The incidence of post-harvest problems among small farmers surveyed in three regions of the Limpopo province

Abstract

High yielding varieties and new production technology have vastly increased the world's agricultural production and provided rural incomes and affordable food for large parts of the population. While production research has received considerable attention, until recently, post harvest activities have not received much attention. Post harvest research has significant contribution towards the alleviation of poverty , food insecurity and the sustainable use of resources. The objective of the paper is to assess the post-harvest constraints affecting main staple grain crops in three regions of the Limpopo Province. Some of the most common post harvest constraints revealed by the study are, weevils, rodents and transport for produce from the field to home chemical, biological and indigenous control measures are used by the smallholder farmers to alleviate some of the post-harvest constraints. The results of the study seem to indicate that more research work should be done especially on the use of indigenous knowledge towards the alleviation of post-harvest constraints.