POSTHARVEST MANAGEMENT: THE IMPORTANCE OF TECHNICAL AND ECONOMIC RESEARCH

摘要

To improve livelihoods, farmers must do more than boost production. They have to use harvest, drying and transport systems that reduce losses. Rural communities require low-cost technology to treat produce, or to process it, and add value while maintaining quality. They need adequate structures for storing produce and for marketing surpluses. They need access to finance, well-managed supply-chains, accurate market information, good access to communities of customers and, an equitable share of the returns. Consumers require assurance that food is safe and nutritious, and that the environment is unpolluted by processing waste. Governments advise, facilitate and provide services, but agricultural development is not just about implementing other peoples' know-how. It is about capitalising on a modest skills-base in research and development, and using it to solve rural problems. It is about building capacity to innovate, to adapt, to adopt and develop long-term investment to improve international competitiveness and create linkages to the global economy. In the last 25 years, postharvest research has had a substantial impact on the development of Asia's agricultural industries. It has done much to link farmers to markets through technical research, butmore is needed. In many cases, there has also not been enough research on optimum policy settings and market structures for agriculture. Nor have the results of economic and technical research been sufficiently integrated. This paper will review the scope and impact of postharvest research and development by considering some case studies of ACIAR-facilitated and funded research collaborations between Australian, Chinese and other scientists that illustrate the diversity of the benefits and the beneficiaries. It will consider the implications for the postharvest sector, of membership in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and increasing globalisation of the economy. The paper considers examples of the impacts of research in: Commodity improvement - grain drying; Commodity care - market access, fruit quality maintenance, coffee and cocoa; Value adding - improvement of quality by conventional plant breeding and molecular biotechnology, food processing, and reducing contaminant risks; Policy and regulatory frameworks - research on marketing and institutional policies for the grains and livestock industries.