Post-Harvest Losses in Mango Supply Chains in India: Causes and Preventive Measures

Abstract

India is the world’s largest mango producer, contributing approximately 22.40 million tonnes in 2023, which represents more than 40% of the total global production. Yet, a review of studies published between 1997 and 2025 indicates the country suffers substantial total post-harvest losses (PHL), estimated at a devastating 25-30% of the annual output. This wastage is compounded across the supply chain, with average stage-wise losses reported as 4-8% during harvesting, 5-8.5% in transportation, 3.5-5.7% in storage, and 5-15% at the final retail stage. This study employs a narrative synthesis approach, consolidating evidence from government reports, publications from various organisations, and peer-reviewed literature to map the distribution of these losses and identify current intervention strategies. The major causes include manual harvesting without proper tools, mechanical injuries, poor packaging, inadequate cold-chain infrastructure, and fragmented marketing systems. The review highlights key interventions to reduce these losses, such as scientific harvesting tools that lower farm-level losses to 3-5%, ventilated plastic crates reducing transit damage to 2-3%, pre-cooling and cold storage at 2-3°C with 90-95% RH, and ethylene-based ripening chambers ensuring uniform quality. Policy recommendations include strengthening Farmer-Producer Organisations (FPOs), increasing investment in packhouses, ripening facilities, and cold-chain infrastructure, implementing quality grading and traceability standards, and leveraging government schemes such as MIDH and PMFME to strengthen packhouses, ripening facilities, and cold-chain infrastructure. Adopting an integrated approach that combines technology, farmer capacity-building, institutional coordination, and infrastructure development is critical not only for reducing mango post-harvest losses but, crucially, for boosting net incomes for small and marginal farmers and ensuring higher quality standards for processors, thereby enhancing India’s market competitiveness.