Effect of Post-Harvest Losses of Tomato Fruits on the Income of the Marketers in Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Nigeria

Abstract

Post-harvest losses of food crops, especially fruits and vegetables, are common phenomena in developing countries. Data were analysed with Ordinary Least Square technique and descriptive statistics. The results revealed that tomato marketing was male-dominated with a mean age of 36 years. The findings also revealed a gini-coefficient of 0.4 and that quantity of tomato fruits, time tomato fruits spent on farm after maturity and time taken before tomato is sold to consumers had significant effect on the income of the marketers. The major constraints faced by the marketers included bad road, inadequate storage facilities and, seasonality. It is therefore recommended that government should encourage the establishment of more tomato processing industries to purchase excess tomato fruits during the glut season.