(Bagal, Sheikh & Adsule, 1989) - (Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), 2016) - (FAO, 2016)

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.) belongs to the family Solanaceae which is a
herbaceous plant native to central, South and Southern North America from Mexico to
Argentina and it is also one of the most important, popular and widely consumed vegetables
all over the world and grown for its edible fruits. Moreover, tomato is becoming an important
kitchen vegetable in the tropic including Myanmar. The tomato crop is economically
attractive due to its good yielding capacity in a short duration (Bagal, Sheikh & Adsule,
1989). It is one of the major horticultural crops with an estimated global production of over
4.7 million ha with the yield of about 177 million metric ton (Food and Agriculture
Organization [FAO], 2016). In Asia, the total tomato production was about 106 million
metric ton (FAO, 2016).
Tomato is also one of the profitable crops for growers in Myanmar. The total sown
area in Myanmar was 104000 ha with average yield of 11.50 mt/ha in 2018 (Myanmar
Agricultural Service [MAS], 2018). It can be categorized as two types: highland and lowland
tomatoes. The highland tomato is well known as Shan tomato among consumers and traders.
Traders also divide Shan tomato as Shan (South) tomato for Nyaung Shwe and Aung Tha
Pyay tomato and Shan (North) tomato for Kyaukme tomato (Department of Agricultural
Planning [DAP], 2006). The lowland tomato is called Myanmar tomato. The main production
areas are Pyinmana (Mandalay Region), several areas of Magway Region, Monywa (Sagaing
Division), Dike Oo and Binnar (Bago East Region) and Watpoke (Bago West Division).
Another important area is Pyin Oo Lwin Township where tomato is particularly produced in
the rainy season (DAP, 2004). Main production area of highland tomato is in the Inle Lake.
According to the different agro-ecological zones, the Shouthern Shan State has mountain
climate and can produce tomato during the rainy season. So, highland tomato of Southern
Shan State is marketed to Yangon and Mandalay cities and other towns. From the consumer
point of view, the price of highland tomato in the rainy season is higher than that of lowland
tomato (FAO, 2001).
Postharvest means involving all activities that occur after production of agricultural
commodities, including storage, packaging, procurement, transportation, processing and
marketing of agricultural products from the farm gate to the distributors, either for domestic
consumption or export (FAO, 1980). Postharvest losses can occur at any stage in the
production and marketing chain. It is observed that these losses due to inadequate postharvest
handling, transportation and storage in fruits and vegetables is relatively higher, 20-50% in
developing countries when compared to 5-25% in developed countries (Kader, 2004). In
developing countries, for perishable crops like fruits and vegetables, storage, packaging,
transportation and handling technologies are practically non-existent, hence considerable
amount of produce are lost (FAO, 2004). In Myanmar, postharvest losses of tomato are about
30 – 40% (Hla, 2005).
According to Verma and Singh (2004), the perishable nature of vegetables results in
the inability of the producer to manage supply in the assembling markets. Further, the large
distances that separates the production area and the sub-optimal postharvest technology
management (including the method of harvesting, grading, packaging, storing and
transporting), results in a large proportion of vegetables being lost at the various stages of
post-harvest chain. And also, the overall losses in vegetables can be up to 25 per cent of total
production. The researcher (Singh, Kushwaha & Verma, 2008) reported that poor
transportation facilities, lack of know-how, poor management and improper market facilities
or careless handling of the produce by farmers, market intermediaries and consumers are
responsible for the postharvest losses of vegetables.
Postharvest losses incurred on the local market are the result of inappropriate
postharvest handling and due to market surplus, particular during peak seasons in developing
countries. In Myanmar, tomatoes are surplus in growing season almost every year. Tomato is
one of the most important vegetable crop grown in Inle Lake. Although high losses occurred
along the supply chain of Inle tomato, there is no exact data on the extent of those losses. It is
also needed to determine the amount of losses at which stage and the principal cause of those
losses. Moreover, no research has been done on this crop to address these problems.
Therefore, this study was conducted with the following objectives:
1) To investigate the postharvest handling systems and the extent of postharvest losses in
tomato production in Inle Lake
2) To identify the principal causes of tomato losses occurred at each stage along the
postharvest chain

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CHAPTER I

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