american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 58 social dynamics of gender role in rice value chain and decision making in rural bangladesh afroza chowdhury scientific officer agricultural economics division bangladesh rice research institute (brri), gazipur, bangladesh. e-mail:afroza_muna@yahoo.com abstract the tribal women enjoyed more flexibility about mobility than the muslim women in the study villages may due to religious and social custom. however, despite higher flexibility about mobility, the tribal women were not significantly empowered in decision making process than the muslim women. a few women had registered ownership on agricultural land in the study villages. similarly, ownership of other household resources was male dominated. there was wide variation in the participation of women in the farming activities between the muslim dominant and tribal villages. although some women participated in the intercultural operations of non-rice crops, homeyard crops and rearing livestock but men were extensively participated in the intercultural operation of rice cultivation, and buying farm inputs and selling of marketable surplus in mymensingh. however, the tribal women were equally participated in the farming activities (cultivation and marketing) with male. keywords: social dynamics, gender, rice value chain, bangladesh. 1. introduction women perform backbreaking tasks and play an important role in the rice sector of bangladesh as both paid and unpaid family labor. in spite of the significance of women as unpaid labor or as agricultural wage workers in rice production, postharvest, and processing, their contributions are often under-reported and have remained invisible in agricultural statistics. women play large and crucial but often unrecognized roles across the rice sector. moreover, in last 10 years 6.7 million women has joint in agricultural sector while men’s participation has decreased by 3 percent (lfs, 2010). despite significant contribution of women in agriculture, their roles are mostly overlooked in the national agricultural statistics of bangladesh. similarly, amin (1995) reported that contribution of women in the market value chain remains socially invisible because of their absence at the point at which their value is realized. on the other hand, women were suffered widespread gender-based discrimination in laws, customs and practices which cause severe inequalities in their ability to access, control, own and use land and limit their participation in decision-making at all levels of land governance (elizabeth d. et al, 2013). thus, assessment of women roles, constraints, needs and opportunities in the farming is very important in the point of view for delineating their contribution and encourage them to participation in the sector in the future. the specific objectives of the study were as follows: ▪ to identify the socio-demographic features of the study villages; and ▪ to assess the property rights and roles of women in the family and farm. ▪ to measure the extent of gender participation in the rice value chain and decision-making process; and ▪ to understand the social obstacles and mind-set against women empowerment. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:afroza_muna@yahoo.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 59 2. research methodology two contrasting ethnic community base districts namely mymensingh and bandarban were selected purposively for this study. the selected villages of mymensingh was muslim dominant, most arable land of the villages was plain and intensively used for crop farming. on the other hand, bandarban is a hilly district, most people of the selected villages were tribal, agriculture lands of villages were fragmented, a few areas were suitable for crops farming, and there was lack of labour for farming. despite lack of plain land, some areas were used for rice cultivation to meetup family requirement for staple foods and they grew some vegetables and fruits on the hilly areas. data were collected from four villages, two from each district through focus group discussion (fgd). in total four (one form each village) fgd was conducted with 12-16 respondent included male and female members of farm families in the study villages. the results were validated by the respondents in the following seasons. 3. results 3.1 sociodemographic features table 1 shows demographic features of household in the study the villages. nearly half of the respondents were belonging to active age group 40-50 years in the villages. female headed household was scientifically higher in the tribal families (27%) in bandarban than in muslim households of mymensingh (7%). while, average years of schooling in the muslim dominant villages was considerably higher than that of tribal villages in bandarban. the respondents mentioned that average years of schooling of adult male was higher than female but there were no significant differences in the level of education between the boys and girls due to incentive-based government policy. on the other hand, male was more educated than female, and even among the younger generation, boys were more motivated to higher education than girls in the tribal villages. the informants said that some rural women casted vote in the elections for a picture as suggested their husband but they even did not know the name of the candidate in mymensingh. while the tribal women were more caution about their polling rights. it was also the case that women were stand for vote in the union council election in both the region. table 1: demographic characteristics of sample household in the stud villages items mymensingh (%) bandarban (%) age of respondent: 32-40 year 21 39 40-50 year 50 44 50-65 year 28 21 female headed family 7 27 operates own land/family properties 0 39 education (years of schooling) 6 years 3 years the fgd respondents of mymensingh said that the social and religious custom was not much flexible about mobility (going outside of home for farming, other livelihood activities and shopping) of women. therefore, women usually go to outside of the house with permission of husband or mother-in-law but there was some variation in the mobility of women between the different household types (e.g. large, medium, small and landless). the women of large and middle farm households go to relatives’ house, hospital and market with other members of household or relatives. in the contrary, the majority of informants reported that female members of small farm and landless labourer household enjoyed higher mobility rights as well as more of them ware headscarf and bourka (purdah). the women of small farm and landless labourer families go outside of house as group for farming and other livelihood activities with male and female neighbors. on the other hand, social custom of tribal villages was more flexible about women’s mobility. therefore, women independently go to fields or market for buying foods, farm inputs as well selling marketable surplus. 3.2 property rights and role of women in the farm households in mymensingh, respondents mentioned that although women entitle for fathers’ property as ratio 2:1= boy: girl and mothers’ property as ratio 1:1; however, most women obtained a lump sum amount of lands and/or gave up major part of their entitlement on fathers’ property in order to maintain the kin relationship with their brother. therefore, most women had no ownership on land. although, a few women obtained land by heir but the property was www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 60 distributed to them verbally. on the other hand, entitlement of parents’ property varies from one tribal group to others in bandarban. although, the girls only entitle for mothers’ property in some tribal communities in bandarban but the boys and girls of the case study villages entitle for equal share of parents’ property. according to key informants of mymensingh, in muslim dominant rural villages agriculture was the main occupation of most households and men had ultimate authority on household’s resources, while most women were homemaker and unware about their ownership on land. the key informant said that family farms were operated by household head (i.e., husband) but in absence (dead and migrated) or disability of husband, the women operate the farm with the help of male relatives and hired labor but they hardly make any decision about crop and variety selection, and doses of fertilizers and time of application. it was noted that some women even had ignorance about cropping season and most women had no knowledge on crop varieties and management. they mentioned that, women had some roles in the choice of homeyard crops but the decision about fields crops selection, varieties and crop management were male dominated in mymensingh. the key informants mentioned that some women participated in the intercultural operations of non-rice crops but the participation of female farm family members in the intercultural operation of rice was a few. the respondents mentioned that men discussed with women in the decision-making process about domestic matter like education and marriage of children and purchasing/selling, rented in/out land but the decision about purchasing and marketing farm commodities was male dominated in mymensingh. on the other hand, fgd members noted that tribal women had good knowledge on cropping season, crop varieties and crop management as there was no difference in the participation of tribal male and female in the rice and non-rice cropping in bandarban. moreover, the ratio of roles of male and female in the decision making about farming was about 60:40. in mymensingh, the informants reported that male were undertaken in the labour intensive heavy intercultural operations of crops in the fields (transplanting, harvesting and carrying) while the female were intensively participated in the post-harvest processing of crops (harvesting, cleaning, seed preservation), taking care of tools and machineries and rearing livestock. on the other hand, in the tribal village’s women were actively participated in intercultural activities of crops in the fields and post-harvest processing with male. the informants reported that on average women work for about 6-7 hours of a day for cooking, cleaning and other household activities in mymensingh. similarly, majority of respondents said that women spent lion share of days for household and farming activities including collecting fresh water for drinking and cooking from fountain of the hills. in addition, they undertake non-farm activities like handcrafts for increasing farm income. the tribal women were more responsible for maintenance of family and farm including collecting foods from hills, cultivating crops in the fields as well as cooking and taking care of children in bandarban. moreover, the tribal women sold their marketable surplus and purchased foods and farm inputs from market. in contrary, in mymensingh, the men were more responsible for maintenance of farm and families. the male members were mainly responsible for buying and selling of family foods and farm inputs while women mainly responsible for cooking and child care. the informants in mymensingh said that some ngos provide micro-credit to women but the decision about spending the money for the family and farm purposes was also male dominated. they reported that both the female had lack of access to extension services such as training and information about modern technologies and farm produces. similarly, respondents in bandarban said that they had scarce access to extension services and credit. 4. conclusion the tribal women enjoyed more flexibility about mobility than the muslim women in the study villages may due to religious and social custom. however, despite higher flexibility about mobility, the tribal women were not significantly empowered in decision making process than the muslim women. a few women had registered ownership on agricultural land in the study villages. similarly, ownership of other household resources was male dominated. there was wide variation in the participation of women in the farming activities between the muslim dominant and tribal villages. although some women participated in the intercultural operations of non-rice crops, homeyard crops and rearing livestock but men were extensively participated in the intercultural operation of rice cultivation, and buying farm inputs and selling of marketable surplus in mymensingh. however, the tribal women were equally participated in the farming activities (cultivation and marketing) with male. