Quantitative and qualitative post-harvest loss of emmer wheat in selected value chain in Bale zone, Ethiopia

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of the kebeles in study zone

S.no	Location	Latitude	Longitude	Altitude (masl)	Mean rainfall (mm)
1	Ginir	7°08ʹN	40°42ʹE	1750	1081.6
2	Goba	7°0^’ N	39° 59’ E	2,743	736.3
3	Sinana	07° 06^’ 12^” N	40° 12^’ 40^” E	2400	812

Figure 1. Map of Bale Zone showing the study districts.

Table 2. Socio-demographic characteristics of survey farmers

Variables	Category	Overall sample			Districts
					Ginir		Sinana		Goba
		N = 370		(%)	N = 113	(%)	N = 175	(%)	N = 82	(%)
Gender	Male	331		85.9	102	90.3	150	85.7	79	96.3
	Female	39		10.5	11	9.7	25	14.3	3	3.7
Education	No formal education	87		23.5	24	21.2	45	25.7	18	22.0
	Can read and write	79		21.4	22	19.5	31	17.7	26	31.7
	Completed primary education	157		42.4	46	40.7	84	48.0	27	32.9
	Completed secondary education	36		9.7	17	15.0	10	5.7	9	11.0
	Post-secondary education	11		3.0	4	3.5	5	2.9	2	2.4
Age	20–24	29		7.8	15	13.3	7	4.0	7	8.5
	25–29	38		10.3	21	18.6	10	5.7	7	8.5
	30–34	41		11.1	16	14.2	18	10.3	7	8.5
	35–39	65		17.6	12	10.6	35	20.0	18	22.0
	40–44	58		15.7	11	9.7	39	22.3	8	9.8
	Above 45	139		37.6	38	33.6	66	37.7	35	42.7
Family size	1–3	56		15.1	25	22.1	12	6.9	19	23.2
	4–6	110		29.7	38	33.6	52	29.7	20	24.4
	7–9	115		31.1	27	23.9	63	36.0	25	30.5
	Above 10	87		24	22	20.4	48	27.4	18	22.0

Figure 2. Postharvest value chain and actors of emmer wheat in Ethiopia.

Figure 3. Manual harvesting of emmer wheat and shattered seeds.

Table 3. Farmers harvesting practice, loss expectation and major causes for the loss during harvesting of emmer wheat in study districts (Ginir, Sinana, Goba) of Bale zone, Ethiopia

Variables	Category			Districts
		Overall sample		Ginir		Sinana		Goba
		N = 370	(%)	N = 113	(%)_	N = 175	(%)	N = 82	(%)
Harvesting mechanism (%)	Manual	176	47.6	70	61.9	53	30.3	53	64.6
	Machine	194	52.4	43	38.1	122	69.7	29	35.4
Harvesting time	Early December	40	10.8	1	0.9	39	22.3	0.00	0.00
	Mid December	35	9.5	2	1.8	22	12.6	11	13.4
	End of December	76	20.5	13	11.5	51	29.1	12	14.6
	Early January	141	38.1	25	22.1	58	33.1	58	70.7
	Mid-January	70	18.9	66	58.4	3	1.7	1	1.2
	End of January	8	2.2	6	5.3	2	1.1	0.00	0.00
Harvesting indices	Counting month from sowing	126	34.1	79	69.9	57	32.6	35	42.7
	Color change of stalks and texture of seeds	244	65.9	34	30.1	118	67.5	47	57.3
Who is involved in harvesting	Male family members only	4	1.1	2	1.8	2	1.1	0.00	0.00
	Female family members only	123	33.2	53	46.9	55	31.4	15	18.3
	Both male & female	243	65.7	58	51.3	118	67.4	67	81.7
Expectation of harvesting loss	Yes	224	60.5	71	62.8	100	57.1	53	64.6
	No	146	39.5	42	37.2	75	42.9	29	35.4
Main reasons of loss during harvesting (%)	Shattering	217	58.6	68	60.2	96	54.9	53	64.7
	Insects	1	0.3	0.00	0.00	1	0.6	0.00	0.00
	Birds	2	0.5	1	0.9	1	0.6	0.00	0.00
	Rodents at field	4	1.1	2	1.8	2	1.1	0.00	0.00
	No loss	146	39.5	42	37.2	75	42.9	29	35.4
Farmers estimated loss during harvesting (%)	Half of the harvest (1/2)	48	13	11	9.7	9	5.1	28	34.1
	¼	40	10.8	14	12.4	7	4	19	23.2
	1/6	282	76.2	88	77.9	159	90.9	35	42.4
Methods suggested by farmers to control loss during harvesting (%)	Harvesting timely	333	90.1	92	81.5	164	93.7	78	95.1
	Using harvesting machine	21	5.7	15	13.3	5	2.9	1	1.2
	Not control	16	4.4	6	5.3	6	3.4	3	3.7

Table 4. Threshing practice, loss estimation and major factors for loss during threshing in study districts (Ginir, Sinana, Goba) of Bale zone, Ethiopia

