Abstract
Cowpea is a food security crop and a main source of income for farmers in Niger. However, postharvest storage remains a major challenge due to insect pest attacks. Since 2008, the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) bags were disseminated in Niger to reduce storage losses. This study was conducted to assess the adoption of the PICS technology in the Dosso, Maradi, and Zinder regions of Niger. We interviewed 600 households selected from villages that did and did not benefit from PICS extension activities. A logit regression model was used to assess the decision of farmers to adopt the PICS technology. The overall adoption of the PICS bags among farmers was 48.4%. PICS adoption was 69.7% in Dosso, 41.3% in Zinder, and 31.2% in Maradi. Farmers who attended PICS training were 5 times more likely to adopt the technology than those who did not. Variables that affected the adoption of the PICS technology included the region, participation in PICS training, and information source. Beyond cowpea, PICS bags were used to store a variety of crops including Bambara nuts, hibiscus seeds, peanuts, millet, and sorghum. Storing 100 kg of cowpea in a PICS bag generated a cash flow of $70.38 per respondent and a net return of $21.50. Revenues generated from sales of cowpea stored in PICS bags were mostly used for health expenditures and to purchase agricultural inputs. Results of this study demonstrate that pest management technologies such as PICS bags can also contribute to improving the livelihood of family farms.
Highlights
Protecting crops against pest damage is one way to meet food demand that requires relatively modest investments compared to increasing crop production [1]
A decade after hermetic triple bags were disseminated in Niger, this study aimed to assess the adoption of the Purdue Improved Crop Storage (PICS) technology among farmers
This study shows that the adoption of PICS bags almost doubled 10 years after the technology was introduced in Niger
Summary
Protecting crops against pest damage is one way to meet food demand that requires relatively modest investments compared to increasing crop production [1]. Cowpeas are susceptible to the insect pest, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.), during storage. This pest can cause losses of over 30% after only four months of storage [2,3]. Farmers have always complained that postharvest storage is one of the major constraints that hamper investments in cowpea production [4]. Farmers use a variety of storage protection methods including chemicals, botanicals, and traditional methods such as ash [2]. Most of these storage methods are either expensive, ineffective or pose health hazards to consumers and the environment due to their toxicity
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