Utilization of Post-Harvest Management Strategies among Cashew Farmers in Imo State, Nigeria
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Abstract
This study analyzed utilization of post-harvest management strategies among cashew farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 72 cashew farmers for this study. Data were collected using structured questionnaire, and were also analyzed with descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and mean) and inferential statistics (multiple regression). Result of the study revealed that cashew farmers had a mean age of 45.64years, 75.59% were males, 73.61% were married, 86.11% had secondary education. The mean household size was 7 persons, mean years of farming experience was 19.25 years. While, 76.39% were not member of cooperative society, 88.89% had no contact with extension service. The average number of cashew trees owned by the farmers was 161 trees, majority (92.28%) had no access to credit and had mean annual income of ₦82,861.11. Cashew farmers experienced losses mostly during the harvesting (97.2%), processing stage (97.2%), packaging stage (94.4%), storage (80.6%) and distribution/marketing stages (72%). Postharvest management strategies utilized were harvesting as soon as the fruits mature (95.8%), farm-gate sales immediately after harvest to reduce postharvest losses (93.1%). Also, the socio-economic characteristics of farmers influenced the number of postharvest management strategies adopted by them with values of (R2) = 0.641 and F-ratio value = 22.435 and significant at 5% probability level. Poor extension contacts (98.61%), poor storage facilities (97.22%), poor processing facilities (95.83%), high cost of postharvest management equipment (95.83%) and inadequate knowledge of the use of modern postharvest technologies (94.4%) were constraints to utilization of post-harvest management strategies. The study recommends that extension agents should organize training on cashew postharvest management practices.
Keywords: Cashew, Postharvest losses, Postharvest management
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