Abstract

Open sun drying pre-disposes agricultural produce to contaminants, with a consequent lower quality end-product. The multi-crop dryer (MCD) was developed by the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI) to ensure the generation of hygienic and safe dried products. However, there is a dearth of existing study that analysed the ease of utilisation of this technology for the processing of agricultural produce. To narrow this gap in knowledge, primary data were collected, with the aid of a structured questionnaire schedule, from 181 trainees. A five-point Likert-type scale was employed to gauge trainee’s expression regarding the effectiveness of training and Ease-of-Use of NSPRI-MCD. Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance (W) was used to test the degree of agreement in the expression of the trainees. Results revealed that participants gained relevant knowledge and skills from the training (X?=4.49); the knowledge gained would enhance performance in food processing (X?=4.39); quality attributes of the processed foods were generally acceptable (X?=4.62), among others. Furthermore, participants opined that drying time was not long and not discouraging (X?=4.19). However, they disagreed with the defining statement that changing of the drying trays at set time intervals was not cumbersome (X?=2.28), as well as the defining statement that operation of NSPRI/MCD was automated and did not require regular monitoring (X?=1.40). The Kendall’s Wa of 0.84 and 0.61 shows a substantial agreement in the expression of the trainees regarding the effectiveness of training, and ease-of-use of NSPRI-MCD, respectively. The study concludes that the training was effective and the NSPRI-MCD was easy to use. It was recommended that the dryer be automated to enhance its ease-of-use.

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