Country Report

Postharvest Practices in fruit/vegetable in China

By Chinese Participants

1. Profile of Yunnan

YUNNAN

From 21 to 29 degrees north latitude and from 97 to 106 degrees east longitudeAbout 383 thousand square kilometers. The population is more than 42,000,000 in Yunnan

Located in Southwest China

CHINA

In Yunnan, there is a plentiful diversity for geographical conditions, climates……

A plentiful biological diversification in Yunnan and rich in plant,animal,crop resources

Plant Resources in China Animal Resources in China Crop Resources in China

Yunnan 62.5%

Other 37.5%Yunnan 55%

Other 45%

Yunnan 80%

Other 20%

A plentiful diversification for minority and human culture

Performance of various and interesting local cultural programs by 26 minorities

2. Overview of the fruit/vegetable industry in China

Fruits and vegetables are essential compo

nents of the human diet as they contain a

number of nutritional important compound

s such as vitamins, which cannot be synth

esized by the human body.

Fruits and vegetables industry in

China has developed rapidly in

resent years. Up to now, China’s total

output of fruits and vegetables take

the first rank in the world with 59.2

million tons of vegetables and 11.34

million tons of fruits respectively.

Vegetables production in recent years

　Area(million hectare) Yield(ton)NATION

YUNNAN

NATIONYUNNAN

2002 17.35 0.40 5.29*108 7.99*106

2003 17.95 0.44 5.40*108 8.39*106

2004 17.56 0.46 5.51*108 8.85*106

2005 17.72 0.49 5.65*10

8 9.71*106

2006 18.22 0.52 5.83*108 10.33*106

2007 18.48 0.56 5.65*108 11.13*106

2008 17.88 0.58 5.92*108

11.67 *106

Area(million hectare) Yield(ton)

NATIONYUNNAN

NATION YUNNAN

2002 9.10 0.21 6.95*107 8.56*105 2003 9.44 0.22 7.55*107 9.65*105

2004 9.77 0.23 8.39*107 11.55*10

5

2005 10.03 0.22 8.84*10713.66*10

5

2006 10.04 0.24 9.60*107 16.26*105

2007 10.47 0.27 10.52*1

07

20.24*105

2008 10.73 0.2911.34*1

07

26.62*105

Fruit production in recent years

The raise of yields meet the increasingly

demand of fruits and vegetables supply by

consumers. At the same time, as fruits

and vegetables are characterized by their

seasonal, regional and perishable

properties, the industry is facing problems

involving quality, safety and marketing.

postharvest loss resulting from

spoilage, senescence or other

damages is up to 20-25% of the total

output

equivalent to above 100,000 million

RMB.

3. Problems and challenges of

fruit/vegetable industry in China

Although China’s fruit and vegetable

industry has a great development, there

exist a number of problems and

challenges associated with the

postharvest life, quality and safety of

crops. They are as follows:

3.1 Pesticides and harvesting

Recommended periods between final

spraying and harvest are sometime not

followed. Farmers are ignorant the

requirement because they want to take

advantage of high prices.

Improper harvest stage

Too early or too late harvesting

Some farmers use growth chemicals to de

lay the time of harvest, until the prices rise.

Harvesting techniques and equipment

Poor harvesting techniques

Dirty clippers, knives, harvest bags and field

crates

Leading to contamination, skin breakages, c

rushing and bruising, thus promoting physiol

ogical damage and disease attacking.

3.2 Preparations of fruits and vegetables before sale

Preparatory activities can include a

number of operations . Only large-scale

growers sort produce by size and maturity

at their packing sheds. Roots and tubers

and other crops are frequently washed

prior to sale.

Other vegetables ,particularly leafy

vegetables, are often watered by farmers

to make look fresher. The quality of water

used for such washing is questionable

and farmers have little knowledge about

water-borne contamination.

Farm workers can be a source of

biological and physical contamination

during the handling of fresh produce.

