2.7 Transportation System
Marketing and physical distribution of fresh produce inherently means moving
the produce. The commodities are handled, either manually or mechanically, many
times from harvest and through the distribution process before the consumer
buys and prepares them to eat.
For domestic transportation the use of road vehicles offers substantial advantages
of convenience, availability, flexibility permitting door-to-door delivery,
and reasonable cost of transport. The use of road transportation for fresh produce
is increasing and likely to increase in countries all over the world. Produce
may be transported by pick-up, enclosed truck, open truck or refrigerated vehicle.(Harris,
1988).
For mangoes, pick-ups and open trucks are the commonest type of road transport.
Perishable products as mangoes are increasingly transported by sea to Asia and
Europe from the U.S. and from other suppliers like Mexico and Chile. Trans-ocean
transportation costs are still much higher for mangoes. However, new developments
in ocean shipping have made it possible to preserve the quality of perishables
during transport and still bring down transportation costs. For example, successfully
shifting perishable products from air to ocean transport can reduce transportation
cost by as much as 75 percent. In addition, satellite technologies, particularly
global positioning systems (GPS). Which are becoming increasingly available
and less expensive, enable shippers to follow their cargo around the world electronically.
For perishable products, however, the increased speed of handling and reduced transport costs that came with containerization were not enough. Ocean transport of cooled and frozen cargo received a substantial boost with development of mobile refrigerated cargo ships that lack this flexibility. Increasingly efficient and accurate cooling systems have allowed refrigerated carriers to maintain temperatures with great accuracy (plus or minus a quarter degree Celsius) for dome time. More recently, however, controlled atmosphere (CA) technologies added refinements that have extended the shelf life of mangoes. CA technologies allow operators to lower the repiration rate of produce by monitoring oxygen, carbon dioxide ans nitrogen levels within a reefer. In this way, CA can slow ripening, retard discoloration, and maintain freshness of mangoes. Although it is likely that container ships will dominate the perishable trade between North America, East Asia and Europe, conventional refrigerated vessels can serve many smaller ports, especially in the developing world, that are unable to handle large container vessels. Thus, in north-south trade and in certain niche markets, conventional refrigerated ships may have a brighter future, but even here, competition from container vessels is bound to increase as cost decline (Agricultural Outlook, 1999)
Bibliografía:
-Agricultural Outlook. 1999. Economic Research Service/USDA. January-February.
-Harris S.R. 1988. Production is only half of the battle. A training manual in fresh produce market for the Eastern Caribbean. Food and Agriculture Organization.