Exploring Farmers’ Knowledge and Approaches for Reducing Post-Harvest Physiological Deterioration of Cassava Roots in Malawi

Kennedy Masamba, Wisdom Changadeya, Pheneas Ntawuruhunga, Pilirani Pankomera, Willard Mbewe and Felistus Chipungu
Additional contact information
Kennedy Masamba: Department of Biological Sciences, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba P.O. Box 280, Malawi
Wisdom Changadeya: Department of Biological Sciences, Chancellor College, University of Malawi, Zomba P.O. Box 280, Malawi
Pheneas Ntawuruhunga: International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)-Zambia, Lusaka P.O. Box 310142, Zambia
Pilirani Pankomera: Department of Agricultural Research Services, Lilongwe P.O. Box 30997, Malawi
Willard Mbewe: Department of Biological Sciences, Academy of Medical Sciences, Malawi University of Science and Technology, Limbe P.O. Box 5196, Malawi
Felistus Chipungu: International Potato Center (CIP)-Malawi, Lilongwe P.O. Box 31600, Malawi

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 5, 1-13

Abstract: Cassava utilisation in Malawi is negatively affected by rapid deterioration of fresh roots, primarily caused by postharvest physiological deterioration (PPD). A study was conducted to assess farmers’ knowledge and approaches used to minimize losses from PPD. Multi-stage sampling was used to identify districts, Extension Planning Areas (EPA’s) and farmers. Data were collected from 519 farmers using a structured questionnaire. Results revealed that PPD (74.0%) was the major post-harvest constraint followed by pests and diseases (62.1%). Farmers had varying knowledge levels on signs and causes of PPD. They were knowledgeable on PPD signs with 91.5% ably identifying PPD through change of pulp colour. The farmers also had moderate knowledge on causes of PPD, citing high temperature (57.6%) and over-staying of roots (56.2%) as main causes of PPD. Key methods for preventing PPD are: storage (43.0%) and piece-meal harvesting (40.4%). Only 2.6% of the farmers exploited varietal difference in dealing with PPD as some varieties (Sauti, Mpuma, Ching’amba, and Kalasa) take three to five days before showing PPD signs. Farmers’ knowledge levels and PPD preventive methods could be strengthened through: provision of training on post-harvest handling, improvement in storage and processing technologies; and application of advanced breeding techniques to exploit genetic variation in cassava germplasm.

Keywords: post-harvest physiological deterioration; cassava roots; tolerance; knowledge; constraints (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2719/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/5/2719/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:5:p:2719-:d:758924

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().