Volume 53 (2020): Issue 3 (September 2020)

Rice is one of the most important crops for food security in Africa. However, there is a large gap between its present demand and supply. Weed competition is basically one of the major constraints in rice systems in Africa, leading to 48–100% yield reduction and sometimes complete crop failure, thereby threatening food security. Weed control methods currently employed to avoid such losses are predominantly hoe-weeding and herbicide application. Hoe weeding is tedious, inefficient, time consuming, associated with high labour demands and often too expensive for the average farmer to afford. Herbicide use on the other hand, does not provide season-long weed control. Moreover, there are not many herbicides that can control different kinds of weeds with one application. Thus, to optimise yield, financial, social and environmental costs and benefits, integrated and ecological weed management approaches are advocated. Future weed research should therefore be focused on delivering information for the implementation of these approaches. This would require improved knowledge of weed biology and ecology, prioritization of problematic weed species, development of competitive rice cultivars and timely weed control. To address the diversity of weed problems in rice systems in Africa, however, research innovations must take full account of farmer’s local conditions using farmers’ participatory approaches. This review suggests that knowledge-based integrated novel approaches must be developed to assist farmers in coping with the challenges of weed management for sustainable rice production.

The increasing demand of the feed market for protein has necessitated the need to look for and use other sources of this nutrient. Cottonseed cake and palm kernel cakes are used extensively for supplementing ruminant rations to increase their productivity. The efficiency of sperm production, libido and quality of spermatozoa tend to remain uniform throughout the reproductive life of an animal but may be significantly altered by nutrition. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of graded levels of protein on semen characteristics, and serum testosterone profile in Yankasa rams. Fifteen rams aged between 18–24 months and weighing 15–25 kg with good body condition scores (3.5) were used in this study. They were divided into three treatment groups (A, B and C) according to the dietary protein level. Group A (n = 5) received 10 %, group B (n = 5) received 15 % while group C (n = 5) received 20 % combined crude protein of cotton seed and palm kernel cakes, respectively. Semen samples were collected weekly using battery-controlled electro ejaculator. Serum samples were harvested using a Pasteur pipette into serum vials and stored at −20 °C for analysis. These samples were from a representative animal in each group for determination of testosterone profiles using ELISA technique at weeks 1, 6 and 12. Data collected were expressed as means and standard error of the mean (± SEM). Significance of differences between treatments means were estimated at P ≤ 0.05 with Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test of repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). From this study, it was concluded that rams fed concentrate of 15 % crude protein using cotton seed and palm kernel cakes combined had improved semen characteristics in terms of semen concentration, motility, live sperm cells and morphology, but the crude protein levels had no effects on testosterone concentrations.

The study described socio-economic characteristics of the beneficiaries of the Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development Project (CBARDP), profiled the agricultural technologies disseminated and adopted. The study was carried out in Kwara State, Nigeria among smallholder farmers. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to select respondents who participated in CBARDP in Local Government Areas (LGAs). At the first stage, one participating LGA was purposively selected from each of the agricultural zones, making a total of nine LGAs. At the second stage, three rural communities were randomly selected from each of the selected LGAs while the final stage involved a simple random selection of ten participating farmers from the selected rural communities making a total of 270 respondents. Data collected were described with the frequency counts, percentages, means and standard deviations whereas Chi-square and correlation analyses were used for inferential purposes. The results showed that the mean age of farmers was 52.1 ± 6 years, majority (92.2 % and 74.1 %) were married and male, respectively. The overall results indicated a moderate level of adoption of CBARDP technologies but high adoption in orchard, fishery, poultry and cattle packages while the respondents had low adoption in livestock, processing, crop production and agro-processing packages. The results showed that significant associations existed between sex (χ² = 23.934), marital status (χ² = 34.66), membership of social organisation (χ² = 23.43), compatibility (χ² = 362.88, relative advantage (χ² = 211.69) and adoption of CBARDP technologies whereas there were significant relationship between household size (r = 0.201), farm size (r = 0.537), years of experience (r = −0.375) and farmers’ adoption of CBARDP technologies. The study concluded that adoption of CBARDP technologies was moderate among beneficiaries in the study area. It is therefore recommended that more awareness should be created by relevant stakeholders to encourage especially more women to actively participate in similar projects in the future.

Economic recession often exacerbates the effects of poverty on agrarian communities in Nigeria. This paper examined the effects of economic recession on female farmers and coping strategies they employed. It explored the effects of the crisis on their income, farm size, livelihood and welfare aspects such as feeding, schooling of their children and health care. The study was conducted in Ondo State, Nigeria. Primary data were used. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to administer 100 copies of the questionnaires on females in rural agrarian households in the study area. The obtained data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Chi-square and Likert scale analysis. The findings showed that the economic recession resulted in poor health care, inadequate feeding, poor income and school dropouts. Major factors that helped the women to cope were land ownership security/access to land, introduction of new crops, marital status and educational status. These factors are crucial as their Chi-square values and Likelihood Ratios were significant at one percent probability level (P < 0.01). The research concludes that educated females as well as married women and women possessing secured land tenure coped better in times of economic crisis. The paper thus recommends increased investments by governments in the agricultural sector to help curtail the inflation in food prices and increasing women access to land and education.

In this study we assessed the determinants of lack of credit access among the Indigenous Vegetables (IVs) farmers based on primary data collected in a cross-sectional survey. Using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis, the results revealed that more females were involved in the indigenous vegetable production with average age of 40 years, seven household members, eight years of formal education and cultivating 0.76 acre of land. Only 8 % had access to credit and 76 % did not have contact with extension agents. The mean monthly income from indigenous vegetables production, off-farm income and savings were about ₦35,000 (US$96.83), ₦15,000 (US$42.12) and ₦13,000 (US$38.57), respectively. Further, lack of credit access significantly depended on gender (β = 0.15, P < 0.05), educational level (β = 0.11; P < 0.05), farming experience (β = 0.73; P < 0.05), off-farm income (β = 0.23, P < 0.05), saving habits (β = 0. 25; P < 0.01) and annual numbers of extension contact (β = 0.94, P < 0.01) of indigenous vegetable farmers. Therefore, improved access to formal education, extension supports, creation of gender-specific credit scheme and farm-based organisation (FBO) for indigenous vegetables farmers to sustain credit accessibility were advocated.