Kaukau ‘woes’ traced

THE loss  of value in marketable sweet potato or kaukau happens at all points of the supply chain from farms in the Highlands to markets in Lae and Port Moresby, according to a survey by NARI and the Fresh Produce Development Agency (FPDA).
A stakeholder workshop on “Towards better kaukau supply chain in PNG”, which started at NARI headquarters in Lae on Wednesday was told that such losses happen due to poor handling during transport.
Survey participant, Ronald Pam from FPDA, told stakeholders that some of the obvious damage was skinning, broken root and rotten tubers.
“Lots of damage occurs at loading and unloading … major impacts lead to lots of broken root.
“This results in lots of rotten tubers that can not be sold (soft rot) at the markets,” Pam said.
He said such damage reduce the value of kaukau when they appear at the market place.
The survey identified that causes include rough handling, different packaging methods, and transportation-related problems derived from handling and high humidity.
Pam said damage starts on-farm from rough handling and this snowballed further down the chain.
He said the number of broken roots increased  through transportation –  due to loading and unloading.
Professor Barbara Chambers of the University of Canberra, who facilitated the two day workshop, said the event was to sensitise discussions on the supply chain of kaukau, with reference to value adding and post-harvest of kaukau.
The workshop discussed how  producers could take advantage of recent researches on kaukau disease control and post-harvest handling.