Tomato post-harvest losses as influenced by improper handling facilities in Morogoro, Tanzania
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Date
2023
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AJOL
Abstract
The losses on perishables have been a challenge for so long in developing countries, the current
status is critical and its control for small-scale farmers and retailers has not been adequately
addressed. The aim of this study was to generate information on tomato handling practices and
losses for small-scale farmers and retailers in six selected areas in Morogoro region, Tanzania. A
need assessment survey was conducted to help gather information on tomato postharvest handling
and practices for the purpose of preparing possible mitigation actions. Sixty respondents with at
least 3 years of farming or retailing tomatoes were purposively selected through the help of the
extension officer and market leaders to represent part of the tomatoes’ handling chain. The SPSS
version 16 statistics software was used for data analysis using descriptive statistics. The findings
obtained showed that farmers were not using any storage facilities for tomatoes while retailers
used inferior handling facilities and some did not use any storage facilities ultimately losing most
of their tomatoes. This study found that tomato post-harvest losses (PHLs) were 29.7% at the
farmers’ level and 18.4% at the small-scale retailers’ level during handling and marketing. Besides
60-80% of the farmers and 30-80% of retailers were unaware of the existence of Evaporative
cooling structures (ECSs) to avert tomato PHLs. However, 60-80% of all respondents indicated the
desire to have ECSs used to improve their tomato business. This prompted the need to have ECSs
introduced in order to extend the shelf life of tomatoes while maintaining their quality and hence
reducing PHLs.
Description
Tanzania Journal of Agricultural Sciences (2023) Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 394-403
Keywords
Tomato, Storage, Farmers, Retailers, tomato varieties, Shelf life
Citation
https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjags/article/view/266588#:~:text=This%20study%20found%20that%20tomato,level%20during%20handling%20and%20marketing.