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 61 references amin, s. 1995. the poverty-purdah trap in rural bangladesh: implications for women’s roles in the family. population council research division working paper 75. new york: the population council. elizabeth daley, chris flower, luca miggiano and sabine pallas. 2013. women’s land rights and gender justice in land governance: pillars in the promotion and protection of women’s human rights in rural areas. international land coalition’s network. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 10 effect of substrate types on the survival of tomato vine cutting technology in nigeria ossai c. okolie research supervisor yiifswa project international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org emuh f. nduka professor and head of department department of agronomy delta state university, abraka, delta state, nigeria e-mail: fnemuh@delsu.edu.ng ogbole samson graduate student biochemistry department federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, nigeria e-mail: ogbolesamson@gmail.com stephanie clara akpeji graduate student microbiology department university of ibadan, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: akpejistephanie@gmail.com dr. morufat o. balogun associate professor crop protection and environmental biology department university of ibadan, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: kemtoy2003@yahoo.com abstract due to the high cost of tomato seeds, it is important to fully exploit the seeds for economic gains. this has necessitated the use of vine cutting technology in tomato production from vegetative parts. however, the vine acclimatization substrates type plays important role in the survival of the cut vines. hence, this study investigates three different substrate types (cocopeat, water and loamy soil) for their suitability for vines cutting. seeds of three tomato genotypes were raised in hydroponics system containing dissolved cocopeat. at one month after planting, vines were cut from the plants into the three substrates in a completely randomized design with three replicates. data were collected on vine survival, days to new shoot formation, number of fruits per plant and the average fruit weight at harvest. data collected were analyzed using anova http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:fnemuh@delsu.edu.ng mailto:ogbolesamson@gmail.com mailto:akpejistephanie@gmail.com mailto:kemtoy2003@yahoo.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 11 and differences in the treatment means were separated using the least significant differences at 5 % level of significance. results obtained showed that the percentage vine survival across the substrates was insignificant with a success rate of up to 77 % in the loamy soil. however, new shoot formation was fastest in the cocopeat substrate (12.56±0.53), while san marzano had the heaviest fruit size (20.73±1.33). keywords: vine cutting, cocopeat, vine survival, tomato, acclimatization. jel classification codes: q16 introduction background information tomato (solanum lycopersicum l.) is an important vegetable that has gained much recognition because of its economic (nasir et al., 2015) and nutritive properties in terms of protein, carbohydrate, vitamins etc (vinha et al., 2014). however, the downside of this worldwide recognition is reflected in the high cost of tomato seeds which is usual means of its cultivation, as many farmers are interested in the production, which has placed more pressure in the demand for seeds for planting (heder et al., 2010). although, tomato plants are usually cultivated through the zygotic seeds, it can also be propagated through the vegetative parts (vine cutting technology) (ossai et al., 2020). in order to ease the pressure on the seed purchase, an alternative means of vegetative propagation needs to be considered. however, reports on the vine cutting technology system of propagating tomato are limited to the use of cocopeat substrate (suvo et al., 2016; ossai et al., 2020).. since nearness to raw material is an important factor to consider in choosing the substrate type to carryout vine cutting in an area, and owing to nigerians dependence on the importation of cocopeat, it is then necessary to evaluate other plant anchor media along with the topsoil which can easily be found for free to carryout tomato vine cutting, hence, the purpose of this experiment. materials and methods seeds of three genotypes of tomato (red cherry large, roma and san marzano) and hydroponic troughs were purchased from the soilless farmlab seed company, abeokuta. the seeds (four per trough) were raised in hydroponics troughs containing dissolved cocopeat substrates (8 litres per trough). at one month after planting, the tomato vines were cut and planted in three different substrates (loamy soil, cocopeat and water) arranged in a completely randomized design (crd) with four replicates. the vines were checked daily for the emergence of new shoots before being transferred to the hydroponics set up containing the cocopeat substrates also in a crd with three replicates. the transferred vines were watered every three days interval and fertigated weekly with 100 ml cured and dissolved poultry manure in water solution (1 g / l). data were taken on the percentage vine survival, days to the formation of new shoots, number of leaves at 3 and 5 weeks after vine transfer, days to 50 % flowering, number of fruits per plant and the average fruit weight per genotype. data collected were analyzed using anova (sas 9.0 version) and differences in the treatment means were separated using the least significant differences (lsd) at 5 % level of significance. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 12 results and discussion the results obtained from this study shows that there were no significant differences among the genotypes, substrates and the genotype by substrate interactions in terms of the vines survival (%) and the number of fruits obtained from the survived vines at harvest. however, the substrates was significant in the number of days taken by the vines to form new shoots and the average fruit weight respectively, while the genotypes was significant in the number of days to new shoot formation and 50 % flowering respectively (table 1). table 1. effect of genotypes, substrates and their interactions on the survival, growth and yield of tomato plants propagated through vine cutting technology source of variation survival (%) dtnsf number of new shoots dt50%f nof afw(g) week 3 week5 genotypes 162.04ns 93.59** 0.78ns 0.11ns 36.70* 10.04ns 39.47ns substrates 162.04ns 12.70* 1.44* 2.11ns 16.93ns 4.15ns 178.92** genotype*substrates 92.59ns 10.37* 1.39* 3.89* 12.81ns 5.15ns 230.20** dtnsf: days to new shoot formation, dt50%f: days to 50 percent flowering, nof: number of fruits and afw: average fruit weight it took the roma tomato a period of 10.33±0.53 days to produce new shoot. this was significantly lower than the 14.56±0.53 and 16.67±0.53 days taken by red cherry large and san marzano genotypes respectively. however, the roma tomato took significantly longer number of days (37.00±0.73) to reach 50 % flowering than both san marzano (34.11±0.73) and red cherry large (33.11±0.73) which were significantly same. then, the average fruit weight of san marzano (20.73±1.33) was not statistically different from the roma plant (19.73±1.33) but was significantly higher than the red cherry large (16.71±1.33) (table 2). table 2. survival, agronomic and yield performance of three genotypes of tomato plants propagated through vine cutting technology genotypes survival (%) dtnsf number of new shoots dt50%f nof afw (g) week 3 week5 roma 77.78a 10.33c 3.22a 6.11a 37.00a 6.22a 19.73ab sm 75.00a 16.67a 2.67a 6.00a 34.11b 7.33a 20.73a rcl 69.44a 14.56b 2.78a 5.89a 33.11b 8.33a 16.71b lsd(0.05) 19.65 1.57 0.6 0.93 2.17 2.39 3.95 se 6.61 0.53 0.2 0.31 0.73 0.8 1.33 lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error, dtnsf: days to new shoot formation, dt50%f: days to 50 percent flowering, nof: number of fruits and afw: average fruit weight, sm: san marzano, rcl: red cherry large the cocopeat substrate took an average of 12.56±0.53 number of days to form new shoots, which was not significantly different from the use of water (14.11±0.53), but was significantly lower than the 14.89±0.53 days taken to form new shoot in the loamy soil. however, the average number of days taken by the vines rose using the water substrate https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 13 (33.22±0.73) to reach 50 % flowering was significantly lower than the 35.89±0.73 taken by the vines raised in the cocopeat substrate. also, the average fruit weight of the tomato plants raised through vine cutting in the loamy soil (24.13±1.33) was significantly higher than the ones raised in water (17.28±1.33) and cocopeat (15.77±1.33) substrates respectively (table 3). table 3. effect of substrate types on the survival, growth and yield of tomato plants propagated through the vine cutting technology substrates survival (%) dtnsf number of new shoots dt50%f nof afw (g) week 3 week5 loamy soil 77.78a 14.89a 2.44b 5.44a 35.11ab 7.89a 24.13a cocopeat 75.00a 12.56b 3.22a 6.22a 35.89a 7.44a 15.77b water 69.44a 14.11ab 3.00ab 6.33a 33.22b 6.56a 17.28b lsd(0.05) 19.65 1.57 0.6 0.93 2.17 2.39 3.95 se 6.61 0.53 0.2 0.31 0.73 0.8 1.33 lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error, dtnsf: days to new shoot formation, dt50%f: days to 50 percent flowering, nof: number of fruits and afw: average fruit weight though not significant, the percentage survival of the cut vines was highest in the loamy soil and was above 75 % as obtained in cocopeat substrate which was imported into the country as its not produced locally. the cocopeat substrate has been reported as a good source of nursing cut tomato vines (ossai et al., 2020). however, considering the economic implication of using the cocopeat substrate, the use of locally available substrate like the loamy soil and water which are gift of nature is important, although, water alone gave less than 70 % survival. like the survival rate, the number of leaves produced by the vines after being transferred to the cocopeat substrate 5 weeks after cutting was also not significant, but the vines raised in water substrate had the highest number of vines. although the vines did not complete their life cycle in the water system, the high biomass produced is in line with the work of khan et al., (2011). a loose substrate is very important in vine rooting and the subsequent adaptation in an environment and peats has been the standard substrates used for nurseries (pascual et al., 2018). this supports the findings of this study, where the cocopeat substrate developed new shoots within the shortest day interval to the use of loamy soil. however, the days taken was similar to the vines in water. the production of new shoot is an indication that the vines has fully developed functional rooting system, and the lose nature of cocopeat allows the quick root development comparable to the loamy soil. however, despite the early formation of shoots from the vines raised in cocopeat substrate, it was the ones raised in loamy soil that developed flower earliest, had the highest number of fruits and the fruits were also heavier. this could be a result of additional organic matters present in the loamy soil which complemented the poultry manure used in fertigating the plants. hence, more essential nutrients could be made available to the plants which enhance the physiological development of the plants in the hydroponics system. different hydroponics systems has been effectively used in the cultivation of tomato (ednut et al., 2011), hence the reason behind the adaptive nature of the tomato genotypes evaluated in this study. the survival rate of the three different genotypes was also high and insignificant, however, the roma tomato adapted faster to the environment as it developed new shoots at a quicker rate than the rest genotypes, but the early shoot formation was not reflective in the days https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 14 it took the genotype to produce flower. a similar report on improved agronomic parameters of roma tomato has also been reported by suvo et al. (2016). however, the average fruit weight of the san marzano genotype was the heaviest among the genotypes. the above differences in the survival, agronomic and yield parameters of the three genotypes are a reflection of the inherent genetic differences among them. conclusion and recommendations reports on tomato vine cutting in nigeria have been limited to the use of cocopeat substrate. however, the cost of purchasing the substrate is high as the substrate is sourced outside the country. the findings of this study have shown that the use of topsoil which can be easily sourced in the country can give as much success as the cocopeat substrate in the vine cuttings of tomato in nigeria, and thus recommended as a suitable substrate for tomato vine cutting. references endut, a., jusoh, a., ali, n., & wan nik, w. b. (2011). nutrient removal from aquaculture wastewater by vegetable production in aquaponics recirculation system. desalination water treat, 32, 422–430. heder, b., paulo, c. c., josé, a. t. d., josé, f. t. d., & edvaldo, f. d. (2010). tomato seedling production by cuttings rooted in different substrates. idesia, 28(1), 9-15. khan, m., jan, m., farhatullah, d., khan, d. n., arif, m., perveen, s., khan, s., abbas, a. & jan, a. (2011). the effect of using waste water for tomato. pakistan journal of botany, 43, 1033-1044. nasir, m. u., hussain, s., & jabba, s. (2015). tomato processing, lycopene and health benefits: a review. science letters, 3(1), 1-5. ossai, c. o., ogbole, s., balogun, m. o., akpeji, s. c., olorode, e. m., & taiwo, j. o. (2020). tomato production through vine cutting technology in hydroponics system. journal of environmental and agricultural studies, 1(2), 1-5. pascual, j., ceglie, f., tuzel, y., koller, m., koren, a., hitchings, r., & tittarelli, f. (2018). organic substrate for transplant production in organic nurseries. a review. agronomy for sustainable development. 