Assessment of Post-Harvest Technology and Rice Farmers Income in Ekiti State

Abstract

A major problem with the domestic output of rice in Nigeria is the poor operational techniques of processors which often aids low production. Efforts of government through the agricultural development project (ADP) to improve rice processing especially in Ekiti state have proven ineffective. The study therefore, examines the assessment of post-harvest technology of rice in ekiti state. The study makes use of 80 respondents’ farmers and processors in Igbemo-ekiti, using a purposive, snowball and random sampling techniques. The data collected from the study were analyzed using the frequency and percentage tables and budgetary technique. The study reveals that male respondents constitute 55% with 71.3% no of year spent in school and majorities (75%) of the respondents are within the economically active age that favour processing activities. Meanwhile, the adopted processing technologies in the study area are primitive ones and modern processing technology is most profitable with gross margin of ₦9,850 and ₦1.34k as return on investment. Much earning flows in with the use of modern technology; thus, there should be an effort of private bodies, government, farmers and processors to increase output through the use of various modern technologies. Keywords: Rice Farmers, Income, Technologies, Post-harvest DOI: 10.7176/DCS/10-2-02 Publication date: February 29 th 2020