Adoption of post-harvest handling and management technologies among maize farmers in Iganga district

Abstract

This study investigates the factors influencing the adoption of post -harvest handling and management technologies in Iganga district. A sample of 80 respondents was randomly selected from the study area. A questionnaire was administered to collect the primary data. Specific objectives of the study were; (i) To determine the major causes of post- harvest losses among maize farmers, (ii)to estimate the loss in incomes of farmers as a result of post -harvest losses in maize and (iii)to determine factors influencing farmer adoption of improved post -harvest technologies. Data generated during the study was analyzed usingdescriptive statistics that included percentages, frequencies and means.The probit regression model was used to determine factors that influence adoption of improved post-harvest technologies. The findings of this study indicated that out of the 80 randomly selected respondents, 71% were male farmers, while 29% were female.Farmers were moving an average distance of 1.232 kilometers to access the main road,1.775 kilometers to the market and 1.241 kilometers to access extension services. The study findings show the causes of post-harvest losses; Insects (42%) and rodents (28%) leading to diseased maize, moulding (26%)due to poor storage, andthieves (4%). Considering the estimation of post-harvest losses, results indicated that the mean amount of maize harvested was236.512kg. The mean amount of maize utilized by farmers through sales and home use was 132.537 kg. The mean amount of maize lost by farmers was 47.062 kg. On average farmers lose 31,099.3706 shillings as an economic post-harvest loss with a mean price of 660.81 shillings. Major factor constraining the adoption of post-harvest technologies was capital 60% followed by awareness 16% and risks 16%.78.8% had adopted use of tarpaulins during drying,3.8% had adopted modern cribs for storage and 2.5% had adopted the use of hand shellers. The research revealed that education level of the respondents, years of experience in farming, access to extension services and availability of information on improved post-harvest technologies had a significant effect on the adoption of improved post-harvest technologies of the respondents whereas the other variables were insignificant for the study and had no significant effect on adoption of improved postharvest technologies. The government and agricultural NGOs should invest more in farmer trainings through extension workers to equip the farmers with skills and knowledge on improved post-harvest technologies and agriculture in general so that the economy can benefit from the stimuli arising from informed farmers’ greater use of improved post-harvest technologies