UPTC?s 2018 International PostHarvest Course

Once again, now in its twelfth consecutive year, UPTC’s postharvest course has just concluded. This international training event run by Dr. Francisco Artés Hernández for professionals in the sector is sponsored by DECCO. The course offers a total vision of the postharvest industry, combining an academic view with trends, future developments and a real market perspective from companies in the sector. Furthermore the course has been enriched thanks to the participation of speakers from several countries from every step in the value chain. “The course lasted 45 hours and featured 37 speakers from countries including Italy, USA and Chile. Logistically it is complex to coordinate so many speakers with 70 students but we managed to do it like a jigsaw puzzle by correctly positioning all of the pieces”, stated Francisco Artés Hernández, the training program’s director. As became clear during the course, postharvest is going to face some interesting challenges over the next few years. Dr. Francisco Artés Hernández believes, “The agro industrial industry is not sustainable. With losses of above 33% being estimated; the available resources must be optimized in search of sustainability and the maximization of both food quality and safety.” In DECCO we have spent years researching in this direction, with the aim of remaining a step ahead of the industry’s problems, thus offering superior added value and outstanding service. As a postharvest company, DECCO is convinced of the need to transfer knowledge in order to train this sector’s future professionals. With this in mind, it sponsors and actively participates in the course by sending both speakers and students.Source