The Horticulture Innovation Lab’s Central America Regional Hub to offer 5th course on Postharvest handling of Vegetables, Fruits, and Grains for Small Producers in Honduras

Led by Zamorano University, September 6-8, 2023

In Honduras and other countries in Central America, mishandling of fruit and vegetable products during cultivation and post-harvest lead to significant losses. Improper postharvest management results in low quality products which must be discarded due to safety concerns, ultimately resulting in economic losses. To address this, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture’s Central America Regional Hub, led by Zamorano University, has developed a training program, Postharvest Handling of Vegetables, Fruits, and Grains for Small Producers. This is a course for producers who supply their products to supermarkets and local markets. This course will be held from September 6-8th this year at the Zamorano University campus.

The main objectives of the course are to strengthen knowledge and decision-making skills of producers through theoretical and practical training on innovative topics in integrated postharvest management. Participants of this event will be small fruit and vegetable producers from different regions of the country who have previously engaged with partner institutions from the private sector, government, and NGOs on activities to improve quality control of products and the implementation of alternative technologies for better postharvest management of horticulture products for better quality, safety and shelf-life.

The facilitators of this event are specialists in postharvest processes and technologies, coming from both the academic and private sector, including a collaboration with specialized staff from the University of California at Davis. During the training event, participants will learn about several key postharvest management topics: quality preservation; good agricultural practices; ripening considerations; maturity indices; harvesting systems; and proper handling, packaging and transportation.

For questions, please contact Julio Lopez at jlopez@zamorano.edu.

Image gallery

Previous courses hosted by Zamorano University

Smallholder farmer with crate of produce — Smallholder producer preparing products for Walmart, in a postharvest process for leafy green vegetables.

youth harvesting bell pepper — Harvesting bell pepper.

Youth preparing bell peppers for market — COMPARTIR Association youth member packaging bell pepper the supermarket.

Youth selecting bell peppers for the market — Selecting bell peppers for the market.

Participants working together at the post harvest processing plant. — Zamorano Univeresity students and youth members from COMPARTIR Association working together at the postharvest processing plant.

Image credit: Zamorano University