Perdas pós-colheita em bananas produzidas em Rio Preto da Eva, Amazonas

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the postharvest losses in bananas produced in Rio Preto da Eva. This work was carried out in the José Lindoso community, located at AM-010 State Highway, Km 105, along the vicinal ZF-9, in Distrito Agricultural of SUFRAMA. From a sample composed by banana growers registered at the José Lindoso Community Producers Association, data were collected using structured interview techniques and asymmetric observation. In the interviews, information was collected about the producer, family nucleus and labor, and about the property and management employed in banana cultivation. For the observations, the harvesting and postharvest procedures were followed up. The collected data were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics and Multiple Linear Regression. Most of the participants in this study were men, and half were over 60 years old. Most of the producers were native to the Amazon, had a low level of education and had been working with agriculture for over 30 years. Most families comprised up to two people and the main workforce was family labor. Most of the properties had 25 hectares, occupied with forest area, capoeiras and agriculture. The main productive activities among the properties, besides agriculture, was the creation of small animals and plant extraction. The area intended for banana cultivation ranged from 0.5 to 4 hectares, with the predominant presence of the cultivar 'Thap Maeo'. The study evidenced that the management practices used in the conduction of the banana have interfered in the quality of the produced bananas. The incidence of physiological, mechanical and biological damages, responsible for quantitative and qualitative losses in the properties was recorded. There was statistical evidence that farm size, banana size, family size, crop age, technical assistance and technical training were the main determinants of postharvest losses in the investigated properties. Under the conditions of this work, producers with older crops tend to show higher losses, as well as producers who received Technical Assistance and Rural Extension services, due to the higher production in these crops and the difficulty in marketing the production.