DETERMINANTS OF POST-HARVEST LOSSES OF ORANGE IN SELECTED LO-CAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF BENUE STATE

Abstract

This study examined the determinant of postharvest losses of orange in two Local Government Areas of Benue State. The aim of the study is to identify the most important factor responsible for postharvest losses of oranges in the study area so that proactive steps should be taken in forestalling future losses. The research used primary data from a population of forty respondents (40). Eighteen farmers and twenty-two orange marketers were purposively selected from two Local Government Areas in Benue State using a structured questionnaire. The data were ana-lyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) Version 20.0. The data collected were analyzed us-ing logit regression to establish the effect of each of the factors on post-harvest losses in the study areas. The re-sult of the study indicates the following factors; Formal Education, Method of harvesting and Handling showed significant effect (p<0.05) on post-harvest losses. The method of harvesting was 4.698 times more likely to affect post-harvest losses than all the other variables of the study. Results from the second model indicate that factors such as; Packaging, Storage, Handling and Marketer's Experience showed a significant effect on post-harvest losses in the study areas. The study showed that the method of storage was 5.767 times more likely to affect post-harvest losses than all the other variables of the study. The study recommends that scientific approaches like mod-ern harvesting methods, improved storage, and handling facilities should be adopted to reduce post-harvest losses of orange.