Post Harvest Technology Impact on Marketing Loss and Economic Resources losses for important vegetables and fruit crops in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to estimate the marketing loss and economic resources losses for important vegetables and fruit crops in Saudi Arabia and also to study the relation between post harvest technology and marketing efficiency. Primary data form different regions was collected for this paper. Sample survey included producers, wholesalers, importers, and retailers. The results illustrated that the highest marketing loss for producers was the tomato and fig with 17% and 19.8%, respectively. Grape and cucumber were the highest marketing loss for wholesalers and importers with 22.8% and 21.3%, respectively. For retailers, imported grape and some types of dates were the highest marketing loss with 15.9% and 15%, respectively. Due to the marketing loss for the crops covered in this paper, other economic resources such as land, water, and fertilizer will face losses by 25.94 thousand hectare, 599.4 million cubic meter, and 9.43 thousand ton, respectively