International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No.26, 239-245
239
Research Report Open Access
Posthavest Supply Chain Study of Carrot in Nepal
Dhruba Raj Bhattarai
, Giri Dhari Subedi, Ishwori Prasad Gautam, Swastika Chauhan
Nepal Agricultural Research Council, Horticulture Research Division Khumaltar, Lalitpur, Nepal
Corresponding email
International Journal of Horticulture, 2017, Vol.7, No.26 doi
Received: 15 Sep., 2017
Accepted: 28 Sep., 2017
Published: 27 Oct., 2017
Copyright ©2017
Bhattarai et al., This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Bhattarai D.R., Subedi G.D., Gautam I.P., and Chauhan S., 2017, Posthavest supply chain study of carrot in Nepal, International Journal of Horticulture, 7(26):
239-245 (doi
Abstract
A study was conducted in Bhaktapur-Kalimati road corridor and laboratory of Nepal Agricultural Research Council,
Horticulture Research Division (HRD), Khumaltar in 2016-2017. Major carrot production sites in this corridor are Manohara Khola,
Bodephant and Mulpani. The main collection point is Garcha Bazar and Bhaktapur. From this collection center, the produce goes to the
Kalimati market. In carrot production pockets, grading is not practiced. Farmers mention that grading is labor intensive. Carrots are
mostly packed in 75-85 kg capacity jute sacks. The postharvest loss of carrot was found to be 35%. The loss occurred at farm gate was
10%, at collection point it was 2%, at wholesale market 5% and finally at retail market 18%. According to wholesalers, carrots are
graded in 2 categories i.e. branched/cracked and normal roots, branched/cracked ones are sold in 50% less price. It was found that during
the production season, the wholesale price wrinkled very low (NRs. 26/kg) while during the lean period, the prices were significantly
high (up to NRs. 137/kg). Furthermore, a research conducted in the laboratory of Horticulture Research Division, Khumaltar during
February- March, 2016 and 2017, calcium chloride treatment of 2.5% was found to be effective in increasing the storage life of carrots.
Keywords
Postharvest loss; Shelf life; Calcium chloride; Collection center; Market
1 Introduction
Carrot (
Daucus carota
Linn) is a popular root crop grown throughout the world for its fleshy edible root. It is a
rich source of β-carotene and it contains appreciable amount of thiamine and riboflavin (Dias, 2014). Researchers
have suggested that carrot might lead to reduce risk of heart diseases, stomach diseases and many types of cancer
(Zhang and Hamauzu, 2004). Anti-diabetic, cholesterol and cardiovascular disease lowering, anti-hypertensive,
hepatoprotective and wound healing benefits of carrot have also been reported. In Nepal, consumption of carrot is
increasing progressively due to its recognition as an important source of natural antioxidants having anticancer
properties. Furthermore, it is an important source of income and an effective means of poverty reduction in some
part of Nepal (HRD, 2015). The diverse agro-climatic conditions of Nepal have provided nearly unlimited scope
for growing seasonal and off-season carrots. Furthermore, increase in general awareness of nutritional values of
carrots among the urban people has increased tremendous scope of promoting the production and markets of
carrots in Nepal.
A good analysis of the supply chain situation is necessary to develop an appropriate intervention and strategy for
commercialization of any crop. In case of carrot supply chain, a tangible carrot, volume is moved from its initial
production field to a market and consumed by final beneficiaries. It is essential to know production, postharvest
and marketing situation and need to adopt the market based solutions (Bhattarai and Ojha, 2012).
Due to its perishability, farmers and marketers are losing a bulk of their vegetables each year in Nepal (Bhattarai
et al., 2005). Seasonal gluts are some common problems during normal production season (Mishra and Kumar,
2012). Several chemical changes occur in carrots during storage. Polysaccharides are converted in simple sugars
and sucrose into reducing sugars during storage which leads to the emission of off flavours, textural changes,
structural break down and colour change (Phan et al., 1993). Because of these changes during storage, there is
need to treat carrot roots to inhibit those microbial activities during storage, which will go a long way to prevent
the postharvest loss and eventually encourage poor farmers for more intensive cultivation of this crop. The
