effect of farmer’s handling practices on postharvest losses of potato (solanum tuberosum l.) at farm gate in dolakha, nepal

Purpose: the main objectives of this study were to find farmers’ handling practices on postharvest losses of potatoes, to estimate the post-harvest losses from farm gate to storage level and to know how the post-harvest losses were affected by the socio-demographic factors. research method: the study was conducted in dolakha, nepal with 100 respondents selected by simple random sampling method. a semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the primary data and ms excel and spss were used for data analysis. findings: out of the total potatoes produced, 89.73% were utilized in various forms while the remaining 10.26% were lost due to poor post-harvest handling practices and lack of adequate cold storage facility. the farmers in the study area relied on practices, such as using spades for harvesting, week-long curing, traditional home storage, sorting and grading to remove the damaged ones, use of jute sacks, and overfilling and dragging of heavy bags. the post-harvest loss was significantly affected by age, gender, land size, and farming experience of farmers whereas the literacy level, ethnicity, and religion had no impact on it. limitations: transportation was a limitation because motorable roads were unavailable due to which farmers of distant areas couldn’t be included in the sampling frame. originality/value: the study reported that only 3% of farmers had access to cold storage facilities and 10.26% of harvested potatoes were lost due to traditional post-harvest practices.