IMPROVING QUALITY ASSURANCE TECHNIQUES FOR PRODUCING AND HANDLING AGRICULTURAL CROPS

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe delivery of high quality agricultural products is more essential than ever before due to increasing consciousness of quality by consumers. The best way for successful marketing is to offer products of superior quality and consistency. Quality is defined as conformance to a customer's price limited anticipated needs. The needs of customers are dynamic, so strategies must involve continuous improvement and decreasing variability. Agricultural production and marketing can be considered an industry, so appropriate industrial engineering (IE) techniques can be practiced for improving quality. It is necessary to control principal stages by following a systematic approach which includes: clearly defining specifications, providing measurement methods, and recording and analyzing data for decreasing variability through Statistical Process Control (SPC) technique.The prime method for controlling the quality of agricultural products as they flow through the marketing system is with statistically valid sampling at changeover points to determine if processes are in control and for identifying corrective actions. Flow chart techniques are very useful for selecting the best sampling points in the flow of fresh fruits and vegetables to market. Use of other SPC techniques may be considered such as: sampling plans, frequency distributions and histograms, graphs, Pareto analysis, cause and effect analysis, scatter diagrams, and charts. Results may be used for improving processes, corrective actions, or pricing decisions according to quality evaluation.