SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF RAMBUTAN FRUIT FOR EXPORTING IN CHANTHABURI PROVINCE

This study was conducted in Chanthaburi province during November 2009-April 2010. Information about general management of rambutan cultivation, cultural practices, postharvest handling and marketing was collected by interviewing targeted exporters and farmers from 4 districts, namely, Khaokitchakood, Makham, Khlung and Thamai. The age of farmers ranged from 28-80 years. ‘Rongrien’ was the main commercial cultivar and the range of plantation area and plant growing period varied ranging from 3-78 rai and 4-40 years, respectively. The cultivation systems included both single plantings and intercropping with plants of other commercial fruit crops, so spacing between trees ranged from 3×4 m (space between plants 3 m, and between rows 4 m ) to 12×12 m. Yield of rambutan ranged between 181 to 3 000 kg/rai, the ratio of marketable yield, of grading and non marketable yield were 74.9, 19.8 and 6.3%, respectively. In general, the duration of harvest period was 6.27 h/day, and 55% of farmers harvested continuously from morning till noon. Farmers used many technical practices during harvesting, grading, packing and transporting to the market. The harvested rambutan was sold to collectors, wholesalers and retailers at the meeting-point market or vender along the main roadside. Normally, the fruit was distributed for local consumption, only 6.8% for destined for export. The main export markets for rambutan were mainland China, Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei. A standard grade of rambutan produce was produced following grading, cleaning and packing into foam bag (9 kg/bag). To maintain postharvest quality, exporters used ice to maintain a cool temperature in the packing box during transport. The transport time from pack house to airport was estimated to be 4 h and 3-4 h from airport to terminal market. The information obtained about supply chain management obtained from this study could help support the planning, improving and supporting the future exports of rambutan in the future.