Assessment of Factors Precipitating Postharvest Losses of Yam in Zone A Agricultural Area, Benue State, Nigeria
Abstract
The study assessed the factors precipitating postharvest losses of yams in Zone A Agricultural Area of Benue State. Survey research design was adopted for the study and with the aid of semi-structured questionnaires and focused group discussion; data were collected from 204 respondents who were sampled from 1,735 yam farming households using multi-stage cluster and purposive sampling techniques. Descriptive (frequency counts, percentages) and inferential multiple regression analysis) statistics were used to achieve the objectives of the study. The findings revealed that postharvest losses of yams in the study area are precipitated by mechanical and environmental factors such as: pest attack, storage method used, disease/infections, poor transportation facility, theft, poor handling, destruction due to crisis and excessive exposure of yams to sunlight. The computed f-statistic value of 20.78 and 16.12 was significant at 1% and 5% level for mechanical and environmental factors respectively. The study therefore, concluded that mechanical and environmental factors precipitate postharvest losses of yams in the study area. It was recommended that the Government and Agricultural Aid Agencies should provide yam farmers with relevant knowledge on modern yam storage methods, including credit facility that will help them to apply these modern yam preservation methods.
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