Evaluation of farmers knowledge on post harvest technologies of yam in Kogi and Niger State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study evaluated farmers knowledge on post-harvest technologies of yam in Kogi and Niger State, Nigeria. Multistatge sampling technique was employed in the selection of 340 respondents for the study. Data were collected from primary source using sytructured questinnaire complemented with interview schedule. Both descriptive and inferentials statistics such as knowledge test and Kendall coefficient of concordance. The results of the analysis obtained shows 81.2% of respondents were male with mean age of 42.6 years, mean household size was 8.0 persons and mean farming experience of 27.4 years. The result of knowledge test revealed that 36.2% of respondents had medium knowledge on post-harvest technologies of yam according to pooled results while 34.7% had high knowledge on post-harvest technologies of yam. The problem faced in the post-harvest technologies of yam were quick deterioration of crops (mean=8.1) and inadequate credit with mean value of 8.40. The study also revealed that majority of the respondents used manual method of sorting and grading of the yam tubers. Therefore, it is recommended that credit and fund should be made avaialable to the farmers so that they could purchase post-harvest tools that are needed to enhance longevity of produce, farmers should be trained and sensitized on every aspects of post-harvest technologies of yam in order to ensure usage. Also, government should subsidized the cost of post-harvest materials and tools so that farmers can acess them on affordable prices.