Analyzing the existing value chains of fruits and vegetables in selected upazilas of Bangladesh

Reducing postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables is a major pathway to food and nutrition security in Bangladesh. A survey was conducted in 30 selected upazilas of Bangladesh from February to October 2021 to explore the nature and magnitude of postharvest losses. This study assessed the knowledge gap, attitudes and practices of the value chain’s key actors, and the status of market opportunities in the country. A total of 515 farmers and 295 traders were interviewed from selected upazilas of the country. The findings of this study revealed that 50-70% of growers showed a positive attitude toward good agriculture practices (GAP), maturity indices, and the role of good packaging in keeping the products safe for consumers. More than 41% of farmers aggregated their harvested commodities beside the field on direct soil contact under open sunlight. Only 27% of farmers and traders washed fruits and vegetables before marketing, of which 32% used unsafe water found in the canal or ditches. On average, 86.91% of farmers and traders sorted out their products before marketing for a better price. More than 56% of farmers and traders used jute or nylon sac for packaging fresh fruit and vegetables. Nevertheless, only 20.2% of farmers and 24.41% of traders used plastic crates as packaging containers. Generally, the farmer used different local vehicles, including three-wheeler van, rickshaw, bi-cycle, tempo, etc. In contrast, the traders transported their produce to the wholesale market using a truck and pick-up van. The average postharvest losses were estimated 12.5% at the farm level, whereas 6.7% at trader’s level up to the wholesale market.


Introduction
Fruits and vegetables play a significant role in human nutrition, especially as sources of vitamin C, folate, β-carotene, potassium, iron, zinc, and calcium (Shetty et al., 2015;Van Jaarsveld et al., 2014). In addition, they are high in dietary fiber, bioactive substances, and antioxidants (Khandpur and Gogate, 2015;Wadhwa et al., 2015). Bangladesh currently consumes about 346 grams of fruits and vegetables per person per day, less than the recommended minimum of 400 grams per day (WHO, 2018). Due to postharvest losses and ineffective marketing strategies, even if global food production has increased noticeably, half of the population in third-world nations still lacks access to sufficient food supply (Khatun and Rahman, 2019).
According to estimates from Hassan et al. (2010) and Kaysar et al. (2016), postharvest losses of fresh fruits and vegetables in Bangladesh range from 16.7 to 43.5%, which accounted for BDT 34,420 million each year, with an average of 31% between production and consumption. In order to increase food availability for the expanding population, reduce the amount of land needed for production, and protect natural resources, techniques for reducing postharvest losses should be implemented. The application of improved postharvest technology on horticultural crops is important for improving food and nutrition security and raising farmers' income (Affognon et al., 2015;Kiaya, 2014). At the level of growers and other stakeholders, understanding pre and postharvest management of fruits and vegetables is crucial for preventing postharvest losses and guaranteeing food security. In order to create the best plan for reducing postharvest losses and ensuring the quality and safety of fresh fruits and vegetables in Bangladesh, it is necessary to identify the current status of production and postharvest handlings, including sorting, grading, washing, packaging, transportation, and marketing of harvested commodities.

Sampling procedure
For conducting baseline surveys at the field and market levels, pre-tested structured questionnaires for farmers and traders were developed by consulting with respective scientists of the Economic Division of BARI. All enumerators were trained on data collection procedures at field and market levels. A complete list of farmers and traders of fruits and vegetables was prepared in each upazila with the help of DAE personnel. It was planned to interview 600 farmers and 300 local traders working in the fruit and vegetable value chains (i.e., 20 farmers and 10 traders from each of the 30 upazilas). Still, due to the unavailability of some key actors, the actual number of farmers' sample size was 515, and traders were 295. All value chain actors were randomly selected and interviewed from farmers' common interest groups (CIGs), locally assembled, and retail markets. Trained enumerators and SAO collected data and information for this study.

Analytical techniques
Data were captured on pre-prepared Microsoft Excel at the end of the data collection period. Mostly tabular method of analysis was followed to provide a comprehensive picture of the existing value chains of fruits and vegetables in Bangladesh. Collected data were processed and summarized using descriptive statistics. Merlin Statistical Software was used to analyze the quantitative data.

Crop production status following GAP for quality and safety assurance
Quality of fruits and vegetables focuses on the nutritional value, safety, sensory, physical appearance, and shelf life (Barrett et al., 2010;Francis et al., 2012), which is largely determined by pre-harvest production factors, postharvest handling, storage, and processing (El-Ramady et al., 2015;Rehman et al., 2015). Among the respondent farmers, 56.3% told that they follow GAP in producing fruits and vegetables, out of which 60-61% applied balanced fertilizer with the recommended dosage and judicially used pesticides to prevent their crops from insect pests and diseases (Table 1). On the other hand, 42.4% and 8.6% of the respondent farmers got awareness about IPM and ICM practices, respectively, in crop production. The usage of sex pheromone traps is gaining popularity in Bangladesh as a part of IPM practices, which is effective in controlling insect pests in, particularly fruit flies and Tuta absoluta, for both fruits and vegetables (Bachmann et al., 2015;Retta and Berhe, 2015).