38. 10.1007/s13593-018-0508-4 suvo, t. p., biswas, h., jewel, m. h.,islam, m. s., & khan, m. s. i. (2016). impact of substrates on soilless tomato cultivation. int. j.agric. res. innov. and tech, 6(2), 82-86. vinha, a. f., barreira, s. v. p., costa, a. s. g., alves, r. c., & oliveira, m. b. p. p. (2014). organic versus conventional tomatoes: influence on physicochemical parameters, bioactive compounds and sensorial attributes. food and chemical toxicology, 67,139– 144. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 16 hydroponics system as an alternative to soil farming of watermelon in nigeria ossai, c. o. (corresponding author) research supervisor yiifswa project, international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org ojobor, s. a. senior lecturer department of agronomy, delta state university, abraka, delta state, nigeria e-mail: smartojobor@gmail.com akpeji, s. c. graduate student microbiology department, university of ibadan, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: akpejistephanie@gmail.com oroghe, o. e. graduate student crop protection and environmental biology department, university of ibadan, nigeria e-mail: elohooroghe@gmail.com ogbole, s. graduate student biochemistry department, federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, nigeria e-mail: ogbolesamson@gmail.com received: july 15, 2021 accepted: august 29, 2021 online published: september 08, 2021 doi: 10.46545/aijas.v5i1.200 url: https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v5i1.200 abstract watermelon is an important vegetable consumed worldwide. it is mostly grown in a sandy loam soil with a ph value ranging from 6.5 to 7.5. however, due to the constraints in land accessibility coupled to the farmers-herders clashes for limited land resources in nigeria, it is important to shift the focus from land extensification to intensification farming. this study therefore compares the potential of hydroponics system of cultivating watermelon relative to conventional soil farming system. three varieties of water melon (diamond black, crimson sweet and travelers watermelon varieties) were planted in 2 substrate conditions (soil and cocopeat) 4 kg each. it was a 3x2 factorial experiment arranged in a completely randomized http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 17 design with 3 replicates. data were collected on the agronomic and yield parameters, and analysed using anova, and means were separated using lsd at 5% level of significance. results obtained showed varied agronomic performances among the genotypes, while the crimson sweet watermelon produced significantly heavier fruit size (5.38±0.34) compared to the rest genotype. however, the highest number of fruits (2.33±0.22) was obtained in the soil, but the substrate type was insignificant in the average fruit weight. hence, the hydroponics system is recommended as a complementary alternative to soil farming. keywords: watermelon, cocopeat, soil, substrates; agronomic performance, yield performance. jel classification codes: q11. introduction fruits like watermelon is a good source of natural essential elements which are consumed by man to nourish the body and act as a preventive mechanism against several diseases by building the immune system (reetu & maharishi, 2017). most bye-products of these fruits are also used in the pharmaceutical companies for the production of supplements (naz et al., 2013). however, not only are these fruits useful in drug production, but they can be consumed fresh by humans, thereby making these essential elements also available to humans. the pressure on watermelon supply calls for an increased production to meet the consumer needs, and this makes it important to consider a good edaphic and climatic conditions to boost its productivity. watermelon is reportedly grown in a sandy loam soil with a ph value ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 (kumar et al., 2013). however, due to the constraints in land accessibility coupled to the farmers-herders clashes for limited land resources, it is important to shift the focus from extensification (cultivating large expanse of land) to intensification (the use of small land area with more inputs) to boost watermelon production (peter, 2018). however, for the sustainability of the production in a vertical farming system (soilless farming), it is important to exploit different varieties of watermelon in order to establish their stability for production in nigeria greenhouses by comparing their productivity with the soil system. thus the purpose of setting up this study. materials and methods three varieties of watermelon (diamond black, crimson sweet and travelers watermelon varieties) were sourced from the soilless farmlab, abeokuta, nigeria. the seeds were sown directly into a 4 kg trough (one part containing buffered and dissolved cocopeat and the second part contained loamy soil) (4 seeds per trough). 250 g of poultry manure were applied to the 4kg trough and kept in a screen house were there were been watered thrice a week till harvest and were twined with thread and stick to avoid intertwining. the experiment was a 2 (substrates) by 3 (varieties) factorial arranged in a completely randomized design with three replicates. the agronomic data were taken on the plants include the plant height, number leaves and leave area, days to 50% flowering, days to fruiting, number of fruits produced and the fruit weight were also taken. data collected were analysed using anova (sas 9.0 version) and differences in the treatment means were separated using least significant differences (lsd) at 5% level of significance. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 18 results results obtained showed that at 2 weeks after planting (2wap), the plant height and number of leaves produced by the genotypes were insignificant. however, the leaf area of the bd genotype (10.33±0.57) was significantly higher than the cs (5.50±0.26) and tso (5.45±0.26) genotypes (table 1). at 4 wap, the number of leaves produced by cs (8.00±0.36) was significantly higher than the rest genotypes, whereas the leaf area of the bd genotype (14.15±0.62) was significantly higher than the rest genotypes, while the substrate type was insignificant in the growth parameters estimated (table 2). table 1. agronomic performances of three varieties of watermelon grown in soil and soilless system genotypes ph2 nol2 la2 ph4 nol4 la4 diamond black 15.08a 4.25a 10.33a 17.08a 6.63b 14.15a crimson sweet 15.01a 4.25a 5.50b 17.13a 8.00a 9.69b travelers watermelon 12.43b 4.75a 5.45b 17.69a 7.00ab 9.88b lsd(0.05) 1.01 0.76 1.69 2.5 1.06 1.83 se 0.34 0.26 0.57 0.84 0.36 0.62 means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: least significant difference, se: standard error, ph: plant height, nol: number of leaves, la: leaf area. table 2. effect of substrate types (soil and cocopeat) on the agronomic performances of watermelon substrates ph2 nol2 la2 ph4 nol4 la4 cocopeat 14.43a 4.42a 6.66a 17.03a 7.50a 10.55a soil 13.91a 4.42a 7.53a 17.56a 6.92a 11.93a lsd(0.05) 0.82 0.62 1.38 2.04 0.86 1.5 se 0.28 0.21 0.46 0.69 0.29 0.5 genotypes x substrates interaction 0.18ns 1.50ns 4.31ns 12.04ns 3.79* 18.17ns means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: least significant difference, se: standard error, ph: plant height, nol: number of leaves, la: leaf area. however, the number of days taken by the tso genotype (42.25±0.62) was significantly higher than the bd (39.63±0.62) and cs (38.38±0.62) which took the shortest number of days to reach 50% flowering. also the tso genotype took an average of 62.63±0.69 days to produce fruits, which was significantly lower than the 59.50±0.69 days taken by the cs genotype which produced significantly heavier fruits (5.38±0.34) than the rest genotypes (table 3). however, the number of days taken by the genotypes to produce fruits in the cocopeat substrate (61.92±0.57) https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 19 was significantly higher than the 59.58±0.69 days spent to produce fruits in the soil, and the number of fruits produced by the genotypes in the soil system (2.33±0.22) was significantly higher than the ones produced in the cocopeat substrate (1.50±0.22) (table 4). table 3. average yield performances of three varieties of watermelon genotypes dt50%f dtfruiting nof fw(kg) black diamond watermelon 39.63b 60.13b 1.88a 3.50b crimson sweet watermelon 38.38b 59.50b 1.75a 5.38a traveler watermelon 42.25a 62.63a 2.13a 3.38b lsd(0.05) 1.83 2.06 0.8 1.02 se 0.62 0.69 0.27 0.34 means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: least significant difference, se: standard error, dt50%f: days to 50% flowering, dtfruiting: days to fruiting, nof: number of fruits and fw: fruit weight. table 4. effect of substrate types (soil and cocopeat) on the yield performances of watermelon substrates dt50%f dtfruiting nof fw(kg) cocopeat 40.08a 61.92a 1.50b 4.17a soil 40.08a 59.58b 2.33a 4.00a lsd(0.05) 1.49 1.69 0.66 0.83 se 0.5 0.57 0.22 0.28 genotypesxsubstrates interaction 11.38* 8.29ns 0.29ns 0.29ns means with the same letter down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: least significant difference, se: standard error, dt50%f: days to 50% flowering, dtfruiting: days to fruiting, nof: number of fruits and fw: fruit weight. discussion ufoegbune et al. (2014) had earlier reported differences in watermelon varietal response to different climatic conditions as obtained in this study where the bd genotype showed superior agronomic performance to both cs and tso genotypes. although the bd genotype had a better agronomic performance compared to other genotype, it was the cs genotype that produced heavier fruits. this could be that the larger leaf area in the cs genotype provided it a larger photosynthetic surface, thus more photosynthates formed in it were channeled to the fruits (richards, 2000). on the substrate type, the soil usage outperformed the cocopeat substrate in the number of fruit formed but the fruits in cocopeat substrates were heavier than the ones from soil, although not significant, the reason the differences in their weight was insignificant despite the https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 20 soil having higher number. the improved performance of the watermelon genotypes in soil could be a result of the inert organic manure or nutrients present in the soil before the application of external manure adediran and banjoko (2002). although this findings contradicts the position of law-ogbomo and ajayi (2009) who had a poor amaranthus performance in soil and recommended the use of organic manure to augment the soil, a position earlier held by egharevba and ogbe (2002). while it is intrinsic in the fertilization of cocopeat as it does not contain any inert nutrient. however, the hydroponics system had been reportedly used in the production of other vegetables (ossai et al., 2020) as it ensures all year round vegetable production (hoang, 2020). conclusion the findings of this study had shown that in domesticating exotic watermelon varieties, it is importance to consider the environmental stability of the variety, as though the db variety had better growth performance, it was the cs variety that produced bigger fruits which is the economic yield of the plant in nigeria. however, to ensure the all year round performance of watermelon, the use of cocopeat substrate is important as the fruit weight obtained in it is same with the soil farming which contained additional inert nutrient to the ones used in fertigating the plants. thus the cs variety and cocopeat substrate is recommended for vertical farming in nigeria, while further research can be done on the mixture of cocopeat and soil in watermelon farming to reduce the cost of purchasing the substrate. references adediran, j. a., & banjoko, v. a. (2003). comparative effectiveness of some compost formulation for maize in nigeria. nigerian journal of soil science, 13, 42-48. egharevba, r. k. a., & ogbe, f. m. (2002). the effects of different levels of organic and mineral fertilizers on the yield performance of two amaranthus (a. cruentus) cultivars. the plant scientists, 3, 62-72. hoang, m. (2020). effects of growing substrates and seed density on yield and quality of radish (raphanus sativus) microgreens. research on crops, 21, 579-586. kumar, r., dia, m., & wehner, t. c. (2013). implications of mating behavior in watermelon breeding. hort sci, 48(8), 960-964. law-ogbomo, k., & ajayi, s. (2009). growth and yield performance of amaranthus cruentus influenced by planting density and poultry manure application. notulae botanicae horti agrobotanici cluj-napoca, 37(2), 195-199. naz, a., butt, m. s., pasha, i., & nawaz, h. (2013). antioxidant indices of watermelon juice and lycopene extract. pakistan journal of nutrition, 12(3), 255-260. ossai, c. o., ogbole, s., balogun, m. o., & akpeji, s. c. (2020). production of radish (raphanus sativus l.) in nigeria using the hydroponics system. journal of environmental and agricultural studies, 1(2), 6-9. