Cassava, an edible root crop and a reliable and relatively inexpensive source of carbohydrate, is widely grown and processed into different foods such as cassava flour and garri. The study analyzed the costs and returns in cassava flour and garri production and also determined the factors influencing its production in the study area. A two- stage sampling technique was used to generate primary data used for this study. The first stage involved the purposive selection of Ibarapa North Local Government Area (LGA), because it has more cassava producers and processors than other LGAs. The second stage involved the random selection of 15 villages out of the 23 in the LGA. From the selected villages, 170 respondents were randomly selected while only 150 copies of the structured questionnaire administered were retrieved. Results from the primary data shows that 28.3% of garri producersproducers had no formal education and 46.7% were between the ages of 30 and 39years. The regression analysis shows that the quantity of garri sold (ß =5.4099), transportation cost (ß =-0.2994), peeling cost (ß = -0.4249), and grating cost (ß = 0.6878) were all significant to the total revenue of cassava flour sold. Price, inadequate capital, transportation, land tenure and markets were factors influencing garri and cassava flour production. Analysis of the costs and returns revealed that processing cassava into garri gave a higher gross margin even though processing of cassava was profitable, indicating that there is a significant difference between flour and garri production. Inputs, market, good and infrastructural facilities should be provided so as to increase production capacity and hence food security. Keywords: Cassava, Cassava flour, Garri, Gross margin, Nigeria
Farmland sustainability and increased agricultural production have been a major concern of average farmers in Nigeria especially in South Western part of the Country. The study examines the farm level indicators and their effects on agricultural production among rural farmers. Multi-stage methods of sampling technique were used to select fifty respondents for this study using a well-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed by the use of descriptive such as means, percentage, standard deviation and fuzzy logic analysis. The result shows that average age of farmer, farm size, household size and farming experience are 52.28 years, 2.072 hectare, 6.80 and 29.42 years of farming experience respectively. The fuzzy logic method was used to compute the composite indicator of sustainable land use (ISLU) which was 0.2843 indicating that farmers' land management practices in the study area are generally sustainable with the current application of the indicators. Land fallowing, trends of vegetative cover, irrigation, pesticide used among others contributed a higher percentage of land use sustainability with about 3.8% each, while minimum tillage, cover crops, crop rotation and cassava cutting use had no contribution to land use sustainability. The study recommends that rural water should be made available and that informal training through extension services should be conducted to educate farmers on sustainable land management (SLM) practices in order to have a better environment and improve production in the study area.
The study is based on determining the effects of organic manure (cow dung and poultry manure) on the growth & germination of Zingiber officinale using topsoil in the research as the medium of growth. The seeds were subjected to 7 treatments which include cow dung and poultry manures and topsoil only as control treatment. The seeds were sown directly into the polythene pots thoroughly mixed with the organic manures at different levels of application which includes 2.5 g, 5.0 g and 10.0 g with 3 replicates making a total of 21 poly pots. The germination was thoroughly observed for 3 weeks after planting. The experiment was laid in a completely Randomized design with 3 replicates. The parameters assessed were the plant height, the number of leaves and stem girth. The data collected were subjected to ANOVA. The Results of the study showed that treatment T1 with cow dung at 2.5 g had the highest plant height of (49.65 cm), stem diameter of (0.458 m) and Number of leaves (12.27) followed by T5 (5.0g of poultry Manure) with plant height of (45.40 cm) stem diameter (0.435 cm) and number of leaves (12.73). Treatment 7 which is the control treatment had the Least Leaf Number of (24), height of (28.97) and stem diameter of (0.257). Therefore from all the treatments used, cow dung at 2.5 g and poultry manure at 5.0 g are advisable for Raising Zingiber officinale.
This paper reports findings from a study carried out to investigate the profitability of snail marketing in Ibadan North East Local Government area of Oyo State. Structured questionnaires and interview schedules were designed to obtain information on socio-economic characteristics, operational capital and source, years of experience in the business and constraints to snail marketing. Seventy snail marketers, randomly selected from three major markets which are Oje, Agodi gate and Agugu market;. The data collected were analyzed using frequency table, percentage, gross margin, Benefit/ Cost ratio and Marketing Efficiency analyses. Majority (94.3%) of the respondents were female while 5.7% were male. 31.5% were between the ages of 51-60years with mean age of 54.9 years. It was also shown that 50% source their capital through personal savings between N11,000-N20,000 and 47.1% with 5-9years experience. The cost and return analysis revealed that total revenue was N1, 457,700.00k and total cost was N1, 285,320.00k while gross margin was N172, 380.00k and benefit- cost ratio was 1.13 which implies that for every N1.00 invested the marketer will make a return of N1.13k on every snail sold, Marketing efficiency was 88%. Major constraints to snail marketing in the study area were poor market patronage (87.1%) and seasonality (82.9%). Snail farming is advocated since it is a profitable agribusiness and can be achieved through cooperatives and micro credit facilities. Also, marketing of snail in the area should be restructured and standardized to command frequent patronage and command higher price value.
Poultry egg production is an economically viable investment among Agroforestry farmers in Southwestern Nigeria but paucity of funds and high cost of inputs are major problems in their business operations. This study focused on the effects of accessibility and non-accessibility of Agroforestry farmers to credit on poultry egg production. Data were randomly collected from 120 poultry farmers with a structured questionnaire which comprised of 60 credit beneficiaries (CB) and 60 non-credit beneficiaries (NCB) Agroforestry farmers. The data were analyzed with mean, percentages, frequency distribution, logit and multiple regression analyses. The results of the analyses indicated that the mean age of the CB and NCB Agroforestry farmers were ±46 and ±56 years respectively. Majority of the farmers were married CB (77.4%) and NCB (81.0%). The logit regression analysis revealed that the age of the respondents had a positive relationship with access to credit at 5% level of significance. Multiple regression model for credit accessed farmers indicated that age, family size, drug quantity are positively related to output and are significant at 10% and 1% levels. Multiple regression result for NCB farmers shows that the quantity of drug used is positively related to the egg output at 1% level. The hypotheses tested show that there was a significant relationship between socio-economic characteristics and the egg production in the study area and; between the output of farmers who are credit beneficiaries and non-credit beneficiaries. The major constraints to poultry production in Agroforestry system were limited finances, high cost of inputs and poor quality of day old chicks. Accessibility to formal credit facilities has a key role to play in Agroforestry poultry farming. Individuals, Governments and NGOs should therefore facilitate empowerment of youths in poultry egg production.
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