Supply chain management of export golden banana (Kluai Khai) produced at Sukhothai Province, Thailand

Golden banana (Kluai Khai) is produced in Sukhothai province, north of Thailand, for export to China and Japan. Information on production and postharvest practices for Kluai Khai was obtained through structured interview of growers and exporters in province's Sawankalok and Tungsaliem districts from October 2009 to June 2010. Survey results indicated that banana had been grown as main crop at the density of 2,500 plants per hectare. Only one sucker was allowed to grow successively after flower emergence of mother plant. Fruit bunches were not treated with chemical before bagging and were harvested when angularity of fruits fingers was 3/4 light full. Postharvest handling operations were done at the farmers' orchard by the exporters. Fruit bunches were dehanded and fruit hands with insect pest and disease damage and with small sized or undeveloped fruit finers, usually about 5-10% and 10-20% of total production, respectively, were sorted out and sold in local markets. Fruit hands that met the standard were graded into three sizes; AAA (large), AA (medium) and A (small) and packed in cardboard boxes each containing 14 kg fruits. The boxes were loaded onto a refrigerated truck with temperature of 13-14°C. Most exporters (74%) took 14-24 hours to complete the operations while the rest (26%), 6-10 hours. China was the main export market catered by 90% of the exporters while only 10% catered to the Japanese market. Fruit for the Japan markets were required to be sourced from GAP located mostly in Tungsaliem district (89%). Average yield was 2.27 tons per rai (1 rai=0.16 ha), and the production cost was found to be around 12,746 bath per rai or 416 USD/rai. Among the costs of production, 87.1% went to agriculture materials and 12.9% to labor.