The Effect Of Post-harvest Handling On The Quality And Marketability Of Locally Harvested Tomato

CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.1      1.1  BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY Tomato (Lycopersiconesculentum Mill.) is one of the vegetables with the highest production in the world and its production is increasing all over the world. Tomato is rich in minerals, vitamins, essential amino acids, sugars and dietary fibers (Ayandiji et al., 2011). World tomato production in 2001 was about 105 million tons of fresh fruit from an estimated 3.9 million ha. As it is a relatively short duration crop and gives a high yield, it is economically attractive and the area under cultivation is increasing daily. Tomato belo…