Agriculture Extension & Rural Development
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Item Effects of orange fleshed sweet potato production on the welfare status of rural farmers in Osun State, Nigeria(2019) Tijani, S. A.Generally, sweet potato is highly adaptable to adverse environmental conditions and also has the potential of increasing food production, income and household food security in many low-income rural communities. Orange fleshed Sweet Potato (OFSP) variety was developed to address health and nutrition problems (Vitamin A deficiency) of Sub-Saharan Africa. OFSP offers new opportunities in terms of shorter period of growth, higher yield, greater tolerance to major stresses, increased carbohydrate and vitamin A content compared to the traditional cultivars. The crop (vines) have been disseminated by research institutes and related agencies for cultivation by farmers. Hence, in this study, the potential of OFSP in improving the welfare status (food, health, education and utility) of the rural farmers in Osun State, Nigeria W3S examined. Purposive sampling technique was used to select three Local Government Areas while 30% of both OFSP and Non-OFSP registered farmers were randomly selected to give 110 respondents. Both questionnaire and FGD were used for data collection while descriptive and inferential statistics were employed for data analyses. Results revealed 56.4% of the respondents were between the age-group of 41-65 years, 85.5% were males, 89.1% were married while 60.9% were educated. Majority (82.7%) have farm sizes between 1-10 acres while only 47.3% have between 4-19 years of farming experience in sweet potato production. Majority (82.5%) of the OFSP farmers have high welfare status compared with low welfare status of all non-OFSP farmers. There was a significant difference (t=9.661) between welfare status of OFSP and Non-OFSP farmers. Education ( 2=52,572), farm size (f0.569) and household size (f0,336) have significant relationships with welfare status of OFSP farmers, In conclusion, cultivation of OFSP has positive effect on the welfare status of the farmers in the in the study area, however, more extension agents should be employed to create awareness about the economic and nutritional values of the crop for sustainable production and increased welfare status of the farmers.Item Gender involvement in rice production in Ekiti West local government area of Ekiti State, Nigeria(2013) Tijani, S. A; Babalola, G. T.The study examined gender involvement in rice production and processing in Ekiti West Local Government Area of Ekiti State. Four communities were purposively selected and a total of 320 respondents were randomly sampled. Focus Group Discussions and In-depth Interviews were used to elicit information from the respondents. The result revealed that 80% of the respondents were indigenes, 40% of adult male occasionally participated in farm clearing while a greater percentage of adult participated in bush burning. Females rarely participated in pre-planting activities. Both adult and young male (50%) occasionally participated in fertilizer application while adult and young female regularly participated in planting operations of rice. Planting and post harvest operations of rice were not considered to be male activities. Seventy percent of adult male were involved in milling against 30% of young male. Bird scaring was done by both young male and young female. Parboiling, winnowing and selling were performed mainly by adult female. Using problem tree analysis, respondents identified lack of extension services, high cost of labour, birds, contamination of rice with stones and late rain as major problems. The causes/constraints listed were high moisture content, inadequate processing technology, lack of labour and unpredictable weather. Hence, involvement of male is not the same with that of female in all the activities of rice production and processing. Provision of planter to prevent back-breaking during planting by women and chemicals at low rates to curb pest activities are very essential.Item Assessment of field maintenance practices of coffea arabica among coffee farmers in Taraba State, Nigeria(Green World Foundation, 2008-11) Agbongiarhuoyi, A. E.; Adeogun, S. O.; Fawole, O. P.This study was conducted to assess field maintenance practices on production of Coffea arabica among farmers in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, Nigeria during 2007. Data for the study were obtained from a systematic random sampling of eighty-eight coffee farmers through the use of well structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square. Most (44.3%) of the respondents were 50-69 years old while 56.8 % of them belonged to 3-12 range of family size. Majority (98.9%) of the respondents claimed to be engaged in clearing of coffee farms, 97.7% coppiced old unproductive plot and the same figure harvested coffee berries. Extension workers' contact with farmers (36.4%) was low. The very serious constraints to Coffea arabica production were poor marketing (97.7%) and pricing (95.5%), inadequate' market information (89.8%), high labour cost (84.1%) and weak extension services 67.1%. The significant socio-economic variables that influence field maintenance practices of Coffea arabica include family size, farming experience, coffee beans price, and number of coffee farms maintained (p< 0.05). Good marketing strategies via farmers' group and improved extension contact would sustain Coffea arabica farming among farmers.Item Constraints to production, processing and marketing of sweet-potato in selected communities in Offa Local Government Area, Kwara State Nigeria(Kalma-Raj, 2007) Fawole, O. P.Offa Local Government Area is one of the major sweet-potato growing areas of Nigeria. Sweet potato is grown mainly on smallholder farms and concentrated particularly in communities in Offa Local Government Area. This study randomly selected 90 small scale farmers purposively from 9 communities to investigate constraints to production, processing and marketing of sweet-potato. Data were collected using an interview schedule. Results indicated that yields of 4-7 tonnes per hectare obtained by smallholder farmers are about 20-35 percent of the crop's potential yield. Reasons for this low output are limited cultivated land, lack of improved practices, poor storage facilities, lack of credit facilities, lack of extension training, poor transportation and high cost of input. Also, marketing of the crop is dominated by middlemen, to whom most of the profit accrue, thereby serving as a disincentive to the smallholder farmers. There is, therefore, a need for adoption of improved production techniques, development of appropriate and affordable storage and processing technologies, more efficient distribution and marketing systems and an effective extension service to improve current sweet-potato production in Nigeria.