ESTIMATION OF POSTHARVEST LOSSES AND ANALYSIS OF INSECTICIDE RESIDUES IN SOME SELECTED VEGETABLE CROPS IN THE GREATER ACCRA REGION OF GHANA BY JEMIMA NAA AMERLEY AMARTEY (10195765) THIS THESIS IS SUBMITTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY DEGREE IN CROP SCIENCE DEPARTMENT OF CROP SCIENCE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND CONSUMER SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF GHANA, LEGON JUNE, 2013 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh i DECLARATION I Jemima Naa Amerle y Amarte y de clar e that ex cept of ref eren ces cit ed, which have been dul y acknowl ed ged, this work “ESTIMATION OF POSTHARVEST LOSSES AND ANALYSIS OF INSECTICIDE RESIDUES IN SOME SELECTED VEGETABLE CROPS IN THE GREATER ACCRA REGION OF GHANA” is the result of m y own resea rc h as a student of the Department of Crop Science, College of Agriculture and Consum er Scienc es, Universit y of Ghana durin g the 2011-20 12 acad emi c ye ar . This wor k has never be en pres ent e d in whole or part for t he awa rd of an y degre e of this Univer sit y or else wher e. ...................................................... JEMIMA NAA AMERLEY AMARTEY This thesis has been sub mi tt ed for ex ami nati on with our approval as sup e r visors ....................................... PROF. D. OBENG-OFORI .......................................... PROF. D. BRUCE SARPONG University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ii DEDICATION I would like to dedic ate thi s book to m y fath er Mr. Nicholas Amarte y, my mot her Mrs. Comfort Amarte y and sis ter Lydia Amarte y for their pr a ye rs, enc oura gement and financial support University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to give thanks to God Almight y fo r his infini te gr ace, wisdom, dir ecti on, and abundant blessi ngs in life enti re ende avour. Special thanks go to m y supe rvisor s Professor Daniel Oben g- Ofori an d Professor Daniel Bruce Sarpon g fo r their pati enc e, guidan c e devoti on to work, enc oura gement and const ructi ve criticis ms during the prepa rati o n and ex ecuti on of thi s work. I am most grate ful to them for ever ythi n g. My sincer e grati tude go es to m y parents for all the support the y offe red me. I also want to appre ciate Dr Melcom Joshia for his mot ivati on and encour a gement s . I ackno wled ge Mr Joe Marbell of MoFA, Accra, Mr Joseph Honger and all the Agricultural Extension Officers for their help and support. I ap pre ciate all the encou ra g ements from all m y friends and coll ea gues, to the farme rs who pa rticipated and eve r yo n e who help ed to make thi s work a suc cess. God richl y bless you and provide for all your need s. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh iv ABSTRACT Small-scale farme rs in the Greate r Accra regio n of Ghana gro w ve get able crops including tom ato, cabba ge, peppe r, okr a and gar den eggs and appl y man y t ypes of pesti cides to control pe sts and diseases that at tack these crops. This stud y was conducted in the Accra Metropoli tan District , Adenta Municipal District , Ashaim an Municipal District , Dangme West District , Ga South Municipal District and Ga West Municipal District . The purpose of the stud y was to esti mate th e post harv est loss es in the seleted ve get able cr ops incurred b y the far mers and retail tr aders, determi ne pesti cide use patt ern of vegetable farmers and anal ys e specifi call y, the level of insecti cide residues in okra sent to the market. The comm unit ies studi ed included Weija, Kojo Ashong, Kordeab e, Dawen ya, Dzorwulu, Obaakruw a, Ashaim an, Atomi c, Okushiabade an d Onyaas anaa. A total of 100 farmers and 75 retailers wer e randoml y sel ected fo r the studi es. The various methods used for the study include d questi onnaire admi nist ra ti on, ph ysical obs ervati ons and person al int er views. The vegetable farmer s and traders were int erview ed and both closed and open ended questi onnaires were ad mi nist ered to them fro m November 2011 – March 2012 to assess the ex tent of post harvest loss and pesti cide use patt e rn of the far mers. Okra sampl es from four farms namel y Weija, Dawen ya, Atomic and Ashaim an were sent to the Ghana Standard Authorit y for an al ysis of in secti cide residues. It was confirmed that post harvest loss es was a major problem ex perienc ed b y veget able crop farme rs and traders. The loss es were most l y caused b y pests and diseases and poor handli ng. As a result farmers spr a ye d chemi cal pesti cide s to control them in or der to me et market demands. From the stud y, percent esti mat ed loss es by farmers we re 13% for cabba ge and okr a, 12% for pepper, 1% for eggpla nt, an d 20% for tom ato . About 15%, 7% , 8% and 10% were esti mated loss ess for cabbage, pepper and okr a respecti vel y. Loss for garden eggs wa s insi gnificant due to their abil it y to maintain thei r freshness till the y were sold to consum ers. Commonl y appli ed insecti cides included Auntie Ataa, Golan, Cydim Super, Attack ; fun gicide s included Sulpur 80, Bend az im, Mangoz eb and he rbicide s were Round up, Ejuma wura and Paraqu at . Onl y 5% of 100 farmers int ervi ewed use d neem ex tracts to control pests and diseases. Most farmer s’ spra yed pesti cides them selves but 10% empl o yed skil led labo ur and the pesti cide a ppli cati on was usu all y done in the mornin gs or evenin gs. Knowled ge on the cor re ct pesti cide appli cati on was obtained from Ministry of Food and Agricult ure staffs , pesti cide deale rs and col lea gue farmers. The far mers also att ested to the fact that the chemi cal pesti cides used were poiso nous and ca used various healt h haz ards. Some compounds detected fro m the test conducted in the laborator y indi c ated the presen ce of Alpha-Endosulfan, Endrin, Fenvale rate, P,P’- DDE and Ethoprophos . The result s gen erat ed indi cated that the okra sampl es that were t ested for inse ct ici de residues were below EU’s M ini m um Residue Levels (MRLs). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ECD Electron Capture Detector EFSA European Food Safet y Authorit y EPA Environmental Protecti on Agenc y EU European Union FAO Food and Agricult ure Organisation FAOSTAT FAO Statist ics FRE Full y Regist er ed Pesti cid es GC Gas Chromato graph GCAP Ghana Commerci al Agri cult ure Project GDP Gross Domesti c Product GEPC Ghana Export Promoti on Council GSA Ghana Standa rds Authori t y ISSER Insti tut e of Statisti cal Social and Economi c Resea rch JMPR Joint Experts Meeting on Pesti cide Residue MoFA Ministr y of Food and Agricult ure MRL Minimum Residue Level NPAS Northern Presb yte rian Agricult ur al Services OCs Organochlorin es OPs Organophosphates PCL Provisionall y Cleared Pesti cides PFPD Pulse Flame Photom etric Detector University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v i PPRSD Plant Protecti on an d Regulator y Services Director ate SP Synthetic Pyretroids SPSS Statist ical Package for Social Science SRID Statist ics, Research and Informati on Directo rate WCA West and Central Afric a WHO World Health Organisati on University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v ii Table of Content Content Pages Declar ati on .................................................................................................................. . i Dedicati on....................... .............................................................. .............................. i i Ack nowled gem ent...................................................................................................... i i i Abstract........................... ................................................................... ......................... i v Abbreviations.................. ............................................................................................ . v Table of cont ent...................................................................................... .................... vi i List of tables and fi gures. ............................................................................................ x i Chapter One 1.0 Introdu cti on ……………………………………………………………….1 1.1 Justificati on ………………………………………………………………. . 4 1.2 Objecti ves …………………………………………………………………7 1.3 Organisat ion of Study…………………………………………………… . . 7 Chapter Two : Literiture Review 2.0 Economi c importance of vegetable crops………………………………… . 8 2.1 Vegetable crop produ ct ion in Ghana .................... ...................................... .. 8 2..2 Cabbage………………………………………………………………….10 2.2 . 1 Diseases of c abbage ………………………………………………………12 2.2.2 Pests of cabba ge .......... ............... ............................... ................................. 13 2.3 Pepper………………...………………………………………………….14 2.3 . 1 Diseases of p epper ………………………………………………………..15 2. 3.2 Pests of pepper ................................. .... ...................................................... 16 2.4 Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum)……………………………………… . 16 2. 4 . 1 Cultivars ...................................... .............................................................. 17 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh v iii 2.4 .2 Pests of tomatoes ………………………………………………………...18 2. 4 . 3 Diseases of tomatoes... ........................ .............................................. ........ 19 2.5 Okra………………………………………………………………….. ... . 20 2.5.1 Cultivars …………………………………………………………………21 2.5.2 Pest s of okra ……………………………………………………………..22 2.5. 3 Diseases of okra …………………………………………………………23 2.6 Garden eggs…………………… ... …………...………………… .……..24 2.6.1 Pest s of gard en eggs …………………… .……………………… .………25 2.6.2 Diseases of garden eggs……… ... ……………………………… .……... .26 2.7 Postharvest handling of vegetables……………………………………27 2.8 Causes of postharvest losses ............. . .............. ................ . .. ……....... ... .. 28 2.9 Primary causes of loss .......................... .... .............. ............ .. ................... 30 2.9 .1 Mechanic al injur y ………………………………………………………..30 2.9 .2 Pathol ogical acti on ………………………………………………………30 2.9 .3 Physiol ogic al factors …………………………………………………….31 2.9 .4 Biologic al factors ………………………………………………………..31 2.10 Secondary causes of loss………………………………………………..32 2.11 Miscellaneous loss………………………………………………………33 2.12 Control of postharvest losses…………………………………………..34 2.12 .1 Cultural operati ons ………………………………………………………34 2.1 2.2 Harvesti n g and field handling …………………………………………...35 2.1 2.3 Concept of packin g house ……………………………………………….35 2.1 2.4 Improv ed tra nsportati o n …………………………………………………36 2.1 2.5 Reducing mo ist ure loss ………………………………………………….37 2.1 2.6 Temperatur e …………………………….………………………………..37 2.1 2.7 Market facil it ies ………………………………………………………….37 2.1 2.8 Chemical treatm ent ………………………………………………………38 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh ix 2.13 Estimation of Postharvest Loss……………….……………………….39 2.14 Pesticides………………………………………………………………...41 2.14 .1 Effect of Pesti cides on Health ………………………………………….. . 48 2.14 .2 Pesti cide Residue Anal ysis ………………………………………………51 2.15 Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs)……………………………………53 Chapter Three : Methodology 3.1 Stud y Locati on …………………………………………………………...57 3.2 Questi onnaire Admini strati on ……………………………………………59 3.3 Data Collecti on …………………………………………………………..59 3.4 Estimation of post harvest losses .................................................... ........... 60 3.5 Anal ysis of pesti cide residues in okra …………………………………...61 Chapter Four: Results 4. 0 Educati onal Status of veget able fa rmers and trade rs................................ 65 4.1 Area und er cult ivation …………………………………………………...65 4.2 Source of pla nti ng materials ……………………………………………..67 4.3 Harvesti n g of vegetable crops …………………………………………...67 4.4 Farm ers abil it y to identi f y pest ………………………………………….68 4.5 Estimating post harvest los ses at farme r and trad er levels ……………….69 4.6 Pesti cide use ……………………………………………………………..71 4.6 .1 Pesti cide use patt ern of vegetable crop farmers …………………………71 4.6 .2 Sprayin g freq uenc y and pr e - h arvest int ervals …………………………...74 4.6 .3 Knowled ge on corre ct quantit y of pest icides to appl y …………………..74 4. 6.4 Eff ect of pest icides on human healt h ……………………………………75 4.6 .5 Labour and pesti cide appli cati on ………………………………………...76 4.6 .6 Disposal of pesti cide containers …………………………………………76 4.7 Insecti cide residues in okra ………………………………………………77 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x Chapter Five : Discussion 5.1 Farm ers dem ogr aphics and farmin g ch aract eristi cs ……………………..79 5.2 Source of Planti ng Materi als …………………………………………….80 5.3 Harvesti n g of vegetable crops ………………………………………….. . 80 5.4 Storage and marketi ng of vegetable crops ………………………………81 5.5 Pest and disease problems ……………………………………………….82 5.6 Estimated post harvest losses at farme r and trad er levels ……………….83 5.7 Pesti cide use patt ern of vegetable farm ers in Ghana …………………….86 5.8 Use of prote c ti ve clot hing ……………………………………………….87 5.9 Knowled ge on corre ct quantit y of pest icides ……………………………89 5.10 Pesti cide residues in okra ………………………………………………..90 Chapter Six Conclusi on s ……… .….….………………….…………………………………..……93 Recomm endati on s … .….….………………………………………………………….94 References…………………………………………………………………….……..96 Appendices ... ……………………………………………………………………… . 114 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh x i List of Tables and Figures Table 2.1: Table of the volum e and value of some selected vegetable crops ex ported from Ghana Table 2.2: The major pe sts of cabba ge and the damage the y cause Table 2.3: Some major pests of pepper in West Africa and the dama ge th e y cause Table 2.4: The major pe sts of tomato and the damage the y cause Table 2.5: List of sele cte d popular okra cult ivars in some of WCA countries Table 2.6: Some major pests of okra and th e dama ge th e y caus e Table 2.7: Pests of gard e n eggs Table 2.8: Pesticide Imp ort Statist i cs from 2007-2010 Table 2.9: List of Some Provisionall y Cleared Pesti cides (PCL) Table 2.10: List of Bann ed Pesti cides in Ghana Table 2.11: List of Some Revised Regist er of Pesticides Table 2.12: Summar y of Regist er of Pesticides as at 30t h November 2012 Table 2.13: EU Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for cabba ge Table 2.14: Codex Alimentar y Maximum Residue Level fo r tomato Table 2.15: Codex Maximum Residue Limits for sweet peppe r s Table 3.1: Types of equi pments used Table 4.1: Educati onal status of farm ers and tr ade rs Table 4.2: Sources of pl anti ng mate rial for farme rs Table 4.3: Manual methods for harv esti ng ve geta ble crops Table 4.4: Estimation of post harvest losses of sele cted ve get able crops Table 4.5: Loss incur red by vegetable tr aders Table 4.6: Types of pesti cides used b y vegetable crop farme rs Table 4.7: Exampl es of some pesti cides appli ed by vegetable crop farmers Table 4.8: Knowledge on corre ct quantit y of pest icides to appl y University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh xii Table 4.9: Protecti ve clot hing worn durin g spr a yi ng Table 4.10: Source of labour for pesti cide appli ca ti on Table 4.11: Disposal of pesti cide containe rs by farmers Table 4.12: Detected co mpounds on Pesti cide Residue Anal ysis of Okra Figure 3.1 : Map of Ghan a indi cati ng th e various dist ricts and the stud y sit e s in the Greate r Accra Figure 4.1: Range of lan d siz es under vegetable crop cult ivation Figure 4.2: Type of vege table crops gro wn b y far mers Figure 4.3: Sale of harve sted vegetable crops Figure 4.4: Response of farmers to pesti cide use Figure 4.5: Time of spr a yi n g of chemi cals Figure 4.6: Farmers perc epti on on the eff ect of pesti cides on human healt h University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 1 CHAPTER ONE 1.0 INTRODUCTION 1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY World vegetable produ ct ion is a ver y economi c all y important agricult ur al acti vit y and a major component in the diet of peopl e throu ghou t the world. The major pr oducers of vegetable crops in the world are China, Indi a and the United States with China being the lar gest produce r. Altogeth er, the world ve get able crop produ cti on is 965,650,533 metric tons (FAO Statistics, 2010). Agriculture contribut ed t o 25.6% of GDP in 2011; however, it remains the domi nan t sector of the Ghanaian ec onom y and the hi gh est contribut or to the nati ons GDP ePploying about 60 of the country’s labour force (ISSER, 2011). In Accra, the re are abo ut 800-1000 vegetabl e crop farm ers of whom 60% produc e ex oti c and 40% indi geno us local or tradit ional ve get able crops (Obuobie et al., 2006). Some of the ex oti c crops cult ivated are lettuce, cab bage, cu cumber, sprin g onions, and cauli flower while th e mo re tr adit ional crops ar e to matoes (Lycopersicon esculentum), okro (Abelmoschus esculentus), loc al spinach (Amaranthus spp), garden eggs (auber gin e) (Solanum melongena), onion (Allium cepa), sha ll ots (Allium escalonicum), sweet an d chil li pepper (Capsicum annuum) and hot pepper (C. frutescens) (Obuobi e et al., 2006). Worldwide, vegetable cr ops have been reco gniz e d as an important part of diet acti ng as sources of vit ami ns and minerals and also provide bulk of food preventi ng const ipation. Apart from producti on of vegetable s for local consum pti on, the y also serve as major compo nent of the Ghana no n -tradit ional ex port comm odit ies, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 2 gen erati n g forei gn ex change to the countr y. In 2011 forei gn earnin gs rec eived fro m non -tradit ional ex port was 2.3%. The volum e of tot al non -tradit ional agricult ur al ex ports decli ned since 2007 from 16.9% to a lo w 10.1% in 2010 but increas ed to 12.3% in 2011. Ghana in 2011 received US$296.98 mill ion from non -tradit ional agricult ural ex ports as co mpared to US$164.96 mi llion in 2010 (ISSER, 2011). Of the other minor ve getable ex ports, rav a ya (bab y aube rgines) ma y off er som e op portunit y. Ghanaian ex ports of auber gines to Europe decr eased from 106,213 kg in 2010 i.e. US$ 92,601 to 78,139 kg i.e. US$82,573 in 2011 (GEPA, 2012). In dev elopi ng countries, the loss es of crops due to pests, plant dis eases and competit ion from weeds are gr eat. Crop loss es of the orde r of 40-75% have be en reported (Clark e et al., 1997). Even more signifi c ant ar e post ha rvest loss e s which are due to a mult it ude of fact ors, par ti cula rl y insects and rodents atta ckin g stor ed products (Hogstedt, 1992). The use of pesti cides in agricult ure in tropical countries like Ghan a has been inst rumental in reducin g crop loss both befor e and after harvest (Clarke et al., 1997). The use of pesti cide has been trac ed b y Historian s to 1000 B.C. Pesti cides are eit her chemi cals or biol ogical subst ances used to control pests (Waxman 1998), including insecti cides, fun gicide s and herbicid es. There are mor e than 30 categori es of pesti cides based on the ir chemi c al structur e. The beh avio u r of pesti ci des in the agricult ural produ ce is of great importance, sinc e the disappe aran ce, per sis tence, or partial transform ati ons of such co mpounds de termi ne their usefulnes s or their potential effe cts to the en vironment (Wang and Liu. 2000). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 3 Although pesti cides ar e often misunderstood to refe r onl y to insecti cid e s, the term pesti cide also appli es to herbicides, fun gicides, acaricides and oth er subst ances used to control pest. Under the US law, a pesti cide ma y also refe r to an y subst ance or mixture of subst anc es i ntended fo r use as a pl ant regulato r, defoliant or desic cant (Hurst et al., 1991 . $ccording to *hana’s $ct 528, a pesticide is defi ned as an y subst ance, mix ture of su bstances or oth er agents used to control, destro y or prev ent dama ge or prote ct somethi ng from a pest. The definiti on also includes chemi cal subst ances that are us ed to att ract and repel pes ts as well as those used to regu late plant gro wth or remove coat or leaves. Since 1950, the use of pesti cides has incr ease d 50 fold and 2.5 mill ion tons of indus trial pesti cides are now used annuall y ( Farag et al ., 2011 ). This is to be ex pected as food se curit y iss u es particularl y in dev elopi ng countries are ve r y high on the int ernati onal agenda. Pests contribut e significant l y to food loss es and the control of pests is ver y central to the att ainm ent of food securit y at all spati al scales ( Al -Eed et al ., 2006 ; Iya and Kwa gh e, 2007 ). Pesti cides are manufa ctured under ver y strict regulation process es to functi on with logical certaint y and minim al impact on human healt h and the environment . However, serious conce rns have been raised about healt h risks result ing from resid ues in food (Eskenaz i et al ., 2008 ; Damalas and Elefthe roh orinos, 2011 ). By their ver y nature, most pesti cides show a high de gr ee of tox icit y bec ause th e y are int en ded to kil l certain or ganism s and thus create some risks of harm ( Zidan, 2009 ; Abdelgadiran d and Adam, 2011 ). Within this framework, pesti c ide use has evoked grav e conce rns not onl y of potential ef f ects on human healt h bu t also about impacts on wildl ife and sensit ive ecos yst ems ( Power, 2010 ; Damalas and Eleftherohorinos, 2011 ). Also a University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 4 stud y b y Amoah et. al., (2006) show ed that microbiologic and pesti cide contamination levels of veget ables in Ghanaia n markets pose a threa t to human healt h. Pesti cide use in Ghana has incre ased ove r the ye a rs and it is particularl y hi gh in hi gh value cash crops and ve getable crop prod ucti on s ystems with concomi tant environmental and he alt h effe cts. The Diamon d Back Moth (DBM) in cabba ge, Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) in tomato, and the shoot and fru it borers in garden egg ar e important biot ic const raint s for each of these crops . They ar e controll ed with increasin g lev els of pesti cides. Accordin g to ex perts, resi stance has alread y developed in DBM against the main insec ti cides avail able in Ghan a (Smale et al., 2006). Since these chemi c als ar e potentiall y tox ic and highl y persist ent, ther e is a pressi n g need for their control an d moni toring in the envir onment. Moni toring pest icide usa ge and contamination in food comm odit ies provide useful information on asse ssi ng food safet y to consumers (Biney, 2001). Currentl y, 10 pesti cides have be en banne d in Ghana with int ernati onal conventi on. The reasons for the ban are eit he r the persist ence of the pesti cide in the environment or high tox icit y (Gerken et al., 2001). 