THE ROLE OF ROAD TRANSPORTATION MODE ON THE MARKETING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE IN LAPAI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF NIGER STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The study assessed the role of road transportation modes on marketing of agricultural produce in Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State. The research was conducted in the year 2021 and the duration was three months only. Multistage random sampling technique was used to select a sample of ninety (90) respondents for the study. Primary data were collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. Analysis of the data was through the use of descriptive statistics and Chi-square analysis. The results revealed the mean age of the respondents was 45 years, mostly male, married and less than half (31%) had formal education. The mean of marketing experience was 27years while the mean of household size was 7 persons. Marketing was considered as full-time occupation (71%) with agricultural produce ranging from melon (31%), maize (28%) to rice (22%) as the major agricultural produce marketed. The mean annual income was ₦40,272:22k and vehicle (60%) was considered to be the main road transportation mode. Also, the constraints associated with the use of road transportation mode were lack of good road, high cost of transportation and poor knowledge of market situations. The result of Chi-square analysis indicated a significance association between cost of road transportation and price of agricultural produce. The recommendations offered includes: Government should maintain and repair the existing roads, built market close to agricultural producing areas to reduce the cost of transportation and the marketers should form Cooperative Society to monitor the market situations through information sharing.