POSTHARVEST LOSSES IN THE CARIBBEAN: PROGRESS

AND CHALLENGES IN QUANTIFICATION, CAUSES, SOLUTIONS AND ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

Majeed Mohammed, Kelvin Craig, Vyjayanthi Lopez and Joseph Mpagalile

OUTLINE OF PRESENTATION

• Overview of postharvest losses and food wastage in the Caribbean,

• FAO postharvest losses methodology,

• Quantification and causes of postharvest losses in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and St. Lucia: cassava, mango and tomato,

• Innovative approaches to reduce postharvest losses of cassava, mango and tomato,

• Economic analysis of losses,

• Capacity building and training on postharvest technology and marketing in 13 Caribbean islands.

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One-third or more of all the global food produced never makesit from the farm to our fork. Measured as a country, food wastewould be the third largest for greenhouse gas emissions,according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization whichrevised upward its estimated carbon footprint of food waste toa staggering 3.6 gigatons of carbon dioxide.

Food Losses Assessment Methodology FAO (2012)

Unfortunately, this massive amount offood never made it from the farm,spoiled in transport due to inefficientrefrigeration systems, was deemed“ugly” and unsellable and thereforethrown away, or was discarded by peoplein homes around the world who didn’tuse or want it after all.

Objectives• To systematically assess and characterize the cassava, mango and tomato

value chains in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and St. Lucia using field basedmeasurements at the farm, wholesale and retail markets.

• To identify where quality changes and postharvest losses occur and to measureand categorise the level of deterioration and their causes at various critical losspoints (CLPs), and more importantly, to determine where realistic solutionsexist for reducing these losses in the value chain.

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Food Losses Assessment Methodology FAO (2012)

CASSAVA PRODUCER

↓Harvest

Cassava

7 – 12 months

↓

Field selection

↓

Packing in bag,

crates

↓

Load on

transport

vehicle

Transport

Soak overnight

in 700ppm

chlorinated water

↓

Power wash

to remove dirt

↓

Rinse in 700ppm

Chlorinated

water

↓

Cut into logs

↓

Seal package

↓

Freeze at -18°C

RETAILER↓

Wash

↓

Storage

↓

Grade

↓

Moist

Medium

RETAIL

MARKET

WHOLESALE

MARKET

WHOLESALER

RETAILMARKET

PROCESSORFlakes, cubes, farine, flour,

puree, starch, gari, chips,

cassareep, pone mix

CONSUMER

NA

TIO

NA

L P

AC

KIN

GH

OU

SE

CLP#1

CLP#2

CLP#3

Table 1. Postharvest losses of cassava at farmer/retailer in Trinidad

Critical Loss Postharvest losses (%) Farmer/RetailerPoints (CLP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------(%) Physical Physiological Pathological Losses Quality

--------------------- and scoreVS-1 VS-11 Entomological

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Field Harvest 1.5cd 0.0a 0.0a 2.0de 3.5g 1.5cdCLP#1

Packhouse 1.0bc 0.0a 1.0bc 1.5cd 3.5g 2.0deCLP#2

Retail MarketingCLP#3: Day 2 0.5ab 1.0bc 0.0a 0.5ab 2.0de 2.5efDay 4 1.0bc 1.0bc 1.0bc 2.0de 5.0i 3.0fgDay 6 1.0bc 1.5cd 2.5ef 1.0bc 6.0j 3.5g

Losses 5.0i 3.5g 4.5hj 7.0k 20.0l------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Farmer who retails at municipal, roadside or mobile marketsData taken from 2-3 bags (84-96 lbs) x 10 timesAmbient conditions: 28-32C and 65-75% RH.VS: Vascular Streaking. Quality score: 1-5 with 1= excellent, 2= good, 3= satisfactory , 4= poor.

Physical damages: Trinidad and Tobago = 5%; Guyana = 8%

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Physiological losses: Trinidad and Tobago = 8%; Guyana = 7%

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Pathological and Entomological losses: Trinidad and Tobago = 7%; Guyana = 8%

Reduction of postharvest losses and waste of cassava

SOAKED OVERNIGHT POWER WASHED

PEELED LOGS FROZEN LOGS

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BAKING INDUSTRY

CASSAVA SNACK FOOD PRODUCTS

CASSAVA FARINE

Technology used for cassava value added products in St. Lucia

BEVERAGES AND SAUCES

Barbados processing of cassava value-added product

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Postharvest losses of tomatoes

CLP#1 CLP#2 CLP#3 Total losses

Trinidad &Tobago 7 8 12 27

Guyana 11 10.5 12.5 34

St. Lucia 7 8 5 20

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Post

harv

est

loss

es %

TT and Guyana

CLP#1: Harvest; CLP#2:

