ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN

JIHAD-E-AGRICULTURE MINISTRY

REDUCING POSTHARVEST

LOSSES IN I.R.IRAN

by:

Roughiah Sokoutfar

Senior expert

Agro Industry bureau

8 th Meeting of Agriculture Working Group

13th October 2016

ANKARA - TURKEY

1

Outline

Agriculture Agricultural production Postharvest system postharvest losses Rice post harvest losses citrus postharvest losses vegetable post harvest losses challenges Suggestions Apperciation

Iran -Terrain

Rugged, mountainous, high central basin with desert

mountains small discontinuous plains along both coast

Climate

Mostly arid or semiarid,subtropical along Caspian coast

Elevation extremes

Lowest point: Caspian sea 28m

Highest point:Kuhe-Damavand,5671m

3

Iran Agriculture

• Arable land: 51 million ha

• Cultivated lands: 20 million ha

• Two main mountains: Zagros, Alborz

• Elevation: -28 to 5610 m

• Temperature: -30,-20 to 55⁰c

• Agriculture accounts for 16% of Iran’s GDP and

25% of its non-oil exports

• 85-90% Food sufficiency

10/14/2016 5

• Agricultural products

• Superior products

…..cont

Agriculture Production(2015)

products Amount (million tons)

Annual crops 78

Orchard products 17

Livestock & poultry 14

Honey 0.075

fishery 0.925

total 110

Reported by ministry of jihad-e-agriculture in 2007(APERI)

7

row Name of product

1 Citrus

2 apple

3 grape

4 date

5 Pomegranate

6 saffron

7 pistachio

8 Raisin

9 Medical herbs

10 barbbery

11 caraway

Superior products

Preference of Superior Products World Ranking

• Iran is the third raisin exporter to 100 countries

• Iran is the first saffron producer

• Iran is the 7th-9th grape exporter

• 40%of green caraway is produced in Iran

• Iran is the first barberry producer

• Iran is the second date producer

• Iran is the first pomegranate producer

10/14/2016 8

The post-harvest system encompasses a sequence of activities and operations that can be divided into two groups

1) Technical activities: harvesting, field drying, threshing, cleaning, additional drying, storage ,processing

2) Economic activities: transporting, marketing, quality control, nutrition, extension, information and communication, administration and management

Post harvest systems

Main elements of the post-harvest system

• Harvesting

• Pre-harvest drying

• Transport

• Post-harvest drying

• Threshing

• Storage

• Processing

• Marketing

Post harvest losses

• The expression "post-harvest losses" means a measurable quantitative and qualitative loss in a given product.

• These losses can occur during any of the various phases of the post-harvest system

• From an economic point of view, the sum of the losses in quantity and quality of the products inevitably means losses of money.

Global Postharvest losses

Global Rice losses

0.6% 0.5% 6% 4% 22%

harvest

threshing Drying quantitative losses

Broken rice

Postharvest losses of rice in Iran

Renewing &reforming rice milling project as the best practice

• There are more than 3000 rice mill as post harvest units that paddy is dried, processed , packed and stored.

• Most of them have old machinery with low technology with high processing losses

• The programme is done “ with the aim of reducing qualitative and quantitative losses in the line of processing” in the provinces that have rice milling mostly in north of Iran

New technology & equipments in modern rice millings

The outcome of the project

• 600 rice mill are modernized with new machinery, modern drier & new equipment ex,color sorter

• 115200 ton whole rice was added with 271059 $ price.

• Qualitative losses was reduced as 5%

The other actions done in reducing post harvest losses

• Improvement the milk chain and modernizing the processing milk factories with added value products

• Good practice in contract farming as supplier the raw material to processing units ,such as Rojintak co in Kermanshah ,Daland co in Golestan provinces with added value products

• Sabzane co in Tehran province that produce different dried vegetable & food products

The other actions done in reducing post harvest losses

20

Fresh Produce Management & Logistics in Iran:Present Scenario

Postharvest of pomegranate

Orange Postharvest Problems

(Citrus sinensis L.)

