Agriculture today stands at a high level of technological expertise. The aim is to produce high quality products for a low cost. This is largely successful, however, there is a substantial loss of product during post harvest processing, which thus creates a large potential for research. This area of research includes all parts of the harvest chain, from agricultural production, transport, packaging and storage. As a result of this, the following aspects must be taken into consideration:

• What is the best method for harvesting the product?

• Which diseases can affect the products?

• Which spoilage organisms are commonly found on the products?

• Which climate conditions should the product be stored and transported under?

• What is the best way of processing and packaging the product?

The department has an extensive level of experience in the fields of microbiology, inorganic analysis, food analysis and Fuzzy Logic Modelling, through which methods can be developed that can answer these questions clearly.