Adoption and Relevance of Yam Minisett Technology Practices to Farmers Indigenous Practices in Rain Forest and Derived Savannah Zones of Nigeria

Transcription

1 Journal of Applied Sciences Research, 5(1): , , INSInet Publication Adoption and Relevance of Yam Minisett Technology Practices to Farmers Indigenous Practices in Rain Forest and Derived Savannah Zones of Nigeria 1 K.K. Bolarinwa Ph.D and J.O. Oladeji Ph.D 1 Department of Agricultural Administration University of Agriculture Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria Department of Agricultural Extension &Rural Development University of Ibadan Nigeria Abstract: The development of alternative meod seed production using minisett instead of e traditional meod of milking was believed to be able to provide enough seeds ware tubes are only used for consumption. That is, new technologies have to be ought to farmers, if farmers standard of living are to be improved. The study focuses on adoption and relevant of yam minisett technology packages to farmers indigenous practice in selected rainforest and Derived Savannah zones of Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 34 farmers in 3 predominantly yam producing states in Nigeria. The result indicated at most farmers 90.6% are men and 88.8% are wiin ages of years. Majority 74.0% had received information on e technology; while 71.0% adopted yam minisett technology complain at most of e packages are not in line wi eir practices. The study also established at ere is significant relationship between farmers characteristics and adoption rate. Therefore, for e full potential of minisett technology to be realized in rainforest and Savannah area of Nigeria constraints to yam minisett technology as identify in is study, integration of farmers practices into yam minisett packages are very necessary since bases of research is to transfer e findings to e end users. Key word: Adoption, yam-minisett, ware tubers, farmers, rainforest and derived savannah INTRODUCTION Yam is an important root and tuber crops especially in West Africa where it contributes over 000 dietary calories everyday for over 60 million 5 people. Yam tubers are processed into various food forms which include pounded yam, boiled yam, roasted or grilled yam, fried yam, yam balls, mashed yam, yam chips and flakes. Fresh yam tubers are also peeled, chipped, dried and milled into flour. Socio cultural significance, yam is food of choice at many ceremonies and festivals and an indispensable part of bride price. In e Eastern Nigerian, yams contributed 3% of [8] farmers gross income derived from crops. Yams are usually cropped wi whole tuber called seed yams, yams sett at weigh between 100g and 150g. Seed yams alone constitute over 40% of capital outlay in yam production sometime pieces called sett weigh about 100g may be cut from whole tubers and used as e planting material. Hence, to establish 1ha of yams farmers need 3 tons of seed yams, which may be scarce and costly. In spite of importance of yams as a major staple food which constitutes 0% of e daily caloric intake of Nigerian its socio-cultural value in e lives of people, planting materials are major constraint to yam production. e cost of planting materials is estimated to be about one-ird of e total cost of yam [1] production. They are difficult to obtain, expensive and often of low quality. The minisett technique of rapid multiplication of seed yams was developed by e National Root Crops Research Institute Umudike to ameliorate inadequate supply and dear of high quality and disease free seeds yam minisett production. In On farm Adaptive Research conducted by Oyo state Agricultural Development Programme it has been estimated at an hectare of minisett field produce seed at planted hectares. The seed from e hectarage wi traditional 8 milking produce seeds at planted 1. hectare of land. Despite e new minisett technology price of yams still high. This study erefore, seeks for farmers awareness of yam minisett technology, ascertain level of adoption by farmers, ascertain reasons for adoption and non adoption of yam minisett technology and finally established at some farmers characteristics are significancy related to level of adoption. Area of Study: The study was conducted in e ree Corresponding Auor: K.K. Bolarinwa Ph.D, Department of Agricultural Administration University of Agriculture Abeokuta Ogun State Nigeria bkolade17@gmail.com 461

