PROBLEMS AFFECTING STORAGE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE (A CASE STUDY OF MAIZE PRODUCTION
ABSTRACT
This study was designed to
investigate the problems affecting storage of Agricultural produce which is the
case study of maize production in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo
State. The population of the sample was 20farmers in the selected farms in
Akure South Local Government. Questionnaire was used to collect data. The
questionnaire contains items based on the objectives of the study. Some of the
findings are: Most of the selected farms produce grain crops mostly maize
grains; some of the farmers use chemicals to prevent their crops from pests.
There is no adequate on new storing equipments, there are poor techniques in
handling of storage facilities, also high cost of storage facilities. Base on
the findings, the following recommendations are made: The farmers should be
encouraged on how to plant different crop especially grains, farmers should be
able to use insecticides, pesticides and fumigants for controlling the insect
pest at appropriate time, since pests affect grains in the container, good
store should be used for the storage of grains. Farmers should clean and
disinfect the storage bags or containers before storage. Farmers should be
encouraged on how to use modern method of storing Agricultural produce so as to
prevent harvested crops from perishing.
TABLE OF CONTENT
Title Page
No
Title page
Certification
Approval Page
Dedication
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Table of content Abstract
CHAPTER ONE: Introduction
Background of the Study
Statement of the Problem
Purpose of the Study
Significance of the Study
Research Question
Scope of the Study
Definition of Terms
CHAPTER TWO: Review Literature Review
The Problem
Associated with the Grains (Maize) Storage
Method of
Storage
Types of
Silo Storage
Reason for
Grain Storage
CHAPTER THREE: Research Methodology
Design of the Study
Area of the Study
Population of the Study
Sample of the Study
Research Instrument
Method of Data Collection
Validation of the Instrument
Method of Data Analysis
CHAPTER FOUR: Presentation and Analysis of Data
Research Question One
Research Question Two
Research Question Three
Research Question Four
Research Question Five
CHAPTER FIVE: Summary,
Conclusion and Recommendations
Summary
Conclusion
Recommendation
Limitation
of the Study
REFERENCES
APPENDIX
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Agriculture is the cultivation of
animals, plants, and other life forms for food, fiber, medicinal and other
products used to sustain and enhance human life. Agriculture, therefore, is and
will continue to be central to all strategies for planned socio-economic
development of the country. Rapid growth of agriculture is essential not only
to achieve self-reliance at national level but also for household, food
security and to bring about equity in distribution of income and wealth
resulting in rapid reduction in poverty levels. (Rubenstein J.M. 2003).
Agricultural science is defined as the art and science of field crop culture
and soil management. The aims and objectives of agricultural science is to
increase the production and processing of exportable commodities with a view of
increasing their foreign exchange earning, For modernization of agricultural
production, Processing storage and distribution through the infusion of
improved technologies, For the protection and improvement of agricultural land
and resources and preservation of the environment for sustainable agricultural
production.
Storage of crops is considered to
retain the product essentially its original form usually at a regulated
temperature and relative humidity and excludes preservative processes in which
the form of the of product is usually
altered. For instance, maize storage means storing the maize on cob or shelled
and left as grains but not as corn flour, which is a product of processing.
Reasons for storing agricultural produce are: To provide seeds for subsequent
planting, for economic purposes, to provide food between the harvest seasons. The
problems of storage deterioration: Micro-organisms, Insect and Mites, Rodents
and Birds.
Storage structure/ system is any
man-made ecosystem which create an environment that is not convenient for
destructive agents, that is, a crop stage structure is a container that is
designed and fabricated to perform the function of safety crops keeping.
Furthermore, storage structure also refers to the facilities within and some
far from an agricultural establishment which are used for the storage of agricultural
produce.
Cereals is any true grass cultivated
for the edible components of its grains (botanically, a type of fruit called
caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ and bran. Cereal grains are grown
in greater quantities and provide more food energy worldwide than any other
type of crop, they are therefore STAPLE Crops. Some plants often referred to as
cereal like buckwheat and quinoa, there are considered instead of pseudo
cereals since they are not grasses. In their natural form (as whole grain),
they are source of vitamins, minerals, carbohydrate, fats, oils and protein.