1.1 Justification Vegetable crops are an i mportant source of plant nutrients, vitami ns and minerals that are essential for hum an healt h and well being, particula rl y fo r chil dren, pregnant and nursing women. Field ob servati ons have report ed that 40% to 50% of vegetable crops University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 5 produced ar e lost before the y can be consum ed, mainl y du e to high rates of bruising, pest and disease att ack, water loss and subseque nt deca y du ring post harv est handli ng (Kitinoj a, 2002, Ray and Ravi, 2005). In Accra, the capit al cit y of Ghan a fo r ex ampl e, there are about 800-1,000 farme rs en ga ged in co mm ercial urb an ve getabl e farming where the ve getable pro duced are eaten b y mo re than 200,000 urban dw ell ers dail y (Obuobie et al ., 2006). Post harvest loss es resul t not onl y in the loss of the actual crop, but als o loss es in resourc es, labour need ed to produce the crop and l ivelihood of indi viduals invol ved in the producti on process. For ex ampl e when 30% of a harvest is lost, 30% of all the factors that contribut ed to producing the crop are also wasted (World Resources, 1998). The esti mation of post harvest loss result in the identificati on of potential post harvest int erv enti ons that could addr ess the problems and iss ues fo und in the various value chains and help to redu ce loss es an d/or add value. A report by Egyir et. al., (2008 ) stated th at esti mate of produ cti on losse s in developi n g countri es are hard to judge. Agricultural producti vit y is howev er threatened by pests’ infestations 5uttan, 2005 and Ghana is no ex cepti on. Pesti cides have been used to control crop pests and thi s has helped to incr ease cr op yield and improve pr oduct quali t y (Coop er and Dobson, 2007). The use of pesti c ides in Ghan a has incr ea sed over time and is el ev ated in the producti on of high value cash crops and ve getable s (Gerken et al., 2001) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 6 Despit e the glowin g evid ence of ramp ant use of pesti cides in vegetabl e cul ti vati on in Ghan a ther e is litt l e informati on on their resi due status and nat ional tol erance limi ts on vegetable and other fo od crops (Bine y, 2001). Since most pesti cides ar e tox ic in nature, their conti nuous ingesti on b y man even in trace amount s, can result in accumul ati on in bod y tissues with serious adverse e ffe cts on healt h (Hand a et. al., 1999). Due to thi s, most European countries hav e laid down regulations aim ed at reducing the inciden ce of food poiso ning. This includes the moni toring of the pesti cide residues in food fro m field to the market. In Ghana not much work has be en don e to detect or quanti f y th e amount of residue of pesti cides in vegetable crops. In d evelo pin g countries such as Ghana, farmer s face immense risks of ex posure owing to the use of tox ic chemi cals that ar e ban ned or restricted in othe r countries (Al -Eed et al ., 2006 ; Nasr et al ., 2007 ; Adhikari, 2010 ). Wrong appli cati on techniques, badl y mainta ined or tot all y unsui table spra yin g equipm ent and inadequate storage practi ces ex ac er bate these risks ( Al -Wabel et al ., 2011 ). Often t he re-us e of old pesti cide containers for food and wate r stora ge also contribut es to the risk of ex posure ( Ecobichon, 2001 ; Damalas and Elefther ohorinos, 2011 ). Research conducted in the past decade in Ghana and int ernati onall y point to the presenc e of pesti cide residues in a numbe r of food items including strawbe rries, onions, cucumber, lettu ce, cabb a ge, okr a, pep per, tomatoes, beans, oran ges and lemons ( Hussain et al ., 2002 ; El -Nahhal, 2004 ; Hanson et al . 2007 , Armah, 2011). Pesti cide residues do not onl y const it ute a possi ble danger to soil microfauna and microflora ( Pal et al ., 2006 ), their tox ic eff ec ts on humans ar e man ifest whe n University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 7 bioaccumul ati on oc curs along the food ch ain af ter ini ti al plant uptak e ( Pal et al ., 2006; Hanson et al ., 2007 ; Al -Wabel et al ., 2011). It is important that th e us e of pesti cides and chemi cal residue lev els in vege table crops are moni tored on a conti nuous basis so that poli cy int erventi ons can be developed for safer us e of these pesti cides. 1.2 OBJECTIVES The aim of the stud y was to esti mate th e post harv est losses in som e sele cte d ve getabl e crops at the farme r and retail lev el and to an alyz e the insecti cide resid ues in okr a gro wn under pesti cide ap pli cati on. Specificall y, this stud y sou ght to:  Estimate post harvest losses of some comm on ve ge table crops gro wn in Ghana.  Determi ne the pesti cide use patt ern of vegetable farms in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.  Assess the levels of insecti cide residues in okra produ ced in the Accra Metropoli s. 1.3 Organisation of Study The stud y is or ganised in to six secti ons. Section one is the Introducti on, in cludi ng the back ground and objecti v es of stud y. Section two is the literature review and Section three describ es the scope of the stud y and met hodolog y empl o ye d. Section four describes th e result s obt ained from th e surve y. Section five discusses t he findin gs based on the stud y objec ti ves and Section six presents the recomm endati o n for futur e studi es. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 8 CHAPTER TWO LITERITURE REVIEW 2.0 Economic importance of vegetable crops Vegetable crop pro ducti on in urban, peri -urban and rur al ar eas pla ys im portant roles in the socio -economi c developm ent of Ghan a. It ensures food se curit y, provides raw materials for local ind ustries, and gener ates foreign ex chan ge, empl o ym ent and incomes for a secti on of th e popul ati on (Nouho heflin et al., 2004; Obuobie et al ., 2006). In th e last 20 year s, Ghana has developed a signific ant ex port of fresh produce to Europe. The Europe an Union imported alm ost 90,000 tonnes of fresh pr oduce from Ghana in 2007, which earned the Ghan aian h orticulture cluster soPe ¼80Pn (Jaege r et al., 2008). Current vo lum e and value of veget ables ex ported from Ghana in 2011 was 12,018,914kg and a USD value of 3,877,656 (GEPA, 2012 ). 2.1 Vegetable crop production in Ghana The acr ea ge farmed b y s Pall scale Yegetable crop farPer’s ranges between 1 to 2 acres or 0.4 to 0.8 ha while the acre a ge cropp ed in the dr y se ason is usuall y ver y small, 0.25 acre or 0.1 ha. The vegetable crops most comm onl y grown in Ghana are: tom ato, onion, shall ots , okra , egg pl ant, local sp inach , Indian or Gambia n spinach , sweet and chil li pepp er , hot peppe r, lettuc e, cuc umber, cabba ge, sprin g onions, and cauli flower, (Sinnadur ai, 1973, Obuobie et al., 2006). Accordin g to SRID projecti on, the area used for ve geta ble crop producti on in 2010 was 70,000Ha and the avera ge yi eld of some select ed vegetables su ch as tom ato, gard en egg and pe pper unde r rainfed condit ions we re 7.5, 8.0 and 6.5 metri c tons pe r ha, respecti v el y (MoFA, 2011). Table 2.1 indi cat es the ex port volum es and va lues of cabb a ge, pepper, okr a, tomatoes and gard en eggs from 2003-2011. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 9 Table 2.1: Volume and Value of Some Selected Vegetable Crops exported from Ghana (2003-2011) YEAR SELECTED VEGETABLE CROPS CABBAGE PEPPER FRESH OKRA TOMATOES GARDEN EGGS Weight kgs. Value US$ Weight Kgs. Value US$ Weight Kgs. Value US$ Weight Kgs. Value US$ Weight Kgs. Value US$ 2003 20,495 2,806 4,674.100 1,822,310 135,928 61,572 4,368,940 426,871 866, 730 521,709 2004 xx x X x x 3,933.486 1,822,970 xxx xxx 606,530 56,036 xxx xxx 2005 1,774 1,429 1,365.360 731,410 xxx xxx xxx X x x 124,034 66,000 2006 xx x X x x 990,314 350,442 xxx xxx 109,242 39,939 92,667 39,919 2007 167 5 1,578,055 622,219 xxx xxx 6,228 15,367 92,373 33,991 2008 8 4 122 1,620,830 714,614 xxx xxx 18,535 15,992 248,659 127,932 2009 60,110 35,617 951,905 470,148 xxx xxx 43,872 9,774 57,349 46,783 2010 140,986 214,017 983,374 350,442 xxx xxx 23,178 7,248 106,213 92,601 2011 42,239 171,238 1,002,710 1,184,964 xxx xxx 13,397 103,833 78,139 82573 Source: Ghan a Export Promoti on Authorit y/ Data Processi ng Department, (2012) xxx :- No t avail able University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 10 The agricult ural se ctor i n Ghana including ve get able crop produ cti on is saddled with man y problems and diffi cult ies. These can be co nsidered as the m ain rea son for low p roducti vit y in the sect or. Poor roads and inad equate ro ad networks are the main problem and thi s limi ts acc ess to and from prod ucing areas, result in g in low price s (lowerman ya . ghanadist ri ct s.gov. gh ). Another problem the pr oducers of vegetable an d fruit crops in Ghan a face is the marketi ng of the produ ce (Obuobie et al ., 2006). The problem of marketi ng is compounded b y lack of stora ge facil it ies, esp eciall y for ve getable cr ops. Hence, farmers are compelled t o sell at an y pri ce quote d by middlemen and wo men, whose acti vit ies appea r to undermine the value of the far mers work (lowerman ya . ghanadist ri cts.gov. gh ). Inadequat e funds or cap it al, coupled with high input costs, usuall y pos e a thre at to agricult ural acti vit ies in Ghana. Thes e prev ent farmers from having acc e ss to modern input s, like tractors, improved se eds and the recomm ended chemi cals, which would help them to enga ge in comm ercial or lar ge -s cale agri cult ure, result in g in an often lo w level of agricult ure techn olog y. Other probl ems affecti n g the agri cult ure s ector is la ck of irri gati on and water st ora ge facil it ies, land acq uisi ti on, pest and disease infestation, poor weathe r and soil fer ti li t y (low erman ya . ghana dist ricts.gov. gh ). 2.2.0 Cabbage (Brassica oleracea var capitata) Its ori gin and cent re of differenti ati on is thou ght to be in the west of the Mediterran ean basin or in the Asia Minor (Romain, 2001). Although, it is a biennial, it is cult ivated as an annu al (Amoako, 2010). Cabb a ge, a member of the crucif erous fami l y t hat includes University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 11 broccoli, mustard, cauli fl ower, Brussels sprouts, kale, kohlrabi and bok cho y, is thou ght to have been domesti cat ed as a crop in the Mediterran ean region of Euro pe (Baldwin, 1995). It was origin all y val ued b y an cient Romans and Greeks as a medi cinal plant for the treatm ent of a varie t y of ail ments including gout, heada ches, and ingesti on of poiso nous mushrooms (Economi c Resear ch Servic e, 2002). Cabbage has tradit ionall y been used for m edicinal purpose as well as fo r co oking. It has anti -inflamm ator y proper t y and contains chemi cal s which can prevent can c er (Amoako, 2010). Tradit ionall y, the Romans and Egypti ans would drink cabb a ge jui ce be fore bi g dinners to prevent int ox icati on. Cabbage seeds ar e said to prevent hangov ers (Norman and Sheal y, 2007). According to Horna et al., (2006), cabb a ge is popu lar both for comm ercial producti on and for home gardens. It is a popular ve getabl e gro wn and eaten in the urban and peri - urban ar eas of Ghana (particularl y arou nd Accra), wher e urban agricult ure has bo omed to meet a rising demand for fresh ve getable crops in the absence of approp riate re frigerati n g facil it ies. FAO repo rts that the total world producti on of cabba ge and other brassi c as for 2011 was 68,584,199 metric t ons (67,501,016 long ton s; 75,601,138 short tons). The nati ons with the largest producti on were China , which produced 46 percent of the world tot al, and India , which prod uced 12 percent. Top 5 producing countries were: China (31,750,000 metric tons), India (7,949,000 metri c tons), Russia (3,527,620 metric tons), South Korea (3,049,333 metric tons) and Ukraine (2,004,000 metric tons) (FAO, 2011). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 12 While it is an economi c alt ern ati ve fo r mi grants and fills a gap for urba n consum ers, cabba ge producti on also brings ne gati ve environ mental and healt h ex ternali ti es mainl y related to hi gh pesti cid e and water use (Horna et al., 2007). Oxyllu s, KK cross, Drumhead, Japanese Hybrid Cabbage, Suttons Tropical, Marion Market and Golden Acre ar e some va rieti es of cabb a ge suit able for producti on in Ghana (Obeng -Ofori et al., 2007). 2.2.1 Diseases of cabbage Some of the most comm on diseases that af fect ca bbage ar e listed below: 2.2.1.1 Damping Off - This soil -borne fun gus Rhizoctoni a root rot ( Rhizoctonia solani) comm onl y affe ct s seeds and youn g transp lants. Infected se eds dec a y in the soil, while youn g s eedli ngs an d transpl ants rot at the so il level (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.2.1.2 Downy Mildew (Peronospora paresitica) - This fungal disease, attacks both seedli ngs and matur e pla nts. Infect ed plants dev e lop a gra y mol d on the underside of the leaf . The le af top fir st turns yell o w and then brown. Eventuall y, the leaves wither and die, thus kill ing the plant (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.2.1.3 Black Rot - Black rot, caused b y the bact erium Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris, is one of th e most destructi ve disea ses of cabba ge a nd othe r cru cifers. Chloroti c discolorati on on leav es, which tur n to dark brown or black. Black discolorati on of the vasc ular bundles and int ern al tiss ue break down. (MoFA, 2011). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 13 2.2.1.4 Bacteria soft rot (Erwinia carotovora) is a major disease of cabba ge. It attacks the leav es of cab bage and aff ected areas take on a water -so aked ap pearan ce and start to deca y, emitt ing an unpleasant smell. Cabb age he ads d ec a y rapidl y and turn dark (MoFA, 2011). 2.2.1.5 Viruses - The most comm on virus affecti n g cabba ge, are Turnip mosiac virus,’ and Cauliflower mosiac virus . Affected plants develop bla ck sp ots, causin g stunt ed plant growth (Doubrava et al., 2004). 2.2.2 Pests of Cabbage The maj or pests of cabba ge and the dam a ge the y cause ar e desc ribed in tabl e 2.2. Table 2.2 Major Pests of Cabbage Major pests Comments Diamo nd - b ac k mo th (DBM) (Plutella xylostella) It is the mo st ser io u s pest of cab b age. DBM female mo t h la ys it s egg s sin gl y. Eg gs are gl ued to the und er sid e o f lea ves and hatch a fter 3- 5 da ys into gree n lar vae . Larvae cr ee p to und er sid e of lea f, pier ce the ep id er mis a nd tunnel or bor e thr o ugh t he le af tis sue. Progressivel y eat lea f fro m und er nea th lea vi ng t he up p er cuticle intact cr ea ti ng a bizar r e wi nd o w, whic h later disinte gr ates. Webwor ms or cab b age bo r er (Hellula undulalis) The light bro wn lar vae or cate r p illar s of the cab b age web wo r m bo r e into the mai n vei n s of the lea v es of cab b ages and later i nto the centr e of the ste ms, w her e t he y t he n fee d . This ma kes t hese pest s ver y diffic ult to co ntr o l wit h pestici d es. Cabbage ap hid s ( Brevicoryne brassicae) Usual l y occ ur i n lar ge nu mb er s, mai nl y d ur in g dr y sp ell s. Suc ki n g pests, gre y or gree n wit h so f t pea r shap ed bo d ies ofte n in co lo nies on lo wer sid e of lea ves. Suc k sap cau si ng stu nti n g gro wt h a nd ho ne yd e w e xcr etes on lea ve s Cut wo r m ( Agrotis sp) Dull colo ur ed mo t hs la y eg gs in soil sur fac e or on ste ms. Mature lar vae hid e dur i ng da y a nd e mer ge at ni gh t to fee d on cro p causi n g dama ge b y c utti n g yo u n g plan t ste ms at the base a nd fee d i ng on foliage. Larvae be nd char ac ter isticall y i n an o - shap ed whe n distur b ed University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 14 2.3 Pepper Pepper ( Capsicum annuum L.) belon gs to the Solanac eae fami l y and it originated from South and Central America wher e i t was domesti cated around 7000 BC (Hunziker, 2001). The genus Capsicum includes 30 species, five of which ar e cult ivated: Capsicum annuum L., C. frutescens, C. chinense, C. pubescens and C. baccatum (Wang and Bosland, 2006 ). Pepper has been cul ti vated basicall y for use as spice and vegetable crop for thous a nds of years ( Andre ws, 1995 ). Pepper grows well in all parts of Ghan a. Capsicum spp can be divi ded int o four groups based on ch ara cterist ics such as pun gen c y (hotn ess), colour, sh ape, inte nded use and genetics. +ot pepper is known as &ayenne, &hilli, 7abasca, %ird’s Eye or 5ed pepper (Obeng-Ofori et al., 2007). In West Africa, hot pepper is a major vegetabl e crop and is an important const it uent of local dishes. Sweet pepper, also known as bell pepper or Paprika ar e grown for consum pti on in the urban areas and also fo r ex port. Both hot pepper and s weet p epper are gro wn in Ghana (Obeng-Ofori et. al., 2007). FAO, (2007) reported that c urrentl y Ghana is producin g about 279,000 metric tons. Ghanaian chil i ex ports have ran ged betw een 26,000 and 41,000 metric tons over the past 5 years. Exp orts increas ed about 60 percen t from 2005 to 2007 sin ce Legon 18 started bein g ex ported. Varieti es of pepp er grow n in Ghana include the bell type, %ird’s eye, /egon 18, M, 2, Fresno and Jalapeno (Obeng -Ofori et al., 2007). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 15 2.3.1 Diseases of pepper 2.3.1.1 Dumping off or stem and root rot caus ed b y Rhizoctonia, Fusarium solani and Pythium spp are comm on nurser y diseas e s, particularl y s ever e during cool wet condit ions. Affect ed seed li ngs rot at ground lev el and toppl e over. Seed deca y ma y also occur. The dise ase can be controll ed by (a) disi nfecti ng se eds with appropriate fungicid e (b) ste riliz ati on of seed bed for nursin g of seeds (c) avoidi n g den se sowing in the nurser y (d) provision of good soil draina ge (e) wate ring shoul d be don e onl y when necess a r y and (f) practi ci ng crop rotation ( Obeng-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.3.1.2 Viral diseases in gen eral cannot be tr eated with chemi cals. Ensurin g that seeds ar e free from an y viral infecti on and adopt ing an effe cti ve mana ge ment strateg y to eli mi nate the ins ect vectors ar e useful to prev ent infecti on. Preventi on and control measures include the following (a) elimi nati on of insect vectors (b) pro mpt removal and destructi on on disea se plants especiall y be fo re fruit set (c) elimi nati o n of alt ernat e weed host s (d ) pl anti ng of resis tant vari et y if avail able (e) ensur e bal anced plant nutrit ion (f) peppers sho uld not be planted nex t to tom atoes, cucumbers or sunflower fields (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.3.1.3 Leaf Spot ( Cercospora capsici ) Diseas e affe cts mainl y leav es of pepper seedli ngs. Initial s ympt o ms are small dark spot s on leaves and these spot s later enlar ge to cover whole l eaf, caus ing lea f to turn yell ow an d drop off. Fungicides ca n be us ed to control this disease (MoFA, 2011). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 16 2.3.2 Pests of Pepper Table 2.3: Some major pests of pepper in West Africa and the damage they cause 2.4.0 Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) Accordin g to Orzolek et al., (2006), tomatoes originated in South America ² specificall y in Peru, Bolivia, and Ecuador. Columbus and other ex p lorers brou ght tom atoes to Europe by t he late 1400s. In Europe and the United States, tomatoes were used onl y as ornamen tal plants unti l the earl y 1800s because the fruit was thought to be poiso nous (Orzolek et al., 2006). No. Major Pests Comments 1 Leaf beetl e (Lema spp.) Minor pests of locali zed impor tanc e. Both lar vae and adul ts feed on young leaves and tips of shoots, causi ng minor def ol i ati o n. Chemi cal cont rol is usuall y unnec ess ar y. 2 Tomat o frui t wor m (Helicoverpa) zea) Bores insi de frui t s. Chemi ca l inse ct ici des, Bacillus thuringiensis, and par asit i c was ps are used to cont r ol this pes t . 3 Cotton aphi ds ( Aphis gossypii Glover) Feed on the sap of leaves, causing the fol i age to cur l. Aphids also crea te a sugary subs t ance that leads to blac k soot y mol d growt h on foli age. Aphids are contr oll ed by the use of chemi ca l inse ct ici des, refl ecti ve mul che s, and crop rot ati on. 4 Thrips ( Thrips spp and Frankliniella spp) Remove sap from fol iage, causi ng midvei ns to dry and leaves to cup upwar ds. Thrips are mana ged by eli mi nat ing host weeds, rotati ng cr ops, and spr ayi ng insecti ci des. 5 Broad mit es (Polyhagotarsonemus latus) The tiny pes ts feed on the un dersi de of leaves causi ng the foli age to become dry and britt l e. Fruit s may be scar r ed. Mites are mana ged by sowing tol er ant var iet ies, eli mi nat i ng host weeds, rot at ing cr ops, and spr ayi ng mit i ci des . 6 Termit es (Odontotermes spp) They are pol yphagous pes t thr oughout tropi cal Africa. Isol at ed plant s may be dama ged by feeding on the bar k causi ng a condi ti on cal led ring - bar ki ng. Such plant s ar e usua ll y under wat er stres s or those acci dent al l y dama ged by var i ous agr onomi c pract ice s. Chemi ca l contr ol is not usu all y necess ar y. Dama ged plant s shoul d be upr oot ed and des tr oyed by bur ni ng. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 17 Tomatoes are a membe r of the bot anical fami ly Solanaceae, which co ntains man y potentiall y poiso n ous plants (nightsh ade, nicotia nas [includes tobacco and pe tuni as], Jimson weed [bell adonna], and mandrake), as well as edibl e plants (potatoes, capsicums, and eggplant s). All membe rs of th is fami l y have tox ic alkaloi ds present in eit her their leaves or thei r fruit s (Orzolek et al., 2006). Commercial tom at o producti on did not begin unti l afte r 1860 when tom atoes were finall y ac cepted by consum ers . Since 1890, tomato breed ing has d eveloped va rieti es adopted for use aroun d the world. China is the largest pro ducer, accounti n g for ab out one quarter of the global output, followed by United Stat es and India . Tomato is a food securit y crop as it is the most consum ed ve getabl e in Ghana. This crop is prod uced all over the countr y but the main producin g ar eas ar e loca ted in the Northern regi ons (Horna et. al., 2007). It is also a fairl y important cash crop in the outsk irts of urban areas in th e fo rest zone. A flourishi ng tom ato prod ucti on also occu rs in t he Greater Accra area and in the Akumadan and Wenchi dist ricts in the Ashanti and Brong Ahafo regions, respecti vel y (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). Tomato demand, however, is highe r than the suppl y and Ghana imports tom ato at least 6 months of the yea r (Horn a et al., 2007). 2.4.1 Cultivars Tomato cult ivars are ge nerall y classified acco rding to their growth habit, fruit shape, cult ivation method (outdoor or gr een house produ cti on) and whether the fr uit is a fresh market or a proc essi ng t ype. In Ghan a, cult ivars which have proven s uccessful for cult ivation in the Southern sav annah areas in clude local t yp es such as Fireball, Wosowoso, OK1, OK5, OK7-2, Improved Zu aru ngu, Marglob e, Victor and Pusa Earl y University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 18 Dwarf (Aw uti, 1971; Blay, 1978). In the for est zone, suc cessful cult ivars i nclude Dwarf Gem, Improved Zuarun gu, Ife No.1, Local, MH6/1, Red Cloud, Ronita, Ace VF, etc. (Norman, 1992). Other promisi ng cult ivars wide l y grown in Ghan a are Pectom et and Marman de. 2.4.2 Pest of Tomatoes The major pests of tomat o and the dama ge the y ca use are describ ed in table 2.4 . Table 2.4: Major Pests of Tomato Major pests Comments Aphids (Aphis gossypii) Occasio nall y at tack to mato hea vil y. Feed on the soft ter mi nal sho o ts a nd on the und er sid e o f leave s. May also tran s mit viru s disea se dur in g fee d i ng. +oneydew produced by aphids’ cause’s unsightly black Poulds on to mato es wh ich red uce s the ir mar ket val ue. Attac ked plants ma y wi lt and die Fruit bor er s (American bo ll wo r ms [ Helicoverpa armigera ] and leaf - ea ti ng cater p illar s (cotto n leaf wo r ms [ Spodoptera littoralis]) Differ ent ki nd s o f cater p illa r s attac k de velo p in g a nd matur e fr uit s of to mato . The America n bo ll wo r m co me s in var io us co l o ur s. A single cater p illar can bo r e i nto m a y to mato fruit s i n o ne ni gh t. Fungi a nd bac ter ia enter these fruit s thr o u g h the ho les and cau se the fr uits to rot and bec o me wo r th less. The co tto n leaf wo r m fee d s on lea ves of to ma to and bo r es into the fr uit s, espec i all y t ho se lo wer do wn the pla nt. Frui t fl y ( Rhagoletis ochraspis) It is an imp o r ta nt pest of to ma to at the fru iti ng stage. It pier ce s fru its a nd leaves ro tten sp o ts. Adult fl y p ier ce s frui t to la y eg g s insid e. The small wh ite mag go ts or lar vae devel o p in the fr uit and pup atio n occ ur s i n the s oil belo w the ho st plan t. Root - kno t ne mato d es (Meloidogyne spp.) Nemato d es ar e one of the most i mp o r tant pests of to mat o . These sa me sp ec ies al so attac k e g g pla nt, pep p er, cabb age, carr o t and ot her vegetab le s. They are micr o sco p icall y small wo r ms t hat li v e i n the roo ts of their ho s t and cause galls or roo t - kno t s. Some affec ted plant s ma y sho w yello w leaves, poo r gro wth a nd eve n wilti n g. Affected ro o ts ar e sho r t and ha ve man y s welli ng s or galls. Plant bec o m e stu nted and ma y die. Tomato mirid bug s (Cyrtopeltis teriuis) Adults a nd nymp hs of sle nd er, dar k gree n mired bugs fee d on tend er ter mi nal ste ms a nd flo wer stalk s of to mato plant s. Inj ec t a toxic sub sta nce / sali va i nto t he ti ss ues, ca usi n g sma ll, bro wn nec r o tic sp o ts to develo p . Adult fe male mirid s pier ce to mato ste ms to la y e gg s res ulti n g i n maj o r damage to ste ms . White fl ies ( Bemisia tabaci) White fl y ad ults ar e small, white, wi n ged insec ts t hat fl y o ff rea d il y wh e n distur b ed . They attac k to mato es fro m see d lin g sta ge to mat ur it y. White fl y ad ults and ny mp hs occ ur und er tomato leave s, suc ki ng the sap and sec r etin g stick y ho ne yd e w o n whic h black mo uld devel o p s. The ad ult trans mit the leaf cur l vir us di sea se, whic h ca uses co ns id er ab le da mage to to mato plants. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 19 2.4.3 Diseases of tomatoes Tomatoes are infe c ted by seve ral diseases. The y can get earl y or late bli ght, either white or gr e y mo uld (or both), and then the y can have pr obl ems with disea ses like cu rl y top and cork y root rot etc. 2.4.3.1 Wilts (Fusarium oxysporum) are caused b y a soil -borne fun gus th at att ac ks the roots through small wo unds (made du ring tran splanti ng or result ing from nematode att ack). Plant wilt from lower leav es and le aves t urn yell ow and die; later whole plant wilt s and dies (MoFA, 2011). 2.4.3.2 Damping Off (Pythium spp) affects youn g, seemi ngl y he alt h y se edli ngs tha t suddenl y dev elop a dark lesion at the soil line, then quickl y wilt and die . Cool, damp soil, overwaterin g, and overcro wding will increas e probabil it y of infe cti on. The use of clean pott in g soil and germinati on tra ys and to ols will reduce the inci dence of the disease. Crowded s eed beds shoul d be avoided. Watering shoul d be do ne car efull y during the first two week s after sprouti n g (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.4.3.3 Early (or dry) tomato blight (Alternaria solani) i s a major disease durin g the rain y se ason. It is cau sed by a soil -borne an d air borne fungus. Symptoms are brownish -black an gular spot s with concentric cir cles on the le aflets. Black or brown sunken lesions develop o n stems and fruits (MoFA, 2011). 2.4.3.4 Tobacco Mosaic Virus : There are seve ral closel y related virus e s (the tobamoviruses ) that cause the wilt ed, mottl ed, and underdevelop ed fer n -li ke leaves chara cterist ic of th e tobacco mosai c virus. All are spr ead b y me cha nical means. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 20 Sanitati on is therefore of the utm ost importance in reducin g the inci dence of the disease. Infected pl ants should be destro yed (Obeng-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.4.3.5 Rots and cankers (Phoma spp., Phomopsis spp.) Rots and cank ers are ca used by fun gi and bacte ria that infect tom ato stems and roots. Root and stem rot fungus is present in soil and att a c ks roots, causin g coll ars to rot. The bact eria that att ack plants cause bli ght and cankers of stems, leaves an d fruit s (MoFA, 2011) 2.4.3.6 Sun Scald: Sunscald occurs on green tom ato fruit ex posed to the sun. The initi al s ympt om is a whiti sh, shin y ar ea that ap pears bli stered. The kill ed, bleach ed tissues gr aduall y coll ap se, formi n g a sli ghtl y sunken ar ea th at ma y become pale ye ll owish and wrinkled as the fruit ripens. The killed tissue is qui ckly inv aded b y secondar y or ganism s and the fruit dec a ys (Gleason and Edmunds, 2006). 2.5.0 Okro Okro (Abelmoschus esculentus; syn. Hibiscus esculentus) as th e crop is kn own in West $frica, is also known as 2kra $Perica or /ady’s )inger %ritish 2beng -Ofori et al., 2007). Being nati ve of tropical Africa, okra is the choicest fruit vege table grow n ex tensivel y in the tropic al, subt ropical and warm areas of the world lik e India, Turke y and Africa (Annon ymou s, 2004). In Ghana it is t he fourth most popular vegetable afte r tom atoes, capsicum (peppers) and gard en eggs. It is mainl y produc ed for local consum pti on with a few farme rs now produ ci ng fo r the ex port mark et in all th e ecolo gical zones (Twene boah, 1998). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 21 Accordin g to Anon ymo us (2004) the species apparent l y ori ginated in the Ethiopian h ighlands, thou gh the manner of dist ributi on from ther e is undocu mented. The Egypti ans and Moors of the 12th and 13th cent uries used th e 18 Arab words for the plant, suggesti ng that it had come from the east. The plant ma y thus hav e be en tak en across the Red Sea or th e Bab- el -Mandeb str ait to the Arabian Peninsu la, rather th an north across the Sahar a. In Africa, the re is a great diversit y i n th e crop. It is traditionally grown in the following countries *hana, &ote d’,Yoire, 1igeria, Egypt, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Togo, Cameroon, Tanzania, Zambi a and Zim babw e. The most important producti on countries are Ghan a, Burki na Faso and Nigeri a (Obeng -Ofori et al., 2007). 2.5.1 Cultivars Numerous cult ivars var y in time -maturit y, leaf colour, stem length, fruit shape and other cha ract eristi cs (Obeng -Ofori et al., 2007). Cultivars suit able for gro wing in Ghana ar e divi ded int o two cate gories accordi ng to their time - t o -mat urit y and us e (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). In Brazil, the most comm onl y grown cult ivar s are Colhe Bem and Santa Cruz 47 with both varieti es pro ducing roun d pods (Purquerio et al., 2010) and currentl y, the most popular okra varieti es grown in Florida are Annie Oakle y, Cajun Delight, Clemson Spineless, North and South, and Spike (Simonne et al., 2010). Below is a list of selected popular okra cult ivars in some of West and Central Afric an (WCA) countries. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 22 Table 2.5 List of selected popular okra cultivars in some of WCA countries Country Name of cult i var Senegal Lolli, Indiana, POP- 11 (Emerald), Volta, Lima (F1), PoP- 12 (landrace) Mali Yelen, Clemson Spineless, Sabalibougou, Kele ya &ote d’,Yoire Hire, Perkins Long Pod, Koto, Tomi ( A.caillei) Cameroon Clemson Spineless, Volta, Emerald; Gombo Paysan, Gombo Cafeier Togo Konni (purified landrace), Local ( A.caillei) Ghana Indiana, Saloni (F1),Asontem, Torkor Nigeria LD88, Cle Psion, Spineless, /ady’s )inger, 9 -35, White Velvet, Ex-Borno Niger Konni, Terra (purified landrace), Volta Source: Kumar et. al., 2010 2.5.2 Pests of Okra There are man y insect pests which ma y att a ck okra, but among those mo st likel y to be troublesom e are sil verle af whitefl y, heli othi s, rough boll worm, looper ca terpil lars and gr een ve getable bu gs. Aphids and mites ma y also occur on ok ra cro ps. Table 2.5 indi cates some of the maj or pests of okra and the dama ge the y cause. Table 2.6 Major Pests of Okra Major pests Comments Aphids (Aphis gossypii, Myzus persicae) Sever al sp ec ies o f ap h id s a ff ec t okr a lea ves and yo u n g fruits. Are ver y small, li ght to dar k gree n, round insec t s that suc k sap fro m okr a leaves, ca usi n g leave s to tur n yello w and bec o me t wi ste d ; l ater plants ma y wilt and die Cotton stai ner s ( Dysdercus spp.) and other sucki n g bu gs (Nezara viridula) Cotton stai ner ad ult s and ny m p hs ar e ver y co mmo n on okr a plants at fruit in g sta ge a nd ab und an t du r ing dr y sea so n. When strai ner s attac k mat ur e fru it s, the y da mage t he see d s. The bugs ar e co nsp ic u o usl y red, wit h black ba nd s. They pier ce thr o u gh bo th yo u ng a nd mat ur e fruit s and suc k t he see d s i nsid e. Atta cked frui ts shr i vel and t hen fal l. Other bugs t hat attac k okr a plant s ar e stin ki ng b ug s and shield b u g s. These bugs ma ke fee d i ng ho les i n okr a fruits ca us in g nec r o si s and t hese result s in spo ttin g, defo r matio n and shed d in g of fr uit s. Flea bee tles ( Nisotra spp., Podagrica spp.) Very co mmo n pest that occ ur on almo st all okr a plants. Feed on okra leaves a n d ma ke ma n y small ho les in the leave s Root - kno t ne mato d es (Meloidogyne spp.) Sever al sp ec ies o f soil - li vin g r o o t - no t ne mato d es are maj o r pests of okr a plants. These sa me sp ec i es also attac k e gg pla nt, to mat o, pepp er, cab b age, carr o t and other vegetab les. For m swell in gs kno wn as gall s and other mal fo r mat io ns on o kr a ro o ts. Plant bec o me st u nte d and ma y die University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 23 2.5.3.0 Diseases of okra 2.5.3.1 Wilt disease (Fusarium pallidoroseum) is soil-borne disease caused by t wo species of fun gi that inf e ct the roots, stems, leave s and fruit in g stalks. Leaves ini ti all y show dark patches of m ould on lower sur fac e, th en roll, wilt and drop off (MoFA, 2011). 2.5.3.2 Dumping off (Pythium spp) is a soil -borne fungus which kil ls seedli ngs through the root and ste m. It caus es rot of seeds after plantin g or kil ls yo ung seedli n gs before the y emer ge. A brown water y soft - rot deve lops, the youn g stems are girdled an d the seedli ngs fall over. Some of the prev enti ve measures ar e (a) providi ng adequ ate spacing betwe en rows (b) proper soil prepar ati on to ensure good aerati on, draina ge and water holdi n g capacit y (c) soil steril iz er to redu ce level of sun in soil and plants (d) avoidi ng ove r waterin g seedli ngs (e) ensurin g adequate soil fertili t y to promote earl y vigorous growth (f) stric t sanit ati on to avoid reinvesti ng tre ated soil (g) appli cati on of appropriate fun gi cides as soil drench as soon as first s ympt oms appe ar (Obeng -Ofori et al., 2007). 2.5.3.3 Anthracnose disease (Colletotrichum spp.) affects leav es of ok ra, on which dark ne crotic spot s will begin to appea r; later le aves be come badl y wrin kled and are then compl etel y destro yed. Sometim es aff ects peti oles of okr a flowe r s and fruit s causing m an y to drop off (MoFA, 2011). 2.5.3.4 Verticillium wilt is the most comm on disea se af fecti n g ok ra. The most conspi cuous s ympt om is a yell owing of the older leaves, which often develop a burnt appear anc e, particula rl y around the mar gins, follo wed b y wilt ing of the pl a nt. The onl y University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 24 control measures recom mended are crop rotati on and the destr ucti on of diseased plants (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.5.3.5 Powdery mildew (Oidium spp) can become a major le af problem in drier tropical regions. It ma y result in heav y lea f shed. Infected leav es be c ome twist ed, dist orted and lose their chloroph yll ra pidl y. No chemi cals are re gist ered for powde r y mildew on okra. Other preventi ve me asures inclu de eli mi nati on of weeds and avoidi n g over fe rtili z ati on with nitrogen (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). 2.6.0 Garden Eggs Garden egg is scientifical l y known as Solanum melongena and belon gs to the fami l y Solanaceae. Egg plant al so call ed gard en egg or auber gine or Guine a squ as h, ori ginated from India (Oben g-Ofori et. al., (2007). It was in troduced int o Southern Europe in the middle ages b y the Arab s and then dist ribute d in Africa b y Persians. Its cult ivation in the Northern Sahar a date s back more than 500 years. Accordin g to Oben g -Ofori et al., (2007), the te rms egg pla nt and aube r gines are mo re comm on in Europ e an d the United States. The word garden egg is used onl y in West Africa for the crop. In South and South East $sia, the only terP known is µbrinMal’. 7he fruit is harYested iPPature before turnin g oran ge or red (Purse glove, 1968). The crop thrives well on the warm, non -hum id condit ions found thr oughout the savann ah belt of West and East Africa. The opti mal temperature fo r the crop is 23-35 °C during da ys and 18-25 °C durin g ni ghts (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). It can grow on a wide ran ge of well -drai ned soil rich in or gani c matter with an opti mum pH ran gin g from 5.5 to 6.5 (Obeng-Ofori et. al., 2007). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 25 7he Post iPportant production countries are 1igeria, Sudan, &ote d’,Yoire, *hana, Madagasc ar, Cameroon and Djibout i (Oben g-Ofori et al., 2007). Accor ding to FAO (2009), produ cti on of egg pl ant is hi ghl y conc en trated wit h 85% output comi ng from five (5) countri es. China is the top produ cer (56%) of world output) and India is secon d (26%), foll owed b y Egyp t, Turke y and Indon esia. Garden egg is consum ed alm ost on a dail y basis by urban fami li es and al so repr esents the main source of inco me for producin g househ olds in the forest zones of West Africa (Danquah -Jones, 2000). In Ghana it is produced largel y for the local m arket. Small amount s are curr entl y ex ported, primaril y to niche markets in the United Kingdom most l y for African consu mers. 2.6.1 Pests of garden eggs Garden egg is att ack ed by seve ral pests which cause consi der able dama ge to the crop with concomi tant reducti on in yield (table 2.6). Table 2.7 Major Pests of Garden eggs Major pests Comments Budwor ms (Scrobipalpa blasigona) Small bro wn cater p illar s o f bud wo r ms bo r e into flo wer bud s to fee d insid e flo wer s causi n g the m to dro p off and plant can no t pro d uce ma n y frui ts Epilachna bee tle s (Epilachna chrysomelina) Is a maj o r pest that fee d on lea ves of e gg plants b y scr ap in g sur fac e a nd red ucin g leaves to skeleto n s Jassid s ( Jacobiasca spp./Empoasca spp.) These are sma ll, gree n a nd ver y mo b ile insec ts t hat live o n lo wer sid e of upp er leaves. Suck juice fro m lea ve s and inj ec t po iso no us sub sta nce s tha t cause lea ves to first turn yellow, then brown and dry, a condition known as µhopper burn’ Mole crickets (Brachytrupes spp) Live in soil, and attac h a nd fe ed on roo ts of ma n y ve getab l es. Attac k see d li n gs or yo u ng tra nsp lan ts esp ec iall y at nigt. Are lar ge bro wn ins ec ts f o u nd mai nl y in sand y ar ea s Root - kno t ne mato d es (Meloidogyne spp) Are micr o sco p icall y small, round wo r ms that li ve in soil and in the roo ts of eg g plants. Affec ted ro o ts swell (gall) beco me mal fo r med inhib it ing pla nt gro wt h. Stem a nd fruit bo r er s (Leucinodes orbonalis) Whit lar vae or cater p illar s of the pest bo r e into top sec tio ns of fruit s and ste m o f egg pla nts. Tunnel t hr o u gh st e ms ca usi n g plant s to gro w po o r ly and so meti mes die premat ur el y. Fruits c ha nge co lo ur and taste University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 26 White Flies ( Bemisia tabaci) Feed on leaves of e ggp la nt su ckin g plan t sap . Whitefl ies ar e vec to r s of the mo saic viru s rep o r ted to occ asio nall y a ffec t e g gp lant i n West Africa. Appl y nee m pro d ucts. Nee m pro d ucts ha ve give n co ntr o l of the tob ac co wh ite fl y on eg gp la nt Thrip s ( Thrips s pp a nd Frankliniella spp) Attac k e g gp lant mo s tl y dur i n g t he dr y sea so n. They ca us e bro wni n g of leave s, espec iall y on the lo wer lea f sur fac e. In sever e cases, the e ntire lea f dries. Thrip s fee d in g on fr uits cau ses sca r r ing, irreg ular disco lo ur atio n a nd defo r matio n, which red uce the mar ket va lue of fr u its. Spider mite s (Tetranychus spp .) May beco me ser io u s pest s of eg gp la nt dur i ng t he dr y se aso n. Attac ked leave s sho w a stip p led ap p ea r ance (white sp ec ks), and their sur fa ce co ver ed with a fine web . Conti n uo u s infestat io n cause s the leave s to dry - up . The plants ar e stunted and yield s red uce d . 2.6.2 Diseases of garden eggs There are seve ral diseas es that affect ga rden eggs. Some of the most comm on include bloss om end rot, wilt diseases, and various t yp es of bli ght. Many of these diseases can be eli mi nated or pr even ted b y pr acti cin g crop rotation, reducin g weed gro wth, and providing ad equate sp aci ng and uni form wate ring. 2.6.2.1 Blossom end rot is caused from fun gus due to overw aterin g and af fect s ripe fruit . Round, leather y, sunken spot s appear on fruit ends with the affe cted fruit eventuall y droppin g from the plant. (MoFA, 2011) 2.6.2.2 Bacterial wilt can cause plants to suddenl y droo p, from the bott om to the top, turning yell ow. Affected plant s eventuall y wither up and die. (MoFA, 2011) 2.6.2.3 Verticillium wilt is simi lar to bacterial wilt but is caused from soil -borne fungal infecti ons. Plants ma y become stunt ed, tur n yell ow, and wilt . (MoFA, 2011) 2.6.2.4 Damping-off disease (Pythium spp) is a maj or disease that af fe cts yo un g seedli ngs in the nurser y. Seedli ngs become cons tricted near ground surf ace and then coll apse and man y die. (MoFA, 2011) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 27 2.7.0 Postharvest handling of vegetable crops During post harv est handli ng, the produce is sus cepti ble to ph ysic al dama ge and deteriorati on. Horticult u ral produce loss es are as high as 50% due t o inefficient post harvest procedu res (Camargo and Perdas, 2002). Howeve r, produce loss es var y widel y dependin g on the t ype of produc e, marke ti ng time and the produ cti on region. Loss data also var y bec ause diffe rent methods for assessing loss es ma y be used and methods are rar el y rep orted (Kade r, 2002). Losses are esti mated at 20-40% in developi ng countries and 10-15% in developed co untries, dependin g on the cr op. In the EU, an esti mated 4 bil li on EUR is lost due to post harvest loss es and reduce d quali t y of vegetable fruit s. Cortez et al., (2002) esti mated t hat about half of the loss es ar e due to ph ysical inj uries and improper handli n g durin g storage and dist rib uti on. Presentl y, the percent loss of vegetabl e crops in Ghana was esti mated at 20% with most loss es occurrin g du ring harv esti ng, transpo rtati on, stora ge and gr adin g and sorti ng (Egyi r et. al., 2008). A report by Sargent et al., (2007) stated that successf ul post harvest handli ng of vegetable crops requir e care ful coordinati on and int egrati on of the vario us steps from harvest operati ons to consum er level in order to maintain the init ial product quali t y. They des cribe ho rticult ural quali t y as those cha rac teri sti cs that the consum ers asso ciat e with each comm odit y and which are dependent upon the particular end -use, such as sweetness, tend ern ess an d crispness. Qualit y also ref ers to fre edom from defects su ch as blemis hes, mechanic a l inj ur y, ph ysiol o gical disorde rs, water loss and dec a y. It is important to keep in mind that quali t y loss in fresh vegeta ble crops is cumul ati ve: each incident of mishandli ng reduces fin al qualit y at co nsum er level. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 28 Several factors reduce qu ali t y durin g post harv est handli ng, includin g:  Harvesti n g at incor re ct maturit y sta ge  Careless handli n g at ha rv est and durin g pack a gin g and shipping  Poor sanit ati on  Dela ys to cooli ng or sub - opti onal cooling  Shippi ng/st orage abov e or below opti mal temperat ure  Lack of prop er relative humi dit y  For some sensit ive com modi ti es, ex posure to ethyl en e gas. Two of the most critical means to maintain vegetable quali t y durin g post harvest handli ng ar e minim i s ing mechanic al inj ur y and m ana gin g temperatu re. Proper handli ng and temperatur e mana gement will significant ly redu ce loss es due t o deca y and acc elerat ed senesc enc e. Since vegetable crops ar e t ypic all y handled sev er al times from harvest to retail l evel, personnel handli ng the crop must be prop erl y trained and supervised (Sargent et al., 2007). 2.8.0 Causes of postharvest losses Postharvest begins at the mom ent of separati on of the edibl e comm odit y fr om the plant that produced it b y a deli berate human act (Ofosu-Anim, 2008). Loss means an y chan ge in th e av ail abil it y, edibi li t y, wholesomen e ss or quali t y of the foo d that prevents it from bein g consum ed by peop le (Harris and Lindbald, 1978) . Food loss es take plac e at producti on, post harves t and processi n g sta ges i n the food suppl y chain. Food loss es occurin g at the end of the food chain (retail an d final consum pti on) are rather call ed “food waste”, which relates to retailers’ and consuPers’ behaYio u r (Parfit t et al ., 2010). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 29 Accordin g to MoFA (2010), Ghana loses about 20 % - 50% of her fruit s, veget able crops, roots and tube rs and abo ut 20 % - 30% of cer eals le gumes annuall y , whi ch has result ed in the countr y ex periencin g food insecurit y. Several factors influ enc e post harvest loss es in vegetable crops. The causes of food loss es and waste in low - i ncome countries are mai nl y conn ected to finan cia l, managerial and technical limi tations in harvesti ng techniques, storage and cooli ng facil it ies in difficult cli matic condit ions, infrastructur e, pack agin g and mark eti ng s ys tems. Losses can also be mainl y related to consum er beh aviour as well as to a la ck of coordinati on between dif fer e nt actor s in the suppl y ch ain (FAO, 2011). Vegetabl e crops are chara cteriz ed b y hi gh metaboli c acti vit ies and known to possess short storage life (Sudheer and Indir a, 2007). Due to th ese fact ors, signific ant loss oc c urs betwe en harvesti n g to consumpti on. Other factors such as insect and mite inj ur y, dise ases due to non -infecti ous pathogens and pathol ogic al rots ar e also responsi ble for post harvest loss of vegetable crops. Environmental factors s uch as t emper ature, rel ati ve humi dit y and ox ygen balan ce especiall y in stora ge ar e also gr eatl y responsi ble (Sudheer and Indi ra, 2007). There are so man y caus e s of loss es in the post har vest food chain that it hel ps to classif y them int o two (2) groups and a number of sub - gr oups. Primar y caus es of loss are thos e causes that directl y af fe c t the food while secondar y causes of loss are those that lead to condit ions that encoura ge a primar y cause of loss (Oben g-Ofori and Corneli us, 2008). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 30 2.9.0 Primary causes of loss 2.9.1 Mechanical injury Fresh fruit and ve getabl e cr ops ar e hi ghl y susc e pti ble to mechanic al inj ur y owin g to their tender tex ture and high moi sture content. Poor handli n g, unsui table packa gin g and improper packin g du rin g tr ansportati on ar e the cause of bruisin g, cutt ing, breakin g, impact wounding, and other forms of inj ur y in fresh fruit s and vegetables (Choudhur y et. al., 2004). In most cases, mech anical inj ur y received b y vegetable crops due to pressure thrust durin g tr ansportati on, though so metim es invi sibl e leads to rupturing of inner tissues and cell s. Vegetable crops receiv e max im um mechanical i njur y durin g harvesti n g if proper me ans of picking and harv esti ng ar e not adopted (Sudheer and Indir a, 2007). 