Role of pre-harvest application of fungicides for controlling post-harvest spoilage of fruits and vegetables

摘要

Fruits and vegetables are important inputs to our daily diet and serve as much needed source of vitamins and minerals. Being perishable in nature they suffer huge losses, both quantitative and qualitative, during post-harvest handling. Much of thesepost-harvest losses are caused by fungi and other organisms. Post-harvest losses to fruits have been estimated between 5-50 or more of the harvest in the developing countries (Salunkhe and Desai, 1984). In Himachal Pradesh alone, apple fruit losses dueto post-harvest pathogens have been estimated at 10.3 to 18.0 percent (Kaul and Munjal, 1982). Even in the developed countries, substantial losses have been reported to occur during post-harvest life of the fruits (Eckert, 1985). Likewise, post-harvest losses to vegetables vary from season to season in different areas of production. Losses are much higher in less developed countries of the tropics, where transportation and refrigeration facilities are not adequate. From India, 20-30 percent post-harvestlosses of fresh fruits and vegetables have been reported (FAO, 1977).