Packhouse; CLP#3: Retail

Market

St. Lucia

CLP#1: W/Sale Co-op.;

CLP#2:

Mkg. Board Retail Outlet;

CLP#3: Retail Market

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Physical damages: Trinidad and Tobago = 5%; Guyana = 9.5%; St. Lucia = 8%

Secondary infection from finger nail damage

Secondary infection from compression

Secondary infection from abrasions and bruises

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Physiological losses: Trinidad and Tobago = 8.5%; Guyana = 7.5%; St. Lucia = 4%

Catface

Puffiness, poor seed set due to poor pollination

Desiccation and CI pitting

Desiccation26

Blossom end rot

Blotchy ripening

Russeting

Cuticle cracking around stem 27

Pathological and Entomological losses: Trinidad and Tobago = 13.5%;Guyana = 17%; St. Lucia = 8%

Stink bug damage

Silver leaf whitefly Tomato fruit worm

White fly infection

Tomato fruit wormCloudy spot from stink bug damageBlack mold via skin wound

Yellow shoulder

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PHL at Packinghouse CLP#2

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Packinghouse facilities

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Tomato value added products

DIVERSIFY PROCESSING AND EATING OPTIONS

St. Kitts abandoned tomato field

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Physical damages: Trinidad and Tobago = 5.5%; Guyana = 10%; St. Lucia = 8%

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Physiological losses: Trinidad and Tobago = 8.5%; Guyana = 7.5%; St. Lucia = 4%

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Pathological and Entomological losses: Trinidad and Tobago = 9.5%;Guyana =16%; St. Lucia = 7%

Strategies to reduce postharvest losses and waste

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Rosa Rolle (2008)

Brecht (2013)

FRESH-CUT FRUITS IN SURINAME

FRESH-CUT VEGETABLES IN SURINAME

COLD CHAIN GAPS IN BARBADOS

Grenada : Postharvest handling of soursop

VALUE-ADDED PRODUCTS

Onion value added products

Postharvest losses and waste of cole crops

Innovative use of cabbage wrapper leaf

St. Vincent: Handling of dasheen for UK market

INTER ISLAND TRADE

POSTHARVEST LOSSES: 20 – 40%, CSAM, (La Gra, 1990)

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LOSSES

DUE TO TRANSPORTATION:

1. CONTAINERS –

a. NO VENTILATION HOLES

b. VARIATION IN SIZES AND SHAPES

c. POOR STACKING STRENGTH

2. INADEQUATE INSULATION BETWEEN CARGO AND ENGINE COMPARTMENT

3. SHIPPED IN UNVENTILATED AND NON-REFRIGERATED SPACE

4. ROUGH HANDLING

Bahamas: Value-added products, functional cold chain

CALCULATING ECONOMIC LOSS

•The value of annual production per crop for each

country was multiplied by the associated CLPs to

obtain the economic loss at each CLP.

•Economic loss at each CLP was summarized to

obtain total economic loss for each commodity in

each country.

CALCULATING ECONOMIC LOSS - CASSAVA

In Trinidad and Tobago, the assessment revealed a

PHL of 20.0% for farmers who retailed cassava at the

public, roadside or mobile markets and total

economic loss was calculated at US$500,000.

In the case of Guyana, postharvest losses of cassava

were 23.0% for farmers who retailed at the public,

roadside or mobile markets. This was equivalent to a

total economic loss estimated at US$839,619.

CALCULATING ECONOMIC LOSS - MANGOES

Postharvest losses of fresh table ripe mangoes inTrinidad and Tobago, Guyana and St. Lucia totalled17%, 32% and 23% respectively.These postharvest losses were equivalent to totaleconomic loss of US$13,286, US$901,798 andUS$82,483 respectively.

CALCULATING ECONOMIC LOSS - TOMATOES

Similarly postharvest losses of tomatoes measured atthe end of the postharvest handling system inTrinidad and Tobago, Guyana and St. Lucia were 27%,34% and 20%.Corresponding economic losses were US$1.9 million,US$7.9 million and US$166,579.

SUMMARY

• When the physical losses for each crop were valued,economic losses were significant.

• In the case of cassava, economic losses totaled US$1.3Million for Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana

• Total economic loss across all three countries (Trinidad andTobago, Guyana and St Lucia) for mangoes wasapproximately U$998,000 and for tomatoes was US$9.9Million.

Training at Grenada National Stadium Conference Facility – May 2015

Training Scenes – Grenada May 2015

Thank you