2.9.2 Pathological action Vegetable crops are susc epti ble to post harvest diseases that rende r the pro duce unfit to sell . Postharvest disease s can be spr ead throu gh field box es contaminated by soil or deca yin g produ ce or bot h, contaminated wate r used to wash produce bef ore packin g, deca yin g reje cted prod uce le ft l yin g around the packin ghous e, and contamina ted healt h y produc e in pac kages. Microbi al infecti on can occur both befo re and afte r harvest. The inf ecti on aft er harvest can be found at an y time betwe en the fi eld and final consum er (Kanla yan ar at, 2007). The invasion of fruit and ve getable cro ps by fun gi, bacteria, ins ects and othe r organism s, is a major cause of postharv est losse s. Microor ganism s readil y att ack fresh produc e and spread rapidl y, owin g t o the la ck of natural de fense mech ani sms in the tissues of fresh produc e, and the abundance of nutrien ts and moisture which support their gro wth (Choudhur y et. al., 2004). Acco rdin g University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 31 to Sudheer and Indir a (2007), an esti mated 36% of veget able crops de ca y is caused b y soft rot bacteria. The mo st comm on pathogen cau sing rots in veget able cr ops are fun gi such as Alternaria, Botrytis, Diplodia, Monilinia, Phomopsis, Rhizopus, Pencillium, and Fusarium, and amon g ba cteria Erwinia and Pseudomonas caus e ex tensive dama ge. 2.9.3 Physiological factors Natural respirato r y loss e s which occur in all livi ng or ganism s acco unt for a significant level of wei ght loss and the process gen erat es he at (Ofosu-Anim, 2008). Accordin g to Choudhur y et. al., (2004) physiol o gical disor ders occu r as a result of mineral deficienc y, low or hi gh temperatur e inj ur y, or undesirable environment a l condit ions, such as hi gh humi dit y. Physiol o gical det eriorati o n can also occur spont an eousl y owin g to enz ym ati c acti vit y, leading to ov er rip ene ss and senesc enc e, a simple agin g phenomenon. A reducti o n in nutritional level and consum er accept ance m a y als o arise with these chan ges. Producti on of eth ylene res ult s in premature rip ening of certain crops (Ofosu -Anim, 2008). 2.9.4 Biological factors Biologic al (intern al) causes of deterior ati on include respir ati on rate, eth ylen e producti on and acti on, rates of compos it ional changes (associ ated with color, tex ture, flavo u r, and nutrit ive va lue), mech anical inj uri es, water stress, sp routing and rootin g, ph ysiol o gical disorders, and pathol ogical br eakdown. The rate of biol ogical deteriorati on dep ends on several en viron mental (ex ternal) fact ors, including temperatur e, relative humi dit y, air velocit y, and atm ospheric compos it ion University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 32 (concent rati ons of ox yg en, carbon diox ide, and eth yl ene), and sanit ati o n proc edures (Bartz and Brecht, 2002). 2.10.0 Secondary causes of loss Improp er harv esti ng, stora ge, transportati on and market facil it ies and le gisl ati on lea d to condit ion favourable for second ar y causes of loss . Inad equate harv esti ng facil it ies and rou gh handli ng duri ng ha rvesti ng result in bruising and incr eased po ssi bil it ies of contact of produce with soil which leads to conta mi nati on with organism s. A prolon ged period taken for ha rvesti ng and gradin g in the fie ld, leaves the produce with field heat for longer time which subsequentl y causes faster senesc ence (Sudheer and Indir a, 2007). The use of improper machiner y and equip ment in mechanical harvesti ng caus es serious loss es. Harvesti n g of fruit and ve getabl e crops durin g rain or immediatel y after rains cr eates condit ions favourable for deca y or ga nism s. Harvesti ng duri n g hott er parts of day result s in faster senescen ce, shriveli n g an d wilt ing of fruit and veget able crops compared to those harves ted in earl y mornin gs or evenin gs. Sudheer and Indir a (2007) stated that inad equa te stora ge facil it ies at producing or market ing cent ers le av e the produ ce to natural caus es of loss es i. e., dec a y b y organism s, respir ati on, transpi rati on and other biochemi cal rea cti ons. Proper stora ge thus creates condit ions unfavourabl e to thes e fact ors. Transpo rtati on and dist ributi on of vegetable crops are im portant areas of post ha rvest loss . Physic al and mechanical inj uries occur durin g tr a nsportati on and dist ributi on. Longer shipm ent and dist ributi on period ev entuall y caus e heav y loss es. The earlie r the ha rvested produce i s consum ed, the minim um is the loss, as the period of senescen ce and or ganis m invasion, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 33 mul ti pli cati on and dama ge is shortened. This can onl y be achieved b y a well -setup marketi ng s ystem. The presen ce or abs ence of legal standa rds af fect s eventual retention or rejecti on of a vegetable crop fo r huma n consum pti on. Legal standards va r y from countr y to countr y and are influ enced b y economi c status and pressure of population on fruit or vegetabl e consum pti on (Sudheer and Indir a, 2007). Strict legal standards give bett er prices to f armers and superio r quali t y to consum ers. 2.11.0 Miscellaneous losses: Accordin g to Sudheer an d Indira (2007 ), miscell a neous loss es are numerous but som e of the most important ones are as follows : a. Over-pu rchas e of cheap but highl y perish able fru it s and ve getables leadin g to wasta ge due to inad equat e stora ge facil it ies. b. Rates of pa y among prod uct haulers usuall y depen d on the numb er of co nta iners that the y can ca rr y fro m one point to another. Hence, the y disre gard proper handli ng in their hur ried att emp ts to make more tr ips. c. Deterior ati on during stor age oc curs becaus e som e old stocks are int enti o nall y kept too long in anticipat ion of eventual pric e incr eases; d. Maintenance of transpor t, storage and other han dli ng facil it ies are gen e rall y poor in developi ng count ries result ing in a conti nu al source of loss es. e. There is no ef ficient co mm unicati on link between produce rs and whole salers. Losses will alwa ys oc c ur in the abs ence of a dependabl e comm unic ati on s ystem. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 34 2.12.0 Control of postharvest losses Food securit y is a maj or conce rn in lar ge pa rts of the developi ng world. Food producti on must clearl y increas e signifi cantl y to meet the future de mands of an increasin g and more affl uent world population (FAO, 2011 ). Vegetable cro ps undergo a number of transf er s duri ng ha rvest, handli n g, pac king and shipp in g oper at ions. Each of these transf er point s ha s the potential to redu c e quali t y and the refo re, subsequent post harvest life, b y inflic ti ng inj uries such as brui ses , cuts, punctures and abrasions or inoculati ng the produ ct with microor ganism s that cause de ca ys ( Sargent et. al., 2007).The ma gnit ude of post harvest loss i n veget able crops can b e minim is ed by proper cult ur al oper ati ons, harvesti n g, transportat ion, storage and pr e and post harvest treatm ent. 2.12.1 Cultural operations Cultural practi c es ar e best mana gement practi c es (BMPs) aimed at reducin g the load of a specific compound, whil e maintain ing or incre a sing economi c al yields. At the field level, adequat e fertili z er rates shoul d be used together with irrigati o n scheduli ng techniques (Lui et al., 2012; 2013). Heav y appli c ati on of nit rogenous fertili z ers causes faster deteriorati on in fruit and ve getabl e crop s but essential suppl y of potassic fertili z ers improves kee ping qu ali t y of fruit and ve getabl e cr ops. Deficienc y of mol ybdenum and bo ron ma y induc e he art rot in certain fruit and ve get able crops such as alm ond and cabb a ge. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 35 In vegetabl e crops, mulc hing shoul d be practi ced as it conserv es wat er and nutrients and ke eps weeds unde r control and helps to obtai n quali t y. Besides mul ch ing obst ru cts refle cti on of soil heat and the produce has a longe r keepin g quali t y. Operati ons like staking in tom ato, pea and other vain crops ar e useful in avoidi n g contact of vegetable crops with soil and ther eb y redu ce deca y subs e quent to harvest (Sudhe er and Indira, 2007). 2.12.2 Harvesting and field handling Harvesti n g of fruits and vegetable crops shoul d be done at cooler part of day and the produce shoul d be shifted to packing shade as earl y as possi ble. Harvesti n g of v egetable crops durin g or immediatel y after rai ns shoul d be avoided as it creates condit ions most favoura ble for mul ti pli cati on of microor ganism s (Sudhee r and Indir a, 2007). High temperatu re s are ve r y inj urious to perishable produ cts. In growing plants, transpi rati on is vit al to maintaining opti mal gro wth temperatur es. Direc t sources of heat, for ex ampl e full sunl ight, can rapidl y he at tissues to above the therm al death point of their cell s, leadin g t o locali z ed bleachin g or nec rosis (sunburn or sunscald) or gen eral coll apse (Kade r, 2006). 2.12.3 Concept of packing house Harvested crop has to be sent to a packing house for various unit operati ons like cleanin g, gradin g post - grading, tre atm ent and packin g fo r tr ansport an d marketi n g. Such a s ystem reduc es pos tharvest loss es consi de rabl y. Accordin g to Sudheer, (2007) almost all vegetable crop s require speci al prepa rat ion before the y ar e pack ed. All such University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 36 operati ons such as was hing, gradin g, wax ing and pre - cooli ng of fruit s shoul d be performed in a parkin g house befor e pack a gin g. Packa gin g of fresh fruit and ve getable crops has gr eat signi ficanc e in reduci ng wasta ge. Packa gin g also provides protecti on from mech ani cal dama ge, undesirabl e ph ysiol o gical chan ges and pathol o gica l deteriorati on durin g st ora ge, tr anspo rtati on an d marketi ng. Through proper packa gi ng, freshness, suc culenc e and flavour of fruit s and vegetable can be maintained for a longe r period (Sudh eer an d Indir a, 2007). 2.12.4 Improved transportation Transportati on and dist r ibut ion of fruit and ve get able crops are the mo st important stages of post harvest l oss. Kader (2002) stat ed that fresh produc e is primaril y transported b y ro ad, fro m farmer to consum er an d marketi ng cente rs that fresh produ ce shoul d be of the highe st quali t y and shoul d be kept in t he best condit ion during transportati on. In most developi ng countri es, roads are not adequ a te for proper transport of horticult ural crops. Also, transport vehicles and other modes, espe ciall y those suit ed for fresh hor ti cult ural perishables, are in short s uppl y or absent . This is true whether for loc al market ing or ex port to other countries (Kade r, 2005). In most cases vegetable crops are trans ported in non -refri gerate d vehicles. Non-re fri ger a ted vehicles are gen erall y open tru ck s, container vans and ot her publi c vehicles . Fresh vegetable crops strai ght from the farm can be spoi lt in hot cli mates due to lack of i nfrastructur e for tr ansportati on, stor age, cooli ng and mar kets (Rolle, 2006; Stuart, 2009). Subsequentl y, private se ctor investm ents can im prove st or a ge and cold chain facil it ies as well as transpo rtati on (Choudhur y, 2006). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 37 2.12.5 Reducing moisture loss Preventi on of weight lo ss from veget able crops is a major advantage of consum er packa gin g wher e moi sture retentive films are used particularl y fo r leaf y green vegetable and root crops. As a result, storage lif e of packa ged produc e is lengthene d over non-w rapp ed produ ce pa rticularl y wh en ma r keti ng from refri ge rator displ a y cases. It is repo rted that moi sture proof cell ulose film, reduces wei ght loss o f tom atoes by 25% the amount loss by non -wrapp ed tom atoes (Sudheer and Indi ra, 2007). 2.12.6 Temperature Environmental condit ions, mainl y tempe ratur e, affect the quali t y of the fresh horticult ural produce. Excessi vel y low temper ature caus es chil li ng or fr eez ing inj ur y. High temper ature incr eases produc e respir ati on rate and water l oss through transpi rati on, causin g loss in int ernal flesh quali ty, shriveli n g and premat ure softenin g (Tanner and Smale, 2005). The ideal storage temperatur e for fresh pepp ers is 7.3°C, but the y will last about one (1) week in a typic al ref rige rator (whi ch shoul d be at 4.5°C) (Harris, 1998). The lowe st safe temperatur e for ri pe and unripe tom ato is 10 °C and 13 °C, 10 °C for garden eggs, okra is 7 °C while that of cabba ge is betw e en 0 °C and 2.5 °C (Kader, 2006) . 2.12.7 Market facilities . Kader (2005) suggested that, marketi ng cooper ati ve or ganiz ati ons shoul d provide a central poi nt fo r ass embl ing produce from small fa rmers and prep arin g com modi ti es for transportati on to markets and other dist ributi on channels. Although the dev elopm ent of wholesale and ret ail ma rkets shoul d prefer abl y be done b y th e private sector, loc al University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 38 gove rnments and mark eti ng cooper ati ves can be inst rumental in esta bli shing and improving mark et facil it ies (Kad er, 2005). Vegetable crops shoul d reach m arket as soon as possi ble and at a time the y are need ed most . An efficient m arki ng s ystem is essential to avoid loss es of vegetab le crops and also to get a good return from the sales (Sudhe er and Indir a, 2007). 2.12.8 Chemical treatment Chemicals are appli ed to crops to man a ge mic roo rganism s, to control pest infestations, to corre ct nutrients imbalances in th e crop which shorten stor a ge life or cause ph ysiol o gical disorders and prevent sprouting of crops. Control of microorganism s is of prime importance. Pre-harvest spr a yin g of fungi cides result s in significan ce reducti on of pathogens in harvested produce. The best method of appli cati on of fungicid es and anti biot ic s is to mix them in wax emul sions . Benom yl or b enli te is also good in prev enti ng gro w th of most damagin g fu ngi of tom atoes. Bacte r ia soft rot of packed spinach and le cture could be prevent ed by dippi ng streptom ycin (1000 ppm). It also inhibi ts the acti vit y of a number of microor ganism s (Sudheer and Indira, 2007). Electronic noses haYe been constructed that can “sPell” and separate decayed fruits in packin g houses and pred ict m ycotox in contamina ti on. Postharvest treatm e nts, such as appli cati on of reduc ed -r isk fungicides, biol ogi c al agents and natural products, heat treatm ent and edibl e coat ing fo rmulati ons, alone or in combi nati on, can be successfull y appli ed to ran ge of com modi ti es including ve get able crops in order to pr event de ca y (Michail ides and Manga naris , 2009). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 39 2.13.0 Estimation of Postharvest Losses Accordin g to Kader (2005), both quanti tative and quali tative loss es occur in horticult ural crops betw e en ha rvest and consum pti on. Qualitative losses (such as loss of caloric and nutrit ive valu e, loss of acc eptabili t y by consum e rs, and loss of edibi li t y) are more difficult to assess than quanti tative loss es of fresh fruit and ve getable crops. While reducti on of qua nti tative loss es is a higher priorit y than quali ta ti ve loss es in developi ng countries, the opposi te is tru e in developed countries wh e re c onsum er diss ati sfacti on with produce quali t y result s in a greater perc enta ge of the tot al post harvest losses. Gener all y the re are no acc epted methods for evaluating post -ha rvest l osses of fresh produce. Whateve r eval uati on method used may be the result ref err e d onl y to a described sit uati on (Egyi r et. al., 2008). Egyi r et. al., (2008) further state d that in the appraisal o f an ex ist ing marketi ng ope rati on, the accur ate evaluation of lo sses occu rrin g is a problem. These loss e s ma y be susp ected to be too grea t but there ma y be no fi gur es to support this view for the reason th at:  records do not ex ist ;  records, if avail able, do not cover a lon g enou gh period of time;  the figu res av ail able ar e onl y esti mates mad e b y several obs erve rs;  records ma y not trul y re p resent a conti nuing sit uati on; for ex ampl e, loss es ma y have be en cal culated onl y wh en unusuall y high or low;  loss figures ma y be deli beratel y ove r - or unde rs tated for comm er cial or other reasons in orde r to gain b enefits or to avoid emba r rassm ent (Egyir et. al., 2008). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 40 Egyir et. al., (2008) prov ide some sim ple steps to follow when esti mating l osses: Step 1: Evaluate quanti t y of co mm odit y (j) held (tq) and lost (q i ) at each link in the chain spe cified b y respo ndents. Commodit y (j) held at the beginni n g of t h e link in a chain for the an al ysis is ex pressed on a per unit basis (eg 50 kg bag of pepper; 100 kg bag of cereal, avera ge tubers of ya m etc). Step 2: Find mean quanti t y (TQ i j ) held an d lost (given n number of respondents) at eac h i th link in the chain per comm odit y (j). Hence, TQi j ™tT  n and Qi j ™T  n Step 3: Calculate the rati o of m ean quanti t y lost to ini ti al mean quanti t y held at each link in the chain per com modi t y as los s rati o (Q L) Hence, QL = Q i j /TQ i j Step 4: Find av era ge of the sum of loss rati os for all link s in the value ch ain for ea ch comm odit y evalu ated an d calculate raw percent a ge loss pe r comm odit y. Hence, %TQ L >™ 4i j /TQ i j )]/ N * 100 Where %TQ L = per centa ge post harvest loss per comm odit y alon g the ch ain Qi j = mean quanti t y l ost at each ith sta ge a lo ng th e value ch ain of t he jth comm odit y TQ = mean tot al quantit y at start of dist ributi on of j th comm odit y 1 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 41 N = total num ber of lin ks along the chain 2.14.0 Pesticides Pesticide Control and Management Act, 1996 (Act 528) of Ghana defines pesti cides as an y subst an ce, mix ture of subst ances or other age nts used to control, destro y or pr event dama ge or prote ct somethi ng from a pest. The definiti on also includ es chemi c al subst ances that are used t o att ract and rep el pests as well as those used to regul ate p lant gro wth or remove coat or leav es. Under the US law, a pesti cide ma y also ref er to an y subst ance or mix ture of subst ances int ended fo r use as a plant regul ator, defoliant or desiccant. In West Africa, ther e ar e no indus trial units ensuring the s ynthesi s of acti ve materials through br and y labor at o ries (MoFA, 2011). Thus, the producti on of pest icides in the proper wa y is not effe cti ve in the whole of these countries. Accordin g to GCAP report finished products are rat her imported not abl y th r ough mot he r com pani es repres ented at the nati onal level or acti ve ingredi ents for formul ati on purposes. In Ghana, the following can be cit ed among othe rs – Abuak wa Formulation unit, Wienco, Dizengo ff, CHEMICO, Reiss & Co., Calli Ghana. Ins ecti ci de imports int o Ghana has increas ed from 907 Mt in 2001 to over 5,078 Mt in 2009 (MoFA, 2010) with peak values of 6,921 Mt and 9,979 Mt in 2006 and 2007 respe ct ivel y. The pesti cides import statis ti cs from 2007 to 2010 is provided in the table 2.7. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 42 Table 2.8: Pesti cide Imp ort Statist ics from 2007-2010 2007 2008 2009 2010 Formulated Pesticide Product Solid (Mt) Liquid (Lt) Solid (Mt) Liquid (Lt) Solid (Mt) Liquid (Lt) Solids (Mt) Liquid (Lt) Insec ticid es 5.900 969,944 273.000 3,269,000 60.430 3,388,275 40.666 3,028,724 Herbicid es 500.170 1,581,190 1,429.000 6,102,000 998.147 8,981,102 323.580 13,161,585 Fungicid es 588.558 365,100 1,561.000 179,000 325.932 947,656 242.926 697,913 Nematicid e s 287.030 - - - - - - - Other s e.g. Plant gro wth regulato r s, woo d preser vative s etc 62.700 34,464 - - - - 7.096 5,061 Totals 1,444.36 2,950,698 3,263.000 9,550,000 1,384.51 13,317,033 614.27 16,893,283 Grand Total 4,395.0 6 Mt 12,813.00 Mt 14,701.54 Mt 17,507.55 Mt Source: MoFA, 2011 Pesticides can broadl y be divi ded int o a number of groups or classes whi ch relates to their functi onali t y and st ructure. Exampl es of pesti cide groups and sp ecif ic pesti cides withi n the groups are:  organochlorine pesti cide s, e.g. DDT, dieldrin, chl ordane, endosul fan;  organophosphorus pesti c ides, e.g. par athi on, dimethoate, chlorp yrifos;  s ynthetic p yr ethroid inse cti cides, e. g. delt amethri n, permethrin, fenv aler at e;  carbam ate pesti cides, e. g. aldi carb, propox ur, carb ofuran;  fungicid es, e. g. chloroth a loni l, vincloz olin; and  herbicides, e. g. sim az ine, atraz ine. The organo chlorine (OC) pesti cides ar e amon g th e major t yp es of pesti cid es, notorious for their high tox icit y, th eir persist ence in the ph ysical env ironment and their abil it y to enter the food chain (Ntow, 2001). Most of the compounds that fall int o the organochlorine cat e gor y have be en banned for fo od appli cati ons since the late 1970s or University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 43 earl y 1980s. The c yclod ienes (dieldrin, aldrin, chlordane and h eptachlor) have been used as termi ti cides unti l 1992, but have been tot all y bann ed for use since then (Stevens, 1991). Lind ane is an ex ampl e an or gan ochlorine pesti cide used by vegetabl e farmers in Ghana. Table s 2.8 and 2.9 shows a li st of some provisional l y clear ed and banned pesti cides in Ghana as at 30 t h November, 2012. Table 2.9: List of Some Provisionally Cleared Pesticides (PCL) Trade Name Provisional Clearance Permit No. / Date of Issue Concentration of Active Ingredient Crops/Uses Company Plan D PCL/1202/00379G Februar y 2012 Delta met hr i n (12.5g/l) Insec ticid e fo r the co ntr o l of insec t pests i n var io us cr o p s Agri mat Limited, Accra Bypel 1 (PrGV.BT) PCL/12103/00291G July 2012 Perisrapae Granulosis Virus + Bacillus thuringiensis(5) Bio - insec ticid e f o r the co ntr o l of Diamo nd b ac k bee tle and Pieris rapae in cab b age Abnak Agro Services, Kumasi Sumi fax 200 EC PCL/1264/00382G Nove mb er 2012 Fenvaler ate (200g/l) Insec ticid e fo r the co ntr o l of insec t pests i n vegetab le s and pub lic hea lt h Ko fa mo b Agro Service s, Kumasi Termex 48EC PCL/1224/00326G Nove mb er 2012 Chlorp yr i fo s - eth yl (480g/l) Insec ticid e fo r the co ntr o l of insec t pests i n vegetab le s and pul ses Saro AgroScience s, Accra Agrit hane 80WP PCL/1202/00378G Febuar y 2012 Manco ze b (800g/kg) Fungicid e fo r the co ntr o l of leaf sp o ts, mild e w, leaf blight a nd sca b disea ses i n vegetab le s, fr uits a nd orna me ntals Agri mat Limited, Accra Famo us 72 WP PCL/12109/00299G Nove mb er 2012 Metalax yl (18%) +Manco ze b (64%) Fungicid e fo r the co ntr o l of disea ses i n ve getab les, fru it s, orna me ntal s and field cr o p s Ghani ma Agroche micals, Kumasi Rainp r o p zo l 250 EC PCL/1299/00310G Nove mb er 2012 Propico naz o le (250g/l) Fungicid e fo r the co ntr o l of disea ses i n ve getab les Rainb o w AgroScience s, Accra Bo Adwuma 48 SL PCL/1248/00300G Nove mb e r 2012 Glypho sa te (480g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of ann ual, per en nial gra sses and bro ad leaf wee d s Yawus s ma Vent ur es K u ma si Afuo Wura 48 SL PCL/12108/00307G Nove mb er 2012 Glypho sa te (480g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of e mer ged an n ual and per ennial bro ad leaf wee d s, Wofa Addo Agyen k wa Far ms Co. Ltd, University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 44 sed ges a nd grasse s Techi man Atrazila 500 SC PCL/1243/00372G Februar y 2012 Atrazi ne (500g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of ann ual, per en nial gra sses and bro ad leaf wee d s Ku mar k Compan y Limited, Kuma si Bellaz ine 500 SC PCL/1205/00375G Februar y 2012 Atrazi ne (500g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of ann ual, per en nial gra sses and bro ad leaf wee d s Chemico Limited, Tema Source: Environmental Protecti on Agenc y (EPA) Table 2.10: List of Banned Pesticides in Ghana 2,4, 5- T and its sal t s and est er s Dieldri n Dinitro - ortho-cres ol (DNOC) Aldrin Dinoseb and its sal ts and est ers Parathi on Binapacr yl Endrin Methyl Bromi de Captafol HCH (mixed isomer s) Phosphami don Chlordane Heptachl or Monocrotophos Chlordi mef or m Hexachl or ob enzene Methami dophos Chlorobenzi late Parathi on Mirex DDT Pentachl or ophenol and its salt s and est er s Toxaphe ne Source: Environmental Protecti on Agenc y (EPA) One ex cepti on is the organochlorine endosul fan which is permitt ed for use on a wide ran ge of fru it and ve geta ble crops, and grains. Endosul fan has advant a ges over man y of the earlier or ganochlorin es in that it is not persist ent in the environment. For most fruit and ve getabl e crops, 50% of residu es ar e lost in 37 da ys and in anim als, endosul fan is me tabolis ed and ex creted in the urine (Kidd and James, 1991) and does not accumul ate in mil k, fat or muscl e (ibid) (Andrew and Simon, 1998 ). Organophosphate insecticides Organophosphates ar e so me of the most wid el y used pesti cides in the wor ld. There ar e mo re than 40 different organophosphate pesti ci des on the market today, and each University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 45 causes acute and sub - acu te tox icit y. Organop hosphates are us ed in agricult ure, homes, gardens and vet erinar y practi ces, repla cin g the s a me uses as the or ganochl orines, man y of which have be en ba nned for yea rs. In gen eral, the y ar e not persist ent in the environm ent as the y br ea kdown quickl y. The y have been a suit able replac ement for th e more persist ent organoc hlorine b ecause of their relativel y fast rate of degradati on (Watson et. al., 2003). The organophosphorus pesti cides are choli nest era se inhi bit ors and as such can pose a significant occup ati onal healt h and s afet y haz ard for farm worke rs and can be fatal to small anim als, birds and fish (Andrew and Simon, 1998 ). Organophosp h ates ar e all derived from phosphoric acid and are gene rall y th e most tox ic of all pesti cides to vertebr ate anim als. They ar e chemi call y unst a ble and ex ert their toxic acti on b y inhi bit ing the choli nest erase enz ym es of the nervous s ystem which result s in t he accumul ati on of acet ylch oli ne. This int erfer es with neuromuscular jun cti ons producin g rapid twit ching of the volunt ar y muscles and even tuall y paral ysis . There ar e three main groups of or ganophosph ates; phen yl, aliphati c an d heter c ycli c ( Hodgson et. al., 2004 ). Organophosphates com monl y used in Ghan a on vegetabl e crops includ e dim ethoate, profenofos, chlorp yrifos and malathi on. Ntow et. al (2006) report ed that alt hough the prod ucti on and use of man y t yp es of OCs and organophosphorus (OPs) have been sever el y limi ted in man y countri es including Ghana, the y are, neverth eless, sti ll being used un officiall y in lar ge qu anti ti es in man y parts of Ghana, and in other developi n g countri es bec ause of their eff e cti veness as pesti ci des and their relativel y low cost. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 46 Synthetic pyrethroids The synthetic p yr ethroid s are pres entl y us ed ex tensivel y in most countries and have become the most signific ant class of agri cult ural i nsecti cides since their int roducti on in the earl y 1980s. They have permitt ed appli c ati ons in food crops (incl uding fruit s, vegetables and grains) as well as meat anim als (Andrew and Simon, 1996 ). As a class, the y possess a number of signifi cant advanta ge s over most or ganopho sphorus and organochlorine insecti ci des. These advant a ges i nclude low tox icit y to mammals and birds, rapid breakdown i n the environment and rapid eli mi nati on from anim als (Kidd and James, 1991). Exampl es used in Ghana on vegetable crops are c yp er methrin and delt amethrin. Herbicides ar e gen erall y le ss tox ic to humans than insecti cides. A numb er hav e been developed to inhi bit metaboli c pathwa ys specifi c to plants (e.g. gl yphos ate inhi bit s the shiki mi c acid cycle in plants) and acco rdingl y, have ver y low tox icit y to anim als (Andrew and Simon, 1998 ). A report by Andrew and Simon (1998 ) explained that the N-meth ylc arbam ate group of pesti cides is de rived fro m carb ami c acid. As a class the y are highl y ef fect ive and have a broad spectrum of acti vit y as insecti cides, acari cides and nematicides. The carb amates are also choli nester ase inhi bit ors but, as a class, are less tox ic than the organophosphorus inse c ti cides. The carbam ates gener all y de gr ade rap idl y in the environment. Exampl es of these ca rbamates i nclude ca rbofur an, fen obucarb and carba r yl (Robert, 2002). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 47 The fun gicides are not a chemi c all y relate d class of compounds ; therefor e, gen erali sati ons on tox icit y are not appli c able. Many fun gicides have bro ad ran ges of permiss ions for use on fruit and vegetable crops and a number ar e seen regularl y in sampl es anal ysed b y the ACT Government Anal yt ical Laborator y (ACTGAL). Some comm on ex ampl es of fungicides used on vegetable crops in Ghana are, Folpan, Merpan, Funguran, Shav et, and Kocoide 2000 (EPA, 2012 ). List of some revised re gi stered pesti cides as well as a summ ar y of regist er of pesti cides as at 30t h November 2012 are shown in tables 2.10 and table 2.11 below. Table 2.11: List of Some Revised Register of Pesticides Fully Registered Pesticides (FRE) Trade Name Registration No. / Date of Issue Concentration of Active Ingredient Crops/Uses Company Akape 20 SC FRE/1202/00520G Nove mb er 2012 Imidac lo p r id (200g/l) Insec ticid e fo r the co ntr o l of insec ts pest of vegetab le s Agri mat Limited, Accra Akate Master FRE/1005/00309G Nove mb er 2010 Bifent hr i n (27g/l) Insec ticid e fo r the co ntr o l of cap sid s and insec t pest s i n co co a Chemico Limited, Accra or Tema Confid o r 200 SL FRE/1001/00296G Nove mb er 2010 Imidac lo p r id (200g/l) Insec ticid e fo r the co ntr o l of cap sid bugs and insec t pests i n co co a Wienco Ghana Limited, Accr a Champ io n 80 WP FRE/1005/00305G Nove mb er 2010 Copper Hydro xid e (77%) Fungicid e fo r the co ntr o l of fun gal disea ses i n co co a and co ffee Chemico Limited, Tema Contizeb 80 WP FRE/1278/00445G Februar y 2012 Manco ze b (800g/kg) Fungicid e fo r the co ntr o l of leaf sp o ts, mild e w, leaf blig ht a nd scab in vegetab le s and fr uit s Five Conti ne nts, Accra Folpan 50WP FRE/11100/0393/G October 2011 Folpet (500g/l) Broad spec tr u m fu n gicid e fo r the co ntr o l of disea ses i n vegetab le s, field cr o p s and orna me ntals Makhtes h i m Agan West Africa, Accra Kocid e 2000 FRE/1206/00245G Februar y 2012 Cupric hyd r o xid e (53.8%) Fungicid e fo r the co ntr o l of co co a disea ses Calli Ghana Limited, Accra University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 48 Merpan FRE/11100/00395/ G October 2011 Captan (500g/kg) Broad spec tr u m fu n gicid e fo r the co ntr o l of disea ses i n fruit s, coffee, ve getab le s and o rna me ntals Makhtes hi m Agan West Africa, Accra Adwu map a SL FRE/1071/00323G Nove mb er 2010 Glypho sa te (480g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of an nual, per en nial grasse s and bro ad leaf wee d s i n cer ea ls a nd vegetab le s Chine se Woma n Agro Compa n y Ltd, Kuma si Adwu ma Wura 480 SL FRE/1243/00419G Januar y 2012 Glypho sa te (480g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of an nual, per en nial grasse s and bro ad leaf wee d s i n cer ea ls a nd vegetab le s Ku mar k Compan y Limited, Kuma si Ch er mo sate 360 SL FRE/1005/00313G Nove mb er 2010 Glypho sa te (360g/l) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of an nual, per en nial grasse s and bro ad leaf wee d s i n cer ea ls a nd vegetab le s Chemico Limited, Tema Focus Ultra 100 EC FRE/1198/00369G August 2011 Cyclo x yd i m (100g/l ) Herbicid e fo r the co ntr o l of an nual a nd per ennial grasse s Cama Agro Cons ult, Accra Source: Environmental Protecti on Agenc y (EPA), 2012. Table 2.12: Summary of Register of Pesticides as at 30th November 2012 Category FRE PCL Banned Total Insecti cides 119 10 26 155 Fungicides 33 4 - 37 Herbicides 72 31 - 103 Rodenti cides 1 2 - 3 Plant Growth Regulators 5 - - 5 Total 230 47 26 303 Source: Environmental Protecti on Agenc y (EPA) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 49 2.14.1 Effect of Pesticides on Health Vegetable producti on is a ke y coPponent of *hana’s food security strategy (Parker et al ., 2010 ). Common insecti cides used against ve get able crop pests in Ghana include; Attak, Desbin, PAWA-karate, Dursban 4 E, Fura 3G, Bossmate 2.5 E and Pyrinex . Most vegetabl e farm ers in Ghana (87%) us e syn thetic chemi cal pesti cide s to control pests on vegetable cro ps including a number of highl y persist ent organochlorine pesti cides ( Essuman g et al ., 2008 ). Accordin g to Farag et al ., (2011 ) poor enforc ement of regulations have all owed inapprop ri ate appli cati on practi c es to deve lop, such as mixing of two or mor e pesti cides. Lack of knowl edge of the t yp es, use an d the eff ects (addit ive, syn er gist ic, in dependent and anta gonis ti c) of these pesti cides among small and lar ge scal e farme rs has result ed in the ir misuse and cons eq uentl y their accumul ati on in various foods and feed items ( Essumang et al ., 2008 ; Farag et al ., 2011). Pesti cide use raises a number of environment al conc erns. Over 98% of spr a yed insecti cides and 95% of herbicides reach a desti nati on other than their tar get spe cies, including non-tar get spe cies, air, wat er, and foo d (Miller, 2004). In rece nt times, the ex tent of the use of pesti cides, and their mode of appli cati on including their abuse especiall y in agricult ur e hav e be en of much concern to enviro nmental scientis ts. Alongside their uses ar e also the residual effe ct of these pesti cides and particularl y thei r repli cati n g eff ect on hu man healt h (Hurst et. al., 1991). Edwards (1986) establis hed that pesti cides could be come a nuisan ce if the y are misused, some of the negati ve effe cts of pesti cid e misuse include lo w crop yiel d, destructi on of soil micro - f auna and flora, and und esirable res idue accumul ati on in foo d crops. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 50 Organophosphates (prod uced since th e 1940s) and carb amates are insec ti cides used ex tensivel y in pest contr ol. Organophosph ates (OPs) and carbamate s ex ert their effects on insects and mammals including human beings, b y inhi bit ing the enz yme acet ylcholinester ase at nerve endings (Clarke et al., 1997). The no rmal functi on of acet ylcholinester ase is t he h ydrol ysis and result ant inacti vati on of acet ylcho li ne. The chara cter, degre e and durati on of acute illness produced b y choli neste r ase inhi bit ing OPs and carbamates are all directl y related to the dose and route of ex posure which in turn determi ne the de gr ee and rate of acet yl cho li nesterase inhi bit ion an d subsequent accumul ati on of acet ylcholine (Rosenber g, 1990). Symptoms produced ar e a manifestation of the paras ymp athetic h yp eracti vit y due to the acc umul ated acet ylcholine. Thes e include neuromuscula r pa ral ysis and central ner vous s yst em dysfun cti on. Deat h ma y result from respirato r y fail ure s econd ar y to pulm onar y oedema, bron choconst ric ti on and respirator y muscular par al ysis . Cardiac arrh ythm ias and epil epti c seiz ures ma y also oc cur (Rosenber g, 1990). Jiries et al., (2002) stated that the contamination of lagoons is a major source of concern sinc e it is the habit at for fish and other aquati c or ganism s such as muss els, oysters, prawns and lob sters which are major s ources of protein for m ost people in Ghana. Jiries et al., (2002) furthe r establis hed tha t an uncontroll ed ch emi c al acti vit y in water bodies impli es a high rate of ex posure to humans, who obtain much of their protein nutrit ion from th ese sour ces, and also to those who consum e ve getable crops produced usin g such wat ers as me ans of ir rigati on. In add it ion, pesti cides end up in the tissue of aquati c or ganism s and bio -accumul at es with tim e. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 51 Accordin g to WHO (1990), no segment of the population is compl ete l y prote cted against ex posure to pesti cides and the potentiall y s erious healt h eff ect s, though a disproporti onate burd en, is shoul dered b y the people of developi n g countries. The world -wide de aths and chronic diseas es due to pesti cide poiso ning nu mber about 1 mill ion per ye ar (Envi ronews Forum, 1999). Northern Presb yt erian Agricultural Services (NPAS), (2012) repo rted that th e most comm on problems ex perienc ed b y farmers du ring and af ter the appli cati on of pesti cides include skin irrit ati ons, heada ches, gen eral bod y weakness, diffi cult y in breathi n g and diz z iness. Accordin g to NPAS, (2012) report, fif teen (15) farmers died fr om suspected pesti cide poiso ning in the Upper East region in late 2010 and furthe r ex plained that most of these de aths result ed from poor stor a ge of pesti cides, which see ped int o food stocks. 2.14.2 Pesticide Residue Analysis Accordin g to Codex, “pesticide residue” Peans any specified substances in food, agricult ural comm odit ies, or anim al feed result ing from th e use of a pesti ci de. The term includes an y de rivati ve s of a pesti cide, such as conversion products, metaboli tes, reacti on products, and impuriti es consi dered to be of toxi cological signi ficanc e. The terP “pesticide residue” also includes residues froP unknown or unaYoidable sources (e.g. environm ental), as well as known us es of the chemi c al) (Codex Alimentarius Commiss ion, 2009) Pesti cide residues on cr ops are moni tored with refe renc e to m ax im um residue limi ts and ar e bas ed on anal ysis of the qu anti t y of a giv en residue rem aini ng on food product sampl es. The Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) is not a healt h -based ex posure limi t and thus ex posure to residue in ex cess of an MRL does not nec essaril y impl y a risk to University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 52 healt h ( Boobis et al ., 2008 ). This is because the us e of a pesti cide would no t be all ow ed if the propos ed MRL res ult ed in long -term and sh ort -term ex posure of pest icide residue and the human diet abov e safet y limi t (Armah, 2011). In ord er to implement the joi nt FAO/WHO Food Standard Progra mm es, Codex Alimentarius Commiss ion, comprisi ng 120 mem ber nati ons, was est abli shed in 1964. The Codex Commit tee on Pesti cide Residues (CCPR) is a subsi diar y bod y of the Codex Alimentarius comm iss ion that advises on all ma tt ers related to pesti cide residues. Its primar y objecti ve is to develop Maximum Residu e Limits (MRLs) in order to prote ct the healt h of the consum er whil e facil it ati ng int e r nati onal trade. Maximum residue limi t is the max im um concentrati on for a pesti cide residue on crop or food comm odit y result ing from the use of pesti cides in acco rda nce w it h Good Agricult ural Practi ce (GAP) (Barkat, 2005). Accordin g to Farag et al ., (2011) reliable pesti cide residue an al ysis ma y be of immense significan ce as indi cators of the potential risks of pesti cide ex posure on hu man healt h. Pesti cide residue anal ys is is carried out for moni toring food and the environment. Various biol ogical and chemi cal techniques (immunoassa y, thin la ye r ch romatograph y and capil lar y electr oph ores is, etc.) can be us ed ef ficientl y to deter mi ne pesti cide residues but the most popular methods fo r thi s t ype of anal ysis are gas ch r omatogr aph y (GC) and liquid chromatogr aph y (LC). Capillar y GC with different sensit ive and selecti ve detecti on s yst ems, incl uding mass s pectrometr y (MS) hav e been the predomi nant methods of anal ysis in mul ti -r esidue dete rminati ons in recent de cad es (Barkat, 2005). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 53 Analysis of som e or gan ochlorine and or ganoph osphorus residue lev els in tom ato by Essumang et al., (2008) indi cated that chlorop yri fos, which is an acti ve ingr edient of pesti cides regist e red in Ghana und er th e trad e na me dursban 4E or termi n u 48o EC for use on vegetable crops, has the greatest residu e level of 10.76 mg/k g. The lowest residue level observed was that of t he pirim iphos - meth yl with 0.03 mg/kg. Human risk assessment was per form ed on the result s obtained from the an al ysis us ing Human Health Evaluation comput eriz ed software - RISC 4.02. The risk assessment showed canc er risk for adult s an d chil dren due to the pr e sence of endosul fan and chlop yri fos. Endosulfan is not regis tered in Ghan a as a pesti cide for use on vege table crops; therefor e, th e det ecti on of endosul fan in sev eral s ampl es indi cat es misuse of agrochemi c als amon g Ghanaian farmers (Essuman g et al., 2008) 2.15.0 Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) MRLs are the max im um all owed conc entrati on s of pesti cide residues i n or on food products. The y ensur e that pesti cide residues in food do not const it ute an unacc eptable risk for consum ers. All foodstuffs int ended for consum pti on in the EU are subj e ct to MRLs, i.e. fresh fruit an d veget able crops, pres e rved fruit and ve getable crops, wine, cere als and cere al products, products of anim al origin (such as honey). Products containing mor e pesti ci des than all owe d ar e wit hdra wn from th e EU market (EU, 2012). Hence, MRLs refle ct the use of minimum quanti ties of pesti cides to achieve effe cti ve plant protecti on, appli ed in such a manner that the amount of residue is the smallest practi cabl e and is tox icologicall y accept able. Before a MRL is establis hed, a risk University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 54 assessment has to prov e that the limi t is safe for the consum er healt h. MRLs are establis hed for thre e ke y reasons: to ensur e that the residues on food do not pose an unacc eptable risk for the he alt h of consum ers, to ensure that pesti cides are used i n accord anc e with the auth oriz ed uses, respe cti ng the label inst ructi ons and t o avoid trad e barriers. In most cases th e MRLs are well below the tox icologicall y acc eptable residue levels. Thus, if a pesti cide residue is found on a given crop at or below the MRL, then the crop can be consi der ed safe for the consum er healt h. On the othe r hand, if a residu e ex ceeds the MRL, it is n ot necess aril y true that th e consum e r is at risk (EFSA Scienti fic Report , 2009). The MRLs for cabba ge, t omato, okra and sw eet pe pper ar e shown in tables 2.12 - 2.14 Table 2.13 EU Maximum Residue Limits (MRLs) for cabba ge Source: Amarh, (2011) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 55 Table 2.14 Codex Alimentary Maximum Residue Level for tomato Pesticide MRL Year of Adoption Ethoprophos 0.01 mg/K g 2005 Abamect i n 0.02 mg/K g 2001 Quintozene 0.02 mg/K g 2003 Noval ur on 0.02 mg/K g 2006 Pyret hri ns 0.05 mg/K g 2003 Spinet oram 0.06 mg/K g 2009 Hexythi azox 0.1 mg/K g 1997 Methidat hi on 0.1 mg/K g Triadi mef on 0.2 mg/K g 1997 Cyper met hr i ns (incl udi ng alpha - and zet a - cyper met h) 0.2 mg/K g 2009 Tebuconazol e 0.2 mg/K g 1997 Cyflut hri n/ bet a - cyf l ut hri n 0.2 mg/K g 2008 Myclobut ani l 0.3 mg/K g 1999 Dinocap 0.3 mg/K g 2003 Mandipr opami d 0.3 mg/K g 2009 Deltamet hr i n 0. 3 mg/K g 2004 Pyracl ost r obi n 0.3 mg/K g 2006 Spinozad 0.3 mg/K g 2003 Bifenazat e 0.5 mg/K g 2007 Triadi menol 0.5 mg/K g 1997 Imidac l opr id 0.5 mg/K g 2004 Carbendazi m 0.5 mg/K g 2001 Clofent ezi ne 0.5 mg/K g 2008 Source : JMPR, (2009) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 56 Table 2.15 Codex Maximum Residue Limits for sweet peppers Pesticide MRL Year of Adoption Abamect i n 0.02 mg/K g 2001 Diazinon 0.05 mg/K g 1995 Ethoprophos 0.05 mg/K g 2005 Benalaxyl 0.05 mg/K g Quintozene 0.05 mg/K g 2003 Cyper met hr i ns (incl uding al pha - and zet a - cyper met h) 0.1 mg/K g 2009 Triadi mef on 0.1 mg/K g 1997 Triadi menol 0.1 mg/K g 1997 Trifloxystr obi n 0.3 mg/K g 2006 Tebuconazol e 0.5 mg/K g 1999 Cyprodi nil 0.5 mg/K g 2005 Fenari mol 0.5 mg/K g 1999 Dimet hoat e 0.5 mg/K g 2009 Fenval erat e 0.5 mg/K g Dithiocar bamat es 1 mg/K g 1999 Thiacl opr i d 1 mg/K g 2007 Azinphos - Methyl 1 mg/K g 1995 Fenpropat hr in 1 mg/K g 1995 Fludioxoni l 1 mg/K g 2006 Methiocar b 2 mg/K g 2006 Tolylf luani d 2 mg /K g 2004 Chlorpyri f os 2 mg/K g 2003 Bifenazat e 2 mg/K g 2007 Source: JMPR, (2009) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 57 CHAPTER THREE METHODOLOGY 3.1 Study Location The stud y was conducte d in 10 selected ve getabl e growin g ar eas in the Greate r Accra region of Ghan a. The selecte d towns include Dzorwulu, Obaakruw a, Ashaim an, Atomic, Kojo Ashong, Okushiabade, Onyaasan aa, Kordiab e, Abep aan ya and Weija (Fig 3.1). The Greater Accra Regio n is the smallest of Ghan a 's 10 adminis trati ve re gi ons in terms of area, occup yin g a tot a l land surface of 3,245 square kil ometres or 1.4 percent of the tot al land area of Ghan a. In terms of population, however, it is the second most populated region, after t he Ashanti Region , with a population of 4,010,054 in 2010, accounting for 16.3 percent of *hana’s total population *hana Statistical SerYice, 2012). It contains 10 dist ricts made up of 2 metro poli tan, 6 muni cipal and 2 dist ricts as follows: Accra Metropol it an District , Adenta Municipal District , Tema Metropoli tan District (Ghana Districts .com). