Agriculture and Food Security

Food is important for growth, repair of damaged body cells, and provision of energy. The bulk of the materials that perform these tasks are derived from food which are taken in the form of plant and animal products. Therefore these should be preserved for our well being. This is achieved from proper attention given during pre-planting, planting and post planting operations. The study investigated the post-harvest handling of agricultural produce. The population of this research comprises most of the farmers in the two states, Benue and Kogi. Data were collected from 240 farmers who were randomly selected from the four agro-ecological zones of Kogi State (Zone A, B, C and D) and three zones of Benue State (A, B and C) using interview schedule. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected. Results show that most (78.75%) of the farmers were engaged in transporting of agricultural produce from farm to home, home to markets or farm to markets. Analysis on the level of information needs shows that 50.00% of the farmers were highly in need of information on storage of the produce in the study area. Analysis on the access of farmers to improved post-harvest management technologies shows that majority (77.50%) of the farmers had access to improved transportation system and 14.28% had least access to storage of the produce in the warehouse. It is recommended that farmers should have access to information on improved post-harvest management, and the practices of some effective indigenous post-harvest management of the produce would ensure better value addition on the produce. Keywords: Agriculture, Postharvest food and losses, Handling of Agricultural produce, Storage. Preservation, Transportation, Packaging, Selection and Grading.