Production, Marketing, Storage and Transportation Losses of Selected Vegetables in Shimla and Solan districts, 2005 BY Ranveer Singh and C.S. Vaidya.
Abstract: Due to large profit in vegetable cultivation, the farmers are shifting their land to this enterprise. With massive increase in production and very high marketable surplus has resulted in number of post harvest problems. During harvesting season, most of the vegetables growing areas of the state are confronted with road blockages due to natural calamities, which serve as critical bottleneck in the development of efficient marketing system. The present study on estimation of production, marketing, transportation and storage losses has been undertaken in Shimla and Solan districts of Himachal Pradesh for tomato, cabbage, cauliflower, peas and capsicum vegetables. The study reveals that quantity of marketed surplus was 3.10 quintals in case of cauliflower and 67.89 quintals in case of tomato. The farmers sent vegetables to local markets, Delhi and Chandigarh markets. Production and marketing losses in vegetables ranged between 7.47 percent in case of peas to 15.23 percent of total production in cabbage. The analysis reveals that the value of total losses was about Rs.9534 per farm, which was 13.41 per cent of the total production. The study suggested that the pre-harvest cultural practices are crucial for the reduction of post-harvest losses. Harvesting should be done in the early morning or late afternoon and avoid in wet conditions. The plastic crates should be preferred over wooden box as it is economical investment. If the produce is to be transported to far away markets, post-harvest treatments help to reduce the losses in fresh produce.
