Determinants of Post Harvest Losses of Rice (Oryza Sativa) among Rice Processors in Benue State, Nigeria

Determinants of post harvest losses of rice among rice processors was conducted in Benue state, Nigeria. The objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics and determine factors influencing post-harvest losses of rice processors; the study employed the use of purposive, multi stage and simple random sampling procedures to select 150 rice processors using Taro Yamane’s proportionate sampling. Simple descriptive statistics and multiple linear regressions was use for data analyses. The result revealed that, mean age was 41 years, 47.33% were married, 44.67% processed between 7 – 10 100kg bags of rice per week. The result showed that 74.67% attended formal education, 36.67% had experience of between 10-15 years, Result of multiple regression analysis revealed that, R2 was 57%, losses due to inadequate drying facilities, inadequate transportation facilities, scale of operation were statistically significant at 1% and positive implying increase in these variables leads to increase in the dependent variable by the magnitude of their coefficient 23%, 26% and 0.3% . Milling technology and education were statistically significant at 1% but negative implying decrease in these variables will increase the value of the dependent variable by the magnitude of their coefficients -0.74% and -0.33%. The study concludes that, improving drying facilities and transportation efficiency. providing training on post harvest management and improving processing technology can significantly reduce post harvest losses by rice processors. The study recommends that; Government and NGOs should invest in modern drying facilities; provide training on post harvest management for rice processors and improve transportation network and efficiency.