Post-harvest losses of Malt Barley at the farm level in Debark district, North Gondar zone, Amhara region, Ethiopia

Abstract

Malt Barley has a great contribution to food security and farm income in Debark district. Despite the contribution, there was a loss in Malt Barley production due to improper post-harvest handling at the farm level. Thus, this study assessed the extent of post-harvest loss in Malt Barley at different stages at the farm level and the factor affecting post-harvest loss of Malt Barley in Debark district. Three-stage purposive and simple random sampling techniques were applied to draw 223 samples. Tobit model was used to analyse factors affecting post-harvest loss at the farm level. The study result shows that post-harvest loss at the farm level was estimated to be 12.68%. The result from the Tobit model revealed that post-harvest loss was significantly influenced by variables such as family labour, education level, land allocated for Malt Barley, access to frequency of extension contact, storage facility, and volume of Malt Barley production. Therefore, expansion of adult and basic education for farmers, increasing the frequency of extension contact, the introduction of a harvesting machine, and proper storage facilities are expected to minimize post-harvest losses of Malt Barley at the farm level.

Keywords

• post-harvest loss
• malt barley
• farm level
• tobit model
• debark