Maize Post-Harvest Losses And Its Management Practices Adopted By Farmer In Gulmi District

The research entitled “Survey on Maize Post-Harvest Losses and Its Management Practices of Gulmi” was conducted in different wards of Satyawati Rural Municipality under PMAMP Gulmi from March to August 2023. The study aimed to identify maize post-harvest losses and assess the level of knowledge about post-harvest management of maize among the farmers of Gulmi. A household survey was conducted with 90 respondents using a pretested questionnaire. A two-stage sampling procedure was followed, with six out of eight wards of Satyawati in the district purposively selected in the first stage based on their predominance in maize production, according to information obtained from PMAMP, Gulmi. In the second stage, 15 active and contributing farmers were selected from each ward. The data were obtained and analyzed using descriptive statistics with the help of SPSS and MS Excel. The study revealed that 62% of respondents identified insects as the main problem in storage, whereas 11% indicated insects as the main problem in field conditions. Farmers ranked maize weevil as the most damaging insect, with an index value of 0.95. Improved varieties had a majority of weevil infestation (92.22%) in storage conditions. The degree of post-harvest losses was expressed differently by respondents. About 62.22% of farmers reported post-harvest losses of less than 10%, while 32.22% reported losses between 20-30%. A majority of respondents (100%) had not witnessed the occurrence of diseases. Most farmers (73.3%) stored their maize cobs with husks using open floors in the upper stair, known as “Aati.” A significant proportion of farmers (84.4%) had knowledge of managing field and storage pests. Around 73.3% of farmers adopted sun drying as their pest management technique, while 62.2% used chemical pesticides against storage pests. More training was provided to farmers on production-related topics than on post-harvest management. Thus, the study area requires technical support for managing insect pests and diseases.