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 21 peter, o. j. (2018). herdsmen/farmers conflict and its effects on socio-economic development in nigeria. journal of peace, security and development, 4(1), 143-158. reetu, d., & tomar, m. (2018). watermelon: a valuable horticultural crop with nutritional benefits. pp5. richards, r. (2000). selectable traits to increase crop photosynthesis and yield of grain crops. journal of experimental botany, 51, 447-458. ufoegbune, g. c., fadipe, o. a., bello, n. j., eruola, a. o., makinde, a. a., & amori, a. a. (2014). growth and development of watermelon in response to seasonal variation of rainfall. adrri journal (multidisciplinary), 10(10). copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 52 food habit and dietary intake of garment workers in semi-urban area of bangladesh afroza chowdhury scientific officer agricultural economics division bangladesh rice research institute (brri), gazipur, bangladesh. e-mail: afroza_muna@yahoo.com abstract the study was conducted to assess the food habit and dietary pattern of garment workers who work at semi-urban area of dhaka and gazipur. under the specific objectives the study tried to reveal the family background of garment workers, reasons of migration and involving in garment factory, monthly budgetary allocation for food, access to commodity market, rice consumption pattern, average food intake and changes in overall livelihood pattern. the result showed that,12 percent of the respondent was the only earning member of the family. average family size of the respondents was 7 whereas number of dependent family member on his/her income was 3(on an average). most of the respondent garment workers belong to farming community (78%). the majority (58 percent) of them were migrated for extreme poverty or insolvency. the finding ensured that cereals, notably rice, constitute the most important item of food consumed by the garment workers. rice essentially dominated average daily food intake per person at 443 grams making up 52.37% of total food consumption. among the respondent’s 36 percent took rice thrice a day and rice were also being consumed as snacks in different forms as well. varietal preference of rice was found dependent on respondent’s budget constraints and per unit retail price. keywords: average daily food intake, budget for food, food habit, rice consumption. 1. introduction although the economy of bangladesh is largely dependent on agriculture, the ready–made garments (rmg) sector has emerged as the biggest earner of foreign currency. the sector has experienced an exponential growth and contributes significantly; about 15 percent; to the gdp. it also provides employment to around 4.2 million bangladeshis and uplifted the neglected section of the population; especially women; through empowerment and transforming their socio-economic condition (ali r.n.et al, 2008).with a dream of living better life millions of workers from villages gather in workers barrack in cities surrounding the garment industries. the daily diet consumed by the factory workers in bangladesh is simple; rice is dominant and most probably lacks important nutrients. hence, consumption of such diet presents a risk of developing nutrient deficiency disorders (dipti s.s. et al, 2008). being the most dominant food in bangladeshi diet, rice is the primary source of energy and several nutrients such as carbohydrate, protein and iron whereas it contributes relatively little of the vitamin a, calcium and no vitamin c (hassan and ahmad, 1990). in bangladesh, food habit and cooking process of rice and vegetables generally leads to significant loss of nutrients as a result of lacking in nutritional knowledge and awareness among the mass people. food and nutritional security are a focal point of deriving the livelihood. thus, it is important to investigate the food habit and determine the amount of the different nutrients that an individual garment worker can derive from average daily per capita food intake. 2. research objectives the specific objectives of the study were ▪ to assess the socio-economic status and budget for food of garment workers in bangladesh; and, ▪ to investigate the food habit and dietary intake of garment workers. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:afroza_muna@yahoo.com https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/economy_of_bangladesh https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/agriculture https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/gdp www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 53 3. research methodology the study was conducted in purposively selected semi-urban areas of savar upazila of dhaka and sadar upazila of gazipur district. in total, 165 respondents were selected by random sampling. food consumption and socioeconomic data of garment workers were collected using pre-tested structured questionnaire. in this study, quantitative method was chosen in order to get a reasonably true picture of the entire population. the data were collected during the period from july to september, 2019. simple statistical techniques such as percentage and arithmetic mean were taken into account to analyze a substantial part of the data and to describe socioeconomic characteristics, food habit and dietary intake of the respondents. 4. result and discussion 4.1 socio-economic characteristics and background of garment workers two types of households were found in the study areas. some of the garment workers live in workers barrack migrating alone; whereas others live with their family members. among the respondent’s majority (64%) was female and their age ranged from 16 to 35 years. average age of schooling and years of employment in rmg sector was 6 and 3, respectively. about 12 percent of the respondents reported that he/she is the only earning member of the family. average family size of the respondents was 7 whereas number of dependent family member on his/her income was 3(on an average). most of the respondents belong to farming community (78%) either landless tenant or marginal farming family (table 1). the third and fourth community belongings identified were non-agricultural laborer and non-migrated local poor, respectively. table1: family background of the garment workers community number of respondents percentages landless tenantfarming family 83 50 marginal farming family 46 28 non-agricultural laborer 23 14 non-migrated local poor 13 8 total 165 100 source: field survey (2019) 4.2 causes of migration several factors seemed to be responsible for the migration of rural population for employment in urban garments. the majority (58 percent) of them were migrated for extreme poverty or insolvency. the second important factor was search of job or unemployment. about 18 percent of the respondents were migrated for this reason. the third and fourth important causes identified by the migrants were to accompany husbands at workplace and personal problems, respectively (table 2). table2: causes of migration to garments causes of migration no. of respondents percentages extreme poverty or insolvency 96 58 unemployment 30 18 marriage/ spouse’s workplace 23 14 personal problems or conflict 16 10 source: field survey (2019) note: percentage may not sum to 100 percent because of multiple responses 4.3 budget for food and access to commodity market 4.3.1 budget for food for the people of low-income group, food consumption and dietary intake is closely related to budgetary allocation and purchasing power. the respondents expressed their helplessness in facing the biggest challenge of balancing between financial ability and basic needs. the situation becomes miserable for single earners, unskilled and preliminary garment workers in the 1st week of every month, because of delay in getting salary. sending money to www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 54 village, house rent, educational fees etc. were the major priorities in budget allocation. whatever remains after meeting all other necessities was spent on food. the result revealed that, 44 percent of the respondent allocated tk. 51-60 for daily meals per person (table 3). table 3: garment workers’ daily budget for food daily budget per person no. of respondents percentages less than tk. 50 30 18 tk. 51-60 73 44 tk. 61-70 49 30 above tk. 60 13 8 source: field survey (2019) 4.3.2 access to commodity market at semi-urban and urban garment areas, vendors sell lower quality semi-rotten commodities and unappealing fruits at cheaper rate at evening markets. in the study areas, cent percent respondent reported that they prefer to buy dayto-day commodities from the evening markets while coming back home. of the total garment workers, 96 percent choose the evening market as it provided commodities in cheap and affordable price. a proportion of 92 percent and 84 percent preferred it for no additional transport cost and scope of bargaining, respectively. the respondents also liked evening markets for other reasons such as availability of preferred commodities, freshness etc. (table 4). table 4: reason for choosing evening markets reasons no. of respondents percentages cheap price and affordable 159 96 free of transport and carrying cost 151 92 scope of bargaining 139 84 fresh vegetables and seasonal fruits 56 34 availability of small fishes in bhaga 86 52 availability of dry fish 53 32 availability of chicken byproducts (liver, throat, skin, kidney etc.) in kg. 23 14 formalin/ preservative-free 36 22 source: field survey (2019) note: percentage may not sum to 100 percent because of multiple responses 4.4 food habit and dietary intake 4.4.1 rice consumption behavior looking into the dietary practices of the garment workers, results revealed that cereals, notably rice, constitute the most important item of food consumed in the study areas. parboiled rice was served as major staple to 96 percent of the respondent while a small percentage was served wheat flour and un-parboiled rice. among the respondent’s 36 percent took rice thrice a day. boiling rice in excess water and discarding the gruel was found common practices and reported by 72 percent respondents. varietal preference of rice was found dependent on respondent’s budget constraints and per unit retail price. cooking quality and taste of rice was preferred than grain shape and appearance. the study results hardly found dis-similarities among the interviewees regarding rice consumption behavior. rice is also being consumed as snacks in different forms like moori (puffed rice), chira (flattened rice), khoi, chal-vaja, khud (broken rice) and pitha (cakes made of rice flour). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 55 table 4: consumption pattern of different rice items rice items percentage of respondent regular consumption occasional consumption parboiled rice 96 un-parboiled rice 4 64 moori/ puffed rice 100 chira/ flattened rice 40 60 khoi 76 rooti (bread of rice flour) 14 100 chal-vaja and khud (broken rice) 10 90 gruel 10 panta /left-over rice 30 pitha (cakes made of rice flour). 