port-Harvest Losses management in Jordan:
The KAFA’A Project improves post-harvest technology in Jordan by:
1. Providing local training on quality and safety assurance procedures for agricultural extension workers and private sector personnel concerned with quality and safety assurance of fresh produce;
2. Continuing development of the portable forced-air cooling unit in the context of the overall improvement in temperature management ;
3. Completing the post-harvest handling guides prepared by experts at JEPA and NCARE and publishing them electronically via the websites of JEPA and NCARE as well as printing enough copies of each commodity guide to distribute to every producer and marketer of this commodity in Jordan; and
4. Providing funding to encourage research by NCARE and other collaborators in the proposed Jordanian Postharvest Working Group on the cost-benefit ratio of post-harvest technologies.
7. Other Recommended Strategies include:
1. Use of genotypes that have longer post-harvest shelf life;
2. Use of integrated crop management systems and Good Agricultural Practices that result in good keeping quality of the commodity; and
3. Use of proper post-harvest handling practices in order to maintain quality and safety of the products.
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