2 yam producing states in Nigeria (Oyo, Osun and Kwara). Yam farmers were purposively selected across each state wi e help of agricultural extension agents from Agricultural Development Programmes (ADPS) in each state. In Osun State Communities selected are, Ilesha, Ikire and Odeomu. These areas cover e humid rain forest belt and fringes of derived savannah areas. Their rainfall pattern is bimodal wi annual rainfall above 1400mm. The area support tree crops like cocoa, oil palm, citrus and kolanut oer food crops grown in is different ecology include banana, cocoyam, cassava maize yam, melon and okro. In Oyo state farmers were selected from Iseyin, Ipapo, Otu and Komubabaode. These communities are in derived Savannah ecological areas situated in Norern part of Oyo state wi annual rainfall of mm and is bimodal. Most of e forest in ese communities have been cleared and eir economy is purely agrarian. Crops grown in ese areas are oil palm, and arable crops like yam, cowpea, cassava and maize. Kwara state farmers were selected from Omuaran, Ofa and Kaba wi annual rainfall of mm. M eodology: A multistage random sampling technique was used to select particular cells, village group, and farmers wiin e communities selected for each state. In e first stage out of 8 cells were selected in each cell community,, village groups were randomly selected from each cell. Farmers register in each cell, was used as sampling framework. From e register 10% of farmers were randomly selected from village group in each cell to give 30 per community. A total of 360 farmers participated in e study but only 34 questionnaires were properly completed for analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS M eods: Minisetts seed yams were treated wi aldrin dust or wood ash to prevent effect of soil pest and diseases. Yam minisett was planted on a heap 75cm by 5cm vine as stalked, Planting commenced in May and yam minisett was harvested in November and replanted on heaps in December. M aterials: Farmers provided land, yam tubers, wood as knives stalking,mulching materials, cutlass and hoes RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Demographic Characteristics of Farmers: As indicated in Table 1 majority 90.6% of e farmers were male and 88.8 % of e farmers were below 50 [1 0 ] years of age. Man young et al, found at yam is considered to be man s crops in Africa because it is labour intensive, is may accounted for why majority 90.6 % of e sample farmers were males and 88.8 % were in eir active production years. Farmers had smallholding wi 60. % cultivating less an one hectare of yam. This is in line wi Okunmadewa [6] who asserted at most of Nigeria farmers are of small farm holding. Also 55.3 % of e sample farmers did not have formal education however, ey were able to cope wi yam minisett technology skill training [3] technique. In e same vein Bolarinwa found at majority of farmers wi higher education level in rural area migrated to cities to search for white-collar job. Sources of Planting M aterials: Data in Table indicates at 45.6 % and 38.6 % claimed at ey obtained seeds for planting from seed tubers got from traditional milking meod and yam sett purchased from market respectively. While 7.6 % preferred using small tubers produce from yam minisett technology. This study corroborated Aighewi etal who ascertained at one of e primary characteristics of Nigerian farmers was at ey normally replant naturally selected seeds, from eir farm. Awareness of Yam M inisett Technology: Majority 70.8 % of farmers were able to hear, know, and see yam minisett technique demonstrated by Agricultural Development Programme Extension Agents. Iwueke 5 opined at introduction of minisett package to farming communities by ADPs in 1986 was to revolutionize yam production in e country. The study confirmed at farmers were aware of e technologies in e ree states ADPs via Extension agents. Adoption of Yam M inisett Technology in e ree States: Data in table 4 indicates at 69.0% of e farmers adopted e technology while only 31.0% were e non adopter of Farmers at adopted e technology 56.0% claimed at minisett generates more seed yam while 66.1% claimed at yam minisett is a cheaper source of planting materials. Those at did not adopt e technology complained of inadequate training 45.0% high input chemical cost 83.0%, inadequate capital 60.0%, seed yams produced were too small 89.04%, consume time 73.6% and labour intensive 88.6%. This study is corroborated by Oladeji and [7] Oyesola who asserted at to promote and increase yam production, resources should be readily available to farmers. Yam M inisett Technology Packages Adopted by Farmers and Farmers Level of Adoption: Table 5 showed at farmers were selective in adopting e practices at form e fall package. For instance 9.% and 19.5% adopted pre-sprouting and chemical 46

3 weed control, low adoption rate of pre-sprouting and chemical weed control could be attributed to high cost of chemical and pre-sprouting at is not regular practices in yam production at affordable prices in e observed quantities and at e appropriate time and place in Nigeria. However, all farmers 100% adopted hand weeding and direct field planting of yam because it is in line wi farmer s traditional meods of planting yam. Non-adoption of pre-sprouting may also be attributed to extra care needed in raising e nurseries and transplanting which deviate from e farmer s previous planting experience. This study corroborated F. A.O 4 at asserted at farmers adopted only ose practices ey have been familiar wi and which are in line wi existing practices. Chi-square Analysis of Farmers Characteristics and Rate of Adoption: Table 6 shows at ere is a significant relationship between farmers characteristics and adoption of yam minisett technology. For instance Adoption was found to be positively related to age of farmers. This finding is in agreement wi previous reports at age of farm operator and his motivation toward returns from farming, positively influence [5] adoption. The study furer showed a positive and significance correlation between farmers contact wi extension agent and farm size and adoption of yam minisett technology. The implication of is is at e more farmers have contact wi extension agent, e more he will be motivated to adopt, and increase production of yam minisett which will lead to expansion of farm land or demand for more land. Conclusion and Recommendation: The study has shown at majority 70.8% farmers heard about yam minisett technology and 69.0% adopted e technology. However, farmers at did not adopt e total package. They only adopted ose at familiar wi eir practices. Also adopters of e technology complained of high labour requirements and high cost of chemical for seed yam minisett production, e technology consumes time, and at seed yams produced from minisett were too small. Therefore, for e full potential of minisett technology to be realized in rainforest and Savannah area of Nigeria constraints to yam minisett technology as identify in is study, integration of farmers practices into yam minisett packages are very necessary since e bases of research is to transfer e findings to e end users (farmers). Table 1: Personal Characteristics of Farmers Parameter Osun Oyo Kwara Te % Sex Frequency % F % F % TF % M ale Female Age < Size of farm Total