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 58 Figure 3.1 Map of Ghana indi cati ng the va rious dist ricts and the stud y sit es in the Greate r Accra University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 59 3.2 Questionnaire Administration Questi onnaires that had both open and closed -ended questi ons were developed an d admi nist ered to farme rs and tr aders. The qu est io nnaires were admi nist ered to one hundred (100) vegetable farmers randoml y sele c ted withi n the 10 select ed ve getabl e gro wing areas in the Greater Accra region with the help of the Agricult u re Extension Service, MoFA while se vent y- five (75) vegetable traders wer e randoml y selected fro m three m arkets namel y Madina, Makola and Agbo gblosh ie and in terviewed on subsequen t visi ts to the market. In all, 20 farmer s cult ivating pepper, tom ato, cabba ge, egg plant and okra res pecti ve l y were int e rvie wed while 15 trad ers t rading in the selected ve getable crops were also int ervie wed . For the 100 farm ers int erv iewed, about 90% wer e males with onl y 10% bein g female s. On the other hand t he 75 trad ers int erviewed were all fem ales. A person al int erview was conducted with these s takeholders on the sel ect ed ve get able producti on, harvest and harvesti n g operati ons, stora ge practi ces, loss es incurred at the farm level, and mark eti ng of the produc e. Inform ati on was also obtained on pesti cide usage by farmers. Indivi duals were int erview ed in an att empt to get the respondents to ex plore his/ her knowledge and views in the area being studi ed. 3.3 Data Collection The questi onnair es were pre-tested with 10 farmer s at Ashaim an Irri gati on Project ar e a in the Adenta Municipalit y from October to November 2011. After th e pre-testin g ex ercise, the questi onnaires were refined with other information from previous surve ys . University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 60 The main focus was determi ning the post harvest loss es in cabba ge, tomato, pepper, okra and eggpl ant. Import ant information sought in the questi onnair e s included:  Personal profil es of resp ondents,  The diffe rent husband r y practi c es for the produ cti on of the tar get ve ge table crops,  How and whe re the y sto re their produ ce,  Extent and value of loss es  Factors responsi ble fo r loss es  Measures empl o ye d to control post harvest losses,  Types of pesti cides used, frequen c y of appli c ati on and spra yin g int ervals,  Dosage of chemi cal used,  Protecti ve measur es whil e spra yin g,  Disposal of pesti cide con tainers, and  Health harz ards. 3.3 Estimation of post harvest losses of some common vegetable crops grown in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The quanti t y harv est ed , esti mated loss and the value of loss for cabb age, pepp er, tomato, egg plant and ok ra were esti mated from s urve y data coll ected fro m th e farme rs. An avera ge of the esti mated loss stated by farme rs was calculated. The esti mated loss for cabba ge was calcul ated using number of heads, tomato b y 52 kg crate, while eggpl ant, okra and peppe r wer e cal culated usin g 50 kg as the stand ard wei ght. Va lu e of University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 61 loss in Ghana cedis was calculated b y the produ ct of the avera ge esti mated quanti t y lost and the unit price. Value of loss (GH¢) = avera ge esti mated loss x unit price of comm odit y 3.4 Analysis of pesticide residues in okra The typ es of equipm ent used for the residue anal ys is ar e lis ted in table 3.1. A kilogr am of okra s ampl e from fo ur farms in Weija, Ashaim an, Dawen ya and Atomic Energ y were t aken and s ent to the Pesti cide Residue Anal ysis Laborator y of the Ghan a Standard Authorit y. The anal yti c al methods for pesti cide residues i n foodstuffs, Gener al Inspecto rate fo r Health Inspe cti on, Ministr y of Public Health, Water and Sport, The Netherl ands, (1996 ) was used to detect and quanti f y the amount of pesti cides used during the ok ra cult ivatio n. Table 3.1 Types of equipments used Equipment Type Gas Chromat ogr aphy Varian CP - 3800 Gas Chromat ogr aphy wit h a CombiPAL Autosa mpl er and Elect ron Capture Detect or Analyt i cal col umn 30m + 10m EZ Guard x 0.25mm int er nal diamet er fuse d sili ca capil lar y coat ed wit h VF- 5Ps 0.25ȝP filP froP 9arian ,nc. or equi val ent Centri f uge Herml e Z 300, Jouan CR3i mult i f unati on Macerat or IKA Ultra Turrax homogen i zer General laborat or y glas sware Rounded bot tomed flas ks, vol umet r i c flasks, cent ri f uge tubes Water bat h Bibby, RE 200B and Buchi, B - 491 Extracti on jar 250ml capaci t y, Sampl e bott l e Prepar at i on equi pment Waring Laborat or y Blender Rotar y fil m e vapor at or (RFE) Bibby RE 200 and Buchi Ratovapor R - 210 Recirculati on chil ler Buchi, B - 740 Ultras oni c bat h Decon FS400b Vo rtex mixer Thermol yne (Maxi Mix - Plus) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 62 The repres entative sam ple was homogeniz ed with eth yl ac etate, anh ydrous sodi um sulph ate (Na ₂SO₄) and sodi um hydro gen carbo nate (NaHCO ₃) and the la yers wer e separat ed by centrifu gati on. An aliquot of eth yl acetat e phase was evapo rated down, and cle aned up on an ENVI-Carb/LC- NH₂ SPE cartrid ge (fo r OPs) and Florisi l SPE cartrid ge (OCs and SPs). The pesti cides were el uted from the cle anup colum n with eth yl acet ate. The eluate was con centrat ed and t ransferr ed int o GC vial. The ex tract was then anal ysed fo r mul ti residues by GC/PFPD (for OPs) and GC/ECD (for OCs and SPs). About 20 ± 0.1g of a su b sampl e from the prep a red matrix was wei ghed int o a sampl e bott le. 40 ± 0.2ml of eth yl acet ate was add ed and mace rated for 30 second s. Anh ydrous sodi um sulphate (20 ± 0.1g) and sodi um h yd ro ge n carbon ate (5 ± 0.1g) were also added and mace rated for 90 seconds. It was then centrifu ged at 3000 rpm for 5 mi nutes. Organophosphorus residues (OPs) About 10 ml (5.0 g) of the ali quot was pipetted into a 50 ml round -bott omed flask and evaporat ed to about 2 ml below 40 °C on a rota r y evaporato r. The ENVI-Carb/LC- NH₂, (500 mg/500 mg, 6 ml) cartrid ge was condit ione d with (10 ± 0.2 ml) of eth yl acetate. About 2 ml of the ex tract was loaded onto the cartridge and a 100 ml round bott omed flask was used to coll e ct the elu ate. The cartrid ge was elut ed with 10 ± 0.2 ml of eth yl acetat e and the filtrate concentrated to below 40 °C to approx im atel y 1 ± 0.2 ml on the rotar y ev apor ator just to dr yness. About 1ml of eth yl acet ate was used t o re - diss olve and transfe rred int o a gas chromato graph y (GC) vial for quanti tation b y GC-PFPD. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 63 Organochlorine residues (OCs) and Synthetic pyretroids (SPs) residues An aliquot of 4 ml (2.0 g) was pip ett ed int o a round -bott omed fl ask (50 ml) and eYaporated to about 2 Pl below 40 ƒ& on a rotary eYaporator. µ)lorisil’ 1000 Pg, 6 Pl cartrid ge was condi ti one d with 10 ± 0.2 ml of eth yl acetat e. The ex tract was loaded from 9.1 (2 ml) onto th e cartrid ge and the eluat e was coll ect ed int o a 100 ml round bott om flask. About 0.2 ml eth yl ac etate was elut ed in the cartrid ge and th e conc entrate filtrated below 40 °C to approx im atel y 1 ± 0.2 ml on the rotar y ev apo rator just to dr yn ess. It was re-diss o lved in eth yl acetate (1ml, standard opening vi al) prior to quanti tation using the Varian CP-3800 Gas Chromatogr aph y with a CombiPAL Autosampl er and Electro n Capture Detector (GC-ECD). Chromatographic conditions for organochlorine and synthetic pyrethroids pesticides The vari an CP-3800-ECD with a combiPAL aut osampl er was used with an anal yti c al colum n of 30m + 10m EZ Guard x 0.25mm internal diameter fused sil ica capil l ar y coated with VF- 5Ps 0.25ȝP filP froP 9arian ,nc. or eTuiYalent. The syrin ge was ex ami ned carefull y befo r e it was filled. A small amount of the liquid was slowl y drawn by raisi ng the plun ger and then pressed to ex pel the liquid back int o the liquid. Th is serYed to “rinse” the syringe with the saPple, ensuring that what was Peasured in the GC run was the compos it ion of the mix ture. The rinsing pro cess was repe ated twic e in order to remove an y con taminants. Then the plunge r was slowl y dr awn up again while the needle was in the liquid and the s yrin ge wa s care full y filled with the liq uid. The sampl e was inj ected int o the inj ector port. Two things wer e done s eq uenti all y and quickl y. The needle of th e s yrin ge was pushed thr ough th e inj ector pot and immediatel y the plunger was press ed t o inj ect the sampl e. The injector in the gas chrom a tograph was University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 64 set at spli t mode at a temperature of 270 °C. Then immediatel y the start butt on on the record er was press ed. The oven was set at 70 °C/ 2min 25°C/min 180°C/1min 5°C/m in 300°C. The detector -ECD was also set to a temper ature of 300°C. A const ant flow of nit rogen gas was passed through at 1ml/min. The record er was observ ed fo r some time. Within several minutes, it recorded s ever al peaks and the GC run was ende d. Chromatographic conditions for organophosphorus pesticides. The same procedu re was rep eated for or ga nophosphorus pesti cide but the gas chromato graph used was the varian CP-3800 GC-PFPD with a combiPAL autosampl er with an anal yti cal colu mn of 30m x 0.25mm internal diamet er fused sil ica capil lar y coated with VF- 1701Ps 0.25ȝP filP froP 9arian ,nc. or eTuiYalent. 7he tePperature of the oven was at 70 °C/min and held at 25 °C for 1min then at 200 °C/1min and held at 20 °C/min and 250 °C. The detector -PFPD was also set to a temperatur e of 280 °C. Nitrogen gas of const ant flow was passed ove r at 1ml/min. Air 1; H ₂ and Air 2 were appli ed at a flow rate of 17, 14 and 10, respe cti vel y. The recorde r was observed fo r some time. Within several minutes, it recorded several peak s and the GC run was ended. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 65 CHAPTER FOUR RESULTS 4.0 Education status of Vegetable crop farmers and traders The edu cati onal status of the vegetable farmers and retail tr aders in t able 4.1 indi cates that about 15% of far mers and 18 % of the traders int ervi ewed hav e not formal educati on . Overall, onl y 5% had educati o n up to terti ar y lev el, about 30% farmers and 17% trade rs had att end ed Senior hi gh school whi le half of th e farme rs (50%) and traders (35%) had basic educati on that is, primary and juni or high school. Also about 4 % of the trad ers had oth er forms of educati on fro m caterin g and comm erci al schools. Table 4.1: Educational status of farmers and traders Educational level Percentage of Farmers Percentage of Traders Primar y 17% 9% JHS 33% 26% SHS 30% 17% Tertiar y 4 % 1% Islamic Educati on 1% - Commercial/caterin g school - 4 % No formal edu cati on 15% 18 % Total 100% 100% 4.1 Area under cultivation Although the stud y area comprised of farms in peri urban and urb an in nature and as such difficult in accessi n g farm land, 57% of the farmers had between 1-2 acres of land devoted to farmin g (Fig. 4.1). Other ran ge of land siz es under cult ivation were 3.4 acre s (9%), 5 acres and abov e (7%) and with 27% of farmers cult ivatin g less th a n an acr e of land. The aver a ge l and under cult ivation b y parti cipating farm ers was 1.50, 2.25, 2.15, 2.50 and 2.20 acres for cabba ge, pepper, eggplant, tomato and okra, respec ti vel y. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 66 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% less than 1 acre 1-2 acres 3-4 acres 5 acres and above 27% 57% 9% 7% P e r c e n t a g e ( %) Figure 4.1: Range of land siz es under veget able crop cult ivat ion The vegetabl e crops cult i vated included both the l ocal and ex oti c t ypes. About 56% of farmers grew the loc al varieti es and 39% cul ti vated the ex oti c t ypes (Fig. 4.2). Howeve r, 5% grew both the ex oti c and the local vegetable crops. Gener a ll y, majorit y of the cabba ge farme rs prefe rred the ox ylus, pepper farme rs most l y grew Lego n 18, bird eye and chil li t yp es. Eggplant va rieti es prefe rred were the pink rava ya and white while tom ato varieti es grown included pectom ec t, raw stone, navron go, and a loc al variet y kno wn as fiton yapio. Most okra farmers refer re d to their variet y as the earl y t ype (i.e. Asontem and kontembrantem). Figure 4.2: Type of vegetable crops grown by farmers University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 67 4.2 Source of planting materials Among the vegetable cro p farmers int erview ed, ab out 44% of them obtained their seeds from re gist ered seed retailers e. g. Agrima rt. Informati on obtained also reveal ed that 24% of farmers produ ce d their own seeds from previous harvest while 18% obtained seeds from fell ow friends with onl y 6% from MoFA (Table 4.2). Table 4.2: Sources of planting material for farmers Source Percentage Friends 18 % Mo FA 6% Own Seed 24 % Agric Shop 44 % Exporters 2% Agric Shop & Own Seed 2% Own Seeds & Exporters 2% Friends & Agroshop 1% Famil y 1% Total 100% 4.3 Harvesting of vegetable crops From the surve y, all the farmers empl o yed manu al methods for harvesti ng. Amon g the various manual metho ds empl o yed in harv esti ng, the use of hand twis ti ng (67%), knife cutt ing (22%) and cutl ass (7%) (Table 4.3) were popular. Manual ha rves ti ng such as hand twist ing and knife cutt ing incre ases post harvest loss es through bruising, and transfer of disease infecti on. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 68 Table 4.3 Manual methods for harvesting vegetable crops Harvesting method Percentage (%) b y knife cutt ing 22 by hand twis ti n g 67 Cutlass 7 by blad e cutt ing 2 Knife and han d twis ti ng 2 Total 100 Harvesti n g of veget able crops b y the farmers was usuall y don e in the mornings and evenin gs with about 28% harv esti ng at an y tim e of the da y. Majorit y of the farmers (8 6%) harv ested and sold all their produce on the farm, 7% repr esenti ng a part of pepper farme rs sold the fresh green pepp er and temporaril y proc essed (boili ng and dr yin g) the ripe ones and stored them for the mar ket. The othe r 7% of th e farmers sent produce to the ma rket aft er harv esti ng (Fig. 4.3). Figure 4.3 Sale of harvested vegetable crops 4.4 Farmers ability to identify pest Among the comm on insect pests identified by respondents included worms, the diamondback mot h, cate r pil lars, aphids and white flies. About 99% of farmers had ex perienced pest proble ms on their farms which caused various fo rms of dama ge to th e vegetable crops. Some of the damage caused b y th e pests included feedin g and creati ng University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 69 holes in the leav es and fru it s, feedin g on th e ste m, sucking s ap from frui t, leaves and stem causing them to shrink and wilt . Some of the pests destro y flow ers which prevent fruit ing of crop, cause discolourati on of fruit s and leaves, stunt ed growth and death of the plant. Most farm ers also identified disease problems and were able to determi ne whether it was fun gi, bac teria, nematodes and viru ses. They mentioned dise ases such as leaf curl, earl y and lat e bli ght and root knot. Some of the farme rs indi cated that weather condit ions als o caused disease to their ve getable crops. On the othe r ha nd a few of them could not identif y which diseases att acked t heir produc e. 4.5 Estimating postharvest losses at farmer and trader levels Postharvest loss is a maj or problem ex perienc ed by farm ers. About 83% acknowled ged the fact that post ha rvest was a problem. Table 4.4 shows the qu anti t y of each ve getable harvested, quanti t y lost and the value of loss incurred b y farme rs . The per centa ge loss at the harvesti n g op erat ion was about 13% for cabb a ge, 12% for pep per, 1% for eggpl ant, 20% for tom ato and 13% for ok ra. The value of loss b y farmers was comput ed using the product of esti mated and the cost of produce which result ed in Gh¢ 600, Gh¢300, Gh¢30, Gh¢360 and Gh¢210 for cabba ge, pepp er, egg plan t, tom ato and okra, resp ecti vel y. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 70 Table 4.4: Estimation of postharvest losses of selected vegetable crops Vegetable Type/Unit Average area cultivated in acres N=20 Average Quantity produced N=20 Average Estimated loss N=20 Cost per unit (GH¢) Value of loss (GH¢) % Estimated loss to quantity produced Cabbage/ Heads 1.50 3100 400 1.5 600 12.90 Pepper/ 50 kg bag 2.25 34 4 75 300 11.76 Egg plant/ 50 kg bag 2.15 84 0.50 60 30 0.60 Tomatoes/Crates 52 kg 2.50 20 4 90 360 20 Okra/ 50 kg bag 2.20 23 3 70 210 13.04 The mag nitu d e of lo sses acc ord in g to th e farm er s in te rv i ew ed depended on the nature of the commodit y, the condition of the pr o d u c e at t h e t i m e of col l e c ti o n, dis t a n c e tr a v e ll e d an d th e nature of the road network. Table 4.5 shows th e percent a ge of post harv es t loss es incurred b y veget able retail traders. About 14% for cabba ge, 6% of peppe r, 9% of tom ato and 9% of okra were lost by the trad ers. These are valued at GH¢36, GH¢13.2, GH¢18 and GH¢14.5 for cabba ge, pepp er, tomato and okra, resp ecti vel y. Loss of eggplant was insi gnificant due to its abil it y to maint ain its freshness til l it is sol d to consum ers. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 71 Table 4.5: Loss incurred by vegetable traders Vegetable Type/Unit Average Quantity purchased N=1 5 Average Estimated loss N=1 5 Cost per unit (GH¢) Value of loss (GH¢) % Estimated loss to quantity produced Cabbage/ Heads 125 18 2 36 14.4 Pepper/50kg bag 2 0.12 110 13.2 6 Egg pl ant/50kg bag 2 - 80 - - Tomatoes/Crates (52kg) 2 0.18 100 18 9 Okra/50kg bag 2 0.17 85 14.5 8.5 Causes of the loss es duri ng tradin g wer e att ribute d to the following;  Cabbage: Rotting of fruits.  Pepper: Rotting of fruits, wilt ing and shrinkin g.  Tomato: Rotting and cru shing of fruit.  Okra: Rotting of fruit, wilti ng and shrinkin g. 4.6 Pesticide use 4.6.1 Pesticide use pattern of vegetable crop farmers Due to the pest and disease att ack, 95% of farmer s appli ed pesti cides to control insects and diseas es that att a cke d their ve getable crops (Fig 4.4). The major reas on of farmers prefe rrin g pesti cides to other plant pr otecti on measures was the rapid knock down effe ct of pesti cides against the pest. The chemi cals used included fungicid es, insecti cides and herbici des. Onl y a few farme rs (5%) practi ce th e in tegr ated pest mana gement method. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 72 0% 50% 100% Y e s No 9 5 % 5 % P e r c e n t a g e % Response of farmers Figure 4.4 Response of farmers to pesticide use Table 4.6 shows that farmers using fun gicides and insecti cides reco rd e d the highest percent a ge of (47%) of the tot al farmers int er viewed. Some of the farmers use d insecti cides, fun gicides and herbicid es indepe nd entl y while oth ers comb ined two or more chemi cals to contr ol insect pests, diseases and weeds. The comm on pesti cides used by th e farmers are i ndicated in Table 4.7. Table 4.6 Types of pesticides used by vegetable crop farmers Type of pesticide Frequency Percentage (%) Insecti cides 29 31 Fungicides 3 3 Fungicide and Insecti cid e 45 47 Insecti cides & herbicides 5 5 Insecti cide, Fungicide & herbicide 10 11 IPM 3 3 Total 95 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 73 Table 4.7 Examples of some pesticides applied by vegetable crop farmers Insecticides Fungicides Herbicides Imidac l opr id (Auntie Ataa) Agrithene Glyphoci te Acetami pri d (Golan) Furadan Round up Emamec t i n benzoat e (Attack) Bendazi m Ejumawura Cyper met hr i n (Cydim Super/ cymet hoat e Super) Shavet Paraquat Deltapaz (Deltamet hri n) Topsi n Diazinon (Diazol) Sulphur 80 Chlorpyri f os (Dursba n) Mancozeb Master Victor y The surve y indi c ated tha t farmers spra yed more frequentl y durin g the major than the minor season. Climate condit ions such as high relative humi dit y and frequ e nt rainfall in some part s of the year render pesti cides in eff ec ti ve as pesti cides on th e surf ace of leaves mi ght be wash ed awa y. Time of spra yin g is essential sinc e it al so affe cts the effic ac y of the ch emi cals . About 45% of farmers usuall y sp ra yed earl y i n t he mornin g, 12% in the evenin g, and 39% either in the morning or evenin g and the re maining 4% spra yed at an y time of the da y. 39% 12% 4% 45% early morning morning or evening evening anytime of the day Fig. 4.5 Time of spraying of chemicals University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 74 4.6.2 Spraying frequency and pre-harvest intervals Most (85%) farme rs spra ye d their crops throu gho ut the growth period till harvest. The interval ran ge from eve r y th ree da ys, twice a day, eve r y week and eve r y t wo weeks being the max im um dura ti on at which these chem icals wer e appli ed. About 15% of the farmers ap pli ed chemi c a ls after emer genc e or during t ranspl anti n g and subsequentl y spra yed on the presen ce of an ins ect or a dis ease att ack. Generall y, farme rs per ceive d that short spra yin g int e rv als served as prev enti ve measures. Okra farmers most l y har vested at 3 days int erval s but the overall pre -har vest int erval ran ged from three (3) days to 3 weeks aft er spra yi ng. 4.6.3 Knowledge on correct quantity of pesticides to apply Vegetable crop farm ers int erviewed most l y receiv ed information on pesti cides from the Agricult ural Extension Agents befor e ap pl yin g the pesti cides. Table 4.8 shows that 34% of farme rs indi cate d that their knowledge on the precise quanti t y was obtained from MoFA staf f, 31% from pesti cide dealers an d 6% of frame rs obtaine d information from fellow farmers. Table 4.8: Knowledge on correct quantity of pesticides to apply Sources of Knowledge Frequency Percentage (%) MoFA Staff 32 34 Pesti cide dealer 29 31 Label of cont ainer 28 29 Other farmers 6 6 Total 95 100 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 75 4.6.4 Effect of pesticides on human health Majorit y (87%) of the 100 farme rs claimed kno wing the harmful eff ects of pesti cides on human he alt h. Some of the kno wn effe cts stat ed b y farme rs includ ed s kin irrit ati on, impaired sight l eadin g to bli ndness, impot ence, cancer, poisonin g, h eart att ack and even death. 13% 87% N o eff ec t H ar mf u l ef fec t Figure 4.6: Farmers perception on the effect of pesticides on human health In view of the harmful nature of pesti cides durin g spra yin g, farmers were asked of the t ype of prot ecti ve clot hing worn wh en spr a yin g. Table 4.9 indi c ates that m ore than half of the farmers int ervi ewed were aw are of the healt h impli cati ons of gett in g contaminated with the pesti cides, 41% of the 95 respondents using pesti ci des put on a compl ete prote cti ve clot h ing (overall, well ington b oots, nose mask, go ggles and gloves) during pesti cide appli cat ion, 50% combi ned at least two or more protec ti ve ge ar to partiall y prote ct themsel ves while 9% wea r nor mal clot hing without well ington boots or other prote cti ve clot hing. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 76 Table 4.9: Protective clothing worn during spraying Type of protective clothing Frequency Percentage (%) Overall and well ington b oots 19 20 Overall /Wellington boot s/nos e mask/go ggles/ glov es 28 30 Overall,well in gton boots, nose mask,goggl es,gloves (all) 39 41 No ne 9 9 4.6.5 Labour and pesticide application All the farmers used kn a psack spra ye rs to appl y pesti cides. The farmers used various volum es of insecti cid es and quanti ti es of fun gicid es with 15litres of wat er per knaps ack when appl yin g pesti cide s to their ve getable cro p. In te rms of pesti cide appli cati on, about 84% appli ed the pesti cides by th emselve s, 11% hired the se rvic es of skil led labour whiles 5% perfo r med both self appli c ati on and the se rvices of sk il led labour (Table 4.10). Table 4.10: Source of labour for pesticide application Response Frequency Percentage (%) Self 80 84 Skilled labour 10 11 Self and skill ed labour 5 5 Total 95 100 4.6.6 Disposal of pesticide containers After spr a yin g, the comm on practi ce b y farmers was to burn, burr y, thr ow a wa y or leave empt y pesti cide containers in their farms. About 17% of the farm ers burr y th e University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 77 empt y pesti cide containers, 35% burn, 25% lea ve containe rs on th e far m and 10% throw them awa y. About 8% of the farmers eit he r burn or bu r y while 5% burn or leave on farm (Table 4.11). Table 4.11: Disposal of pesticide containers by farmers Disposal of pesticide containers Frequency Percentage (%) Bu ry 16 17 Burn 34 35 leave on farm 25 25 throw awa y 10 10 bu ry or burn 7 8 b urn or leav e on farm 4 5 4.7 Insecticide residues in okra The ch emi cal compoun ds detect ed in the sam pled okra produ ce and their residu a l levels are shown in tabl e 4.12. Fenitrothion and Endrin residues wer e detected in the okra fruit an al ysed from Weija. Detected compo und anal ysed from okra sampl e from $shaPan was Endrin. )enYalerate, P,P’ -DDE, Profeno fo s, Endrin and Alpha- Endosulfan residues wer e identified in the okra s ampl es anal yz ed from Atomic Energ y. )enYalerate, P,P’ -DDE, Methamidophos, Endrin, Lambda -c yh alot hrin and Alpha - Endosulfan residue lev el s were detected in the ok ra sampl es an al yz ed fro m Dawen ya. The limi t of Detecti on (LOD) for or ganochlori nes, organophosphorus and s ynthetic pyr ethroids wer e 0.005 mg/k g, 0.010 mg/k g and 0.010 mg/kg, respecti vel y. Thes e wer e withi n minim um all owable ran ge harmless to human healt h. Samples of okra from Weija, Ashaman, Atomic and Dawen ya were withi n their various MRLs. