CAUSES OF FRESH TOMATO (LYCOPERSICO lycopersicum) LOSSES AMONG SUPPLY CHAIN ACTORS IN BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the causes of fresh tomato losses in Bauchi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 808 supply chain actors comprising of 301 producers, 105 wholesalers, 252 retailers and 150 consumers. Data were collected through the use of a structured questionnaire. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentage, mean, minimum, maximum standard deviations and graph. Comparing among the supply chain actors for modes of transportation, the result reveals that most (25.23% 23.63% and 29.96%) of the producers, wholesalers and retailers used busses, lorry, pickups and cars, respectively, for their transportation, while half (50%) of the consumers used tricycle for transportation. Also, the result shows that majority (47.16%, 47.09% and 57.27%) of the producers, wholesalers and retailers, respectively, depended on personal savings as their source of capital. The result reveals that 75.38% of fresh tomato consumers obtained information from marketers. Producers (34.88%) obtained their information from fellow farmers, while 31.16% and 38.71% of the wholesalers and retailers obtained information from fellow marketers. The result also reveals that producers, wholesalers and retailers collectively agreed that high temperature with mean of 3.00, 3.00 and 2.92 was a real cause of fresh tomato loss. Further, the result shows that, of the quantities of 524.82, 162.52 and 22 produced and purchased by producers, wholesalers and retailers, 15.39%, 12.72% and 8.69% were lost. The result reveals that producers, wholesalers and retailers collectively agreed that high temperature with mean of 3.00, 3.00 and 2.92 was a real cause of fresh tomato loss. It was concluded that high temperature, lack of ready market, disease, storage facilities and car brake-down contributed significantly to fresh tomato losses among the supply chain actors. The study recommended that large cold storage facility can be made available, to reduce fresh tomato losses.