Determinants of post-harvest losses of yam among yam farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria

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1 Bull. Inst. Trop. Agr., Kyushu Univ. 38: 73-78, Determinants of post-harvest losses of yam among yam farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria Rashid S. Adisa 1) *, Lateef L. Adefalu 1), Latifat K. Olatinwo 2), Kayode S. Balogun 3) and Opeyemi O. Ogunmadeko 1) Abstract The study examined factors influencing the postharvest losses of yam among farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Multistage random sampling techniques were used to select 200 respondents from four (4) Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the State. Data were analyzed using simple descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages, and inferential statistic of the multiple regression analysis. Findings reveal that more than half (56.8%) of the respondents were the age range of years and most (94.4%) were small scale farmers cultivating less than 5 hectares of farmland. Majority of the respondents were male and had no formal education. The study further reveals that the farmers had an average knowledge on postharvest activities in yam production. Major causes of postharvest losses in yam production were found to include over-storage, ineffective post handling of yam, high cost of transportation, lack of storage/processing facilities, theft on yam, lack of improved technology and injuries to yam. Multiple regression analysis show significant relationships between farmers sex, farm size, farm locations and accessibility, and post-harvest losses in yam production. The study recommends the provision of improved infrastructural facilities like good roads for easy and timely evacuation of yam produce to the urban markets and also farmers enlightenment on not too sophisticated post-harvest technologies to ensure massive adoption. Keywords: Determinants; Post-harvest; yam loss; yam farmers; Ekiti State; Nigeria Introduction Yam belonging to the genus Dioscorea sp. (Family Dioscoreaceae) is the second most important tropical root crop in West Africa after cassava. Besides its importance as a food source, yam also plays a significant role in the socio-cultural lives of some producing regions such as the celebrated New Yam Festival in West Africa. Yam originated in the Far East and spread westwards. Recently, global yam production was about 47 million metric tons (MT) with 96% of this coming from Africa (Zinash, 2008). Yam is among the oldest recorded food crops and ranks second after cassava in supply of starch in West Africa (Nweke et. al., 1991). The most popular and preferred form of consuming yam is the tuber form; either boiled, pounded, roasted or fried (Zinash, 2008). Better financial returns are also obtained by selling the yams as tubers rather than processed yam flour. Thus, farmers prefer to store most of their yams 1) Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria 2) Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Federal University, Dutsin-ma, Nigeria 3) Lower Niger River Basin Development Authority, Ilorin, Nigeria *Corresponding author: rsadisa@unilorin.edu.ng

2 74 Rashid S. Adisa et al. after harvest. However, ineffective postharvest handling of yam constitutes a major source of loss to rural and urban women who engage in purchasing and marketing of tubers. The environment within the market is also not suited for long term storage. Methods of storage vary from delayed harvesting, storage in simple piles or trenches to storage in buildings specially designed for that purpose, and application of modern techniques. A number of treatments and techniques have been developed to reduce these physiological activities and also to protect the tuber from postharvest diseases. These include treatment with chemicals, plant extracts, palm wine and gamma irradiation; storage techniques used include cold storage, improved underground storage and improved yam barns (Zinash, 2008). Fresh yams are difficult to store and are subject to post harvest losses during storage (Afoakwa and Sefa-Dedeh, 2001).Eradication or reduction of postharvest losses is therefore important to bring increasing food security and reduce suffering both rural and urban households. In order to ensure that every Nigerian has an unimpeded access to enough food for healthy living throughout the year, and that farmers have adequate financial reward for their efforts, special attention has to be paid to the postharvest handling of tubers like yam that have storage issues. The overall purpose of the study was to identify the determinants of post-harvest losses of yam among farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to: 1. examine the personal characteristics of yam farmers in the study area, 2. determine the knowledge of yam farmers on the various postharvest activities, 3. identify the causes of postharvest losses in yam production; and 4. investigate the factors responsible for postharvest losses of yam tubers. Methodology The study was carried out in Ekiti State, Nigeria. The State consists of 16 local government areas and covers a total land area of 23, km 2. The state is categorized into two zones, A and B, based on agronomic and ecological considerations (Fakayode et. al., 2008). Major crops grown in the State include oil palm, cocoa, coffee, yam, cassava, maize, vegetables and fruits. However, yam is the most predominantly cultivated food crop in the State. A multistage random selection was done to select 200 respondents for the study. In the first stage, four (4) LGAs were purposively selected namely Ido-Osi, Ijan, Ikole and Ilupeju. Secondly, five communities were randomly selected from each of the LGAs. Thirdly, ten (10) respondents were selected from each of the communities to make a total of 200 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a well structured interview schedule which was validated by experts. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze the demographic variables of the respondents. Inferential statistics such as the multiple regression analysis was to investigate the factors responsible for postharvest losses in yam production.

