“Training of Trainers on Postharvest Management of Horticultural Produce” was how Dr. Elda B. Esguerra, director of the PHTRC, and her team capped the implementation of their one-year project titled “Capacity Development and Technical Support to Generate an Evidence Base to Inform the Scale Up of Postharvest Loss Reduction of Selected Horticultural Crops Toward Achieving SDG 12.3 in the Philippines.” It was funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and administered by the UPLB Foundation, Inc. Thirty-nine participants (including farmer and trader leaders, industry partners, and extension workers from the Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Training Institute, local government units of Nueva Vizcaya, Bulacan, Laguna, and Oriental Mindoro, and selected state colleges and universities) attended the training last November 20-22 at the Splash Mountain Resort, Los Baños, Laguna. Aimed at enhancing awareness on the importance of postharvest handling as a complementary method of solving food needs, the training included a two-day lecture-discussion on the basic postharvest concepts, causes of losses in the fresh produce supply chain, importance of reducing after-harvest losses, quality and safety factors, and benefits of improved postharvest practices. The participants also visited a supermarket selling fresh produce and a wholesale-retail market in Tanauan City, Batangas for them to appreciate the practical applications of the basic postharvest principles. (MV Maunahan)
