6 research outputs found
Final Technical and Project Completion Reports / Banana Post harvest Technologies: Philippines
This project entitled Banana Postharvest Technologies
(Philippines) was undertaken to provide information and
technologies leading to the enhancement of small banana
farmers' income and productivity, and improve the supply of
good quality and reasonably priced Saba bananas for the
fresh market and processing into chips. Although the
studies were limited to Saba initially, the results of the
survey indicated the need to look at other cultivars
normally shipped in mixed loads with Saba. Moreover, a
typhoon devastated Saba crops in Northern Mindanao, while
other areas were severely affected by a disease, both of
which resulted in an extremely low supply of Saba in the
course of project implementation. The systems for all
cultivars destined for the domestic market are identical,
whether or not Saba constitutes all or part of the load.
Surveys, field visits and fora revealed a number of
technical and extra-technical problems which render the
marketing of Saba and other traditional banana cultivars a
high risk enterprise. The risks involved have led to
manipulative trading practices which ultimately lead to low
producer incomes. The survey highlighted the fact that
losses can be primarily attributed to inappropriate
postharvest systems, although some farmers' practices and
the lack of pre-harvest care also contribute to the problem.
Laboratory and commercial shipment trials demonstrated
that losses can be reduced with the provision of ethylene
adsorbents, with the benefit in terms of reduction of
premature ripening and the green-soft disorder (GSD) most
pronounced during the hot summer months and in shipments
experiencing delays. A series of experiments verified the
hypothesis that GSD arises from a combination of ethylene
with critically low levels of oxygen, which is consistent
with observations from commercial shipments. As an offshoot
of the observations from these studies the shipment of
mature 'Lakatan' fruits during the hot summer months is now
possible as long as adsorbents are used. One trader uses
the same adsorbents tested in the trials for shipments.
Banana shippers have expressed interest in the use of
inexpensive ethylene adsorbents. As another off-shoot of
this project, efforts are now underway to have a Mindanaobased
cooperative manufacture the adsorbents for use by by
banana shippers from this area to Manila.
Both laboratory and shipment trials also demonstrated
the detrimental effects of compression ar1s1ng from the
practice of bulk shipments. Shipment trials involving this
aspect required the use of vertical dividers to delineate
control fruits (bulk-loaded to nearly the full van height)
and racked fruits (bulk height reduced by half with
provision of a horizontal rack). Cooperators from both
shippers in Mindanao and consignees in Manila found the
construction of stable horizontal racks too expensive, but
judged the provision of vertical dividers a good means of
dissipating heat from bulk loads in non-ventilated dry
containers. Consequently, most shipments from Nasipit, the
port shipping the largest volume of bananas to Manila, are
now provided with vertical dividers.
Although the use of wooden boxes gives rise to better
quality fruits and reduced losses, shippers are still not
willing to use these due to the added cost of the boxes and the increased shipping cost (a smaller volume can be loaded in vans).
The project highlighted the key role of dialogs between potential users of technology and researchers. For example,
a forum involving shipowners and operators conducted early
in the project as well as a shipper of quality bananas led
to the fabrication of ventilated vans now extensively
utilized in the shipment of bananas from the port of Davao
to Metro Manila