Maturity indices of fruits and vegetables
Harvesting of cops at the proper maturity stage is important for attaining desirable quality and shelf life. The level of maturity helps in selecting storage methods, estimating postharvest shelf life, and choosing processing operations for value addition (Dhatt and Mahajan, 2007). Table 2 shows that about 69.5% respondents harvest well-matured fruits and vegetables from the field. On the other hand, 32.04% farmers harvest their produce based on the market demand for a better price. In that case, they usually did not consider the proper maturity stages of the crop.

Harvesting time and method of fruits and vegetables
Harvesting of fruits and vegetables at the right time of the day and in the right way maximizes crop yield and minimizes crop losses and quality deterioration. The findings of this study showed that more than 60.4% farmers harvest their produces early in the morning, whereas 28.3% farmers harvest in the afternoon (Table 3). On the other hand, 88.3% farmers harvest their crops by hand pulling, which might cause partial damage to the crops and mother plants (Table 4). Nevertheless, 11.26% farmers used scissors or knives to detach the crop from the plant.

Aggregation of harvested fruits and vegetables
Harvested produce should be aggregated in such a place to reduce transpiration loss and microbial contamination of the produce. Irrespective of fruits and vegetables, 42% farmers accumulated their harvested commodities on the ground under the open sunlight beside the field (Table 5), which enhanced the rate of transpiration and respiration losses and finally deteriorated the product quality and shelf life. Nevertheless, about 31.8% of farmers aggregated the harvested fruits and vegetables under a tree shed near the field, and more than 26% of farmers gathered the harvested produce in a shady place like a hut or open house near the field.

Causes of postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables at farm levels
Harvested fruits and vegetables are metabolically active, undergoing ripening and senescence, which must be controlled to maintain quality and increase shelf life (Mahajan et al., 2014).
Improved postharvest handling practices should be followed to reduce damage and bruises of fresh fruits and vegetables (Kitinoja, 2013). On average, the postharvest loss of fruits and vegetables at the farm was 11 % of the total production (Table 6). The maximum number of growers (82-83%) mentioned that most losses occurred due to disease and insect infestation, accounting for 4.5 and 4.2%, respectively. On the other hand, more than 70% farmers mentioned that 2.3% of the harvested produce was lost due to cracking and abrasion damage. These findings agree with Khatun and Rahman (2019), who reported that the postharvest loss of brinjal was 13.9% at farm level, and the main reasons for that loss were insect pests and disease infection. At the farmers' level, damaged produces caused by insect and disease infection, cracked and rotten fruits were usually discarded from good ones through sorting.

Mode of transportation and distance of local assemble market from the farm
Farmers are the key actors in the fresh produce's value chain. They used different local vehicles to transport fruits and vegetables from the production areas to the nearby local assemble markets (LAM). The use of vehicles varied from farmers to farmers and the distances of destination markets. Farmers transported their produce using local carriers like bicycles, rickshaws, three-wheeler vans, and tempo, autorickshaws (Table 7). Sometimes they carry their small amount of produce by head also. Most of the farmers (70%) used a three-wheeler van, and the rest of them used tempo, auto-rickshaw, and manually pulled rickshaw to carry fruits and vegetables from the field to the assemble markets (Table 7). The average distance of the local assembled market (LAM) was 3.2 km from the field. The packaging volume of fruits or vegetables prepared by a farmer ranged from 10 to 200 kg, which averaged 85 kg (Table 7). Farmers usually used bamboo baskets lined with or without newspaper, jute or plastic sacks, and reusable plastic crates as packaging containers for fruits and vegetables.
Most of the farmers opined that the postharvest loss accounting of 1.5% occurred due to wrong packaging and transportation of the produces to the LAM.

Awareness of farmers on food safety issues of fruits and vegetables
The major contributing factors making fruits and vegetables unsafe for human consumption were reported to be the indiscriminate use of pesticides, use of ripening chemicals, washing with dirty water, and use of more chemical fertilizers for growing crops, as mentioned by 74.7%, 30%, 19.2%, and 10.8% respondents, respectively (Table 8). The findings of this study are in agreement with Damalas and Eleftherohorinos (2011), who stated that the misuse of chemical pesticides could lead to adverse effects on human health and the environment.

Marketing channels for fruits and vegetables
The process of fresh produce marketing started with the growers and continued through certain channels until the produce reached the final consumers. A number of intermediaries, such as local small traders, large traders, wholesalers, and retailers, were involved in the transaction. Among them, large traders in the LAM played an important role in determining the price of fresh fruits and vegetables in the study area. On the other hand, wholesalers in the big cities play their role as commission agents.

Sorting and grading of fruits and vegetables
Sorting is usually done by hand to remove the fruits and vegetables, which are unsuitable for market or storage due to damage by mechanical injuries, insects, and diseases, immature, overmature, distorted, etc. In this study, more than 91.8% farmers and 78.3% traders usually sorted their produces before marketing (Table 9). Among the respondents, 58.5% farmers and 78.3% traders mentioned that up to 5% of the harvested produce was sorted out due to different damages like mechanical injuries, insect pest and diseases infections, immature or over maturity, etc.