When refined by the removal of the bran and germ, the remaining endosperm is
mostly carbohydrate. In some developing nations, grain in form of rice,
millets, or maize constitutes the majority of daily sustenance. Cereals are
grown in warm- season of tropical lowlands in temperate climates during the
frost-tree season.
However, there are other major
cereals of warm temperate or tropical origin which are of local importance in
the tropics. The four important cereals grown for human food in the tropics are
Rice, Millets, Maize, and Sorghum. Some cereals are deficient in the essential
amino acid Lysine. The major role of cereals to modern society is related to
its importance as food crops throughout the world. In most parts of Asia and
Africa, cereals products comprise 80% or more of the average diet, in central
and western Europe, as much as 50% and in the united state between 20-25%.
Cereals are the major dietary energy suppliers and provide significant amount
of protein, minerals (potassium and calcium) and vitamin (vitamin A and C)
(Idem and Showemimo, 2004). Cereals are consumed in a variety forms including:
pastes, noodles, cakes, breads, drinks etc. depending on the ethnic and
religious affiliation. The bran, husk, plant parts and other residues (after
processing) are useful as feeds and in the culture of micro-organism. Wax syrup
and gum are extracted form cereals for industrial purposes.
Maize as a cereal is an Africa
crop. Several civilizations have been built with maize as their staple food:
the Mayan, the Azlec, the lncan and to a great degree. Maize has always been
American most efficient crop for converting the sun energy into food; in this century,
hybrids and tremendous advances in fertilizer and machinery, as well as insect
and weed control combined to give it a leading role in revolutionizing our
agriculture.
Maize, the Indian greatest
contribution to the white man, has kept pace with our need for food for an
ever-expanding population. The key crop of the new world agriculture and the
chief basis of Indian economy, the noble grass we know as maize, as Indian
maize, or as our derivative of its Arawak name maize (Zea mays).
Maize is classified as belonging to
the subfamily Panicoideae, tribe Andropogoneae or, by others, tribe Maydeae.
The tribes include two genera of new world origin: Tripsacum, with numerous
wild species and zea. The taxonomy of the of the genus Zea which is given here
was proposed by Litis and Doebley(1980) and supported by isozyme and
chloroplast DNA studies(Doebley, 1990). It divides zea into four subspecies, of
which one is cultivated maize:
Section Luxuriates section zea
Z. diploperennis Z.mays subsp. mexicana
Z. perennis
subsp. parviglumis
Z. luxurians
subsp. huehuetenangen
Maize has a remarkable diversity of
vegetative types, with the result that adapt to a wide range of environmental
conditions in cultivation. From latitudes 58 in Canada, the culture of maize
passes without interruption through the tropical region and the farmers of
agriculture in the southern hemisphere (latitude 350 to 450).
It is grown from below sea level to altitudes of 13,000feets.
Maize is a short-day plant that is
flowering is hastened and vegetative growth retarded by long nights. The maize
plants utilities about half its seasonal intake of water during the five weeks
following the attainment of its maximum leaf area. The varieties that successed
in any region are those fitted to the particular length of day. Quick maturing
hybrids are grown in the north. Maize requires an abundance of readily
available plant nutrients and a soil reaction between ph5.5 and ph8.0 for the
best production. On poor soil, vegetative growth may use most of the available
nutrients at the expensive of grain production later in the season. Under short
season conditions, light sandy soils are preferable for maize because they
warm-up more quickly in the spring. The best date to plant maize may be as
early as late February or early march, while late maize is early June in the
extreme north. Planting should be delayed a day for each 13miles to the north
in the central maize belt, most maize is planted from mid-April to mid-May.
In addition to calendar
date, consideration should be given to the temperature of the soil when
planting. The sowing of maize should be 20 to 50cm apart in rows, the distance
depending on whether the seed is to be sown singly or in group of three or four
per hole. The rows should be spaced 80cm apart. The depth of sowing varies from
2 to 6cm depending on the soil type, where the soil is light, seeds should be
buried deeply.