3 Determinants of post-harvest losses of yam in Ekiti State, Nigeria 75 Results and Discussion Personal characteristics of respondents The personal characteristics of the respondents are presented in Table 1. It was shown that majority of the farmers (56.8%) were within the age range of years. This shows that most of the farmers are in their mid-ages and so they are still active in production. Majority (81.6%) of the respondents were male, while only 18.4% were female. Farmers educational level was very low. 64.8% of them had no formal education, 12.8% had adult education, 8.6% attempted the primary school leaving certificate while the remaining 14.4% attempted the secondary school certificate. Thus, acceptance of improved technologies on postharvest activities in yam production among farmers may be low since education facilitates farmers adoption of innovations (Onemolease, 2005). The farmers in the study area had small farm holdings scattered in more than one location. Only 1.6% of the respondents had farm size of more than 2.5ha, while 74.4% of them had farms less than 5 acres in size; with 51% of them having their farms in at least 3 locations. Table 1. Selected personal characteristics of yam farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria, 2014 (N=200) Variables Frequency (%) Age (years) (8.8) (24) (56.8) (10.4) Sex Male 204 (81.6) Female 46 (18.4) Level of education No formal education 162 (64.8) Adult education 32 (14.4) Primary Sch. Leaving cert 20 (8.6) Attempted School Cert 36 (14.4) Farm size (hectares) (94.4) (4.0) >10 4 (1.6) No of farm location 1 47 (18.8) 2 75 (30.0) (51.2) Percentage in parenthesis Respondents knowledge of various post-harvest activities The responses of farmers to 14 questions on the level of their knowledge of various post-harvest activities of yam are shown in Table 2a. The results identifies three (3) areas where farmers lack knowledge in yam production and they include 3 types, representing: locating a cottage industry close farm to process yam (23.2%), indiscriminate harvesting of yam tubers (both mature and immature) (38.0%) and

4 76 Rashid S. Adisa et al. sorting of diseased/damaged yam tubers (39.2%). The summary as presented in Table 2b revealed that 54.4% of the farmers have low knowledge on various improved post-harvest activities. However, the farmers were found to be rich in indigenous knowledge (locally developed skills) which is used in storing and processing yam. Improving the ratio of extension agents to farmers will improve their access to information and subsequently improve their knowledge of postharvest activities of yam. Table 2a. Knowledge of postharvest activities of yam by farmers Items Frequency (%) 1. Locating a cottage industry close to your farm will encourage you to process yam 58 (23.2) 2. Do you think sorting of diseased/damaged yam is a waste of time 98 (39.2) 3. Damaged tubers are not useful 176 (70.4) 4. storing your tubers will prevent mechanical damage to your yam 200 (80.0) 5. do you know that you should not store newly harvested yam with already stored yam 188 (75.2) 6. selling your tubers at the farm gate attracts more income than in the market 166 (67.0) 7. both matured and immature tubers should be harvested/purchased 94 (38.0) 8. processing enhance better storage 166 (67.0) 9. processing of food crops is essential 238 (95.2) 10. use of bad roads contribute to loss of yam 242 (96.8) 11. breakdown of vehicles causing delay in getting to destination encourage deteriorating of yam 242 (96.8) 12. it is financially more rewarding to sell in the urban markets than rural markets 226 (90.4) 13. bruised yam can planted to prevent further deterioration 238 (95.2) 14. You should prevent yam from getting bruised 240 (96.0) Percentage in parenthesis. Table 2b. Knowledge scores of respondent in yam postharvest activities Knowledge Frequency (%) Low 135 (54.40) High 114 (45.60) Mean score Percentage in parenthesis. The causes of postharvest losses among the respondents The major causes of postharvest losses among the yam farmers are represented by Table 3. These are over storage (98.0%), ineffective postharvest handling (96.8%), high cost of transportation system (96.0%), lack of storage/processing facilities (94.0%), injury on yam tubers (80.0%) and menace of theft among farmers (86.4%) was also responsible for losses among the farmers. This finding agrees with that of Olayemi et al (2011) that bruising and spoilage, high cost of transportation, inadequate storage facili-