100 source: field survey (2019) 4.4.2 food consumption pattern average per capita food consumption pattern of garment workers was highest for cereals and cereal products followed by vegetables and tubers. rice essentially dominated daily food intake at 443 grams making up 52.37% of it. milk and milk products, egg and meat were consumed only occasionally in a small amount. fruit intake was mainly seasonal and includes banana, mango, jackfruit, guava, black berry and other locally produced lessexpensive ones. the least consumed food groups were vegetables, fish, pulse, sugar, edible oil etc. table 5: average per capita per day food intake of garment workers items average per capita per day food intake (grams) percentages of total consumption rice and rice products 443.6 52.37 wheat and other cereals 27.1 3.20 potato, starchy root and tubers 55.2 6.52 pulse 24.9 2.94 sugar/ gur 7.5 0.89 edible oil 17.2 2.03 vegetables 162.1 19.14 fruits 13.5 1.59 fish, dried fish and meat 40.05 4.73 eggs 6.04 0.71 milk and milk products 23 2.72 spices and condiments 10.9 1.29 miscellaneous (tea, soft drinks, snacks, betel leaf etc.) 15.9 1.88 total food consumed 847 100 source: field survey (2019) comparing the average per capita per day food intake of garment workers with the daily requirement (as per ban-hdrb 2007) it is clear that they are consuming food items; except rice; in a lesser amount than required (fig. 1). rice is being consumed in a higher rate (26.74 percent) than the daily requirement of 350 grams. this pattern of imbalanced consumption may lead to serious malnutrition and health hazards. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 56 figure 1: comparison of daily food intake with the requirement 4.4.3 changes in overall livelihood pattern in order to identify the overall socioeconomic improvement in the livelihood of household, the respondents were asked about their opinion for their overall socioeconomic change that might have taken place due to involving in garment factory. table 6 reveals that 64 percent of the respondents reported that their socio-economic conditions had improved due to involving in garment factory, while 36 percent responded no change in their overall socioeconomic condition has taken place. rising inflation, replaying loan and increasing family expectation were the main reasons reported by the respondents who had the negative responses. table 6: changes in overall livelihood pattern types of changes no. of respondents percentages improved 105 64 not improved 60 36 total 165 100 source: field survey (2019) 5. conclusion the study was conducted to assess the food habit and dietary pattern of garment workers who work at dhaka and gazipur. under the specific objectives the study tried to reveal the family background of garment workers, reasons of migration and involving in garment factory, monthly budgetary allocation for food, access to commodity market, rice consumption pattern, average food intake and changes in overall livelihood pattern. the result showed that,12 percent of the respondent was the only earning member of the family. average family size of the respondents was 7 whereas number of dependent family member on his/her income was 3(on an average). most of the respondent garment workers belong to farming community (78%). the majority (58 percent) of them were migrated for extreme poverty or insolvency. the finding ensured that cereals, notably rice, constitute the most important item of food consumed by the garment workers. rice essentially dominated average daily food intake per person at 443 grams making up 52.37% of total food consumption. among the respondent’s 36 percent took rice thrice a day and rice www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 57 were also being consumed as snacks in different forms as well. varietal preference of rice was found dependent on respondent’s budget constraints and per unit retail price. 6. recommendation current condition of the garment workers would not improve if their earning couldn’t be balanced with the living cost. price of daily necessities need to be controlled. government should supply subsidized daily needs at the industrial areas of bangladesh. enriching rice varieties with micro nutrients like vitamins, minerals would be a potential solution to ensuring food as well as nutritional security of the garment workers. references ali, r. n., begum, m. m., salehim, k. s., & farid, k. s. (2008). livelihood pattern of rural women garment workers at dhaka city. journal of the bangladesh agricultural university, 6(452-2016-35506). dipti, s. s., tuazon, m. a. g., & kabir, k. a. (2008). nutritional status of the members of the factory workerheaded households of four villages of gazipur district. journal of agriculture & rural development, 6(1), 119-124. hassan, n., & ahmad, k. (1984). studies on food and nutrient intake by rural population of bangladesh: comparison between intakes of 1962–64, 1975–76 and 1981–82. ecology of food and nutrition, 15(2), 143-158. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 problems and holistic solutions for agricultural businesses in chiang mai pakorn udomthanasarnsakul lecturer, faculty of business administration maejo university, chiang mai, thailand e-mail: pakorn35@hotmail.com tidarat cholprasertsuk phd,faculty of business administration maejo university, chiang mai, thailand e-mail: tc_ple@hotmail.com panomporn chalermwan phd,faculty of business administration maejo university, chiang mai, thailand e-mail: panomporn1219@hotmail.com abstract this research aims to study the problems and find solutions of major agro-industries in chiang mai, thailand. the sample was divided into two parts: the supply side was the government agency, educational institutions and civil society. demand side was agro-industry entrepreneurs. the methodology was focus on meeting the stakeholder debate, and group workshop, the first step of the research was selected the potential agro-industry group to study then in the operating phase, the survey was conducted to analyze and synthesize the problems of agro-industry and find solutions by group meetings in order to present a holistic problem-solving model. this process will provide opportunity for stakeholders and related agencies to collaborate and propose appropriate guidelines for action. the results show that, within demand side, the three most important issues are labor issues, marketing and production problems respectively. while the supply side, the top three issues are the integration problems, lacking of language skills / expertise, and lacking of database. based on the analysis of both demand and supply side, there is a lack of concrete cooperation from relevant agencies, especially in policy cooperation. therefore, a policy that responds to the problems of agro-industry is essential for all agencies to focus on and implement concrete measures to address sustainable issues. keywords: agricultural industry, agricultural business, holistic solutions. 1. introduction agricultural industry is one the essential industry to enhance thai economy by creating values to agricultural products. the industry has created jobs for the workforce and in return, those workforces can make a living by working in the industry. this is considered to be the source of income for farmer family and community in the remote area. the agricultural industry has the potential in exporting products and has brought income to thailand approximately 1.4 trillion baht (20.5% of the total export in 2016). among this amount, 12.9% is from primary agricultural product and 7.6% is secondary/ food-processed products). based on evaluating the industry problem, it is found that agricultural-product exporting structure has not been changed from the past. however, the production is facing with some difficulties, that is, lack of raw material both in terms of quantity and quality, the readiness of smes’, lack of labors and managerial and supporting problems accompanied with global warming issues. on the demand side, consumers’ behavior has been changed which has affected raw material production and production structure of the industry. in the future, trend in trading near the boarders and the increasing investment will affect to industry directly especially to those near the border of thailand. there will be the expansion of agricultural industry-which would be the results of direct investment. as per to limitation of farming area in thailand, the http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:pakorn35@hotmail.com mailto:tc_ple@hotmail.com mailto:panomporn1219@hotmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 2 production of certain agri-product such as rice, rubber, sugar cane, potato and livestock including the production of papers may be relocated to neighbor countries. this is caused by the competitive advantage in terms of resources and farming land. such changes will led to the change in supporting industry and continuing industry. thailand must be changed itself from ‘low-cost production’ to ‘technology transfer’ to neighbor countries (integrated industrial development plan based on fiscal year of 2017, the office of industrial economy). the study of problems and entrepreneurs’ requirement from agricultural industry has become necessary in order to facilitate both private and public make efficient production planning or setting policy including setting roles for themselves in supporting and developing the industry to the same direction. apart from this increasing investment to boost the potential of agricultural business exporter as the goal of sustainable development of thailand hoping that it would be suitable to changing environment, beneficial as the new form of cooperation. 2. literature review taemlertboonchai (2016) has studied trend in the development of thailand industry, changes affecting industry in the world economy, favorable characteristics of industry in the future and efficient policy in making tranformation to creative and knowledgable industry. the importance of agricultural industry, supporting smes, the reduction of logistic cost, power management and efficient environment management are unavoidable. those requires the development of technology and man power as the drivers to the goals.however, such goals will be achieved unless strategy and related policy are not clearly set up. policy setting and strategic practices are required in the past few years; namely, determining plans, project and result of research study on industry development. this is the high time to realize the importance of 114 industrial policies and put it to use immediately. maikansarn and munkhum (2011) studies the adaptation of agricultural industry to the new world context. the changes has happended so fast resulting in the adaptation of agricultural sector. many developing countries has studies and expected the trend so that they can better adjust to the new world environment. apart from that, they aim to grow sustainable and increase their competitive advantage in the world market. 3. purpose of the research  to search for vital information for analyzing purpose to solve the right problems for agricultural industry.  to let stakeholders taking part in developmental plan policy.  to utilize result of the study to analyze and find solutions for agricultural industry. 4. expected results  to understand agricultural entrepreneurs‘problems in chiang mai  to understand methods in solving such problems from organizations involed in agricultural industry  to utilize the results of the study and solve the related problems 5. research methodology 5.1 scope of the study this study contains the scope in two perspectives which are 5.1.1 demand perspective would concentrate on agricultural industry problems in chiang mai 5.1.2 supply perspective would concentrate on solving process and integrating process from other governmental departmentsrelating to develop and supporting, academic institutions, community in chiang mai 5.2 population 5.2.1 on demand side, population are agricultural entrepreneurs in chiang mai and civil society which are chiang mai chamber of commerce and federation of industry 5.2.2 on supply side, government organizations set up at the goal of developing and supporting agri industry such as labor office, industry office, commercial office etc and academic institutions both private and public. primary data this data was acquired from workshop by inviting all parties from demand and supply mentioned to reflex real problems, needs including ways in working together, by brainstorming utilizing zopp card and by summarizing through focus group. 