APIP Agricultural Policy Implementation Project

ANNEX 3
ISSUES RELATED TO POST-HARVEST HANDLING AND SHIPPING
Stages in the marketing of cut flowers from the time of harvest to arrival
on the market include the following: (1)the harvest itself, (2)grading, (3)
preservation and packing, (4)pre-cooling and storage, (5) loading and shipping
and (6) unloading and reception. As a perishable product, flowers cannot
tolerate lengthy delays or mishandling.
For example, roses are packaged after post-harvest treatment in specific
solutions cooled to V 0 C and classified for quality in bunches of tens or
twenties, wrapped in white paper cardboard or plastic with four-color product
care instruction sheet, insturdy corrugated cardboard flower boxes. Grading is
by centimeters and the most popular lengths are 40-50, 50-60, 60-70, 70-80, and
80-90 centimeters. Lengths are measured from the bottom of the calyx to the end
of the stem. Roses are delicate and sensitive to any delays or heating in
transport and require ice in shipping to more distant markets.
If they are to be shipped to distant markets, carnations also must be cut
in bud stage and treated with preservatives on the farm, graded and packed to
client specifications, and chilled to I°C before shipping. This implies ample
well-lighted grading rooms, refrigerated cooling rooms, and in cases where the
farm ismore than an hour from the airport, refrigerated trucks for transport.
Carnations cut inbud stage are very handy, easy to pack and transport, and
if properly refrigerated, will last two weeks before they are forced open with
immersion of stems in warm water, and arranged by florist or consumer into
bouquets. Because they last a long time, carnations are important in the flower
markets abroad, where the time between cutting of the flower and arrival at the
home of a consumer may be 5-10 days.
Tj illustrate the importance of timing, we can cite the example of the
transport of carnations from Colombia to Trondheim, Norway. Flowers are picked
at 6 a.m., graded and packed and chilled all day and night. They are flown to
Frankfort on the second day and trucked to Oslo on the third day. On the forth
day the shipment is trucked from Oslo to Tronheim and arrives at the wholesalers
for storage inthe cold store on the fifth and sixth days, for sale to retailers
on the seventh, eighth and ninth days. Retailers spend the tenth and eleventh
days making bouquets for consumers who purchase flower arrangements, hoping to
enjoy them for one week (up to 18 days from the time the flowers were first
picked). This two and one-half week time frame underlines the importance of
sending healthy flowers, with good postharvest care and cold storage. One
industry expert asserts that 80 percent of the problems associated with cut
flower exports occur after harvest during packaging, air/land transportation, and
storage.
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