Post harvest handling, assessment of loss and its impact on marketing margin and efficiency of Banana (cv. Robusta) in Karnataka

A study was conducted in Shimoga district of Karnataka during 2012 - 2013 on post-harvest losses (PHL) in banana with the aims: 1) to identity the different marketing practices, 2) to estimate the physical and economic losses at farm, wholesale and retail levels and to identify the causes of losses, 3) to analyse the impact of post harvest loss on marketing cost, price spread and efficiency. Analytical tools such as ratios, percentages, price spread and modified marketing efficiency formula were used. The results indicated that there existed two major marketing channels viz., local market and distant market. The total PHL in the local market was 24.12% which consisted of field level loss (7.64%), transit loss (5.09%), ripening loss (4.95%) and retail level loss (6.44%). In the distant market, Bangalore, the total PHL worked out to 27.18%, the transit and ripening losses being higher (8.31% and 6.11%) than the local market. Harvesting injury, small and immature fruits, canker, cracks, bird attack at the field level; rotten fruits, fungus formation and black layered fruits at the wholesale and retail level were the major factors responsible for post harvest losses. The trend on the impact of PHL on marketing efficiency revealed that the producer's share in the consumer rupee decreased from 48.97% to 45.21%; marketing cost increased from Rs. 0.77 to Rs.3.39 kg⁻¹; efficiency index deteriorated from 0.95 to 0.71 with the inclusion of PHL as an item of cost. The present study revealed that the total quantity of banana (cv. Robusta) lost in Shimoga district amounted to 39325 tonnes (24.12%) worth Rs.42.88 crores