Health-centric information and moisture management for the adoption of postharvest practices to reduce mycotoxin risk: evidence from black pepper farmers in Sri Lanka.

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by fungi. They pose significant global food safety concerns because they can cause both acute and chronic health hazards. While information provision and technological interventions play a critical role in reducing mycotoxin risks, existing evidence on health-centric information remains mixed and limited to aflatoxins in cereals and grains, leaving spices underexplored. Moreover, technological interventions alone may be ineffective without adequate awareness and active management practices. This study investigates the effects of health-centric information and moisture management interventions, alongside general information on mycotoxin mitigation and government post-harvest quality improvement training, on the adoption of key post-harvest practices expected to reduce mycotoxin risks. A randomized controlled trial was conducted among 810 black pepper farmers in the Matale District, Sri Lanka. The results reveal that a bundled intervention emphasising health-centric information significantly enhanced the adoption of all key post-harvest quality improvement practices, reducing unsafe practices such as threshing barefoot and drying on bare floors, while improving recommended practices such as fresh grading, dry grading, blanching, and storage. In contrast, the bundled intervention emphasizing moisture management had limited impact, primarily on blanching and storage. These findings suggest that the bundled intervention, emphasizing health-centric information, motivates farmers to adopt critical postharvest quality-improvement practices expected to reduce mycotoxin risk, thereby potentially contributing to improving spice quality and enhancing consumer safety.