Adoption of post-harvest management practices by mango growers of Haryana

Pages: 76-79
Virender Singh and Ashok Kumar (Directorate of Extension Education, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana)
Rajesh Kumar (DTPO O/o ADP, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana)
Anil Malik (Senior Research Fellow, CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, Haryana)
Ramesh Kumar (KVK Ambala, Haryana)
Ashok Kumar (KVK Mahendergarh, Haryana)

Post-harvest management is the stage of crop production immediately after harvest, including cooling, cleaning,
post-harvest treatment, grading, sorting, storage, ripening, packaging, transportation and processing. When mango crop is separated from its parent plant, it begins to deteriorate or ripening becomes fast because mango is a climacteric fruit, i.e., fruit in which a sudden rise in rate of respiration occurs during ripening after harvesting. The most important goals of post-harvest management practices are keeping the product cool, to avoid moisture stress and slow down ripening and undesirable physio-chemical changes, proper grading/sorting, packaging, and avoiding physical damage such as bruising and rupturing of fruit. The unscientific post-harvest handling will result in increased post-harvest loss. Thus, post-harvest management practices are important in minimizing losses, spoilage and cost in transportation earning more profit from processed products and to raise the economic status of the mango growers of Haryana. The present study, Yamunanagar district of Haryana state was selected purposively The objectives of the present study were socio economic status, knowledge, adoption and the constraints in adoption of post-harvest management practices by mango growers. Only Langra, Dasheri and Chausa varieties of mango were adopted. There was no adoption of other recommended varieties. More than half (55.84%) of the farmers fully adopted the artificial method of ripening with calcium carbide. Majority of the respondents adopted semi-ripe stage of fruit, corrugated fiber boxes, shreds of paper as cushioning material and horizontal position of fruits while packaging.