Pre-harvest problems:

24

Biotic factors

Abiotic factors

Cultural practices

25

Biotic factors

Diseases

Pests Genotype

Abiotic factors

Climate: Temperature, humidity, precipitation (rain, snow,

hail,…), radiation, wind

Edaphic: Chemical fertilizers, salinity (EC), pH, soil microflora

Nutrition

26

27

Postharvest decay

One of the most important problems

Factors of orange postharvest decay:

Penicillium italicum (Blue mold)

Penicillium digitatum (Green mold)

Fusarium spp.

Alternaria citri

28

Cultural practices

Poor knowledge of farmers

Lack of modern technologies

29

Harvest problems:

Tools

Labor: cost, skill, availability, gender, health considerations

Horticultural Maturity Time of day for harvest: Early morning in a sunny day

30

Postharvest problems:

Transportation

Pre-cooling

Grading and sorting

Washing

Waxing

Packaging

Storage condition

31

Major problems for orange

• Fungal decay : Postharvest: (fungicide), heat treatment, biological control

(Debaryomyces hansenii)

• Chilling injury:

Preharvest: Warming, Wind machine, cold resistant genotypes

Postharvest: Optimum temperature of storage (5°C), Air circulation

Mechanical injury:

Preharvest: Suitable harvesting methods

Postharvest: Packaging and transportation

32

33

Fungicide treatment Heat treatment

34

Harvest

Transportation

Grading/Sorting

Washing & disinfestation

Waxing

Packaging

Distribution

Flow chart of orange postharvest operations

35

Harvest

Transportation

Grading/Sorting

Washing &disinfection

Waxing

Packaging

labeling

Export

Flow chart of Orange Post-harvesting

Postharvest-Transportaion of the products

Grape Post harvest

Raisin production

……cont

post harvest losses in a vegetables processing factory

Fresh Produce Logistics

• Handling – both in the farms and Medians - manually mostly by untrained labor.

• Therefore heavy losses

• Most of the risk in supply chain is that of farmer

Fresh Produce Logistics

• Buyers and farmers both

should pay for the losses in supply chain.

• Farmers often made to sell produce at low rates and do not get fair share

Fresh Produce Logistics

• An estimated $ 35 Billion of annual waste in perishable goods is considered the biggest challenge and source of enormous opportunities for governments and private companies to differentiate themselves in market place.

Fresh Produce Logistics

• Industrial experts say that an astonishing 30-50 % of fruits and vegetables harvested in Iran don’t make it suitable for the consumers, because of poor logistics and temperature control management.

• Losses are twice as estimated in the Netherlands and in other European Union countries

Major Challenges

• Wonder why fresh produce like iceberg lettuce can’t be purchased/exported year round at premium prices and with good quality

• Why a fruit or vegetable prematurely spoils after buying • Chances are that these unfortunate realities are linked

to the lack of proper refrigeration along the supply chain, as well as handling and packaging

• At all stages, manpower involved in logistics and marketing is not fully aware of produce requirements, leading to loss in quality and value

• Limited expertise available in the country in orchard care and post-harvest management

Major Challenges

• Rural infrastructure is poor, affecting transport

• Pre cooling is considered to be the most important unit operation

• Transport conditions of the vehicles -tents/covers.

Major challenges

• Inadequate two-way dialog between government &stakeholders

• Poor decision by all participants

• Poor basic infrastructure affecting production planning & postharvest infrastructure

• Inappropriate &lack of adequate technology

• Low level of organization

• Small and scattered nature of cultivation

• Inability to initiate & sustain linkage with international markets

Major challenges

What needs to be done

• Preferably using fully air conditioned sorting / grading /packing facility to retain best quality at all stages.

• Grading, Sorting and Packing on automatic lines.

• Facility for mechanized packing for both Retail and Bulk.

What needs to be done

Suggestion

• Establishment HACCP system in production chain

• Establishment the GHP &GMP practice in post harvest steps

• Education the post harvest labor

• Supporting the agri food producers

Thank you