5.3 data collection data collection was done by workshop conference with meta approach, plenary and group discussion, unconstructed interview on opinions regarding overall problems, internal organization problem and ways to solve such problems. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 3 5.4 data analysis supply analysis was conducted on analyzing what is going on in the present which hopefully would lead to the needs in the future and then the strategic plan and policy would be set up.  demand analysis was conducted on evaluating the future demand so that priorities should be properly set up for each party, including knowledge and skills required and technological requirements in the future.  gap analysis can be done by comparing supply and demand so that the shortage from both sides can be understood; namely, scarcity or the inability to supply what is demanded and 2.oversupply identification. this comprehension would reduce the gap between supply and demand side. 6. result of the study 6.1 demand (9 entrepreneurs) it is found that 6.1.1 problems of agricultural industry in chiang mai dimension problems production lack of operational workforce and knowledgeable workfoce -lack of machine and technology which lead to inefficient production -unconstant output as it is the nature of agricultural production -small output per rai (high cost of production) -lack of support in connecting between agricultural sectors and industry -decreasing food production which has led to lack of raw material in food processing industry -no development in production to add value -lack of expertise in adding value to the product -losing quality and quantity during the production process -natural disaster and plants and animal plaque workforce -lack of workforce in certain season such as reaping season or producing seasons -lack of skillful labor during high demand production -lack of basic labor (grade 9-12) -lack of semi-skillful and unskillful labor as they prefer to continue their education -no new workforce as the existing labor are elderly in the community -no labor who is proficient in english, computer skills -labor lacks of experience which is difficult to apply theory to the real world -labor lacks of communication skills -labor tends to follow instruction which cause the lack of creativity -labor with bachelor degree tends to ask for higher wage -increasing value in continuing labors’ education. marketing -on few markets for agricultural products -no clear price determination (no regulations in setting price) -little involvement of governmental organization -there is obstacles in entering international market as per to trade barriers trades has been conducted to middlemand -price fluctuation -there are many competitors both from domestic and international -there is no marketing strategy and strategic plan -there is no public relations on branding -farmers lacks of marketing knowledge -high cost of transportation -there is no concrete conglomerate which lead to lack of bargaining power www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 4 investing -lack of funds/ lack of liquidity -high cost of factors of production -instability of politics -objection of factory building -lack of governmental support -higher cost of transportation knowledge and technology -lack of knowledge and understanding in technology -production doesn’t utilize technology -farmers sticks to old producing method -lack of knowledge from research on technology, and machinery to apply to production in thailand context policy -farmers and entrepreneurs have been confused with inconsistent policy -government organization does not support constantly in the industry -the instability in politics has caused the insecurity of entrepreneurs which lead to decreasing investments -government policy is not in accordance with region requirement -delay in policy enactment. 6.1.2 prioritizing problems problems score the order labor 8 1 marketing 7 2 production 5 3 policy 3 4 knowledge and technology 1 5 6.1.3 causes and solution 1.labor cause solution 1. lack of labor/ inconsistent working setting labor market 2.unskillful labor/ no expertise setting training to increase knowledge and skill 3. high wage, unskillful labor government should take part in to solve the problem 2.marketing cause solution 1. few market supporting of agricultural product processing 2. few export value adding finding more connection arbor 3. production cause solution 1. high cost of raw material find the way to reduce cost 2. high cost gasoline supporting the use of bio-fertilizer finding renewable energy 3. high wage government should assist in wage and support new technology based on problems and weakness of agricultural industry, it has shown problems in production, labor, marketing, funding, knowledge and technology including policy setting. stakeholders has shown their opinion differently which can be concluded that the major problems are funding and technological knowledge with few perspective while problems on production and marketing seems to have several facets www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 5 6.2 supply 6.2.1 problems from the industry group, academic institution and civil society dimension problems 1.language and expertise 1. lack of communication skill 2. lack of certain skills such as production, marketing, innovating to add value for the product 3. lack of english language skill 4. lack of third language skill 2. policy 1. central policy is not serious in solving the labor, marketing problems 2. top-down command has led to real participation of community 3. community was misled 4. management lacks of pedagogical management 3.value 1. attitude, and collaborating with supporting organization 2. value of rotating jobs an don’t want to participate in the industry 3. students choose what is popularity not from what is worth for agricultural production 4. students lack of discipline 5. new graduate aims to high compensation but accumulating of experience 6. value of continuing their education 7. society value, social problems affecting quality of student and labor 8. attitude of the trainees in required curriculum 4.budget 1. lack of operational lab 2. lack of budget 3. lack of support in developing human resource 4. number of project cannot be fully supported 5. curriculum 1. curriculum has not aimed to build expertise in agricultural production 2. few text books 3. curriculum is not in accordance with strategic plan 6.entrepreneur 1. few job availabilities 2. few job availabilities after the training 3. few certified labors 4. lack of entrepreneur’s awareness to collaborate in developing labors’ skill 5. inconsistency between job and wage 6. job required experience worker 7. lack of developing workers’ plan 7.integrative collaboration 1. lack of competency base curriculum between entrepreneur and academic institution 2. lack of coordination between entrepreneurs and government organization 3. lack of coordination between academic institution and entrepreneur 4. students are unaware of economic status before entering to workplace 5. lack of coordination between stakeholders 6. lack of support from government 7. lack of coordination to improve labors’ skill 8. lack of coordination from other related organizations 9. lack of proper skills from relevant organizations 8. database 1. lack of database of developing labor to match with requirements from entrepreneurs 2. lack of database of requirement www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 6 3. lack of research based on agricultural industry-related problems 4. lack of information on labors 5. lack of information on developing business 6. lack of information on job position which led to unability to set up long-term plan 7. unstable of demand for labor proportion 6.2.2 prioritized problems problems score the order integrative collaboration 13 1 language and expertise 8 2 database 5 3 value 3 4 policy 1 5 entrepreneur 1 5 curriculum 1 5 budget 0 6 6.2.3 cause of problems and solution 1. integrative collaboration causes solution government 1. change of bureaucratized system has not been effective because of top-down policy, application of data, lack of evaluation and follow-up plan, executive’s vision 1.decision making should be changed from individual to committee of agricultural industry-related department 2.agri-cultural government department should utilize the same database which is updated and easy to apply 3.government should review and listen to comments from stakeholders seriously so that the recommendations can put to use efficiently private 1.lack of coordination among private, public and academic institutions 2.lack of research to support integrative collaboration 3.lack of information to assist in making decision 1.develop work pattern of agricultural industry by letting private sector be part in setting up policy so policy can be enacted 2.private sector should participate in budgeting of research project academic institution 1.academic service has not reflected real problems the industry 2.lack of coordination between academic private and public sector 3.key person cannot integrate knowledge and practices together 1. academic institutions should set up policy that involving agri-industry. academic can set up policy partly so policy can be put to use and match with industry problems 2.academic institution should be parted in project budgeting 3.academic institution should take part and support personnel who be knowledgeable in agricultural industry 2. language and expertise cause problem 1. lack of continuous improvement 1.create awareness of importance of required skills before entering to industry 2. lack of confidence in communication 2.set up curriculum to support giver and taker 3.lack of opportunity in working 3.set up contest activity such as innovation of agricultural product contest www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 7 4.lack of efficiency in real practice before students are graduated 4.adjust academic system in accordance with demand 3. database cause solution 1.lack of information exchange between organizations; entrepreneurs, academic institutions, labor, private and public institutions 1.all parties should have m.o.u. in exchanging and updating information 2.lack of major coordinating center and updated information 2.setting up the coordinating center by selecting delegating staff from all parties 3. lack of it personnel’s which lead to inability to search for agricultural industry demands 3. setting training course for entrepreneurs on it skills, such as searching based on the analysis of strength and weakness of agricultural industry, it is found that there are several facets of problems which are language skills and expertise, policy, value, budget, curriculum, entrepreneurs, integrative collaboration and database. stakeholders has confirmed the mentioned problems. major weakness are integrative collaborations, language and expertise, and lack of updated database. references agricultural business. (2018). sunrise-sunset industry, 2018. economic section based on each field. grassroots economy center. boon long, n. (1986). agro-industry principles. bangkok: kasetsart university. choonnapan, b. (1999). marketing of agricultural products. bangkok: ramkhumhaeng university. committee of human resource in prtroleum industry (newfoundland & labrador,canada). (2001). a study on “an analysis of gaps and issues related to labor supply and demand in offshore exploration and production in newfoundland”, canada: committee of human resource in prtroleum industry, newfoundland & labrador. department of industrial promotion. (2006). holistic concept. economic news. 13rd friday of october 2006. goss, j., and burch, d. (2001). from agricultural modernisation to agri-food globalisation: the waning of national development in thailand. third world quarterly. 22(6): 969-986. king, r. p., boehlje, m., cook, m. l., and sonka, s. t. (2010). agribusiness economics and management. american journal of agricultural economics.92(2): 554-570. kotamraju, pradeep. (2007). how can you tell if a career and technical education program of study is marketable: case study. minnesota: minnesota state colleges &university. maikaensan, w. and moonkham, m. (2014). changes in agribusiness in the context of future world. panyapiwat journal. 