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 78 Table 4.12: Detected compounds on Pesticide Residue Analysis of Okra Test Code Tests Conducted Locati on Unit Result s Specificati on (EU MRLs for okra AEN Alpha - Endosulfan Atomic, Dawen ya Mg/k g <0.01 0.05 END Endrin Weija, Atomic Ashaim an, Dawen ya Mg/k g <0.01 0.01 FEN Fenitrothion Weija Mg/k g <0.01 0.01 FEV Fenval erate Atomic , Dawen ya Mg/k g <0.01 0.02 Lambd a - c yh alot hrin Alph a - Endosulfan Dawen ya Mg/k g <0.01 0.03 MEH Methamidop hos Dawen ya Mg/k g <0.01 0.01 PDE P,P’ - DDE Atomic , Dawen ya Mg/k g <0.01 0.05 PRO Profenofos Atomic Mg/k g <0.01 0.05 Source: Laboratory test results, GSA, 2012 University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 79 CHAPTER FIVE DISCUSSION 5.1 Farmers demographics and farming characteristics The result s obtained fro m field surve y indi cat ed that the literac y rate of th e farme rs was low. Most of the farmers had onl y up to Junior High School educati on (50%), typical of educati onal status of far mers in developi ng coun tries like Ghana (WHO, 2000). Their source of info rmation is most often au gment ed b y ex tension personnel fro m Minist r y of Food and Agricult ur e es peciall y with regards to their farmin g practi ces. Neverthel ess, the pres ence of senior high s chool and terti a r y ed ucati on amon g th e farme rs improved the effe cti veness of farm er to farmer knowled ge s haring. Due to lack of educati on and traini ng on reco rd keepi ng, farme rs do not keep records on th eir farming ope rati ons such as the quanti t y of fruit harvest and post harvest loss es incurred. They also did not follow the recomm end ed dosage and appli ed pesti cides at an y sta ge of the crop. Ngowi (2003) report ed that ye ars of ex perien ce i n farming could increas e producti vit y and a bett er unde rstand ing of farmin g acti vit ies. Due to limi ted land most of the farmers en ga ged in small scale farmin g. Farm sizes ran ged betwe e n 1 to 2 acres or 0.4 to 0.8 ha, th e acre a ge cr opped in the dr y season is usuall y ver y sm all (MoFA, 2011). Vegetable crops gro wn included both local and ex oti c varieti es to meet market demands t ypical of urb an markets with var yin g de mand for dif fer ent t ypes of veget able crops. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 80 5.2 Source of Planting Materials Decisi ons on seed sour c e are sh aped b y pric e an d perceiv ed quali t y. Farmers will not invest in off- farm s eed if the costs are high. Farm ers usin g their own se ed do not incur transacti on costs (Bock ari-Ku gbei, 1994; Tripp, 1997). About 42% of the farmers obtained their s eeds fro m certified s eed shops; 24% used their own s ee ds while 18% acq uired seeds from frie nds. It had been reporte d that most farmers in Sub -Saharan Africa do not bu y se eds but the y s ave thei r own or obtain them from oth er farmers. The major reasons assi gned to thi s sit uati on are agr onomi c and economi c viz : the saved variet y is the best suit ed to the local soi l and cli ma te and it saves mone y (Anon., 2001). 5.3 Harvesting of vegetable crops About 72% of farmers usuall y harvested their ve get able crops eit he r in th e mornin g or evenin g or both . Thomp son (2005) stated that harv esti n g shoul d be don e durin g th e coolest time of the da y, which is usuall y in the earl y mornin g. Thompson (2005) also said the produc e shoul d be handled gentl y to prevent skin breaks, bruises, spot s, rots, deca y, and other dete riorati on. Successful post har vest handli n g of vegetable crops requires care ful coordin ati on and int egr ati on of the various steps from harvesti ng operati ons to consum er l evel in orde r to maintain the ini ti al product quali t y (Sargent et. al., 2007). Sharma and Singh (2000) and Kader (2002) reported tha t harvesti n g practi ces dete rmine the ex tent of variabil it y in maturit y and ph ysic al inj uries. Physi cal inj uries lead to acceler at ed loss of wate r and vit a mi n C and increased sus cepti bil it y to deca y b y fun gi o r patho gens during stor a ge. Harvesti n g is don e manu all y; hen ce the ha rveste r s have a major influenc e on produc e quali t y (Acedo, 2010). Accordin g to a repo rt by Statist ics, Resear ch an d Information University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 81 Director ate (SRID), MoFA, (2011), the main s yste m of farmin g in Ghan a is tradit ional. In th e surv e y, about (75%) of the respondents empl o yed most l y visual observati on and about (7%) used hand feel of produc e to deter mi ne the maturit y of veget able crops before harvesti n g. Acco rding to Egyir et. al., (2008) most growe rs dec ide when to harvest b y l ookin g and sampl ing fruits based on s ight - colour, siz e and s hape , t ouch - tex ture, hardness or softness , smell - odour or aroma, t ast e - swe etnes s, sourness, bitterness and r eson ance - sound when tapped. Farme rs stated that the re was litt le mechaniz ed farming and th e main farming tool s ar e hoe and cutl a s s, but bull ock farming is practi c ed in some places, espe ciall y in the North. From the stud y the manual methods of harvesti ng ve getable crops were the us e of knife, cutl ass, blade and hand twist in g. Tomato, egg pla nt and pepp er were often hand twist ed; cabba ge by th e use of cutl ass or hand twist ing and okra was harv ested using knives or blad e. Farme r usuall y sort ed or grad ed harv ested produ ce using pa ramet ers such siz e, colour, shape, ph ysical blemis h, weight and tex ture of fru it (firmness). Sortin g is usuall y don e to separate poor produc e from good produce (Bautista and Acedo, 1987). Sorting or gr ading coupled with appropriate pack a gin g and stora ge, will ex tend shelf life, maintain wholesomeness, freshness, and qu ali t y, and subst anti all y redu c e loss es and marketi ng costs . 5.4 Storage and marketing of vegetable crops Storage as appli ed to fre sh fruit and vegetabl e cr ops is defined by the FAO (2000) as holdi ng fresh fruit and vegetable crops under con trolled condit ion. Accord ing to Kad er (2002), if produc e is to be stored, it is important to begin with a hi gh qu ali t y produ ct. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 82 Howeve r, farm ers do not have adequ ate stora ge facil it ies to reduce loss es. There is also the lack of capit al to ena ble farm ers to acquire an d use cold stora ge facil it ies even when avail able. Many grow ers depend on alm ost dail y s ales for their incomes an d hence ma y not store their produ ce. This ma y be true sin ce majorit y of farm ers int er viewed did not store produce but send them to the market aft er harvesti ng. The processe d peppers were stored betw een 3 mont hs to a year. Unav ail ab il it y of read y market caused 7% of farmers to send thei r prod uce to the ma rket imme diatel y after harvest or the nex t da y. The vegetable crops gro wn ar e sold on the loca l market and ex ported as well . 5.5 Pest and disease problems About 99% and 79% of respondents int ervie we d respecti vel y en counter ed pest and disease problems. Accor ding to MoFA (2011), several inse ct pests and diseases att ack cabba ge, peppe r, okra, egg pla nt and tomato. Aphids, whitefli es, diamondback mot h and gr a sshoppers wer e the most devastating insect pests identified by farme rs. Bine y (2001) also reported that to mato farme rs identified the varie gated gr asshopper, aphids, whitefli es and mol e cri ckets among their pests . The whitefl y, Bemisia tabaci prior to 1990 was not recorded in an y Ghanaian publi cati on as a pest of vegetables; how ever, it is now reputed to be the m ost important insect pests of vegetabl es in the countr y (Oben g - Ofori, 1998). They have becom e important due to the misuse of insecti cides on tom atoes, cabba ge, okra and peppers (Critchle y, 1995). Both farmers and retail trad ers described the nature of loss in terms University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 83 of wei ght loss, presen ce of insects, and dest ructi on by rod ents/ birds, rot ti ng of fruit s, wilt ing and shrinkin g, microbial or diseas e infe cti on, spill age and bo rin g by insects. 5.6 Estimated post harvest losses at farmer and trader levels Postharvest loss es var y greatl y amon g comm odit ies and producti on ar eas and seasons. In the United States, the loss es of fresh fruit and vegetable crop s are esti mated to range from 2- 23%, depending on the comm odit y, with an overall avera ge of about 12% loss es between produ cti on and consum pti on sites (Cappell ini and Ceponis, 1984). For farmers, post harv est loss was quanti fied and calculated as a perc enta ge based on tot al harvested produ ce. For ret ail ers, loss was esti mated as th e diff ere nce betwee n quanti t y pu rch ased and quanti t y sold in relation to tot al quanti t y purch ased. To obtain a value of loss ex perienced, actual loss pe r unit was mul ti pli ed with the preva il ing sell ing price (Abdull ah, 2002). Loss data also varies because of dif fer ent methods used to assess losses and the methods are rarel y report ed (Anon ymous, 2006; Kader, 2002). About half of the loss es are due to ph ysic al inj uries and improper handl ing durin g stora ge, and dist ributi on (Cortez, 2002). An esti mated post harv est loss of highl y perishable pro duce such as fruit, veget able crops an d root crops in developi ng countr ies can be as high as 50% (Thomas, 2005) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 84 Farmers and trad ers bot h incurr ed post ha rvest l osses durin g post harv est handli ng of vegetable crops. As mu ch as 600 heads of cabb age were lost in an av er age of 3100 heads harvested. Such loss does not onl y affe ct farmer inco me but nutrit ional status of the ave ra ge Ghan aian. A fifth of tom ato goes waste in the hands of the farmer s indi cati ng hu ge post ha r vest loss befor e it gets i n the hands of the trade r and then th e consum er. Over 10% of loss es were record ed in pepper and ok r a. The esti mated loss in egg plant thou gh minim al cannot be underv a lued in view of its nu triti onal and economi c value. Similarl y, a surv e y cond ucted b y Egyir et. al., (2008) showed an over all loss level of 15 percent esti mated for ve get able crops with ap p r ox im atel y 21 percent an d 14 percent esti mated loss of tom ato and onion respecti vel y in the major season. They also reported an es ti mated los s perc enta ge of 30% and 13% in the minor seaso n . Vegetabl e crops loss es occur red m ost during harvesti ng, tr anspor tation, storage an d gradin g and sorting. Using household consum pti on as a basis for catego riz ati on, a 2009 nation -wide Food Securit y and Vulne rabil it y Anal ysis of Ghan a confirmed th at there are curr entl y 1,200,000 million food insecure people in Ghana an d an addit iona l 2,007,000 vulnerable to food insec urit y. It is the poor that are most vulnerable to food insecurit y. All households in Ghana rel y on the mark et to so me de gr ee to meet their food ne eds. Howeve r, a significant proporti on of Ghanaian household s in rural and urban locali ti es produce some of th e fo od the y consum e. For these households, hun ger is frequ entl y associated to lack of food due to postharvest loss es (MoFA, 2007). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 85 From the result s, about 15-20% or more of pos tharvest loss es were inc urred in th e target ve getables ex cept egg plant whi ch had a subst anti all y lowe r los s due to its hardness and low moi sture content. If such loss es are reclaimed b y me a ns of proper post harvest mana gement, it will not onl y help in solvi ng the food securit y problem s but will also improve the he a lt h and income of farmer s. Such high post h arvest loss requires urgent measur es b y gove rnment and all stakehold ers conc erned. Some strategi es proposed to reduce post ha rvest losses in vegetable crops i nclude:  Harvesting of produce at proper maturit y stage  Rough ha n d l i n g sho u l d be avo i d e d to re d u c e ph ysical damage  Suit ab l e pa c k a gi n g s h o u ld be i nt r o d u c e d t o red u c e all t ypes of ph ysical damage  Markets should be improved by building appropriate ma r ket st all s wit h stor a ge facil it i es and pro p er ventilation  The far m e rs an d tr a d e rs s h o u l d be ed u c a t e d on pr op e r packaging, packing and handling techniques  The pub l ic s ho uld be encour a ged to acc ep t processed agricultural products. This will reduce the percentages of loss es that occur between tr a n s p o rt i n g to th e m ar k e t by far m e rs, who l es a l e rs an d ret a i l e rs.  The use of approp riate postharvest mana gement procedur es that will slow down deteriorati on and m aint ain qualit y and sa fet y of th e comm odit ies. Kader (2002) argu ed tha t it is im possi ble and uneconomi cal to compl et el y eli mi nate post harvest loss es but it is possi ble and desirable to reduc e them b y 50%. Minimi zing University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 86 post harvest loss es of food that has alread y bee n produced is more sust ainable and environmentall y sound th an incre asing producti on areas to compensate for t hese loss es. 5.7 Pesticide use pattern of vegetable farmers in Ghana In gener al, pest pr essure was more pronoun ced in the major wet se ason than in the minor wet and the dr y se asons. Chemical pesti cides were the most i mportant agents for controll ing pests and di seases (Gerken et. al., 2001). Dinham (2003) esti mated that 87% of farme rs in Ghana use chemi cal pesti cides to control pests and diseases on vegetable crops. In th e present stud y about 95% of the farme rs appl ied chemi cal pesti cides to control pests and diseases. The farmers assum ed that the only solut ion to pest is to spra y frequen tl y. Pesti cides us ed in agricult ure in tropical countries like Ghana had been inst ru mental in redu cin g crop loss es both be fore and afte r ha rvest (Clarke et al., 1997). The high depend enc e on pesti cide b y these farmers is an indi cati on that the y are not aware of other pest ma nagement strate gi es that are effe cti ve, inex pensive and yet frie ndl y to the environment. Pest managem ent strategi es include int ercroppin g (Abate et al . 2000), proper till age t ype, crop rotati on and the use of biol ogical pesti cides su c h as neem and Bt. Most comm onl y used pe sti cides are insecti cides, fungicides and herbicides. Insecti cides were the most used because in sect pests were the most serious problem in vegetabl e producti on in the stud y area. This was followed by fun gicides usa ge, indi cati ng th at fungal att acks rank ed se cond to insect pests . Herbicides wer e least in use probabl y because weedin g could easil y be don e manuall y by deplo yin g comm unit y members. A University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 87 surve y condu cted in vege table growin g areas in Ghana identified lindane, unden, kar ate and dit hane as the most used pesti cides by vege table gro wers (Amengo r and Tetteh, 2008). A stud y b y Amoako (2010), indi ca ted that thi rt y - eight (38) out of the fort y - nin e (49) farmers int ervi ewed, rep resenti n g 77.6% spra ye d in the mornings (6am - 11am). The remaining eleven (11) far mers, repr esenti ng 22.4% spra yed in the evenin gs (4pm - 6pm). None of the farmers spr a ye d in the af ternoons (12noon - 3pm) . Accordin g to Jiang and Pearce, (2005) res ear ch has shown that ve getabl es harv est time of da y could aff ect quali t y. In gene ral, harv e sti ng during the cool est time of the day (e. g. earl y morning) is desirable ther efor e the time of the da y when ha r vesti ng is done also af fe cts produce quali t y and shelf life. However, harvesti n g later in the day has an adde d advanta ge because su gar levels wer e found to be high er as a result of photos ynthesi s during the day 2’+are et al ., 2001). 5.8 Use of protective clothing The need fo r compl ete protecti ve clot hing when spra yin g cannot be ov er emphasised (Rosenber g, 1990). The main protecti ve m aterial s mentioned b y the farmers were the following: lon g sleev ed s hirts, long trouse rs, well i ngton boots, glov es, go ggles, ov erall, and nose mask. About 9% of the farme rs did not use personal protect ive clot hing during spra yin g of pest icides. Their reasons were that the protecti ve clot hing was ex pensive and are un co mfortable to use under t he prevail in g hot and hum id cli matic condit ions. This confirms the findings of Clark e et al., (1997). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 88 Accordin g to Kumar (2007 ), some healt h eff ect s of pesti cides include, chronic liver dama ge, cir rhosis and chronic hepati ti s, endocri ne, immune suppressi on, cyto genic effe cts, po l ynuriti s, blood dysca riasis, aller gic dermati ti s , lung canc er, and kidne y infecti on . It also has chr onic neurobeh avioural effects like pe rsist ent hea daches, blur visi on, unusual fati gue or muscle weakness, and problem with mental functi ons including memor y, con ce ntrati on, depressi on and i rrit abil it y . There is the need to enc oura ge farmers to put on appropriate protecti ve cl othi ng when spra yin g pesti cides. Health and environmental problems cannot be i solated from economi c conc erns due t o the fact that inco r rect pesti cide use result s not onl y in actua l yield loss but also in health, air and water pollution. 7he problePs of farPers’ health shoul d be an important concern for poli c y ma kers when addressi n g t he economi c efficien c y of crops. Earlier studi es b y Aghasi et al., (2010), reve aled that farmers who us e pesti cides without full understanding of th eir impact on hu man healt h and the envi ronment risk not onl y their he alt h but the economi c stabili t y of t heir fami l y at lar ge. Humans get int o contact with pesti cides, through pesti cide appli c ati on, weeding, pruning, harvesti ng, and residues in vegetabl e crops or in house spr a yi n g to kil l mosq uit oes, cockroa ches, fleas and flies. Storing pesti cides ma y lead to acute and/or chronic ex posures, with adverse healt h im pli cati on in developi ng countries . Aghasi et. al., (2010) further ar gu ed that alt hough the inhalati on, dermal and or al rout es of ex posure ar e the m ost comm on, pesti cide residues in fo od and wate r ma y add to indi rect ex posures co mm on in the gen eral populati on. Ill healt h ma y af fe ct the overall performan ce and the producti vit y University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 89 of the fami l y farm since labour input in agricult ure is normall y suppl ied by households especiall y in small -holde r agricult ure in d evelopi n g countri es ( Ajayi, 2000 ). A 2008 stud y of vege tables farme rs in sout hern and central re gions of Ghana, conducted fo r the US-based Internati onal Food Polic y Research Insti tut e, found that 69 per cent farmers su rve ye d had ex per ien ced bu rning s ensati ons on their skin, 47 per cen t had ex perienced he ada ch es after appli cati on, 39 per cent reported itch y or water y e ye s and thi rd had ex perienc e d both dizz iness and brea thi ng difficulti es. Aroun d 28 per cent of farme rs stated that the y had sought medic al att enti on at least once (Horna et al., 2008). Aside the healt h risk inv olved with pesti cide use, the manne r in which far mers dispo se insecti cides and th eir packa ges can hav e pe rsonal, publi c and environ mental healt h impli cati ons (Clarke, 2008). 5.9 Knowledge on correct quantity of pesticides The Agricult ural Exten sion Agents of th e Ministr y of Food Agricult ure (MoFA) provide farmers with th e technic al knowled ge on the appli cati on of pesti cides. The Ghana Agricult ur al Association Busine ss Infor mation Centre (GAABIC) organise periodic traini n g pro gra mm es for agricult ural in put dealers conc ernin g pesti cides use among other farmin g pr acti ces. Such input deal ers in turn pass on thi s knowledge to farmers wh en making purchase of input s such as pesti cides. Knowledge of the right quanti t y of pesti cide to use throu gh input deal ers repres ents about 31% of farme rs int erviewed. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 90 The surve y rev ealed that farmers did not follow the recomm end ed appli ca ti on rate by manufactur es as report e d by oth er work e rs (Biney, 2001 ). Yen et al., (1999) reported that application rates e[ceeded Panufacturers’ recoPPendation as well as the recomm ended pre - harYest interYals after pesticide application. Most farPers’ sprayed chemi cals throu ghout th e growin g season, betw een 3 da ys to 2 weeks int erval. A simil ar stud y on cabb a ge conducted b y Amoako (2010) showed that the frequen c y of spra yin g depended on t he t ype and the dos a ge of pesti cides used. Those who used recomm ended pesti cides and ri ght dosa ge pr escr ibed by agricult ur al ex tension agents for cont rollin g inse ct pes ts in their cabba ge fi elds appli ed pesti cides less fr equentl y (1 - 2 weeks int erval) than tho se who used non recom mended pesti cides who spra yed more frequentl y (3 - 4 da ys int er val). Accordin g to Asante an d Ntow (2009), farme rs often spra ye d haz ardou s insecti cides like or ganophosphates and or ganochlo rines up t o five or more times in a croppin g season when perhaps two or three appli cati ons ma y be su fficient 5.10 Pesticide residues in okra Insecti cide residues in okra were withi n the EU various max im um residue limi ts (MRLs). MRLs are esta bli shed for thr ee ke y re asons: to ensur e that the residues on food do not pose an una cceptabl e risk for the healt h of consum ers, that pesti cides are used in acco rdanc e with the auth orised uses, res pecti ng th e label inst ruc ti ons and to avoid trade ba rrie rs (European Food Safet y Auth orit y, 2009). