Post-harvest Storage Losses in Rice: A Study of Ekiti State, Nigeria

Aims: This study examined post-harvest storage losses in rice in Ekiti State, Nigeria.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Ekiti State, Nigeria between May 2014 and August 2014.

Methodology: Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 150 rice farmers from Ekiti State. Descriptive statistics, Quantitative analytical techniques and Probit regression model were used to analyse the data.

Results: Over 50% of the respondents were using Warehouse as storage system, while the remaining respondents were using Bags. Some of the reasons for the use of warehouse as stated by the respondents include inheritance from parents and availability. Majority (52.3% and 48.4%) of the farmers recorded less than 10% intensity of post-harvest storage losses using Warehouse and Bag storage system respectively. The study further revealed that mean efficiency for Warehouse storage system and Bag storage system was 89.7% and 85.3% respectively, which shows that Warehouse is more efficient than Bag. The mean economic loss in Warehouse was ₦28,380, while that of Bag was ₦32,113 indicating that Warehouse storage system is more efficient economically than Bag storage system in the study area. The results of the probit model showed that cost, life-span and efficiency of the storage system were significant in determining the choice of storage systems in the study area.

Conclusion: It could be concluded that the intensity of post-harvest storage loss in the study area was high, which calls for urgent intervention so as to salvage the situation. Therefore, individuals, government and non-governmental organisations should introduce more affordable, efficient and sophisticated storage systems to the study area for effective storage.