One of the major grains produced in
Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State is maize. The important of
maize are as follows:
1. for human consumption
2. as raw materials for industries
3. as livestock feed
It can also be prepare as food in
different forms:
1. they can be boiled or eaten raw
2. they can be roasted
3. they can also be grounded or use in
powered as flour for baking bread, biscuits e.t.c. the stem can be used to feed
the animals and used as mulching materials.
There
are some problems that are affecting the storage of maize, they include:
1. Poor storage method.
2. Poor usage of storage facilities.
3. Inadequate facilities for storing
agricultural products.
4. Climatic factors: rainfall,
temperature, solar radiation.
5. Soil factors: pests and diseases,
migration.
Statement of the Problem
Maize
is grown Marjorly in the savannah area of Nigeria. The fact that in Akure South
Local Government Area of Ondo State,
large quantities of maize is bring produced annually, but there is shortage of
maize due to the problem affecting the storage of maize production, which
includes the following:
Temperature, Moisture, Oxygen,
Geographical location, Granary structure, Physical, Chemical and Biological
properties of grains in bulks, Micro-organisms, Insects, Mites, Rodents and
Birds. There problems cause a large damage to maize. Most of the maize produced
in the country is always in excess supply during the harvesting period, most of
them are also sold cheaply in the market during the harvesting period and some
get wasted due to inadequate storage facilities like Bins, Silo, warehouse,
shelf storage, and cribs storage e.t.c.
Purpose of the Study
The aims of the study is
to identify the problems affecting the storage of maize and finding possible
solution to the problems of maize production in Akure South Local Government
Area of Ondo State.
·
To
find out the major diseases affecting the storage of maize.
·
To
identify the varieties of maize planted and to know the method of storing them.
Significance of the Study
The
significance of this study cannot be over emphasized, in as much as maize
storage has been creating problem to the farmers in Akure South Local
Government Area of Ondo State. The problems include;
· Unavailability of chemicals.
· Lack of manpower
· Lack of incentives from government to
the farmers.
The
result of this study is to assist the farmers on how to handle the storage of
maize well and other grain crop like sorghum, millet, rice e.t.c, in other to
enhance more income and to develop more interest in growing of maize. All the
farmers will gain and benefit definitely from the recommendation of the
researchers.
Research Questions
The
following research questions will be used:
1. What are the types of grain crops
grown by the farmers?
2. What are the reasons for choosing
maize?
3. What are the items used for maize
storage?
4. What are the problems of maize
storage?
5. What are the possible solutions to
the problems?
Scope of the Study
This
study focus on the problem affecting storage of agricultural products and
production of maize in Akure South Local
Area of Ondo state.
Definition of Terms
The
following terminologies are used in this research work and they are as follows:
·
STORAGE:
This is the process preserving the original quality of agricultural produce to
avoid spoilage in both plants and animals for future use and for further
processing.
·
CRIB:
Crib storage recently gained research interest because of its potentials. The
traditional crib has been improved. The conventional crib storage made of
improved material such as sawn wood, iron or wire mesh, plastic roof and
treated bamboo. The conventional cribs have increased capacity and could store
up to 15tons of cob maize. It is therefore used for medium scale storage.
·
SILO/BIN
STORAGE: A silo, also referred to as a bin is basically a huge container used
for the storage of agricultural produce. Silo is used for bulky storage of
grains such as shelled maize, threshed rice, sorghum or guinea corn and millet.
Silos may be circular or rectangular in section.
·
WAREHOUSE:
Warehouse is used for both medium and large scale storage. Bagged products are
normally stored in the warehouse. Occasionally bulk materials are stored in the
warehouse. Modern warehouses are provided with materials handling equipment,
especially when bulk materials are stored.
·
SHELF
STORAGE: This is an improved storage for root crops. Roof crops could be stored
on shelf for a longer time; through moisture loss is too much. Shelf is mostly
made of wood or metal.
