A market-oriented approach to post-harvest activities of tomatoes in Nepal | |
| Author | Manandhar, Sangeeta |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.AE-96-33 |
| Subject(s) | Tomatoes--Nepal Tomatoes--Postharvest technology |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the· requirements for the degree of Master of Science |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The post-harvest activities of tomatoes were examined to reduce the post-harvest losses and marketing cost during transportation from Sarlahi to Kathmandu. In the prevailing marketing system, consumers are paying three times more what farmers are receiving. The difference between the price of farmers and consumer is due to the high transportation cost and post-harvest losses. The post-harvest losses during transportation can be reduced by 8-9% by shifting to plastic crates instead of tokaries. Similarly, transportation and marketing cost will be reduced by 47% and income will be increased by 55% for wholesalers. The lower marketing cost and post-harvest loss benefits wholesalers, as well as being, passed on to both producers as higher prices, and consumer as lower prices. Poor handling in marketing price further increases marketing cost by addition of indirect cost of handling of the tomatoes, which can loss in marketing. The price gap between producers and consumers can be further decreased by reducing the number of intermediaries, because the wholesaler's profit can increase by 6%, if they handled tomatoes themselves without handling tomatoes to transporter. Although marketing loss of tomatoes cannot be eliminated, they can be reduced to a minimum level by adopting plastic crate during transportation. Food supply can be increased significantly without increasing area. It would therefore seem appropriate to develop means of reducing marketing losses rather than increased area. |
| Year | 1996 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources (Former title: Department of Food Agriculture, and BioResources (DFAB)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Agricultural and Food Engineering (AE) |
| Chairperson(s) | Tinsley, Richard L.;Athapol Noomhorm; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Salokhe, Vilas M.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of United Kingdom; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1996 |