ABSTRACT
The post-harvest grain storage is a recurrent constraint for increased cowpea production. This is often identified as the key challenge for small scale cowpea growers because it has significantly reduced the quality and quantity of cowpea, resulting in cuts in the food supply for millions of households in the study area. This has affected cowpea trade and has severe implication on the economy. This study thus aimed at assessing the potential impact of Purdue Improved Cowpea Storage (PICS) technology on income of users in North Central Nigeria. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of users and non - users of PICS technology, determine the profitability of storing cowpea with PICS bags, determine the impact of PICS technology on the income of users and identify the constraints associated with the use of PICS bags in the study area. To achieve these objectives, a multi-stage sampling technique was employed in the study. Primary data were used and these were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics, gross margin, double difference method, propensity score matching and paired t - test statistics were employed to analyse the data. The result revealed that the average age of users was 35 years while that of non - users were 38years. More than half (54% for non - users and 52% for users) of the respondents sampled were male. The result indicates a higher profitability index for users (2.36) than that of the non - users (0.74). However, lack of information on the PICS technology, high cost and scarcity of PICS bags tend to slow down the usage of PICS bag in the study area. The results call for policies aimed at encouraging the use of PICS technology to provide an improved alternative for insecticide - free and long - term storage of cowpea for food security and sustainability. This would invariably improve the adoption of PICS technology since chemicals were not used in the storage method; hence the issue of afloxins and phospins toxicity is eliminated.
