Postharvest handling systems assessment for vegetables in China and Australia

Abstract

The needs of industry are increasingly being targeted when planning research programs. This is frequently done informally by individual researchers or research groups, but often lacks a comprehensive study of the systems and people in the system. This may result in misdirected, inappropriate, or inadequate research programs that do not meet the needs of the industry groups concerned.
A component of the ACIAR project PHT/1994/016 “Shelf-life extension of leafy vegetables” was the assessment of postharvest handling systems for a range of vegetables in China and Australia.
The assessment methodology selected was an adaptation of ‘A commodity systems assessment methodology for program and project identification’ developed by J. La Gra of the University of Idaho, USA. We used the methodology in a series of case studies reflecting the main postharvest handling systems. Crops assessed were Chinese cabbage, oriental bunching onion, pak choi (in China), and broccoli (in China and Australia). We assessed:
• fresh and stored, and domestic and export, Chinese cabbage;
• stored oriental bunching onion;
• fresh pak choi; and
• fresh domestic and exported broccoli.
We also included in the assessment peri-urban production and product transported long distances to market.
This paper discusses the methodology used and its advantages and limitations.