November 11, 2020
The Nexus Institute’s Purdue-UNSA researchers from the project: “Capacity Strengthening for Postharvest Handling and Storage (CAST-PH) in Arequipa, Peru” just published a paper titled: “Postharvest practices, challenges and opportunities for grain producers in Arequipa, Peru” in PLOS ONE journal.
Dieudonne Baributsa, associate professor of entomology at Purdue and Jaqueline Zanabria from the Universidad Nacional de San Augustin de Arequipa (UNSA) are the Principal investigators. They are the co-authors of the article, along with Professor Charles Woloshuk and Postdoctoral researcher Jorge Diaz-Valderrama from Purdue and Dennis Macedo, Nacy Orihuela, Victor Casa, and Nelly Ramirez from UNSA. In this international collaborative research, they surveyed Arequipa farmers, in the lowland and the highland regions, to examine local views and practices on drying and storage of crops during postharvest.
They assert that, little is known about the underlying causes of postharvest losses in Arequipa, which are estimated to be 15-27%. Their findings shed light on these postharvest issues, providing an opportunity for researchers, farmer organizations, and government agencies to improve postharvest handling and storage in Arequipa by disseminating innovative and adaptable drying technologies, moisture assessment tools, and hermetic storage solutions.
Link to the paper: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0240857
Lori Hoagland
Profesor, Purdue University
Horticultura y arquitectura del paisaje
Codirectora del Instituto Nexus
Correo electrónico: c4e-nexus@purdue.edu
Walter Daniel Leon-Salas
Profesor Asociado, Purdue University
Tecnología de ingeniería eléctrica
Codirector del Instituto Nexus
Correo electrónico: c4e-nexus@purdue.edu
Dennis Macedo
Profesor Asociado, UNSA
Agronomía
Codirector del Instituto Nexus
Correo electrónico: dmacedova@unsa.edu.pe