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 91 These MRLs detect ed in the okr a fruit s impli ed t hat even thou gh most farmers do not follow requir ed proc edur es the y put me chanism s in place to ensure that t he ve get able crops ar e sa fe fo r human consum pti on. This is not surprisi ng as data gathe red from th e farmer surv e y showed knowledge in pesti cide ap pli cati on due to traini ng from MoFA staff and pesti cide deale r s. Farm ers ex perience in farmin g could also pla y a fun cti onal role in achievin g thi s res ult . Insecti cides det ected in t he stud y included Alpha -Endosulfan, Endrin, Etho prophos, Fenitrothion, Fenv aler ate, Alpha- Endosulfan, MethaPidophos, P,P’ -DDE and Profenofos. Chahal et. al., (1992) investi gated the persist ence of residues of endosul fan and fenval erat e on okra and found that the residue took 1-3 da ys to b ecome safe fo r consum pti on. This may ex plain wh y ok ra farmers harvested ever y 3 da ys af ter spra yin g. Similarl y anal ysis for pes ti cid e residue on lett uce l eaves condu cted from 9 major markets and 12 specializ ed sell ing point s in 3 major Ghanaian cit ies namel y Accra, Kumasi and Tamale dete cted Chlop yrifos (Dursb a n) on 78% of the lettuc e, lindane (Gamalin 20) on 31%, en dosul fan (Thiodan) on 36%, lambdac yhalot hrin (Karate) on 11%, and dichloro - diphe n yl - trichloro ethane on 33%. Most of the residues recorded ex ceeded the max im um residue limi t for consum pti on (Amoah et. al., 2006). Work alread y done in so me farmin g comm unit ies in the Ashanti Region of Ghan a an d some other countries indi cated the pres ence of or gano chlorine pesti cide re sidue in fish (Osafo and )riPpong, 1998 , Yegetables, water sediPents, Pother’s Pilk and blood sampl es (Ntow, 2001). Since these chemi cals are tox ic to living or ga nis ms, increased University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 92 accumul ati on in the food chain ma y pose s erious healt h haz ards to the gen eral popula ce (Jayashr ee and Vasudev a n, 2007 ). EFSA (2009) explained that in most cases the MRLs are well below the tox icologic all y acc eptable residue levels . Thus, if a pesticide residue is found on a given crop at or below the MRL, then the crop can be consi dered safe for the consum er ’s health. E)S$ (2009) furthe r point ed up that if a residue ex cee ds the MRL, it is not necessaril y tru e that the consum er is at risk. In the latter case, an esti mation of the ex pected ex posure and a compa rison with the tox icological refer enc e values is nec essar y to assess if the food poses a consum e r healt h risk. Although the residues were below the MRLs, the r e is sti ll a need to moni tor and control their usage in view of its tox icit y to humans and possi ble contamination in food comm odit ies (Bine y, 2001). University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 93 CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 6.1 CONCLUSIONS Vegetable crops ar e inc reasin gl y becomi n g important as produce f o r domesti c and ex port markets. They have a great potential to improve the nutrit ion and thereb y th e healt h of consum ers as most are good sou rces of vit ami ns, minerals and proteins needed for the prop er fu ncti oning and developm ent of the human bod y. Posth arvest loss in vegetabl e crops is a major problem with both farmers and traders. Losses wer e as high as 20% for tom ato. Trade r post harvest quanti t y loss es ran ged from 10-15% ex cept with egg plant in which the loss was insi gnificant. The principal ca uses of loss es were ph ysiol ogic al dete riorati on, mech anical and pathological damage. Majorit y of farmers interviewed used chemical pesticides in their farming activit y. Many farmers use protective clothing when spra ying to avoid contamination. Knowledge on quanti ties of pesticides to be applied is obtained from MoFA staff, input dealers, and ability to read labels on pesticides containers and with the help of colleague farmers. Laborator y anal ysis of okra samples from the four selected locations (Ashaiman, Weija, Dawenya and $toPic were within their Ma[iPuP 5esidue /iPits M5/’S . Veget able crops that find its way to the market are withi n their Maximum Residue Limits M5/’S hence safe for huPan consuPption. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 94 6.2 RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the findings of the stud y, the following recommendations are made. 1. The Ministr y of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) through its extension staff must intensif y the provision of training for farmers on postharvest handling and management to reduce losses. Farmers must also be educated on record keeping in order to keep account of farming activities. 2. Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies and other stakeholders must provide suitable storage and physical market structures to traders in order to reduce postharvest losses. 3. Periodic educ ati on, traini ng and information diss emi nati on acti vit ies on pesti cides and their ef fects on hea lt h must be given in all the farmin g comm unit ies in the countr y, espe ciall y com muni ti es noted for the producti on of vegetable , fruit and other food cro ps . This would help minim iz e the mishandli ng and misuse of pesti cides which is beco mi ng a healt h threat to both consumers and grow ers 4. Sancti ons must be implemented to ensure that farmers wear prote cti ve clot hing when spra yin g pesti cides due to their harmf ul natu re. 5. Stakeholders such as the Ministr y of Food and Agricult ur e, EPA and Associations of Agrochemi c al deale rs must form a comm on platform to combat the importati on and smuggli n g of bann ed pesti cides into the countr y 6. MoFA in collaboration with Ghana Standards Authorit y must carr y out periodic residue anal ysis on vegetable crops that are sold in the market to ensure that residues are within their MiniPal 5esidual /iPit’s. 7. Further stud y should be carried out in other parts of the countr y as well as during the major season. Insecticide residue anal ysis should be conducted on the other vegetable crops grown in Ghana. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 95 8 . 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Chapter 13: 157-165. Sinnadurai, S. 1973. Vegetable producti on in Ghana. Acta Hort. (ISHS) 33:25-28. Smale, M., Zambr ano, P., Falck - Zeped a, J. and Gruère, G., 2006. Parables: Applied economi cs literatur e ab out the impact of gen e ti call y en gin eer ed crop varieti es in developi ng economi es. EPTD Discussi on Paper 158, International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 112 Stevens, M. F., 1991. The concentr ati on of orga nochlorine pesti cides in the Western Australi an population, Western Australi a: Health Department. Stuart, T. 2009. Waste – uncovering the global food scandal . Penguin Books: London, ISBN: 978-0 -141-03634 -2 Sudheer, K.P. and Indir a, V., 2007. Postharvest technolog y of horticul tural crops: Vol.07. Horticult ure Scie nce Series. Forwarded b y Dr. Nawab Ali. Tanner, D., and Smale, N. 2005. Sea transportati on of fruit s and ve getabl es. An update. Stewart Postharvest Rev., 1: 1.1 Tawar e, S. D., 2012. Molecular studi es on okra ye ll ow vein mosaic viru s (OYVMV) biot ypes. Unive rsit y of Pune, Department of Botan y, India. Thomas, C. 2005. Postharvest Handli n g of Produce. Regional Agricultur al Health and Food Safet y Specialist, Inter Americ an Insti tut e for Cooperati on on Agricult ure (IICA), Thompson, A.K. (1996). Postharvest treatm ents . In: Postharvest technology of fruit an d vegetables . Cambridge, Mass.: Blackwell Science Ltd. pp 95–128. Tripp, R. 1997. The Insti tut ional condit ions for seed enterprise developm e nt. Overseas Developm ent Insti tut e Working Paper 105 Tweneboah C.K., 1998. Vegetabl e and Spices i n West Africa: Co-Wood publi shers. Report and Recomm en dati ons on organic Farms (USDA stud y Team on Organi c Farmin g US Department of Agricult ure, Washin gt on DC, 1994. Uysal - Paha, C. and Bilisl i, A. 2006. Fate of endosul phan and delm ethrin residues during tom ato paste prod ucti on. J. Central Eur. Agric., 7: 343 - 348. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 113 Wang, D. and Bosland, P.W. 2006. The genes of Capsicum. Horticultural Science, 41: 1169-1187. Wang, C. H. and Liu, C. 2000. Dissipati on of organochlorine inse cti cide residues in the environment of Taiw an, 1973-1999. J. Food Drug Anal. 8: 149-158. Watson, W. A., Litovtz, T. L., Klein -Schw artz, W., Rodge rs, G. C., Youniss, J., Reid, N., Rouse, W. G., Remb ert, R. S. and Bor ys, D. (2003). Toxic Exposure Surveil lance System. Annual Report of the American Associati on of Poison Control Centers. Am. J. Emerg Med. 22(5): 335-404. Waxman, Micheal F. 1998. Agroch emi cal and Pesti cide Safet y Handbook. C RC press. U. S. A. pp120 -640. WHO, 2000. The WHO Recommended Classification of Pesti ci d e s by Hazar d and Guidel i n es to Class if i c a t i o n . World Health Organization, Geneva. World Health Organiz ati on; 1990. Public Health Impact of Pesti cid es Used in Agriculture; Geneva, p. 88. World Resources 1998. Disappearin g food: How big are post harv est loss es? avail able at: htt p:/ /earthtrends.wri.org/f eatur es/vi ew_fe atur e.php? theme=3&fid=13 Yen, I.C., Bekele, I., and Kall oo, C. 1999. Use Patterns and Residu al Levels of Organophosphate Pesti ci des on Vegetabl es in Trinidad, West Indies . Journal of AOAC International VOL. 82, NO. 4. Zidan, N.E.H.A., 2009. Evaluation of the reprod ucti ve tox icit y of chlorp yr ifos meth yl, diaz i non and profenof os pesti cides in male rats. International Journal of Pharmacology, 5: 51 - 57. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 114 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE TO FARMERS Date of int ervi ew: 1) Name of Int erview er....... ................................... Tel No ……………………… 2) District............................... 3) Town/Village.................. ................................ 4) Name of respondent........ .......................................... 5) Gender: 1) Male 2)Femal e 6) What is you r educ ati onal status? Tick as appropria te a) Primar y c) Middle/JSS b) Secondar y /SSS d) Tertiar y e) Islamic edu cati on f) none g) oth er ............. 7) What typ e(s) of work (major) do you do in additi on to farming? ........ ..................... 8) How long have you be en in the vegetable busi ness ? ........................... yrs 9) How man y plot s of veget able land do you cult ivat e now? ............ ....................... 10) Which veget ables do you gro w on your farm? a) Tomato b) pepper c) okra d) cabba ge 11) Which is you r major? a) Tomato b) pepper c) okra d) cabba ge 12) Which cult ivar do you pr efer? a) local b) ex oti c 13) Is post ha rvest loss a prob lem to you? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] 14) Please name the varieti es you cult ivate for your major crop. a) .......... .................... b)............................ ..... c)........................ 15) Source of planting mate r ials? a) Famil y b) Friends c) MOFA d) Others......................... ............... 16) What informs your choi c e a) Market pre fer enc e b) ease of cult ivati on c) ver y po rtable d) less postharvest dama ge HARVESTING AND H ARVESTING OPER A TIONS 17) How do you harv est you r produce? a) Manual b) mechani c al 18) If Manual, then sp ecif y. a) By kni fe cutt in g b) by hand twis ti ng c) cutl ass 19) What is the avera ge m aturit y pe riod of produc e? a) 2-3 mont hs b) 3-4mont hs c) 4 -5mont h d) if differ ent p lease spe cif y............ .................. 20) What time of the day do yo u harvest your fruits? a) Earl y in the mornin g b) aft er suns et (ev ening) c) an y time of th e day University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 115 21) At what sta ge of maturit y of the fruit do you harv e st? a) When full y ripe b) when partiall y ripe c) when green and unrip e 22) How do you che ck for th e maturit y of your produ ce befo re harvesti n g? a) By hand feel b) By visual observ ati on c) Uses an instrument to measure 23) Do you grade you r produ ce imm edi atel y aft er har vesti ng? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) 24) What qualit y indi c ators do you use for gr ading yo ur produce? a) colour b) siz e c) Weight d) sh ape e) Physic al b lemis hes 25) What quantit y of produc e do/di d you now harvest from you r plot? ............................ 26) What quantit y of produc e do you sell on farm? a) all b) half c) quart er 27) Do you encounte r insect pest on the vegetable? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) 28) Can you name some of these pests a)............................. b)............................... c)............................. 29) What is the nature of damage the y cause? Please State .......................................................... ................................................ ..... .................. ......................................................................................................... ........................ 30) Apart from the pest do your crops ex perien ce so me dise ase problems? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] 31) Do you know what cause s these diseases? .............................................................................................................. ................... .................................................. ............................................................. .................. 32) Please describe the t yp e, quanti t y and value of l osses you incur durin g harvesti n g and the imm ediate post -harve st processi ng. Stages of Handli ng Nature of loss (see code b e l ow) Quant it y of produce har ves ted (weight) Estimat ed losses (Quanti t y) Value of loss (GH) Harves t ing Operat i ons Gather i ng, transpor t, packi ng et c at far m Gradi ng and sor ti ng oper at ions at far m Tempor al proce ssi ng (Drying , cur ing, etc) Transport to home, store, or mar ket 1=Weight los s 2=Presence of insec t s 3=Destruc tio n b y rod ents/b ir d s 4=r o ttin g of fruit s 5=Wilting a nd shr i nk in g 6= Microb ial or disease in fec tio n s 7=Spilla ge 8=Boring b y insec t s 9= other s (spe cif y) 33) What is the price of your vegetable per unit? GH¢................................. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 116 34) What do you thi nk shoul d be done to mini mi z e these loss es? a)..................................... .................................................... ....... .............................. b)................................................................................................... .......................... LOSSES AT STORAGE AND STORAGE PRACTIC ES 35) Do you stor e some of the produce after harvest? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) 36) If yes, wh ere do you stor e them befor e mark eti ng? a) on farm b) at hom e 37) How long do es your ve getable store? Vegetable crops Days Weeks Month Years Cabbage Pepper Tomato Okra 38) Describe th e t yp es, quant it y and valu e of losses yo u incur durin g stora ge at home or farm. Locati on of Storage Nature of loss (see code bel ow) Quant it y of produce har ves ted (weight) Estimat ed losse s (Quanti t y) Value of Loss (GH) Storage on far m Storage at home 1=Weight lo ss 2=Presence of insec t s 3=Destr uctio n b y rod ents/b ir d s 4=r o ttin g of fruit s 5=Wilting a nd shr i nk in g 6= Microb ial or disea se infec tio n s 7=Spillage 8=Boring b y inse cts 9=Other s (spec if y) 39) How do you pack a ge you r produce for stora ge? Specif y................................ .............. 40) What are the major stor a ge problems of your prod uce? a) ..................................................................................................... ....... .............. b) ............................................................................................................. ............. 41) Do you encounte r some pests (insects, mites, and rodents) at stora ge? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) 42) If yes, how do you contr ol these pests ? Specif y... ......................... .............................................................. .......................... ...................................................................................................... ............... ............ University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 117 43) What are some of the ways you adopt to improve the stora ge life of the vegetables? a) ................................................................................................ ........................... b) ..................... .......................................................................................... ............ MARKE T LOSS ASSESSMENT 44) Please describ e the losse s you incur, in cludi ng the quanti t y and value of los ses during ma rketi n g of your produce Stages of Ha ndli ng Nature of loss (see code bel ow) Quant it y of produce har ves ted (weight) Estimat ed losse s (Quantit y) Value of loss (GH) Loading and off - l oadi ng During trans por t to Market Storage at mar ket Durin g whol esa le Points During ret ai l poi nt s 1=Weight lo ss 2=Presence of insec t s 3=Destr uctio n b y rod ents/b ir d s 4=Rotti n g of fruit s 5=Wilting a nd shr i nk in g 6= Microb ial or disea se infec tio n s 7=Spillage 8=Boring b y inse cts 9= Other s (spec if y) PESTICIDE USE PATTE R N 45) Do you us e pesti cides on your ve getables? What typ e of pesti cides do you use? a) Insecti cides b) Fungicides c) Herbicides d) Others.................... 46) Why do you us e pesti cid es on you r veget ables? a) control pest and diseas es b) store ve get ables bett er c) earl y flowerin g d) others.......................... ............................... University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 118 47) Please name the majo r ch emi cals you us e. Ins ecti cides Fungicides Herbicides Others 48) Which of the insecti cide works bett er fo r you? Please specif y..... .................. ............ 49) What is the precise dosa ge that you appl y? Please specif y.................. ............................................................................... 50) How do you kno w the ri ght quanti t y to use? a) friends b) MoFA staf fs c) pesti cide dealers d) other farmers 51) What time of day do you appl y the chemi cals? a) earl y mornin g b) evenin g c) an yti me of the da y 52) At what sta ge of growth do you mostl y appl y th e chemi cal in a season a) after emer gen ce b) throughout the growth c) prior to ha rvest 53) Do you thi nk the chem icals you appl y hav e an effe ct on the shelf life of the produce? a) Yes [ ] b) No [ ] 54) What typ e of pesti cid e ap pli cati on equipm ent do you use a) Knapsack b) Mist blower c) By hand d) Others 55) Who spra ys the pesti cide s? a) self b) skil led labour (c) other (specif y)............ 56) Which of the protecti ve clot hing do you wea r whe n spra yin g? a) long sl eeves b) trousers c) well in gton boot s d)nose mask e) go ggles f) all g) non e of the above 57) How do you dispose of used pesti cide contain ers? Please specif y.................. ........... 58) How long do es it take to harvest the produ ce after spra yin g? 59) Do you appl y chemi c als after harvesti n g? Yes[ ] No[ ] 60) If yes wh at do you us e an d wh y. ............. ................................................................................................................... 61) Do you know th e ef fects of these pesti cides on our healt h? Yes[ ] No[ ] 62) If yes wh at are som e of these ef fects? ............................ ........................................................................... ......................... ............................................................................................................................. ... University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 119 APPENDIX II - QUESTIONNAIRE TO RETAIL TRADERS Date of int ervi ew: 1 . Name of Int erview er....... ........................................ Tel no. ............................... 2 . District............................... 3 . Town/Village.................. ...................................................................................... 4 . Name of respondent........ ............................................ 5 . Gender: 1) Male 2)Femal e 6 . What is you r educ ati onal status? Tick as appropria te a) Primar y c) Middle/JHS b) Secondar y /SHS d) Tertiar y e) Islamic edu cati on f) None g) other.... ......... 7 . What typ e(s) of work do yo u do in additi on to trad ing? .................................. 8 . How long have you be en in the vegetables busi nes s? .......................... ... yrs 9 . What typ e of trader are you? a) assemb le r b) retailer c) whol esale r d) other (sp ecif y).... .................. 1 0 . Please provide names for the most important communi ti es where you get yo ur produce. a)................................... b)................................. c)................................ .... 1 1 . Where do you obtain you r vegetable produc e from ? a) o n farm b) purchas e from farme r c) purch ase from wholes aler d) purchas e from retailer 1 2 . Please describ e the t ypes, quanti t y and value of los ses you incu r durin g p urchasin g and immediat e post -purchas e pe riod. Stages of Handli ng Nature of loss (see code bel ow) Quant it y of produce har ves ted (weight) Estimat ed loss (Quantit y) Value of loss (GH) Gather i ng, packagi ng, etc. at pur chasi ng poi nt Transport to ho me Gradi ng and sort ing Operat i ons at home 1=Weight loss 2=Presence of insec ts 3=Destr uctio n b y rod ents/b ir d s 4=Rotti ng of fruit s 5=Wilting and shr i nk in g 6= Microb ial or disease infec tio n s 7=Spilla ge 8=Boring b y insec t s 9=Other s (spe cif y) 1 3 . Do you readil y get tr ansport to carr y you r produc e to the market cent re? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 120 1 4 . How do you usu all y tr an sport purchased produc e to your point of sale? a) By own vehicle b) By app ropriate rent/ hire d vehicle c) By an y av ail able passi ng comm e rcial vehi cle d) By an y avail able head -loaded porte r f) other...... ....................... .. 1 5 . Do you incu r comm odit y loss e s from the point of purchase to the point of sale? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) 1 6 . How do you determi ne th e price of your produ ce? a) Producti on cost b) Availabil it y or sc arcit y of the product c) Price of oth er comp eti tors d) Other (speci f y).................................... . 1 7 . What practi ce do you car r y out wh en the vegetabl es rea ch the mark et? a) Sortin g b) Washing c) other (specif y).......................... ..... 1 8 . Please describ e the losse s you incur, in cludi ng the quanti t y and value of los ses during ma rketi n g of your processed prod uce. Stages of Handli ng Nature of loss (see code bel ow) Quant it y of produce har ves ted (weight) Estimat ed loss (Quanti t y) Value of loss (GH) Loading and off - l oadi ng During trans por t to Market During whol esa le Point s During ret ai l poi nt s 1=Weight loss 2=Presence of insec ts 3=Destr uctio n b y rod ents/b ir d s 4=Rotti ng of fruit s 5=Wilting and shr i nk in g 6= Microb ial or disease infec tio n s 7=Spilla ge 8=Boring b y insec t s 9=Other s (spe cif y) 1 9 . Do you usu all y stor e pro duce? a) Yes ( ) b) No ( ) 2 0 . If yes, wh ere do you stor e the produc e? a) At home b) at market or sale point University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 121 2 1 . Please describe the t yp es, quanti t y and valu e of loss es you incur durin g stora ge at hom e or mark et. Locati on of Storage Nature of loss (see code bel ow) Quant it y of produce har ves ted (weight) Estimat ed losse s (Quanti t y) Value of Loss (GH¢ ) Storage on far m Storage at mar ket Or Sale point 1=Weight loss 2=Presence of insec ts 3=Destr uctio n b y ro d ents/b ir d s 4=Rott in g o f fru it s 5=Wilti ng and shr i nk in g 6= Microb ial or disease infec tio n s 7=Spilla ge 8=Boring b y insec t s 9=Other s (spe cif y) 2 2 . Which storage facil it y do you keep your produ ce? a) Standard stor a ge facil it y b) Imp roved stora ge facil it y c) Common storeroom d) Other (specif y)............ ....................................... 2 3 . How long do you stor e the produce? Please (speci f y)............... ....................................................... .................................... 2 4 . How long do es it take to sell your produce? Please Specif y................. ................. 2 5 . What do you thi nk can be done to redu ce the loss es? ........................................................................ .......................................................... ............................................................................................................................. ..... University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 122 APPENDIX III - LIST OF PLATES Plate 1: Inte racti on with a cabb a ge farmer at the Dzorwulu Railwa y. Plate 2: Transport ion of harvested tomatoes to the market University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 123 Plate 3: An interview with a garden egg trad er at t he Agbo gblosh i market Plate 4: A farmer sp ra yin g insecti cid es on his crop without protecti ve clot h ing. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh 124 Plate 5: An empt y insecti cide containe r disposed off on the farm afte r use. University of Ghana http://ugspace.ug.edu.gh