Agricultural development policies in Egypt have focused on
horizontal and vertical enlargement, but haven't interested in the problem
of wast in spite of a great deal of increasing in its size. As a result, there
is no accurate estimations of wasts during different marketing channels.
The study aims to identify marketing wasts of tomato crop and
suitable means to reduce these wasts as tomato is one of fast retuning
vegetable.
The study has reached:
- Total cultivated area of tomato in different seasons, has been
estimated about 477.700 feddans (as a men of study period 1966 – 2011).
The productivity has been estimated as about 16 ton/feddan in these area.
The production of these area has been estimated as 7374000 tons. The
loos (wast) in this amount reached 1166000 tons for about 757 millions
L.E. The irrigation water wast for these area was 165 millions m3 (cubic
metres).
- Cultivated area of tomato in the two study cases of meddle Egypt
governorates, Beni-Suef and fayoum.
- In Beni- Suef, 19900 feddan with productivity 16.9 ton/fed. and of
production size 336400 tons.
- In Fayoum, 29800 feddans with productivity 15.7 ton/fed. And of
production size 467300 tons.
- The wast in the sample study reached 16.3% of production size, 7.6%
of it was quantitative not marketable loss and 8.7% of it was due to price
drop and product quality.
- The study showed that 45% of farmers left tomato crop without picking
at the crop season because of the sever drop in price.
- The study focused on presence of between the variety of seedlings
(transplants) and the wast size which is estimated with 0.28 and it was
considerable at level 0.01. Also, there was a correlation between
educational level of family master and loss size estimated as 0.24 and it was considerable at consideration level 0.01. Also, there was a
correlation between family income level and wast (loss) size which
reached 0.01 but its consideration hasn't been proved.
- The study showed that reasons of wast (loss) were:
Farm price dropping. Disease infection. For distant main market. Lock of
well trained labors. Deficiency of irrigation water in new lands. Not
proper hybrid seedlings (transplants).
- The most important suggestion to reduce loss are:-
Setting up tomato past factory in the area.
Setting up marketing societies (organization) (associations).
Encouraging contracting with manufacturing companies.
Opening new market in the area.
Using highly productive hybrids.
Having extension meetings for farmers and extension agents.
Supplying guaranteed pesticides.
Concentrating on growing tomato in new lands.
Intercropping maize on tomato to protect from heat in summer.