The study determined the profitability and technical efficiency of Sasakawa Global (SG-2000) maize technology in Lere Agricultural Zone, Kaduna State, Nigeria. A total of 146 respondents were selected through a multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected through structured questionnaire administered to the sampled respondents and complemented with interview schedule. Analysis of the data collected was done using descriptive statistics, farm budgeting technique and stochastic frontier function. Results showed that the mean age of SG-2000 adopters was 45years old, 73% of them were males and 81% were married. The mean farming experience of the adopters was 15 years, household size of 8 persons and farm size of 2.26ha respectively. Also, majority of the farmers were members of farmers’ cooperative society and had access to extension services. The farm budgeting technique revealed maize production was profitable in the area with gross margin and net farm income of ₦99,407.76/ha and ₦96,700.80/ha respectively. The maize farmers were not technically efficient with a mean efficiency score of 0.8181. The farm size at p<0.10, seed at p<0.01, fertilizer at p<0.01, capital input at p<0.01 probability levels respectively were efficiency factors, while the sex of farmer at p<0.10, marital status at p<0.10, farming experience at p<0.05 and access to credit at p<0.01 probability levels respectively were the inefficiency factors. It is recommended that other farmers in the study area should adopt the SG-2000 maize technology to improve their level of profitability and technical efficiency. Keywords: Profitability, Technical efficiency, SG-2000 maize technology, Farmers and Kaduna State

Traditional mixtures of food crop species involve intercrop of plants with dissimilar size and growth cycle on the field. However, the Relative Yield Potential (RYP) and Land Equivalent Ratios (LER) of these mixtures are given less prejudice especially in monetary terms by ancient farmers. This necessitate an experiment conducted during the 2016 and 2018 rainy seasons. The treatments consisted of Maize (TZESR – Open Pollinated), Cowpea (Sampea - 7), Peanut (Samnut - 24) and Soybean (TGX 713 – 09D) as sole crops sown at seed rates of 25 and 50 kgha-1 for maize and legumes respectively. The grain legumes were intercropped with maize in the ratio of 4:1, 2:1 or 1:1 as additional rows in between the normal rows of maize planted at a spacing of 75 x 25cm. Results revealed that intercropping of maize with either cowpea, peanut or soybean in 2:1 ratio was most productive in terms of maize equivalent yield and declined thereafter, with increase in the legume proportion, though maintained its superiority over sole planting of maize. Maize intercropped with soybean in the ratios 4:1 gave the highest mean biological maize equivalent compared to its sole planting at different combinations of legumes. Maize + Peanut gave the highest mean Land Equivalent Ratio (1.81) followed by maize + Cowpea (1.74) and maize + soybean (1.59) all sown in the ratio of 2:1. Intercropping of legumes with maize appeared to be more aggressive than sole planting of maize or legumes. Maize + Peanut (2:1) gave the highest mean Monetary Advantage Index (MAI) of 7789.0, Mean Yield Index (MYI) of 79.0. However, regardless of the ratio in which Maize + peanut was combined, result of 47% MAI showed a greater biological relationship, effective competition, hence recommended. Highest cost/benefit ratio (5.09 and 4.45) was obtained with maize + soybean (4:1) during 2016 and 2018, respectively.

Field experiments were conducted during 2017 and 2018 rainy seasons at the Kogi State Agricultural Development farm at Karara (Lat. 8.230N, Long. 6.560E Alt. 343.00m) in Kogi State, Nigeria to investigates the influence of different cropping patterns and crop nutrient sources on yields of Soybean-Maize intercrops. Treatment consisted of two crops (Maize and Soybean), two fertilizer sources [Organic source (Poultry Manure) and Mineral Fertilizer (Urea)] and Intercropping patterns (2:2, 2:3, 2:4, 2:5), sole maize and soybean as control. All the treatments were given factorial combination and laid in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) and replicated three times. The experiment was carried out for two years, the averages obtained indicates the superiority of 2:2 intercropping system over all other systems as exemplified by higher Land Equivalent Ratio (LER) of 1.13, Aggressivity (A) of 0.458, and Competitive Ratio (CR) of 1.63. The 2:2 intercropping system however showed the lowest Relative Crowding Coefficient (RCC) of 0.088 which is an indication for high productivity. Application of mineral fertilizer in the form of Urea was found to be more effective than the use of Poultry manure in both years of the experiment soybean had higher Relative Crowding Coefficient (RCC), Competitive Ratio (CR), and Aggressivity (A) values than maize. Use of mineral fertilizer in the form of urea was more effective than poultry manure in both years. Soybean was more superior in competition than maize, and its productivity dominated the total biomass yields. It was therefore concluded that intercropping soybean with maize at a 2:2 ratio has the potential to improve not only the seed yield but other associated biological yields and high land use efficiently.

The study examined farmers’ assessment of extension services delivery in Bauchi State Nigeria. A multi-stage random sampling techniques was used in selecting 200 farmers from the three agricultural zones of the State. Data were collected through the administration of structured questionnaires and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings revealed that majority (84.5 %) of the farmers were male with mean age of 42 years. Also majority (75%) were married with household size mean of 8 persons. Similarly, 38 % had farming experience of 6- 10 years with mean land size of 1.5 hectares. More than half (58%) of the farmers belongs to farmers cooperatives with 26% having monthly extension contact. Similarly, 78% of the farmers received technology under crop and farming sub sector while 88.5% sourced information on extension services delivery from radio. The logistics regression shows that annual income and access to extension were significant at (P<0.01), while extension contact was significant at (P<0.05) in influencing farmers assessment of extension services delivery. The major constraint to extension services delivery were inadequate transportation/mobility of extension workers, inadequate equipment/teaching material and poor extension agent farmer ratio. It was concluded that the key factors influencing farmer’s assessment of extension services delivery in the study area were annual income, access to extension and number of extension contact. Based on the constraint highlighted the study recommended that extension agents should be provided with adequate mobility and incentives for easy access to the farmers, more extension workers need to be hired in order to significantly address the issue of poor ratio of extension agents to farming households.

This study was conducted at Crop Production Nursery Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Kogi State University Anyigba. The study area which is Kogi State, to determine the effect of sheep dropping rate and staking on the yield and yield component of cucumber. Staked and unstaked and four treatment levels (0, 10, 20 and 30 kg per hectare) were evaluated. The study was conducted as a 2x1 factorial laid out in randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. Treatment means were separated using least significant difference (LSD0.05). The result generated from the study showed that number of fruits, number of marketable fruits and weight of fruits. Staking had no significant effect on number of fruits, but showed significant effect on number of branches, number of leaves and plant height. The staked treatment constantly performed better with higher values than the non-staked treatment. Result obtained from data analysis shows that Cucumber growth, yields and yield components were enhanced with the incorporation of Poultry droppings across various treatment rates. Hence for maximum production of cucumber staking and optimum sheep dropping should be adopted.