CA Technology.... a way to increase shelflife of fresh produce

A Landmark Success of PARB’s project through CA Technology

(First Shipment of Mango Sindhri to Europe)

Pakistan currently produces over 14 million tonnes of fruits and vegetables, out of which almost 1/3^rd never reach to consumer and wasted between farms to end-users. High post-harvest losses not only lower the net income of producers and traders, but also reduce the quantity of produced available in local markets as well as for exports. Despite large production, our fresh produce exports are negligible (<3%) having less prices in international markets (<41% world average-FAO, 2005).So far Pakistani exporters have not been able to penetrate into high end supermarket chains, which share about 80% of the fruits and vegetables sales in EU and many other developed countries.

Mango is one of the most popular tropical fruits in the world, earns about $24 million annually. Around 60-70% good quality of mangoes is exported to Middle East and 15-16% to Europe. Limitation in export of fresh produce, particularly that of mango is the enormous cost of air freighting (e.g. to Europe: Avg. Rs. 160/KG compared to Rs. 20/KG by sea during 2009). The interest in sea freighting of mangoes is growing and probably the only commercially viable option for export to far distant places in the future. However, it needs extended time and specific protocols to be developed for maintaining fruit quality, which is only possible using Controlled Atmosphere (CA) Technology. Mangoes from South America are being successfully shipped to EU using CA Technology.

Looking at the need and demand of the sector, Punjab Agricultural Research Board (PARB) initiated a project on “Exploiting Control Atmosphere Technology potential for extended storage and shipping of fresh produce to international markets”, for a duration of 36 months with a cost of 21.159 million. The project was implemented by Dr. Aman Ullah Malik, Professor of Horticulture, University of Agriculture Faisalabad (UAF) to increase shelf life of fresh vegetables and fruits for the export to distant markets.  The project has collaboration with National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFS&T), Plant Pathology department of UAF and METRO Cash & Carry Pakistan. The project has to determine the SOP for the CA conditions to extend the storage life of locally produced apples, mangoes, kinnow (orange) mandarins and chilies.  The specific problems to be addressed through this project were:

v  Determine optimum CA-conditions for different fruits and vegetables

v  Extend shelf life and maintain quality of mangoes, enabling its sea-freighting for reducing cost of shipment to high end markets

v  Establish local infrastructure/facilities to continue R&D in the area of CA technology

The project has successfully completed this year and overall results are very encouraging. The coordinated approach of PARB, hardworking of team scientists, extensive and planned monitoring of PARB, and support of Chief Executive PARB Dr. Mubarik Ali has made the project a great success. Dr. Ali said that the successful establishment of the SOP for CA technology for fresh produce would greatly benefit the Pakistani exporters in future”. He further explained that without these SOPs, the export of fresh fruits to far distant market had largely failed in the past. It will generate a good return of money invested on research, enhance our exports and create sound recognition for Pakistani fresh products in international markets.

The overall results on mango varieties suggest that storability and marketability of mango can be improved through appropriate use of CA technology. This has created a potential for long distance shipments (up to 4 weeks) followed by 5-6 days of shelf life.  Chilies performed better under CA conditions with storability up to two weeks followed by 2 days shelf life. The technology on kinnow did not get too much success due to sensitivity of the fruit, however alternatives such as initial precooling, wax and proper Ventilation can increase its shelf life. Effect of CA conditions on apple varieties can also enhance the storability of Kala Kulu and Shin Kulu up to 9 months followed by 2 weeks shelf life at ambient conditions.

A recent success story linked with the project is that a commercial CA shipment of ‘Sindhri’ mango using the SOPs developed under this project was sent to Netherlands.  General remarks about shipment were very good; fruit was firm green, attractive in appearance and developed good taste. There was complete control on disease and importer was pleased with outcome, interested to import large volumes of mangoes next year. The successful arrival of the shipment after 36 days (29 days in transit and 7 days in shelf) is a great breakthrough in the mango export industry. Just one 40-feet container of mangoes saved Rs. 2.00 million in freight charges, compared to the same quantity delivered by air, said Dr.Amanullah Malik, the Project Manager. He emphasized that investing Rs. 20 million in the project to develop SOPs will induce many more containers to be exported to far fetch destinations thus will bring large return in the form of foreign exchange to the economy. This is also a great achievement and a sense of pride for researchers and PARB who helped in the planning, implementation, and coordination stages of the research activities of the project, proudly stated by Dr. Amanullah. 

Explaining the success of the project, Dr. Amanullah said that the information regarding this project has been demonstrated by arranging seminars, trainings, workshops, meetings and visits for the local growers/ store keepers/ cold store operators/ traders and exporters. Another remarkable achievement is publication of two research papers in the 7^th International postharvest Symposium in Malaysia. A modern Controlled Atmosphere R & D infrastructure has been developed at Institute of Horticultural Sciences (UAF) to meet the long term national needs, he maintained.

Many output oriented PARB projects related to agriculture, forestry, fisheries and livestock are in the pipeline for the purpose of to increase yield, earn foreign exchange and bring prosperity for our stakeholders. Dr. Mubarik Ali, the Chief Executive of PARB, ensured that all thes projects are being completed successfully according to timeline prescribed in every project. He believes that the outcomes of these projects can generate a revolution in the agriculture sector.

Maryam Naseer

Research Publication Officer

PARB

Ph: 0423-7232744 EXT. 616            Fax: 042-37247594

Email: rpo@parb.gop.pk; Maryam_naseer786@yahoo.com

3^rdFloor ZTBL 47, The Mall Lahore