5th year, may issue. office of the nationnal economic and social development board. (2016). the stretegy on human resource development for increasing potential in main industry development. bangkok. office of the nationnal economic and social development board. (2016). thai economic condition in the first quarter and tendency in 2017. bangkok: office of the nationnal economic and social development board. peter hazell and stanley wood. (2007). drivers of change in global agriculture, copyright© 2007 the royal society. retrieved october 15, 2013, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2610166/. savory, allan and jody, butterfield. (1998). holistic management: a new framework for decision making. (2nd ed.). washington d.c.: island press. terry w. griffin, j. lowen berg-de boer, d.m. lambert, j. peone, t. payne, and s.g. daberkow. (2004). adoption, profitability, and making better use of precision faring data, staff paper #04-06june 2004, dept. of agricultural economics, purdue university. retrieved october 18, 2013, from http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/handle/28615 thaksanawisut,s. (2010). introduction to agribusiness. bangkok: faculty of economics, thammasat university. wattanasaowaluck, s. 2013. problems and determination of guidelines for forestry industry problem solving in phrae province. an independent study, master of management engineering, naresuan university. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc2610166/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 8 wichanchai, k. (2007). a survey on problem conditions and problem solving in jewerly industry of chanthaburi province. an independent study, master of public administration, college of local administration, khonkaen university. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 published by american center of science and education, usa 60 agglomeration economies among animal and crop producers in nigeria: a panacea for diversification and sustainable economic growth in south eastern nigeria omeje emmanuel e department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria email: ejiofor.omeje@unn.edu.ng tel: 08038090907 onah ogochuchukwu g department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria chiemela peter n division of animal and dairy science chungnam national university daejeon 34134, republic of kore agbo nneka h national productivity centre enugu state office received: december 10, 2018 accepted: december 15, 2018 online published: december 31, 2018 abstract this paper investigates agglomeration economies among farmers in cluster areas of south eastern nigeria as a tool for economic emancipation with a special interest in diversification and growth. it also identified other vital roles agglomeration plays in developing economies like nigeria. these are not only as tools for poverty alleviation and diversification of sources of livelihood among farmers but also tools for employment generation and sustainable economic growth. this paper was motivated by the quest to provide urgent policy recommendations for a sustainable approach to agricultural development in south eastern nigeria. the specific objectives of the study were to: (i) describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents; (ii) ascertain the perception of the farmers on diversification and other benefits from agglomeration locations in the region, and (iii) ascertain the challenges militating against diversification and economic growth as benefits from agglomeration clusters. descriptive survey research design and structured questionnaire were adopted for this study. pearson's product moment correlation method and split half technique were adopted to determine the internal consistency of the instrument on 150 questionnaires retrieved and reliability coefficient of 0.91 was obtained. objective (i) and (ii) were realized using descriptive statistics and charts while objective (iii) was realized using weighted mean, standard deviation and rankings. majority of the farmers were within the active age of 40-49 years. basic education (69.3%) was also pronounced and most farmers operate either medium or large-scale farming. farmers were of the views that they had benefited immensely from agglomeration economies especially in areas of transportation, diversification, access to information and innovation as well as access to credit. fear of risks and uncertainties, dependency on rain-fed farming, and limited access to long-term credit ranked highest among the critical challenges limiting them from diversification and economic growth potentials in agglomeration. keywords: agglomeration economies, economic growth, diversification and south eastern nigeria http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 61 1. introduction the primary ideology of agglomeration economies among farmers is that production and processing are facilitated when there is an effective cluster of linked economic activities. the concept of agglomeration economies is akin to the explanations and ideas of economies of scale and network effects respectively. according to edward (2010), agglomeration economies are the benefits that come when firms and people locate near one another together in a place or industrial clusters. edward was of the view that all these benefits ultimately come from transport cost savings and that transportation costs could be interpreted broadly to include the difficulties in exchanging goods, people, services, and ideas. while we agree with edward that transportation benefit is central, we further conceptualized the view that agglomeration economies is also capable of influencing diversification and improving economic growth among others. this is true because even the simplest activity in the farm requires a network of supporting linkages, services and markets that individual firms or farms cannot organize. those who doubt the awesome potentials of agglomeration economies should visit dongguan, a city halfway between guangzhou and shenzhen in southeast china. the world development report (2009) offered a useful classification of the different types of scale economies. according to the report, there are three broad categories: internal economies, localization economies and urbanization economies. the internal economies arise from larger plant sizes (better deals from suppliers, division of labour); localization economies arise from the clustering of firms in the same industry or in the same space (which increases the supply of information and the pool of specialized labour); and urbanization economies which arise from having a large number of industries in the same place. hence, internal economies are firm specific (and are greater in heavy industries where plant sizes are larger). localization benefits accrue within a given industry and urbanization benefits are typically realized across industries. according to alan, gaiv, vijaya, and ivan (2015), agglomeration benefits have been sought in industries and spatial areas through a variety of modalities, including industrial zones, special economic zones and other similar institutional arrangements with varying degrees of success of which china probably has the best record. however, replication of the chinese model in sub-saharan africa and other developing countries like nigeria has been very challenging. farole (2011) provides a very useful overview of how special agglomeration economic zones or clusters have fared in sub-saharan africa. alan, et al, (2015) also noted that the intellectual clarity of the agglomeration approach may be overestimated if its implementation challenges are ignored during policy formulation. the authors added that agglomeration projects and local investment clusters can have a large effect on land values, raising issues of ownership, massive by-waste, control, and allocation. this is an important issue here since land tenure has always been a critical challenge to nigerian agriculture. this same land reform issues is a major critique to the location theory for agricultural sector developed by von thünen which recommended the optimal use of land for an isolated city (lang 2014). other major observable challenges to economies of agglomeration may include: strong environmental pressures leading to land degradation and pollution; high land prices; bottlenecks in public goods such as overburdened infrastructure; corruption and exploitation; and unfavorable competitive pressures. many theories revolve round this economies of agglomeration.? while some economic theories suggest that agglomeration might ease coordination failures in particular sectors or geographic locations, weber (1909) exploited a neoclassical location approach for industrial companies to find the optimal production location based mainly on regional endowments and transportation costs. these regional, cluster or spaceless endowments may be explained to include: a great local market; large supply of labour and thus the increased chance of supply and demand for labour and lower search costs; the accumulation of knowledge and human capital which lead to knowledge, skills, ideas and information spillovers between firms and individuals; the basis for distribution and growth of diversification; the quicker diffusion and adoption of innovation; and the quicker access to credit facilities among farmers as well as between farmers and formal credit institutions. also related to this conceptualization is the general equilibrium theory of spaceless economics which would then be a special case in which transport costs are zero and therefore disregarded and all inputs and outputs are perfectly mobile (lang 2014). the mobility in this context means that needed resource inputs are not only available but also accessible and that market for output is also not a problem. this is true among farmers in cluster areas because it is easier for farm and off farm activities to boom under this arrangement. take for instance, rice farmers produce at maximum capacity because rice millers are on the standby, enterprises engaged in de-stoning of rice are making progress because they have enough raw material at nearly zero transport cost, buyers from all parts of the country head to the rice market in the same cluster area to make purchases and this results to a boom in the transport sector. in all these, direct and indirect services and labour are created, agricultural jobs increased and its demand and supply stabilised. many research outputs on the economies of agglomeration suggest that benefits such as diversification and economic growth as well as its demerits vary with location (ellison and glaeser, 1999). rigby and essletzbichler https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/economies_of_scale https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/network_effect www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 62 (2002); rosenthal and strange (2001, 2003) and baldwin, brown, and rigby (2008, 2010), all keyed on seeking evidence of the relative benefits of labour pooling, buyer/supplier networks, and knowledge spill-over across different industries and regions. this is a major research gap in south eastern nigeria. to fill this gap which will assist development stakeholders in making relevant policies, this paper was guided by three relevant research questions which include: what is the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers involved in agglomeration economies or clusters? what are their views regarding benefits of agglomeration to diversification among others? and in their opinion, what are the major challenges facing the practice and its benefits to diversification and economic growth in the area? the broad objective of the study was therefore, to ascertain the contribution of economies of agglomeration to diversification and economic growth among farmers in southeastern nigeria. the specific objectives of the study were to: (i) describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents; (ii) ascertain the perception of the farmers on diversification and other benefits from agglomeration locations in the state; and (iii) ascertain the challenges militating against economic diversification and growth arising from agglomeration or clusters. 2. methodology descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. structured questionnaire was used for collecting data from respondents. the study area was south eastern nigeria including abia, anambra, ebonyi, enugu and imo states. the sample for the study was 150. a purposive random sampling technique was used to select 150 farmers that were involved in agglomeration activities or linked cluster areas. aba in abia state, abakiliki in ebonyi state and uzouwani in enugu state were purposively selected due to their dominance in cluster-related agglomeration economies. fifty respondents were randomly selected from each of the 3 states. pearson’s product moment correlation method and split half technique were adopted to determine the internal consistency of the instrument on 150 questionnaires retrieved. a reliability coefficient of 0.91 was obtained. objective (i) and (ii) were realized using descriptive statistics such as frequency, mean, and charts while objective (iii) was realized using weighted mean, standard deviation and ranks. decision on the level of agreement by the respondents with each elements of the critical constraints to agglomeration was observed as: (i) the element of each critical constraint that had the highest weighted mean was ranked first and considered the element with highest agreement by the respondents as challenging to their engagement in agglomeration; (ii) any element with a standard deviation below 1.96 indicates that the respondents were not too far from the mean and from the opinion of one another, while any elements with a standard deviation above 1.96 indicated that the respondents were far from the mean and from the opinion of one another. 