Abstract
The objectives of this research were 1) to identify causes of loss in tomato production, and 2) to assess the loss of quantity and quality of tomatoes at the farm level. Little is known about tomato losses among small-scale farmers of Hot large-scaled farming group of Chiang Mai in Thailand. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect data on the causes of tomato losses, quantity, and quality of tomatoes lost on the farm during the harvesting period. In-depth interviews through focus group discussions were done to gain a deeper understanding of tomato food loss. According to the results, the main cause of food loss in this farming group was weather variability 63.3% of farmers never use any climatic measuring tools, for instance, hygrometer, temperature, and rain gauge to guide farm operations. The mass of tomato loss was approximately 11.63% or 728.09 kilogram/rai translating to an economic loss of 12,377.60 Bath/rai. We also find nutrient losses in form of energy, carbohydrate, phosphorus, potassium, and vitamin C worthy 1,377,081 kcal/rai, 207,188 g./rai, 1,439.676 g./rai, 11,767.784 g./rai and 1,439.676 g./rai respectively. This shows quantitative and qualitative loss of tomatoes which may affect the economic and nutritional value as well as food safety and food security. Although many farmers realize the food loss problems, they cannot determine how much loss occurs in production procedures. In this regard, the result of this research can be applied to stimulating the farmers’ awareness of losses in the production system and designing a training program for farmers to prevent and reduce losses. However, a key challenge for recovery efforts is the variability and unpredictability of natural on-farm food loss. Further studies should focus on the critical analysis of variability and unpredictability of on-farm tomato loss.
Keywords
Food loss; Food loss assessment; Tomato food loss; On-farm food loss
