Table of Contents
- Research Article
Land-Income-Nutrition Nexus: Implication for Food Security of Rural Households in Nigeria PDF Oladapo Olusesan, Olajide O. Adeola The produce cultivated by farm families are consumed and or sold in the market to generate cash which is used to meet other household needs. But the farm families also have to make food purchases at higher prices to supplement the short fall that may have occurred over time. This presents a Land-Income-Nutrition cycle; the study investigates the interplay of this nexus with socio-economic characteristics of farm families. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select a total of 74 farm families from villages. The data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results show that farming and related activities (poultry production) are the major sources of income. Land use in the area consists mainly of sole cropping, mixed cropping, crop rotation. Average monthly income from farming is N27,135.00, and N17454.04 is spent on food monthly. The per caput calorie intake shows a short fall of 1353.33Kcal less than the international recommendations. The regression analysis shows that family size, income, food expenditure and source of farm land influence the daily calorie intake of farm families; the influence is not necessarily direct or linear. Improved market access through good roads and improved post harvest technology are recommended. - Research Article
Assessment of National Special Programme for Food Security (NSPPS) Project on Productivity and Income of Beneficiary Farmers in Plateau State, Nigeria PDF Panwal F. Ephraim, C.J. Arene The study was conducted to assess the impact of National Special Programme for Food Security (NSFS) project on Productivity and income of Beneficiary farmers in Plateau Sate. The specific objectives included: (i) identify, describe and evaluated the socio-economic characteristics of the NSPFS project beneficiary and non beneficiary farmers (ii) determine the factors that influenced farmers participation in NSPFS projects in the study area (iii)determine the net farm income of beneficiary and non non-beneficiary farmers before and after the project intervention; (iv) determine the impact of NSPFS on beneficiary farmers income in the study area (v) determine the impact of NSPFS on beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers before and after the project intervention (vii) identify the problems faced by the beneficiary farmers in participating in NSPFS project in the study area. Primary and Secondary data were obtained from the respondents of 412 (206 beneficiary and 206 non beneficiary farmers) and NSPFS coordinating offices for baseline survey data. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics; probit model; farm budgeting techniques of net farm income, production function; multiple regression and double difference method. The result showed that the socio-economic characteristics have a lot of influence on income and productivity of the respondents in the study area. Results showed male dominance in both beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers. Majority of the respondents (beneficiary and non-beneficiary farmers) had farm size of between 0.5 "“ 1.oha before and after NSPFS project respectively. Based on statistical analysis, there was significant difference between the socio-economic characteristics of NSPFS project beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. Therefore, the null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between socio-economic characteristics of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries have been rejected and alternatives accepted. On the decision to participate in NSPFS project, 4 factors significantly influenced decision to participate in NSPFS project by the respondents. Participation in other agricultural projects was significant at 1% of t-value = 2.66. The net farm income realized by the responder is indicates an increase in the net farm income of both beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries. On impact of NSPFS on beneficiaries income, a positive mean difference of about N243,299.61 in income was realize and the difference in income was significant at 1% level with t-value = 3.86. This implies that there was an impact of the project on beneficiary's income. The regression result showed that NSPFS project has positive impact on crop productivity of beneficiary farmers in the study area. The f-chow calculated value was 104.45, while that of tabulated f-value was 2.6) at 5% for the three degree of freedom and the population sample N = 412. This implies that NSPFS had impact on crop productivity of beneficiaries. Resource use efficiency indicates that beneficiaries over utilized chemical and underutilized other resources like seed, fertilizer and labour but there was an improvement on the use of productive assets like hoes, cutlass and bicycle. Capital and fertilizer were major problems encountered by beneficiaries in participation in NSPFS project. Findings also revealed that the respondents claimed that their lack of participation in the project was based on their perceived idea that there are no meaningful results from government projects. Other reasons by the non-beneficiaries for not participating include lack of capital, not being a member of any farmer's cooperative society and also bad experience from other agricultural projects. The study recommends among others expansion of the NSPFS project to include at least three quarters of the small "“scale farmers, adequate and timely supply of farm inputs be intensified and there should be a strong reawakening of the farmers' cooperative movement or societies as well as the encouragement of farmers to joint other local groups and association for easy accessibility to inputs, agro services and technological innovations in farm practices. - Research Article
The Efficacy of Atemisia annua and Occimum grastissimum Leaf Powders against Callosobruchus maculatus (F) (Coleoptera: Bruchidae) on Stored Vigna unguiculata PDF Oghale. O. Okore, Chinwendu N. Okoro Labouratory trials were carried out to test the efficacy of Atemisia annua and Occimum grastissimum leaf powders against the cowpea bruchid (Callosobruchus maculatus) on stored Vigna unguiculata seeds. The efficacy of the plant powders on the adult emergence rate was investigated in two separate sets A and B. From the results obtained, it was observed that both plant powders posses' insecticidal properties. 100% mortality was observed after eight days of subjecting the adult bruchid to the plant powders. They were effective against the insect evidenced from the reduced rate of emergence and percentage number of seeds with perforations. Significant differences were obtained between the control and treatments. The highest numbers of emerging adults recorded in the control experiment were 397.00 ±147.08 and 605.00±121.62. The highest number recorded for A. annua and O. grastissimum in the four weeks were 85.50±21.92 and 60.00±4.24. A reduction in the population of an insect in most instances makes for reduced pest impact on stored products. This was evidenced in this research as percentages of perforated seeds in the control, A. annua and O. grastissimum treated seeds were 80%, 57% and 27.5% respectively. These results show that A. annua and O. grastissimum have potential as botanicals for preventing the loss accrued to this insect. - Research Article
Resource Use Efficiency in Small Scale Cowpea Production System in Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area, Kano State, Nigeria PDF Z. Abdu, S. A. Makama, K. I. Mika’il The study examined the Resource use efficiency in cowpea production in Dawakin Kudu local Government area of Kano State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used in the study in which Dawakin Kudu local government area was purposively selected and six villages including Dawaki, Dosan, Tsakuwa, Sarai and Tamburawa were selected using the same procedure. Simple random sampling technique was employed to select 15 small scale cowpea producers in each village making a total sample size of 90 respondents. The data for the study were collected using of structured questionnaire and were analysed using descriptive statistics, farm budget model and multiple regression model. The results of the analyses revealed that majority (53.9%) of respondents were between the ages of 21-40 years. Also 47.7% had informal quranic education while 86.2% were males. Respondents who had 2-10 years of experience in cowpea production constituted 53% while 65% had household size of 2-10 persons and majority (56.9%) had 0.1-1 ha of land. The average total variable cost, total revenue and gross margin per hectare for cowpea production were N22, 716, N47, 019.3 and N24, 303.3 respectively The result from the multiple regression analysis revealed that double-log function gave the best fit with R2of 79.5% and the regression coefficients with respect to farm size, seed and fertilizer were positive and significant while chemical and labour were not significant. Almost all the resources used were over-utilized with only fertilizer which was under-utilized. Incidence of pest and disease, high cost of fertilizer and chemical, problem of flooding and high cost of labour were the major problem affecting cowpea production in the study area .Resource adjustment, provision of extension services, formation of more farmer cooperative societies were recommended.