SUMMARY

Although the production phase on exclusively storable produce such as apples, pears and quince for fruits and carrots and other stem-root like crops for vegetables has been quite successful in Turkey, postharvest losses in the cold-chain between harvest and consumption stemming from physiological disorders and fungal diseases during handling (storage, transportation and marketing) is encountered as 30%, which adversely affect the horticultural production trends and thus results in considerable profit losses to producers, middlemen in the chain and cold store organizations. The high quality produce raised mostly by small family-managed farms is subject to high degree of storage losses because of lack of suitable facilities to carry out pre-storage treatments such as drenching against diseases and disorders.

Department of Postharvest Physiology at the Institute at Yalova has conducted several projects on fruits and vegetables in order to reduce storage losses by “dipping” treatment and advise grows and cold store operators on their problems, bur any drenching system (chemical applicator) that suits the needs of small-scale management has not been developed so far to be used in postharvest operations in Turkey. Sponsored by the TÜBITAK (TARP-2544), a project has been completed, as of August 2001, as a result of collaboration between the Institute at Yalova and NIAE (National Institute of Agricultural Engineering) in England to develop a “chemical applicator”, which originally designed by the NIAE central American countries to be used in banana handling.

Developed with some modification from the original to adapt to conditions prevail in Turkey, the prototype chemical applicator consists of the following; independent loading and unloading roller conveyors, steel frame incorporating speed-controlled prolink-lined conveyor, liquid tank, splash guards, pump, return trays and deflector which creates a water “cascade” curtain with drift adjustment.