4 Table 1: Continue Educational Background no formal Education Primary Secondary Higher Table : Source of Planting M aterials Type of Planting Materials used Osun Oyo Kwara Total F % F % F % F % Big yam set only Small tubers Seed tubers from miliking Table 3: Awareness of Yam M inisett of Technology Awareness Osun Oyo Kwara Total F % F % F % F % Awareness Not Aware Table 4: Adoption of Minisett Technology Practices N=34 Adoption Rate Osun Oyo Kwara Tf % F % F % F % TF % Adopter Non Adopter * Reasons for Adoption Cheaper Source of Yam planting materials Increased seed yam production Increased capital * Reasons for Non Adoption Seed Yam produced were too small High input/chemical cost Consume time Lack of technical help from E.A Labour intensive Low success rate Inadequate capital * M ultiple Response 464

5 Table 5: Yam Minisett Technology Packages Adopted by Farmer Yam Minisett Pakage Osun N = 71 Oyo N = 81 Kwara N = 84 TF % F % F % F % TF % Pre-Sprouting Direct Field Planting Sett size of 5gms Seed treatment Chemical weed control Hand weeding Fertilizer application Stalking using trills or pyramid meod Spacing of 5cm * M ultiple Responses Table 6: Chi-Square Analysis of Farmers Characteristics and Adoption of Yam M inisett Technology Variable Description Df X P Age * Education Contact wi E.A * Farm Holding * * Significant at P < 0.05 REFERENCES 1. Agbaje, G.O. and A. Oyebami, 005. Survey on e adoption of yam minisett technology in sou Western Nigeria. Journal of Food Agriculture and Environment, 3(): Aighewi, B.A., R. Asiedu and M.O. Akoroda, 001. Producing seed yams (Dioscorea rotundiata) from Sprouts, in Akoroda M.O. and J.M. Ngere st eds, Root crops in e 1 Century pp Proceedings of e 7 Triennial Symposium of international society for Tropical Root Crops. Africa Branch October 1998: ISTRC AB and Government of Benin. Available at IITA Ibadan Nigeria. 3. Bolarinwa, K.K., 000. Yam Minisett Technology package and its contribution to Poverty Alleviation in Oyo state. A paper presented at 5 annual conference of Nigeria Association of Agricultural education (NAAGRED) held at Federal College of Education special Oyo state 11 Sept.-14Sept. 4. F.A.O., Production Year Book. FAO, Rome. 5. Iwueke, C.C., Appraisal of yam minisett technique by farmers in Sou Eastern States of Nigeria in J.O. Olukosi and A.O. Ogungbile, eds. Appropriate Agricultural Technologies for Resource Poor Farmers, The Nigerian National Farming Systems Research Network (NFSRM) Samola commercial Press Yusuf Road Samaru Zaria. 6. Okunmadewa, F., 003. Poverty and Agricultural Sector in Nigeria. In Okumadewa F. eds Poverty Reduction and e Nigeria Agricultural Sector. Elshaddai Global Ventures Ltd Ibadan., pp: Oladeji, J.O., O.B. Oyesola, 006. Yam farmers Access to production Resources in Kabba/Ibunu local Government Area of Kogi State, Nigeria. Journal of New Seeds Hawor Food and Agricultural Products. Press, pp: Orkwo, G.C., Advance in research. In Orkwor, G.C. Asiedu R. and Ekanayake II eds Food Yams IITA. NRCRI Nigeria, pp: Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme 006. Annual Report on Root tuber expansion programme. 10. Manyoung, M., R. Asiedu and Olaniya, 001. Farmer s perception and actions on resources management constraints in e yam based system of Western Nigeria. In Akoroda M.O. and J.M. st Nigere (eds) Root crops in e 1 Century pp proceedings of e 7 Triennial symposium of e internal society for Tropical Root Crops Africa Branch, Oct ISTRC AB and Government of Benin Available at IITA. Ibadan Nigeria, pp: