Comparative Analysis Of The Profitability Of On-Farm And Institutional Storage Of Maize In The Ejura Sekyere-Dumase District Of Ghana

ABSTRACT The research was conducted during the minor season at Sekyere Dumase and Bonyon towns and their environs in the Ejura Sekyere-Dumase District o f Ghana. The objective of the research was to find out in comparative terms the profitability o f on-farm and institutional storage o f maize. The research also found out size and distributions of reasons why farmers/traders prefer one storage system to other, ranked the identified constraints/problems that influence preference for each storage system. The cost, total revenue and net revenue of storage operations were estimated, and from this, the relative profitability was assessed. Statistical analysis showed agreement between the rankings of the problems/constraints o f the two storage systems. Pest infestation is the major constraint facing farmers/traders who use the on-farm storage systems whereas transportation of maize to storage sites was identified in the case of farmers/trader who used the institutional storage system. The total cost for institutional storage was greater than that for the on-farm storage but there was no significant difference between the total costs of the two systems. For the total revenue and the net revenue, the institutional storage systems seem to be better that the on-farm storage systems. However, statistically, there is no significant difference between the two storage systems in terms of revenue and net revenue estimated. Considering the findings as obtained from statistical analysis of data and visual observations on the field, it is recommended that the institutional storage systems should be expanded for more farmers/traders to store their produce in that: -the use o f this facility has the potential of giving clean and uninfected grains, -farmers/traders can store produce for a longer period to forestall shortage o f maize, thereby enhancing food security in the country and the sub-region as a whole.