Adoption of post-harvest practices and their influencing factors: A study of ginger growers in Syangja, Nepal

Abstract

Proper ginger post-harvest practices enhance quality, extend shelf life, and ameliorate market access. Prioritizing post-harvest practices in ginger can tremendously increase the market value of ginger in Nepal. Nevertheless, this cannot be done without thorough understanding about the current adoption of post-harvest practices among farmers. So, this study was carried out to know the status of adoption of post-harvest practices in ginger, examine factors associated with adoption, identify and rank major constraints of adoption. The collection of primary data involved 80 ginger growers chosen randomly from altogether 6 wards in Galyang, Waling, and Chapakot municipalities. Data entry and analysis were performed using two software: MS Excel 2021 and SPSS Version 27. The adoption status of ginger post-harvest practices was assessed and quantified using frequency distribution. The chi-square test revealed a significant association between adoption and membership (5%), extension (1%) and training (1%). However, the association between demographic factors like age, gender, education level, experiences in ginger cultivation, and the adoption of post-harvest practices in ginger was statistically non-significant. Moreover, an independent sample t-test and indexing technique were employed. Average adoption index was computed based on which high and low adopters were categorized. Notable advantages emerged for high adopters as they cultivated ginger in larger areas (p < 0.01) and gained higher economic returns (p < 0.05). Five constraints regarding the adoption were ranked through indexing, where a poor marketing system had the highest index value of 0.83, followed by the unavailability of improved processing technologies. In contrast, labor crisis was the least ranked constraint. This study concluded that farmers still follow the traditional methods of ginger post-harvest practices, denoting significant potential for improvement. Thus, offering impactful trainings and support to farmers in line with their recommendations can be the pivotal step towards enhancing the post-harvest practices in ginger sector in Syangja district.