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Determinants of Poverty Coping Strategies among Women Farmers in Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria
No full textThe study examined the determinants of poverty coping strategies among women farmers in Yola-South Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. A purposive and random sampling technique was employed to select 140 women for the study. Data were collected through the use of structured questionnaire. Both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The findings revealed that 87.9% of the respondents were within the ages of 20-40 years, educated 89.3% and married 81.4% with household sizes of less than 10 persons (82.2%). Most of the respondents (66.4%) had above 11 years of farming experience. Selling of farm waste, farming, on farm crop processing and fish farming were the poverty coping strategies commonly adopted by the respondents in the study area. The coefficient of determination (R2) was estimated at 0.554 and this indicated that 55.4% of variation of the dependent variable in the model were explained by explanatory variables (age, marital status, household size, level of education, farm size, farming experience, membership of women groups and extension contact). The t-values of the significant variables namely; level of education (X4), farm size (X5), farming experience (X6) and membership of women group (X7) are 6.306529, 2.947541, 2.747442 and 6.030350 respectively. These were all significant at 1% probability level. Among the constraints faced by the respondents include: lack of access to market 27.3%, Women access to fund 24.2%, and poor and crude storage / processing equipment 21.5% and type of crop grown 10.8% were foremost among the constraints. It is recommended that government and other NGOs should come up with policy framework that is targeted at reducing or obliterating the bureaucratic principles that create barriers to women access to bank credit or any source is germane
Growth Performance and Carcass Composition of Clarias gariepinus Fingerlings Fed Dietary Plant and Animal Lipids
No full textAn experiment to study the growth of Clarias gariepinus fingerlings fed different practically sourced dietary lipids was conducted with the aim of establishing a preference for either animal or plant lipid for 70 days. Fingerlings with mean weight of 28.66 ± 0.5 g were stocked at random to seven diets in triplicate groups with eachdiet having five fingerlings and were fed with isocaloric and isonitrogenous diets containing 40% crude protein (CP) with varied lipid sources of 8%. Diet 1 (Palm oil), Diet 2 (soya bean oil), Diet 3 (groundnut oil), Diet 4 (Beef tallow), Diet 5 (Pork lard), Diet 6 (Cod liver oil) and Diet 7 as Control (zero oil supplement).
Result showed that there were significant differences (P > 0.05) in feed conversion ratio (FCR) and specific growth rate (SGR) among the Diets. FCR was more efficient in diets containing beef tallow, Ground-nut oil and control (zero oil supplements). Mean weight gain was not significantly different from diets fed with palm oil, soya bean oil, beef tallow, and control (no oil supplement) based diet. Diets fed with groundnut oil and pork lard were significantly (P < 0.05) different from diets fed with cod liver oil. Mean weight gain was higher in fish fed with pork lard and beef tallow (9.85% and 9.01%) respectively and lowest in fish fed with cod liver oil (7.39%). Relative weight gain (RWG) showed no significant difference (P > 0.05) between fish fed with palm oil and soya bean oil based diets. However, fish fed with cod liver oil, beef tallow and control (zero oil supplements) based diet were significantly different (P < 0.05) from fish fed with pork lard based diet
Research and Development Trends and Information Needs in Organic Agriculture in Bicol Region, Philippines
