A STUDY ON SWEET ORANGE PRODUCTION AND ITS POST-HARVEST LOSSES AMONG FARMERS IN NORTH-EASTERN ZONE OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA

Agnes Agbanugo Ikwuba¹, Francis Shagbaor Wegh^1,Tavershima Abraham Agwaza^2* and Ruth Iveren Angera²

¹Department of Sociology, Benue State University, Makurdi-Nigeria

²Centre for Food Technology and Research (CEFTER), Benue State University, Makurdi-Nigeria

E-mail: mandegwaz2012@gmail.com

ABSTRACT

The study assessed sweet orange production and its post-harvest losses among farmers in North-Eastern Zone of Benue State, Nigeria.Specifically, the objectives of the study were to: find out the quantity of oranges produced by farmers, examine the extent of post-harvest losses of orange and explore possible ways to reduce post-harvest losses of orange in the area. One hypothesis was formulated to authenticate the result of the study. The study adopted duffusionist theory. Cross-sectional design was employed. A sample size of 313 respondents was drawn from a population of 1442 registered orange farmers using multi-stage sampling technique. The instruments for data collection were questionnaire, KII and FGD. Data collected through these methods were analysed using descriptive statistics to address research objectives, while ANOVA was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that most orange plantations in the study area were within one hectare and less than a hectare. The cultivars grown were mostly Ibadan Sweet and Valencia. An average of 22,164.6bags of oranges were harvested, 16,672.3bags were sold while 5,492.3bags of oranges were lost. Findings revealed that the extent to which post-harvest losses of orange occurred in the area was as high as 21-30 per cent. These losses were noticed to occur in all the post-harvest stages of orange. However, plucking and bagging (31% and above) were the principal stages of post-harvest losses of orange. The study therefore recommended awareness and sensitisation creation on post-harvest losses of orange among farmers, change in settlement pattern among the people of the study area, farmers before harvesting the fruits should endeavour to spread cushions around the tree canopies and harvest at the appropriate time of the day, possibly when the grounds are dry, among other recommendations as strategies to increase orange plantations and reduce post-harvest losses in the area.

Keywords: Sweet orange production, Post-harvest losses, Farmers, North-Eastern Zone