DETERMINANTS OF PROCESSING TIME OF FRESH FRUITS BUNCHES (FFB) AMONG OIL PALM (Elaeis guneensis) PROCESSORS IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was designed to assess the determinants of fresh fruits bunches (FFB) of oil palm (Elaeis guneensis) processing time from harvest in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. A multi stage sampling technique was used to select 250 processors. Data were collected through the use of questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result shows that majority (66.4%) of the processors were female and married (67.2%). The result also shows that about 37.3% of the respondents had secondary education with majority (62.4%) of them being sole processors and bought FFB with bunches (64.7%). The results further showed that about 45.6% of the respondents in the study area falls within the age bracket of between 34-50 years with most (52.4%) of them having 11-20 years of business experience with majority of them (62.8%) using family/hired labour. Equally, motorcycle was the most common form of transportation (57.2%) and they used local processing machines, majority (84.2%) were not mill owners with most (68.4%) of them asserting that mills were booked before usage. Results further indicated that 44.5% of respondents were not aware of the adverse effect of their practices on the palm oil quality while about 46.8% did not have knowledge on the extent of processor on oil palm quality. The result of Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression analysis on factors determining processing time of fresh fruit bunches from harvest reveals that, household heads age, purpose of processing, access to processing mill, source of labour, distance to mill household heads level of education, years of experience, sole processor and purchase status, were significant factors determining processing time of fresh fruit bunches from harvest in the study area. It can be concluded that processing method was still traditional and most of the processors were not aware of the negative effect of their processing practices. The study therefore, recommended for more sophisticated mills in the study area and that intense awareness on these negative practices be carried and premium price place on quality oil palm.