Horticultural Science

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    Assessment of Postharvest Management and Effects of Harvesting Methods and Drying Structures on Unwashed Coffee (Coffea arabica L.) Quality in Kercha District, Southern Ethiopia
    (Hawassa University College of Agriculture, 2019) DANIEL DUBA BULULA
    Arabica coffee, which has 75-80% share in the world coffee production and marketing is the most important economic crop in Ethiopia. Unwashed coffee shares 71% of total coffee processed in the country. There is lack of profound assessment work to identify the specific postharvest management practices that affecting the quality of unwashed coffee in Kercha district, and effect of harvesting method and drying structures on each quality parameters of the coffee as general. The study was designed to assess the postharvest management practices, and evaluate the effects of harvesting methods and drying structures on unwashed coffee quality in 2018 production season. For the assessment, from 3 representative kebeles, 120 households were selected randomly. A total of 9 focused group discussion (role model, non-role model and women farmers) and 15 key informant interviews were employed. Survey data were analyzed by using Software Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The experiment was conducted as a factorial combination of two harvesting methods (selective picking and stripping) and four drying structures (bare ground, cemented floor, bamboo mat bed and mesh wire bed) in Completely Randomized Design with three replications. Coffee quality analysis was done in laboratory by certified panelists’ team of Ethiopia commodity exchange (ECX) enterprise following the standardized grading scale procedures. Experimental data were analyzed by using Software for Agricultural Sciences (SAS) and General Linear Model (GLM) procedures. The results showed that in the district, 50.8%, 100%, 82.5% and 33.3% of the farmers harvesting their coffee by stripping at inappropriate fruit maturity stage, packing with polyethylene sack, storing at inappropriate place and transacting at illegal market respectively. The interaction of the harvesting methods and drying structures showed significant effect (P<0.0266) on the primary defects, acidity and body of unwashed coffee. Similarly, the interaction effect was significantly (P<0.0018) affected the flavor and total cup quality of the coffee. The main effect of the harvesting method s showed significant effect (P<0.0001) on the secondary defects and total raw bean quality. The main effect of the drying structures revealed significant effect (P<0.0001) on the odor of the beans. Both the main effects of harvesting methods and drying structures showed significant effects (P<0.0001) and (P=0.0002) on the overall coffee quality. Generally, in Kercha district, postharvest management practices of unwashed coffee are amongst the main problems that affecting the coffee quality. Selective picking with mesh wire bed, bamboo mat bed and cemented floor resulted in better quality coffee than stripping with all of these structures, and selective picking with bare ground. Therefore, there should be improvement in coffee harvesting methods, storage and transactions conditions in the district. Besides, selective picking with drying on bamboo mat bed which maintains the inherent quality of unwashed coffee is recommended for the farmers.