No full textThe platform for organic agriculture (OA) implementation has great potentials in the Philippines. Various researches on OA had been conducted because organic crops are one of the most important needs of Filipinos. A study was conducted to determine the status and trend of the organic agriculture (OA) research and development (R and D) programs in Bicol Region, Philippines. Specifically, it aimed to conduct inventory and determine the trends of R and D projects on organic agriculture, determine the information needs of OA stakeholders and identify research gaps and propose strategies to enhance the OA R and D programs. A survey using purposive sampling was undertaken to 149 stakeholders to know their information needs and secondary data was gathered on OA researches. Result of the study revealed that 46 projects were implemented and most of the researches conducted were on production aspect. Highest percentage (34%) recorded in terms of information needs of the stakeholders were on demand and supply. Research gaps identified were absence of a whole research chain on organic agriculture for a specific commodity, lack of a research with component on developing a centralized, web-based information system, and inadequate research on policy and governance on OA. While considerable effort had been done on researches related to organic agriculture, a more focused action research on market opportunities and market knowledge is needed and imperative to ensure the effective and successful implementation of the OA program in the Bicol region. This should be coupled with continued aggressive information dissemination campaign to firm up appreciation and strengthen awareness of stakeholders on organic agriculture
Genetic Divergence of Quantitative Traits in Brassica juncea L. Genotypes Based on Multivariate Analysis
No full textEdible oil requirement of Pakistan is increasing every year due to growing population and per capita consumption. After cotton, rapeseed-mustard is the second most important source of edible oil in Pakistan, where it is cultivated under diverse agro-climatic regions. The present research was conducted at Oilseeds Research Institute, Faisalabad (Pakistan) to find out the genetic divergence among 10 genotypes of mustard (Brassica juncea L.) with three replications in RCBD design. Eight morphological characters were measured to find out superior genotype use as a donor parent in hybridization programs. The cluster analysis revealed to two clusters of genotypes on based similarity and difference in morphological trait. The first cluster comprises seven genotypes and second group consist of three genotypes. The result of dendrogram indicated that high genetic distance among the genotype in terms of studied traits. Day to maturity had significant highly positive correlation with plant height and days to flowering. Pod length had highly significant positive correlation with seeds per pods. Plant height had correlate significant positive with days of maturity and days to flowering that would have brought simultaneous improvement for these traits as a result of correlated response. The principal component analysis shows that PC1, PC2 and PC3 contribute 52.1%, 19.9% and 15.3% of total variation, respectively. Therefore, it is possible to utilize that genetic variation in selection and hybridization program to develop new or more productive Brassica varieties and to optimize donor parental lines
Effective Rainfall Calculation Methods for Field Crops: An Overview, Analysis and New Formulation
No full textEffective precipitation is important in irrigation scheduling decisions, is used to design new irrigation systems, and is a guiding factor for planning crop production practices. The methods for calculating effective rainfall for dry-land and wet-land crops were overviewed, analyzed and summarized in this paper. It is evident that the calculation methods have certain limitations, and also have merits and demerits. Performance of different methods was evaluated for effective rainfall of rice and deviations of results were found. As the methods are mostly empirical, such variation is expected other than the situation where they are developed/formulated. Process based formulation, particularly which considered crop ET, may suit under diverse situations. Under the current condition, Indian-1 and Japanese method estimated closer value, but may not yield better result under other conditions. The new formulation, which is based on the actual water expense, gave better/perfect estimation. New formulations pertinent to different practical/field situations are suggested, which will be useful for calculation of effective rainfall under different field and climatic conditions. 
