Physical and mechanical properties of banana (Musa acuminata Colla) are necessary to design handling and packaging equipment, and for safe transportation. The postharvest losses of banana in Sri Lanka are about 30 % and the mechanical damage during transport and handling contributes largely for these losses. Further, about 97 % of fruits are handled by the traditional marketing channels under poor postharvest handling practices and therefore, safe handling and transport is of prime importance at present. The bulk transportation is generally considered as the most cost effective method. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the physical and mechanical properties related to handling and transport of commercially grown local banana cultivars namely, Seeni, Embul and Kolikuttu. The moisture content, linear dimensions of bunches and fruits, sphericity and aspect ratio of fruits, bulk density and true density, coefficient of static friction and the angle of repose on different surfaces such as wood, steel and Styrofoam, and fruit firmness were measured for the above three cultivars at the harvest maturity. The average bunch length of the banana cultivars Embul and Kolikuttu were higher than those of Seeni. The geometrical mean diameters of Embul and Kolikuttu fruits were also higher than Seeni (p<0.05). The average fruit length of Embul, Seeni and Kolikuttu cultivars were 10.5 (±0.86), 10.5 (±0.86) and 14.3 (±1.66) cm, respectively. The fruit finger sphericities were between 0.37-0.38 for all cultivars tested (p>0.05). The bulk density of fruits and hands were higher than those of the whole bunch. The lowest coefficient of static friction was on Styrofoam and the highest was on a wooden surface. There was no significant difference of firmness of mature green banana fruits among the cultivars (p>0.05). This data could be used for appropriate designs and improvements of postharvest handling and packaging in future.

Previous studies have reported that 20-30% of the banana harvest (9,000-13,500 t) is going into waste annually in Sri Lanka mainly due to mechanical damage. The distance of bulk transportation in main distribution channels is about 200 km. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate an appropriate bulk packaging system for banana bulk transportation to minimize postharvest losses occurring due to mechanical damage in Sri Lankan distribution channels. A vibration bed operating at 6 mm amplitude at a 3.5 Hz frequency was used for transportation simulation tests. Three bulk packaging methods; laying of styrofoam sheets of the thicknesses: 10, 8 and 5 mm between bunch layers, wrapping individual banana bunches with styrofoam sheets of 3 and 5 mm thickness and packing banana hands in corrugated fibreboard boxes (CFB) were tested for mechanical damages and final fruit quality. Intact banana bunches were stacked without any packaging as the control. Fruits of the cultivar 'Embul' were subjected to 120 minutes vibration to simulate 100 km distance of travel. Although packing of banana hands in CFB resulted the least mechanical damage (5.9%) fruits lead to rapid ripening. Highest mechanical damage was found in the control (20.8%). Wrapping of individual bunches with Styrofoam sheets reduced the damage but packaging and handling costs were considerably high. Lying of styrofoam sheets of 8 or 10 mm thickness as a cushioning material between the layers of bunches was found to be an appropriate method in terms of reducing mechanical damage. Although, there were no significant differences of damage between 10 and 8 mm thickness sheets, 8 mm sheet reduced the cost of packaging. Therefore, considering the technical and economical feasibility, laying of 8 mm styrofoam sheets in between banana bunch layers for long distance bulk transportation could be recommended under local conditions.

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Purpose: Adoption of new technology in the agricultural sector is low. This is similar to the condition in many other sectors as well. Many studies have been conducted to find out reasons for this issue. While some studies have identified similar factors affecting the decision to adopt a technology, some studies revealed factors which were uniqe to their study. Therefore, identification and compilation of these factors will support future studies and researchers.Research Method: An analysis of literature on technology adoption was conducted. Literature originated from numerous sources spanning almost 50 years were taken for the study. The factors identified by different studies were then compiled for this review paper.Findings: The factors identified can be mainly categorized into three; (1) factors related to the user, such as farm size, income, prior experience, gender, education level, and age; (2) factors related to the technology, such as affordability, availability, compatibility, complexity, trialability and observability; (3) institutional factors, such as access to extension services, inputs, markets and credit facilities. The review findings reveal that adoption is a collective and interactive effect of some or all factors. Thus, identification of priority factors and a holistic approach need to be considered to ensure greater adoption.Originality/ Value: This compilation will support practitioners in technology dissemination for proper identification of factors affecting technology adoption, and future research on technology adoption and  diffusion

1- Methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) has been identified as a safe chemical tested successfully in extending shelf life while maintaining quality of plant products. 1-MCP, at very low concentrations, usually blocks ethylene receptors and then inhibits the action of ethylene delaying further ripening and senescence. Several studies have been conducted elsewhere for delaying ripening of different banana cultivars such as Cavendish, Prata, Tella Chakkerakeli, Beragan and Kolikuttu. Physiological reactions related with ripening of banana are delayed by inhibition of ethylene perception, while ethylene synthesis of banana fruit can be regulated at suppressed levels of ACS and ACO by 1-MCP. The effectiveness of 1-MCP on bananas varies with the maturity of the fruit. Fumigation, the conventional application method, has some limitations, particularly long exposure duration, uneven ripening and green ripening in bananas. Application of 1-MCP in aqueous form is recently developed to minimize these limitations. Micro-bubbling and controlled release packaging technologies are effective tools of application of 1-MCP on bananas. This review compiles and critically analyses the existing knowledge on the technological use of 1-MCP, clarifies inconsistencies in different publications.