Fruits and Vegetables are among the most healthy diets to take to ensure long life.
FRUITS AND VEGETABLES MARKETING
The study was to analyze the marketing of selected fruits and vegetables in Abakaliki metropolis of Ebonyi State.
Multi-stage sampling techniques was used to select 80 marketers from four different markets in the area.
The data collected were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistics in line with the specific objectives.
The result of the analysis showed that most (81.25%) of the marketers of fruits and vegetables in the area were females with a mean age of 43 years.
The mean household size of 8 persons, mean years spent in acquiring formal education of 15 years was also observed.
The mean number of stalls of 1 stall, mean annual income of N128,600 and mean years of experience of 8 years were reported while most of the respondents (78.75%) were married.
The most predominant fruits marketed in the area were banana (95%), orange (91.25%), garden egg (72.50%), cucumber (52.50%) and pawpaw (51.25%).
While the most predominant vegetables marketed in the area were; pumpkin (95%), oha leaves (85%), okra (83.75%), bitter leaf and curry leaf (66.25%).
It was shown that ugu marketing was more profitable given a benefit cost ratio of N1.835 as against banana marketing with N1.60.
The Rsuare value of 0.638 implied that 63.80% variation observed in profit generated was as a result of the combined effects of the identified socio-economic characteristics of marketers.
The constraints to marketing of fruits and vegetables in the area were; sex discrimination , unavailability of storage material and lack of adequate finance.
Others were; easy to spoil, seasonality of labour, climate variability, lack of credit facilities, lack of marketing information, distant location of markets, price instability, bad market structures, high government tax, high cost of transportation and lack of good road.
In conclusion, since F-cal (18.03) > F-tab (2.13), the null hypothesis was rejected and the alternative accepted.
The following recommendations were made;
(1) sex discrimination should be prevented as this has limited males from strongly participating in fruits and vegetable marketing.
(2) there is need for Government to reduce the payable tax levied on the marketers as heavy taxation has discouraged them from participating in fruits and vegetables marketing
(3) Government is advised to intervene in the bad structures of the existing markets as this has resulted to poor patronage of the marketers.
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