Effect of Fertilizer on the Growth of Local Aromatic Rice Varieties
No full textA pot experiment was conducted at the experimental net house of the Department of Soil Science, Sylhet Agricultural University, Sylhet, Bangladesh to observe the effect of fertilizers on growth of local aromatic rice varieties during the aman (summer) season of 2015. The experiment was laid out in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. Five aromatic rice varieties (Kalizira: V1, Muktasail: V2, Nagrasail: V3, Maloti: V4 and Chinigura: V5) and four levels of fertilizer (Recommended dose: F1 i.e. 45-10-20-10-0.5 kg ha-1 of N-P-K-S-Zn, 2/3rd of recommended dose: F2, 1/3rd of recommended dose: F3, and Control: F4) were used. All fertilizers were applied as basal during final pot preparation while urea was applied in two equal splits. With few exceptions, all of the growth characters of the aromatic rice varieties were significantly affected due to the application of different fertilizer doses. The longest plant (124.5 cm) at harvest was found in Muktasail with recommended dose of fertilizers whereas the shortest plant (91.40 cm) was noted in Kalizira variety in control treatment. Similarly, recommended dose of fertilizers gave the highest tillers number hill-1 (25.00) in Kalizira at and the lowest number of tillers hill-1 (8.67) was noticed in Chinigura variety at control treatment. The highest grain yield was recorded in Nagrasail variety (65.33 g pot-1) followed by Kalizira (65.26 g pot-1) with recommended dose of fertilizers while the lowest yield (24.31 g pot-1) was observed in Maloti in control treatment. The overall results indicated that recommended dose of fertilizers influenced the growth characters of aromatic rice varieties
Changes of Soil Fertility Status in Some Soil Series of Tista Floodplain Soils of Bangladesh, during 1996-2016
No full textThe study of several soil series of Tista Floodplain soils were carried out to find the changing trend of nutrients status from 1996 to 2016. The studied values of different soil quality variables were changed likewise pH 5.87 ± 0.47 to 5.95 ± 0.33, organic matter 1.37 ± 0.31% to 1.47 ± 0.41%, ,total nitrogen 0.49 ± 0.13 cmol/kg to 0.64 ± 0.07 cmol/kg , phosphorous 0.10 ± 0.04 cmol/kg to 3.19 ± 0.34 cmol/kg, potassium 0.31 ± 0.29 cmol/kg to 2.93 ± 0.26 cmol/kg, sulfur 0.19 ± 0.05 cmol/kg to 8.66 ± 2.74 cmol/kg, iron 1.09 ± 0.46 cmol/kg to 2.07 ± 0.99 cmol/kg, manganese 0.10 ± 0.02 cmol/kg to 0.31 ± 0.30 cmol/kg, copper 0.03± 0.01 cmol/kg to 0.02 ± 0.01 cmol/kg, zinc 0.01 ± 4.8E-20 cmol/kg to 0.01 ± 0.01 cmol/kg in 1996 and 2016 respectively. Almost all variables changed over significantly at 5% (P < 0.05) level except pH, organic matter, total Nitrogen and Copper content whose were not significant at 5% (P < 0.05) level not even 10% (P < 0.10) level. The increasing trends of total Nitrogen, Phosphorous, and Iron were positively correlated from 1996 to 2016 than other variables. The copper and zinc content did not showing any effective change over these 20 years. The overall nutrients were adequate except organic matter and total nitrogen content. But, the trends had positive direction of all nutrients due to application of organic and inorganic fertilizer that might be correlated with increasing concern about nutrients management concept among the farmer
Characterising Loan Default among Women Microcredit Borrowers an Empirical Study in Wolaita Zone, Southern Ethiopia
No full textAims: Credit is a critical input for agriculture and women empowerment. Rural Savings and Credit Cooperatives (RuSACCOs) are important financial institutions in remote villages of Ethiopia offering avenues for savings and credit for farmers and the poor. The aim of this study was to find out the repayment status of loans obtained by women farmers who were members in RuSAACOs.
Study Design: The Study design followed was Ex-post facto Design through survey research.
Place and Duration of Study: This study was undertaken in Kindo Koysha Woreda (district) in Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. The study was held between December 2015 and May 2016.
Sample: From four randomly selected RuSACCOs of the study district, 96 women farmers who had been members of RuSACCOs were selected as respondents.
Methodology: Primary and Secondary data were gathered respectively from women members and district government agencies respectively. The sample size was determined using Yamane formula. The primary data yielded quantitative information on repayment status (Repaid regularly or otherwise). Similarly, data was gathered on 17 personal, socio-economic characteristics of the women members to provide the backdrop for their loan repayment status and to analyze the possible linkage between such characteristics and the repayment status.