5 Determinants of post-harvest losses of yam in Ekiti State, Nigeria 77 ties and menace of theft are responsible for losses incurred by farmers and marketers. However, the results seem to disagree with the findings of Okoedo-Okojie and Onemolease (2009) that did not recognize theft of tubers as a significant cause of postharvest losses in yam production. Table 3. Causes of losses of yam Causes Frequency (%) Over storage 245 (98.0) High cost of transportation 240 (96.0) Injury on yam 200 (80.0) Lack of storage/ Processing facilities 235 (94.0) Lack of improved technology 210 (84.0) Ineffective post handling of yam 242 (96.8) Theft of yam 216 (86.4) Percentage in parenthesis. Determinants of postharvest losses among farmers The multiple regression analysis of variables that determine postharvest losses incurred by farmers are shown in Table 4. These factors were found to be sex, farm size, as well as location and accessibility of farms. The result agrees with the findings of Okoedo-Okojie and Onemolease (2009) that also identified farm size as a major determinant in farmers adoption of improved innovations in postharvest activities. These researchers also imply that, farmers with large farms are almost 4 times as likely as those with smaller farms to adopt improved storage technologies to reduce postharvest losses in crops. Table 4. Multiple regression analysis of the determinants of postharvest losses among farmers Unstandardised Standardized Coefficient coefficient Variables B Std. error Beta t Sig. Age Sex * Educational attainment Farm size * Location and accessibility * ; *Significant variables Conclusion and Recommendation The study sought to examine the factors influencing the postharvest losses of yam among yam farmers in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Male farmers dominated yam cultivation in the study area. The farmers were found to have fragmented plots of lands in various locations and mainly operated on a small-scale, cultivating less than 5 hectares of farmland. The study also revealed that postharvest losses among farmers in the study area were mainly caused by farmers lack of knowledge on some important postharvest activities in yam production. Specifically, these losses are mainly caused by over-storage, ineffective post handling of yam, high cost of transportation, lack of storage/processing facilities, theft on

6 78 Rashid S. Adisa et al. yam, lack of improved technology and injuries to yam. The study showed that the impact of the research institute (NSPRI) saddled with the responsibility of designing machines to reduce postharvest losses has not been felt by the respondents. Based on the findings and conclusion reached in this study, it is therefore recommended that: i. Farmers should be exposed to more postharvest technologies in yam production especially in the area of storage so as to minimize postharvest losses. ii. More social infrastructures like feeder roads should be constructed by the government to foster profitable transaction of farm produce at the urban markets. This will also reduce the losses menace likely to occur during transition or in prolong storage. iii. Government should make more credit readily available to yam farmers through cooperative societies and also provide grading devices in yam market to make room for uniform and proper pricing of yam among farmers in the study area. They should be made to pool members resources together to acquire improved storage facilities to reduce postharvest losses. References Afoakwa, E.O. and Sefa-Dedeh, S., (2001). Chemical composition andquality changes in Dioscorea dumentorum pax tubers after harvest, Food Chemistry, 75: Fakayode, B. S, O.A. Omotesho, A.B. Tsoho and P. D. Ajayi (2008). An Economic Survey of Rural Infrastructures and Agricultural Productivity Profiles in Nigeria. European Journal of Soc. Sc., 7(2). Nweke, F.L. Ugwu, B.O. and Asadu, C.L. (1991). Production cost in the yam based cropping stem in south Eastern Nigeria (RCMP) Research monograph, No. 6. Okoedo-Okojie, D.U. and Onemolease, E.A., (2009). Factors affecting the adoption of yam storage technologies in the Northern ecological zone of Edo State, Nigeria, Journal of Human Ecology, 27(2): Olayemi, F. F., Adegbola, J. A., Bamishaiye, E. I., and Awagu, E. F. (2011) Assessment of post harvest losses of some selected crops in eight local government areas of Rivers State Nigeria, Asian J. Rural Dev., 2011: Onemolease, E.A., (2005). Impact of the Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) activities in arable crop production on rural poverty alleviation in EdoState, Nigeria. Ph.d Thesis (unpublished), University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria, p Zinash D.O. (2008). Minimizing postharvest losses in yam (Dioscorea spp.): treatment and techniques. In: Robertson, G.L. & Lupien, J.R. (eds.), Using food science and technology to improve nutrition and promote national development, International Union of Food Science & Technology, Ontario, 1-12.