Dirty hands, sneezing, coughing,

spitting, failure to wash hands after

visiting the toilet, handling animals,

smoking and handling waste food and

rubbish can contaminate produce.

Produce waiting to be purchased or p

icked up by traders is usually held at

ambient temperature at the side of th

e road. Animals may freely near the fr

esh produce and there is not any prot

ection from dust or other contaminant

s.

3.3 Packaging Use low quality and dirty packaging materi

als lead to produce being squashed and bruised.

Even where good-quality packaging materials are used there is a tendency to overfill the containers, so leading to produce damage. This particularly occurs when transport is charged on a “per piece” basis.

3.4 Transport

Transport vehicles are normally used for

multiple purposes. Even where trucks are

used primarily for fruits and vegetables,

failure to clean them properly can result in

contamination by rotting fruit left in the

vehicle.

Damages caused by attempts to

maximize loads by squeezing as many

containers as possible into a vehicle.

Bad roads, transport in the heat of the

day, and limited air circulation in vehicle.

The bottom layers of containers in a truck

collapse during a long journey.

Combining product with differing transport

requirement in the same vehicle

Ethylene-producing fruit are sometimes mi

xed with ethylene –sensitive produce.

3.5 Storage practices

Among horticultural products, some are

suitable for long-term storage, some are

not. Ripe, ethylene-releasing fruit needs

to be separated from unripe fruit prior to

storage, but this is not always done.

Different products should be kept in

different stores, but limited storage space

means that this is also not always done.

Improper storage conditions due to lack

of knowledge or available facilities.

3.6 Ripening and produce preparation

These are carried out by traders including

promoting ripening, grading, sorting,

washing, waxing, treating against fungal

infection and pests, and watering to

preserve freshness.

The problem is that not all these

operations are carried out properly or

following recommendations. Examples

include using dirty water to wash or water,

relative high dose of fungicide being used,

ripening of immature produce

3.7 Wholesale and retail marketing

Waste disposal problem

Produce is exposed to direct sunlight and

rain due to lack of shelters in the markets.

Sorting and trimming for leafy vegetables

and removing spoiled fruits are often done

on ground, in the sunlight and often on

bare earth.

3.7 Research and facilities improvement

Research is not enough.

facilities for postharvest practices do not

meet the needs.

4. Recommendations to improve

postharvest practices in

fruit/vegetable of China

4.1 Training and education

knowledge and techniques of postharvest

practices.

Awareness of postharvest practices,

sanitation and hygiene, produce quality

keeping and safety

4.2 Storage facilities and marketing infrastructure improvement

Storage capacity of horticultural products in

China is behind the development of

production. At present the total storage

space of fresh produce is about 25 million

tons, which is far less than the total output

of fresh produce. This is one of the

important reasons that postharvest loss is

around 20% per year in china.

In addition to government investment, priv

ate sector investment should be encourag

ed. According to China’s situation, constru

ction of storage house in production area

has been proved to be a good way to incr

ease the storage capacity.

4.3 Government’s role

Government play an important role in

postharvest practices. Activities including

the recommendations or standards setting,

organization of training and education,

market regulation, information providing and

investment should be direct or indirect

carried out by government.

4.4 Research

More scientific research associated with postharvest practices should be encouraged, including postharvest handlings for quality keeping and improvement, safe treatment for microbial control, postharvest physiological changes of various types of fresh produce, mechanism of spoilage, establishment of effective market system and so on.

Wholesale market

Wholesale market

Preharvest bagging and spray of chmicals

Separating by sponge after harvest

Separating by sponge after harvest

shipment

图 14 吊挂防机械伤

Postharvest treatment

Transfer from truck to temperature control vehicle

Wholesale market for banana

Cllecting products

Cool House

Cool House

Cool House

Handling pomegranate on the ground Handling pomegranate on the ground

Handling of persimmonHandling of persimmon

Handling of persimmonHandling of persimmon

Thank You For Your Attention