Variables	Category	Total sample		Districts
				Ginir		Sinana		Goba
		N = 370	(%)	N = 113	(%)	N = 175	(%)	N = 82	(%)
Drying practice of emmer wheat	Yes	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00	0.00
	No	370	100	113	100	175	100	82	100
Mode of transportation of hillas	Animal cart	140	37.8	47	41.6	67	38.3	26	31.7
	Hand cart	2	0.5	1	0.9	1	0.6	0.00	0.00
	Human labor	64	17.3	34	30.1	25	14.3	5	6.1
	Donkey	66	17.8	11	9.7	22	12.6	33	40.2
	Small hired vehicles	98	26.5	20	17.7	60	34.3	18	22
Perception of farmers about loss occurrence during transportation of hillas to threshing field	Yes	6	1.6	1	0.9	5	2.9	0.00	0.00
	No	364	98.4	112	99.9	170	97.1	82	100
Method of threshing	Manual	71	19.2	13	11.5	21	12	37	45.1
	Machine	299	80.8	100	88.5	154	88	45	54.9
Loss estimate by respondents during threshing	Half of the yield (1/2)	41	11.1	15	13.3	15	8.6	11	13.4
	¼	84	22.7	29	25.7	30	17.1	25	30.5
	<1/6	245	66.2	69	61.1	130	74.3	46	56.1
Major factors for losses during threshing (%)	Incomplete threshing	55	14.9	36	31.9	2	1.1	17	20.7
	Seeds eaten by oxen during threshing	187	50.6	49	43.3	95	54.3	43	52.5
	During the process of separating the seeds from the straw	128	34.6	28	24.8	78	44.6	22	26.8

Table 5. Storage durations, loss estimation and major reasons for storage losses in study districts (Ginir, Sinana, Goba) of Bale zone, Ethiopia

Variables	Category	Total sample		Districts
				Ginir		Sinana		Goba
		N = 370	(%)	N = 113	(%)	N = 175	(%)	N = 82	(%)
Storage methods used	Polypropylene bag	364	98.4	110	97.3	172	98.2	82	100
	Gotera	3	0.8	3	2.7	3	2.7	0.00	0.00
	Others	3	0.8
Storage room	Separate storage for emmer	179	48.4	84	74.3	86	49.1	9	11
	Common storage with other crops	188	50.8	29	25.7	89	50.9	73	89.0
Storage place cleaning practice (%)	Yes	359	97	107	94.7	170	97.1	82	100
	No	11	3	6	5.4	5	2.1	0	0.00
Storage periods (%)	3 months	102	27.60	39	34.5	22	12.6	38	46.3
	6 months	137	37	46	40.7	76	43.4	15	18.3
	9 months	38	10.30	6	5.3	23	13.1	9	11
	>12 months	93	25.10	19	16.8	54	30.9	20	24.4
Reasons for loss during storage (%)	Rodents	263	71.1	91	80.5	113	64.6	59	72.0
	Insects	19	5.1	4	3.5	9	5.1	6	7.3
	No loss experience during storage	88	23.8	18	16	53	30.3	17	20.7
Loss estimate by respondents during storage	Half of the yield (1/2)	48	13	14	12.4	21	12	13	15.9
	¼	54	14.6	14	12.4	21	12	19	23.2
	>1/6	268	72.4	85	75.2	133	76	50	61
Awareness of respondents to improved storage structures (%)	Yes	28	7.6	13	11.5	12	6.9	3	3.7
	No	342	92.4	100	88.5	163	93.1	79	96.3

Table 6. Regression results on the determinants of emmer wheat loss at farm level

Variables	Coefficients	Standard Error	P-value
Intercept (a)		0.029*	0.00
Yield per hectare	0.252	0.022*	0.00
Method of harvesting	0.455	0.026*	0.00
Harvesting time	1.47	0.019**	0.00
Varieties grown	0.028	0.131	0.53
Area coverage	0.109	0.029*	0.017

Adjusted R² = 0.278; *, **, *** = significant at 5%, 1% and 0.1%, respectively

Table 7. Socio-demographic characteristics of traders and emmer wheat postharvest handling practices in bale zone, Ethiopia

Variables	Category	Wholesalers (n = 10)	(%)	Retailers (n = 10)	(%)
Gender (%)	Male	9	90	3	30
	Female	1	10	7	70
Education (%)
	Primary	7	70	6	60
	Secondary	2	20	3	30
	Above secondary	1	10	1	10
Emmer wheat sources (%)	Farmers	9	90	7	70
	Collectors	1	10	3	30
Storage practices (%)	Yes	6	60	0.0	0.00
	No	4	40	10	100
Reasons for storage losses (%)	Rodents	6	60	0.0	0.00
	Molds	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00
	Pests	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.00
	No loss	4	40	0.0	0.00
Estimation of loss by traders during storage (%)	Half of the stored(1/2)	1	10	0.0	0.00
	One-fourth (1/4^rth)	3	30	0.0	0.00
	>one six (1/6^th)	6	60	0.0	0.00
Losses during selling process	Yes	0.0	0.00	6	60
	No	0.0	0.00	4	40

The vales are presented in observation of triplicates

Note: LSD = Least Significance Difference and CV = Coefficient of Variation

Means with the same letters are not significantly different at 0.05

Figure 4. Cause factors and extent of loss on value chains of emmer wheat in Bale zone, Ethiopia.

Figure 5. Transporting hillas wrapping in polypropylene sheet to threshing field and shattered seeds on the sheet.

Table 8. Effect of storage period on proximate composition of emmer wheat

Storage period	Moisture (%)	Crude fat (%)	Protein (%)	Ash (%)	Crude fiber (%)
Initial day	11.33^a	3.6^a	9.19^a	3.83^a	12.19^a
Three months	10.76^b	3.5^a	8.30^b	3.83^a	12.19^a
Six months	8.13^c	3.00^a	6.84^c	3.82^a	11.63^a
LSD (0.05)	0.12	0.608	0.79	0.03	0.77
CV (%)	0.52	4.20	2.29	0.18	1.50
Mean	10.07	3.36	8.11	3.83	12.00

The values are presented in observation of triplicates

Note: LSD = Least Significance Difference and CV = Coefficient of Variation

Means with the same letters are not significantly different at 0.05 level