Assessment of Production, Processing, Marketing and Utilisation of Okra in Egbedore Local Government Area of Osun State, Nigeria

Investigation was conducted into the production, processing, marketing and utilization of okra in Egbedore Local Government of Osun state, Nigeria. Data was collected through the use of well-structured questionnaire and field observations from 100 okra farmers using simple random sampling technique. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that the mean age of the respondents was 57.56 years with a standard deviation of 9.28 years. All the respondents are males and married. Women do not own personal okra farms but they do work with their husband on the family farms and mostly involved independently at the processing, preservation and marketing levels more than at the production level. About 49.0% of the respondents did not have any formal education while 51.0% were literates who have access to intermediate farm technology. The mean years of okra production experience is 16.91 years and the mean okra farm size is 3.64 acres with standard deviation of 2.58 acres. All the respondents practiced mixed cropping where other crops such as yam, banana, pineapples, cassava and others were planted with okra. Land preparation for okra production includes land clearing, ploughing, harrowing and heaping or ridging. About 80.0% of the okra farmers used cutlass and hoe regularly, which might have been responsible for okra production at subsistence or small-scale level. Only 20.0% of the okra farmers employed use of tractor. Majority of the farmers hired labour to supplement family labour. The mean persons day of family labour was 6.03 and that of hired labour was 1.25 persons day. Processing and preservation are carried out using traditional techniques of slicing, sun drying and grinding (using mortar and pestle). Sliced and dried okra are stored in gourd, basket and clay-pots. Fresh okra are put in basket lined with leave for maximum of three days during which it is marketed on retail and wholesale basis. Okra is consumed fresh and dried mostly to make draw soup by 81.0% of the respondents. Positive and significant relationships existed between socioeconomic characteristics of respondents investigated and total yield of okra produced. The r-value for variable related to land preparation and operation are low, between r = 0.234 and r = 0.470. The r-value of variables related to farm size and output (yield) are very high between r = 0.550 and r = 0.922, which spelt out a situation tending towards a perfect relationship. There is also sharp difference in the r-value of farm size for okra (0.922) and farm size for othe