POST HARVEST HANDLING AND CARE OF CUT FLOWERS IN KENYA

Floriculture is a very rewarding occupation worldwide. It contributes about 40-50% of the revenue earned in horticultural sector, despite the fact that the acreage of floriculture is the smallest in horticulture sector; it is the largest in earnings. It covers about 25% of the volume of horticultural exports. It can be concluded that this industry largely depends on cut flowers for revenue; with quality of cut flowers being of greatest importance.

The floriculture sector is dominated by a myriad of large industry players who have an advanced production and post harvest technologies. Small scale farmers are now venturing into floriculture thanks to poverty reduction efforts by nongovernmental organizations.

The small scale farmers face numerous challenges; on handling cut flowers, the correct stage of harvesting, use of agro-chemicals and market quality requirements. This article seeks to explain the concepts behind post harvest management of flowers so that these farmers may be able at least to cut down post harvest losses by 50%.

It is a known fact that flowers are more delicate than other agricultural commodities. This is based on the premise that; a cut flower is a more complex organ than a seed, a fruit and a vegetable, which are single morphological units this calls for specialized care of the cut flowers as discussed in the below popular topics.