Results: Descriptive statistics of the study showed that out of 96 respondents 50 per cent repaid the loan before due dates and the rest 50 percent could not repay the loan before due dates. The following categories of women borrowers were found to have higher tendency to repay rather than not to repay on time: Younger women, more educated, married, with lower dependency ratio, with higher household income and expenses, with higher livestock holding, with prior business engagement, having better access to road and market, who availed higher loan amount and having higher amount as savings in RuSACCO, higher level of training, following weekly repayment rather than fortnightly or monthly and higher economic motivation. Interestingly, the characteristics of women like family size, household social ceremony expense, timeliness and adequacy of loan did not show any association with repayment status.
Conclusion: The study recommended that RuSACCOs must follow up closely with women borrowers having the characteristics opposite of those aforementioned (in “Results” paragraph) for ensuring prompt repayment of loan. The cooperative management could consider frequent cooperative training of women members for ensuring prompt repayment of loan
A Survey on Social Economic Status, Fish Processing and Packaging Methods of Female Fish Processors in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria
No full textThe study was aimed at determining the social economic status, fish processing and packaging methods of female fish processors in Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo State, Nigeria. One hundred and eighty well structured questionnaires were administered to the women fisher folks in three fish processing village (Ekehuan, Ikoro and Gelegele) reported to have fishing activities. The result showed that fish processors in the villages were dominated with married women (66.7%); 55.0% of these women have little formal education while those with no formal education were 26.7%. It was further revealed that 41.7% of the fish processors had been in the business for five to ten years. 90.2% of the women used cutting and staking as a method of processing while all the women agreed that they preserved their fish by re-smoking them.88.3% had lack of storage facilities as their major problem. The study also revealed that their major source of capital was from their spouse (60.0%), the major fish spp smoked was Clarias gariepinus (80.0%), source of water were from river and bore hole while majority packaged their smoked fish in basket with paper (56.7%)
Determinants of Cash-savings of Farmers in Rural Savings and Credit Cooperatives in Southern Ethiopia
No full textAims: Rural Savings and Credit Cooperatives are important financial institutions in remote villages of Ethiopia offering avenues for savings and credit for farmers and the poor. The aim of this study was to find out the determining factors of farmers’ cash-savings in rural cooperatives.
Study Design: The Study design followed was Ex-post facto Design through survey research.
Place and Duration of Study: This study was undertaken in Boloso Sore district (woreda) of the Wolaita Zone, Ethiopia. The study was held between January 2016 and May 2016.
Sample: From six cooperatives of the study district, 116 farmers who had been members of the cooperatives were selected as respondents.
Methodology: Primary and Secondary data were gathered respectively from farmers and district government agencies respectively. The sample size was determined using Yamane formula. The primary data yielded quantitative information on average per capita annual amount of cash-savings by farmers (dependent variable). Similarly, data was gathered on 13 possible determining factors (variables) to explore their regression over the Annual per capita Cash-savings (Dependent variable). Multiple Linear regression technique was deployed to find out the strength of relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable.
Results: Descriptive statistics of the study showed that average per capita farmer annual saving in cooperatives was 297 ETB (USD 13). The parameter estimation of the linear regression model revealed that out of 13 variables tested, eight (8) were found to be significant at different probability levels. Size of land holdings, amount of on-farm income, amount of non-farm income, amount of loan, and access to training are positively and significantly related to the level of farmers’ average annual savings. On the other hand family size of respondent, total expenditure and credit beneficiary status of respondent was negatively and significantly related to the level of farmers’ average annual savings in cooperatives.
Conclusion: As anticipated, assets possessed by farmers and their income were found to enhance the per capita savings of farmers in cooperatives. Corollary to this finding was that those resource poor and income poor had difficulty is savings. The cooperatives may have to design different strategy for encouraging savings among them. Similarly, family size and expenditure were inversely related to savings, for obvious reasons. Thrift habit was recommended to be inculcated among farmers having large family size and expenditure. Training was proved to be a game changer in terms of ensuring higher farmers’ savings. The cooperative management could consider frequent cooperative training of farmers for mobilizing higher savings