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The purpose of this paper is to develop a straightforward method to quantify volume and value of postharvest losses in the tomato postharvest value chain in Nepal and estimate the monetary loss shouldered by value chain actors.

The study combines interview data to quantify volume and prices with produce sampling to quantify quality losses, and does this at four nodes of the tomato value chain in Nepal: farmers, collectors, wholesalers, and retailers to estimate volume and value of postharvest losses.

Almost one-fourth of the total tomato harvest weight that enters the value chain is lost before it reaches consumers, and other one-fifth is traded by the value chain actors at reduced price due to quality damage. The total volume of postharvest loss (weight and quality loss) is not the same for all value chain actors and the average monetary loss ranges from 4 percent of gross revenues for farmers to 12 percent for wholesalers.

A standard method to account for both physical weight losses and quality losses of horticultural produce is lacking in estimates of the monetary value of postharvest losses for horticultural crops. Knowing such losses is essential for postharvest technology generation, promotion, and adoption. This study provides a framework that can be adopted and improved in future loss assessment studies for estimating the volume and value of postharvest losses in a horticultural value chain.

The uniqueness of the method used in this study is that it combines interview data to estimate price and volume with produce sampling to quantify quality losses, and does this at four nodes of the value chain: farmers, collectors, wholesalers, and retailers. This method could become a standard approach for assessment of postharvest weight and quality losses and to estimate the monetary value of total postharvest losses in the value chain for horticultural crops.

Farmers in developing countries are used to recycling and purchasing seeds of old and low-yielding varieties, leading to low seed and varietal replacement rates. Seed companies in Nepal have started to conduct traders' meetings (TMs) to promote new rice varieties. This paper aims to assess the effectiveness of this approach in promoting new rice varieties.

The authors assess the effectiveness of TMs by surveying 238 agrodealers from 7 districts of Nepal. The authors used the binary logit model to study the determinants of participation in TM and an instrumental variable approach to estimate the impact of TMs on sales of the promoted rice varieties.

Results indicate that the TM significantly influences traders' knowledge and increases the probability of selling new rice varieties promoted. However, TMs did not significantly increase the overall sales of promoted rice varieties.

The study is based on cross-section data; thus, unobserved fixed effects could not be accounted for. The study finds only one relevant and valid instrumental variable and therefore could not conduct any exogeneity test.

Seed companies in Nepal started to conduct TMs to promote new rice varieties since 2019. However, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the usefulness of TMs and the impact of these events in changing traders' attitudes toward domestic rice seed varieties or in business performance (annual sales of the promoted varieties) have not been assessed. Therefore, the study findings will help to promote the market-driven seed system and increase the seed replacement rate.