Effect of farmer’s handling practices on postharvest losses of potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) at farm gate in Dolakha, Nepal

The main objectives of this study were to find farmers’ handling practices on postharvest losses of potatoes, to estimate the post-harvest losses from farm gate to storage level and to know how the post-harvest losses were affected by the socio-demographic factors.

The study was conducted in Dolakha, Nepal with 100 respondents selected by simple random sampling method. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data and MS Excel and SPSS were used for data analysis.

Out of the total potatoes produced, 89.73% were utilized in various forms while the remaining 10.26% were lost due to poor post-harvest handling practices and lack of adequate cold storage facility. The farmers in the study area relied on practices, such as using spades for harvesting, week-long curing, traditional home storage, sorting and grading to remove the damaged ones, use of jute sacks, and overfilling and dragging of heavy bags. The post-harvest loss was significantly affected by age, gender, land size, and farming experience of farmers whereas the literacy level, ethnicity, and religion had no impact on it.

Limitations:

 Transportation was a limitation because motorable roads were unavailable due to which farmers of distant areas couldn’t be included in the sampling frame.

Originality/value: 

The study reported that only 3% of farmers had access to cold storage facilities and 10.26% of harvested potatoes were lost due to traditional post-harvest practices.