The research aimed to determine the degree of knowledge of the respondent farmers of the technical recommendations related to the marketing of the orange crop, to obtain the sources of information from which the respondent farmers draw their marketing information, to identify the marketing extension services provided to the respondents in the field of marketing the orange crop, and to determine the degree of benefit from the extension activities provided to the respondent farmers in The field of marketing the orange crop, and identifying the most important problems facing the respondents in marketing the orange crop, and the respondents' proposals to solve them.
This research was conducted in Ismailia Governorate, on orange growers, consisting of 338 respondents, at a rate of 12% out of a total of 2800 farmers, according to the sample table (for the Kreisje and Marjan equation). The sample size was determined from two centers in Ismailia Governorate (Al-TalAl-KabeerCenter and Al-QassasinCenter), where a village was selected from each center (Al-Dhahiriya Village 265 respondents) and from Al-Qassasin Institute (Al-Wadi Al-Akhdar Village 73 respondents).
The field data for the research was collected during the month of September 2022, and the data were processed statistically through frequencies, percentages, and the arithmetic mean. After completing the data collection, it was unloaded and tabulated.
The most important results are summarized as follows:
The results indicated that the average percentage of the respondents' knowledge of the technical recommendations for the fruit picking process together amounted to (86%), and this indicates that the level of knowledge of the respondents was high.
With regard to the level of knowledge related to the binding process, it was average (73%). As for the recommendations for each of: sorting, grading, and packing, their level of knowledge was high reaching (78%, 88%, 89%) while the level of knowledge was medium in the process. transportation by (72%).
The results showed that the most important sources from which the respondent farmers draw their information about the technical recommendations for marketing the orange crop are: relatives, neighbors and friends, radio and television, fertilizer and pesticide dealers, the Horticultural Crops Export Council, the agricultural guide, the senior exporters, the Fruit and Vegetable Marketing Association, marketing centers, And specialized websites and pages, contracting companies, brokers and wholesalers, specialists in vegetable and fruit crops, agricultural extension magazines and pamphlets, agricultural research centers, magazines, newspapers and scientific books, respectively, with rates ranging from 90%: 9%.
The results indicated that the most important agricultural extension services provided in the research area in the field of marketing the orange crop according to the opinions of the respondents are: Training and educating farmers about the recommended practices in post-harvest operations such as (picking-sorting-grading-packing-packaging-transportation-storage) by 89%. And assisting in broadcasting radio and television programs to educate farmers on how to apply the recommended practices in marketing operations 63%.
The results showed that the arrangement of extension activities according to the average degree of benefit of the respondents was as follows: introducing farmers to varieties suitable for the region, with an average of 2.5 degrees, directing farmers to the locations of marketing services, with an average of 2.3 degrees, and assisting farmers in marketing the crop at a higher price, with an average of 2.2 degrees. Rationalizing farmers with modern methods of growing the crop with an average of 2.2 degrees.
The results indicated that the most important problems were as follows: the multiplicity of intermediaries and brokers, the high percentage of losses during transportation, the high costs during the trading stages by 98%, the lack of trained workers in some collection, sorting and binding operations, the high wages by 89%, the high prices of packages and their inappropriateness to consumer tastes by 87%, and the lack of refrigerators to store green oranges and their high costs by 79 %.