Intensity of palm fruit processing technology-use among palm fruits’ processors in onicha local government area in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study analyzed intensity of technology-use among palm fruits’ processors in Onicha Local Government Area in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.  Specifically, the study described the intensity of technologies-use in oil palm processing in the area; ascertained the determinants of  method of processing used by oil palm fruit processors and examined the constraints to oil palm fruits processing in the study area.  Purposive sampling procedure was employed to select 58 respondents for the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive analysis (frequency, percentage, mean) and logit analysis. Logit analysis indicated that marital status (–6.754), cost of labor (–0.002), level of  education (2.303) and annual income (0.342) were the variables that determined technology-use, while variables such as credit access  and quantity of oil palm fruit were not significant. The constraints encountered in technology-use were ranked as follows high cost of  palm fruits (95%), inadequate processing equipment (91.37%), difficulty in obtaining credit (86.21%), high cost of palm fruits  transportation (84.48%), and inadequacy in the supply of palm fruits (76.31%). It is recommended that palm fruit processors should form  a co-operative society thereby procure more equipment for sustainable palm fruits’ processing.