POST-HARVEST PROBLEMS OF POTATO FARMERS IN JOYPURHAT DISTRICT

Abstract

Post-harvest problem is one of the major factors to cause a measurable quantitative and qualitative losses in potato cultivation. The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent of post-harvest problems of potato farmers. Data was collected from 94 potato farmers of Banihara, Hatior and Balait villages of Ahamedabad union at Kalai Upazila under Joypurhat district during the period from November 05 to December 04, 2016. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression (B) were used for analysis. Most of the potato farmers (72.3 percent) experienced medium post-harvest problems, while 14.8 and 12.9 percent of them had low and high post-harvest problems respectively. Education, distance to the market, distance to the cold storage and availability of market information were positively significant and provided 47.3 percent contribution on post-harvest problems. It was also found that as per Problem Faced Index (PFI), presence of middleman positioned the 1 st and lack of technical knowledge was in the last. It is concluded that the policy makers consider the above mentioned significant factors of the post-harvest problems of potato farmers in Joypurhat for policy intervention to bring about improvements to potato farmers in the district.