Current Review of the Post-Harvest Handling System of Grains in Myanmar
H. Than
Book of Abstract. APEC Symposium on Assuring Quality and Safety of Fresh Produce, August 1-3, 2005, Bangkok, Thailand. 76 page.
2005
บทคัดย่อ
Current Review of the Post-Harvest Handling System of Grains in Myanmar
Myanmar, still as a predominantly agricultural country, although using the market oriented economy, is in need of a comprehensive and efficient strategy for a sustainable development of agriculture. Post-harvest handling systems of agricultural products in Myanmar are mainly traditional manual ones, causing losses and inefficiencies throughout the post production system. In general, all of the cultivated crops in Myanmar are harvested manually. In the past time, rice threshing is mostly done by treading with drawn animals. In the recent year, however, mechanical threshers are being mostly used to improve work efficiency in summer rice production. Sun-drying is still not only used in rice production but oilseed crops and grain legumes are also sun-dried prior to shelling. Mechanical drier has been initiated to overcome the problems associated with sun-drying particularly due to the unpredictability of weather conditions. Infestations of mould arising from improper drying and storage systems could affect the agricultural products quantitatively and qualitatively. Improper ways of post-harvest handling systems as constraints in Myanmar agricultural industries are found. As a whole, in the post-harvest handling systems of Myanmar, paying great attention to the contribution of post-harvest technology is urgently required.