Washing of fruits and vegetables before marketing
Washing of fresh fruits and vegetables is very important to remove external soil, debris, and microbes, including E. coli and Salmonella, from the surface of the products. Thus, it is always advisable to wash most fruits and vegetables with sanitizers like hypochlorites, hydrogen peroxide, trisodium phosphate, organic acids, electrolyzed water, and calcium solution before marketing them to ensure clean and safe products for the consumers (Tapia et al., 2015).
Among the respondents in this study, about 79.60% farmers and 61.02% traders stated that they marketed their products without washing or cleaning with water or other means (Table 11). Nevertheless, 20.30% farmers and 38.98% traders practiced washing fresh produce before packaging and subsequent marketing. Among the positively stated respondents, 48.50% farmers and 85.20% traders mentioned that they usually used tube-well or tap water for washing the produces.

Packaging of fruits and vegetables by the farmers and traders
Appropriate packaging of fresh produce and optimum volume is important for maintaining product quality during transport and subsequent handling (Esguerra et al., 2016). In this study, most respondent traders agreed that good packaging is crucial in maintaining product quality and attracting consumers. About 53.90% traders in this study used 51-100 kg packages to transport the produce to the wholesale markets, whereas 21.36% traders used 26-50 kg packages (Table 12)  60.40 Table 13 shows the types of packaging containers used by farmers and traders to market fresh fruits and vegetables. About 54.00% farmer and 60.00% traders usually use jute or nylon sacks as packaging containers for marketing the produces. Due to the lower cost and locally available, 36.50% farmer and 23.05% small traders used bamboo baskets with paper lining as packaging containers for fruits and vegetables (Table 13).
On the other hand, more than 20.20% farmers and 24.41% traders used reusable plastic crates as packaging containers. However, most of the respondents opined that a plastic crate was the best packaging container that could maintain product quality to a great extent during the transportation and handling of fresh produces. This judgment supported the statement made by Rapusas and Rolle (2009), who stated that plastic crates as packaging containers should be used to supply safe and high-quality fruits and vegetables to consumers. In another study, Rahman et al. (2019) reported that the postharvest loss of brinjal could be reduced by 88.7% by integrating improved postharvest management practices; including using plastic crates as packaging containers.

Mode of transport at trader's level
Low-cost vehicles like rickshaws, three-wheelers vans and tempo were common in the study areas, mainly used by small traders to carry produce from the garden to the assemble markets (Table  14). However, the big traders usually used trucks for transporting fruits and vegetables to the wholesale markets. Data from the present study revealed that more than 58.37% traders used trucks to transport fresh produce from the local assembles market to the distant wholesale markets. In contrast, 31.52% of small traders used three-wheelers van to carry fresh produce from the field to the LAM. The average distance of the wholesale destination market from the LAM was about 135 km, and the average volume of fruits and vegetables of 5,481 kg loaded in a truck of three-ton capacity (Table 14).

Postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables at the wholesale level
The postharvest losses of fresh fruits and vegetables at the wholesale level in the value chain are presented in Table 15. Among the respondents, the maximum number (61.60%) told that the postharvest loss at the wholesale level was estimated at 5%. However, about 26.20% traders informed that it was up to 6-10%. However, the average loss was recorded by 6.7% at the wholesale level. The findings of this study are partially corroborated with the results of Hossain et al. (2016), who reported that the damage of cabbage and cauliflower was about 12% at the wholesale level.  A significant portion of the products got partial damage in the form of compression, bruising or abrasion during transporting to the wholesale market, which could be sold at reduced prices. All the damages seemed to occur from inappropriate large packaging in jute sacks and transportation in uncovered ordinary trucks without any control of temperature or humidity.

Causes of postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables during marketing
The usage of postharvest technology intends to slow down ripening and senescence changes, thereby minimizing crop spoilage and microbial growth (James and Zikankuba, 2017). In this study, 52.20-56.95% traders said that rough handling and overloading were the major causes of postharvest loss of fresh produces (Table 16). On the other hand, about 47.12% of the respondents opined that inappropriate bulk packaging was the main reason for huge postharvest losses while transporting fruits and vegetables to the wholesale market.

Conclusion
Assuring quality and safe food for consumers is pivotal nowadays. The findings of this study revealed that most of the farmers expressed positive attitudes towards proper harvesting and improved postharvest management practices for assuring the quality and safety of fruits and vegetables. However, many of them did not practice these improved postharvest management technologies due to faulty marketing systems prevailed in the country, lack of facilities at LAM for applying improved PHM practices, lower prices of fruits and vegetables at the farm level, unavailability and higher price of plastic crates, delayed sale and lack of buyers. However, to meet the challenges of global quality and safety requirements, necessary steps should be taken throughout the value chain from 'farm to plate' to maintain the quality and safety of fruits and vegetables to stay healthy and to be competitive both in the domestic and export markets.