3. results and discussion 3.1 socioeconomics of the farmers involved in agglomeration activities the result in figure 1 shows that the responses of respondents on age, marital status, literacy level, income level, farm size and types of farming. majority of the farmers were within the active age of 40-49 years which constituted the highest percentage of 34% among the group. the respondents between 60 years and above had the lowest percentage of 9.35%. this result follows the normal distribution curve for agricultural employment where active young people participate more in the farming activities such as in clusters. figure 1: distribution of respondent according to socio-economic characteristics n=150. source: field survey, 2018 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 63 it entails that the younger population maybe engaged in schooling while the elderly people are retiring from farming activities. in terms of marital status, 48% were married while 20.67% of the respondents were single. however, the lowest percentage among them was divorcee with 7.33%. in terms of literacy level, high percentage of the respondents (69.3%) had formal education, 30.7% had no formal education. the farm size distribution of the respondents shows that 44% and 46% of the farmers had large and medium size farms respectively while 10% had small farm sizes. this result suggests that many of the farmers are actually benefiting from the agglomeration hence fewer small scale farmers. with regards to the types of farming, the result indicates that crop production was most practiced in the area with 91% of the respondents involved in the production. this implies that crop production provides a greater source of livelihood as engaged by many people in the cluster regions. 3.2 diversification and other benefits of agglomeration economies the results presented in table 2 showed that majority of the respondents (78.7%) were in agreement that economic growth was one of the major benefits from their agglomeration activities. it showed that easier transportation (76.6%), economic diversification (73.3%) and adoption of innovation (73.3%) were also part of the major benefits of agglomeration within their clusters. other benefits from their activities include: quick and easier diffusion of idea/information (50%), quicker access to credit (90%) and access to viable and efficient market (75.3%). figure 2: frequency distribution showing the agreement of respondents on benefits of agglomeration economies. n=150 source: field survey, 2017 3.3 critical challenges to diversification and economic growth as benefits of agglomeration economies the result in table 3 below showed that the mean values of the respondents on the elements of challenges to diversification and economic growth as benefits of agglomeration economies ranged from 2.41 to 3.92. this shows that each element in the table has significant influence as constraint to diversification and economic growth as benefits of agglomeration economies. the critical elements of the constraints as shown in the table are: fear of risks and uncertainty (3.92); poor supply of electricity (3.41); and poor access to long term credit (3.37) which was ranked as 1 st , 2 nd and 3 rd respectively. table 1: mean rating and rank order to the respondents’ agreement on challenges to diversification and economic growth as benefits of agglomeration economies s/n challenges to diversification and economic growth as benefits of agglomeration economies sd rank 1 corruption/exploitation by government agents 2.71 0.81 7 th 2 poor infrastructure and poor supply of electricity 2.83 0.81 6 th 3 insecurity 2.41 0.53 8 th 4 fear of risks and uncertainty 3.92 0.64 1 st 5 dependency on rain-fed farming 3.41 0.67 2 nd 6 land tenure/pressure 3.11 0.76 4 th 7 poor access to long term credit 3.37 0.90 3 rd 8 unfavourable competitions 2.92 0.74 5 th source: field survey, 2018. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 64 the standard deviation of the ranked items ranged from 0.53 to 0.90 indicating that responses were very close and therefore, shared similar opinions. 4. conclusion this study showed the importance of agglomeration economies among farmers in poverty alleviation, job creation and economic growth of the region. it also explained the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers and the perceptions of the farmers on their benefits from such agglomeration activities. however, the study highlighted some of challenges to diversification and economic growth as benefits of agglomeration economies. this paper therefore suggests that government and relevant stakeholders should find solutions to the stated problems to enable them harness these potentials. references edward, l. g. (2010). agglomeration economics. national bureau of economic research. the university of chicago press, http://www.nber.org/chapters/c7977 alan, g., gaiv, t. vijaya, r. and ivan, r. (2015). “when agglomeration theory meets development reality: preliminary lessons from twenty world bank private sector projects.” cgd policy paper 054. washington dc: centre for global development. http://www.cgdev.org/publication/when-agglomerationtheory-meets-development-reality-preliminary-lessons-twenty-world lang, g. (2014). macro attractiveness and micro decision in the mutual fund industry: an empirical analysis. hardcover, xii, 178, page 22. http://www.springer.com/978-3-642-39723-3 world bank, (2009). world development report 2009: reshaping economic geography. washington dc: the world bank group. farole, t. (2011). special economic zones in africa: comparing performance and learning from global experience. world bank: directions in development. ellison, g., and e. glaeser. 1999. "the geographic concentration of industry: does natural advantage explain agglomeration?" the american economic review. vol. 89. no. 2. p. 311−316. rigby, d.l., and j. essletzbichler. 2002. "agglomeration economies and productivity differences in u.s. cities." journal of economic geography. vol. 2. no. 4. p. 407−432. rosenthal, s.s., and w.c. strange. 2001. "the determinants of agglomeration." journal of urban economics. vol. 50. no. 2. p. 191−229. rosenthal, s., and w. strange. 2003. "geography, industrial organization, and agglomeration." the review of economics and statistics. vol. 85. no. 2. p. 377−393. baldwin, j., d. beckstead, w.m. brown, and d.l. rigby. 2008. "agglomeration and the geography of localization economies in canada." regional studies. vol. 42. no. 1. p. 117−132. baldwin, j.r., w.m. brown, and d.l. rigby. 2010. "agglomeration economies: microdata panel estimates from canadian manufacturing." journal of regional science. vol. 50. no. 5. p. 915−934. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 published by american center of science and education, usa 16 rainfall variation: implication on cocoa yield in ondo state, nigeria dada emmanuel department of geography and planning sciences adekunle ajasin university akungba-akoko ondo state, nigeria. email: vissitemma@gmail.com received: november 7, 2018 accepted: november 11, 2018 online published: november 17, 2018 abstract cocoa is known as one of the notable cultivated cash crops of the tropical rainforest of the world that is rain dependent. the study examines the effect of rainfall variation on the yield of cocoa plantation in ondo state, nigeria. data used for the study includes the rainfall data of 15 years from 2000 to 2014 collected from ondo state agro climatological office as well as cocoa yield data for the same period of time from ondo state ministry of agriculture and forest resources. descriptive statistical method was employed to determine the relationship between both variables in which the result shows direct relationship between rainfall and cocoa yield. results were presented using bar charts and line graph for the time series analysis of the variables. linear regression statistical analysis was used to predict cocoa yield with certain amount of rainfall with the correlation coefficient ‘r’ value of 0.97 which implies that rainfall changes go a long way to determine the same variation trend in the cocoa yield. though, not only the quantity of rainfall within the range of rainfall required for the growth of this crop affect the yield but its distribution. a little millimeter of rainfall above or below the required range of rain for cocoa plantation greatly affects cocoa yield. keywords: cocoa yield, rainfall variation, relationship, ondo state. 1. introduction cocoa (theobroma cacao) is among the most important perennial crops in the world. it is a tropical lowland crop. cocoa was a dominant foreign exchange earner in nigeria from the early 1960s through the 1970s (olujide and adeogun, 2006). historically, cocoa contributed average agricultural earning of 70.6% between 1971 and 1973, 89.8% between 1976 and 1980, 84.6% between 1985 and 1987, 76.8% between 1986 and 1990, and 53.3% between 1992 and 1996 respectively. this declining trend observed can be attributed to strong domination of nigeria export earnings by crude oil and lots of other factors (agboola, 2005). it became an important export crop in southwestern nigeria and other african countries including ghana, ivory coast, togo, etc. and attains its peak between 1954 and 1969. during these periods, cocoa became the second http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:vissitemma@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 17 largest and major source of foreign earner for nigeria government. this crop provides job for large number of nigerians and also source of raw material for beverages and chocolate industries (hokona, 1994; oyedele, 2007). according to adegeye (2006), cocoa was first cultivated in the western region of nigeria in 1890. it became prominence rapidly in nigeria to the extent that nigeria became the world cocoa second largest producer in 1965 (adegeye, 1996). cocoa is produced in the tropical rainforests of ondo, osun, ogun, oyo, ekiti, edo, delta, crossrivers, akwa-ibom and anambra states with the ondo state as the largest cocoa producing state in nigeria (agegeye, 2006). cocoa is grown in fourteen out of thirty-six states of nigeria but mainly produced in the above stated states. it is well known that cocoa production is highly sensitive to changes in climate, from length and intensity of sunshine to rainfall and water application, soil condition and temperature due to evapotranspiration effect (anim-kwapon & frimpong, 2005). climatic variation especially rainfall dynamics is one of the serious environmental challenges facing world agricultural productivity especially the perennial crops. the variation can be attributed to natural climatic cycle and majorly, human activities which adversely affect productivity especially in africa as a result of poor technology (ziervogel et al., 2006). evidence from several researches revealed that climatic variation is a global issue, likewise its impacts but most adverse effects were majorly felt in the developing economies, especially those in africa and asia, due to low level of their coping capacities (nwanfor, 2007; jagtap, 2007). as the planet warms, rainfall pattern deviates and result in extreme events such as drought, floods, forest fire etc. (zoellick, 2009), this however causes poor and unpredictable yields, thereby making farmers more vulnerable, particularly in africa (unfccc, 2007). larger proportion of african inhabitants are poor farmers and will mostly bear the brunt of crop failures, reduced agricultural productivity, hunger increase, malnutrition and prevalent of diseases (zoellick, 2009). findings by jones and thornton (2003) shows that crop yield in africa may fall by 10-20% by 2050 or even up to 50% due to climate change especially rainfall particularly in africa that is predominantly practice rain-fed agriculture and hence fundamentally dependent on the vagaries of weather. figure 1: main cocoa producing states in nigeria between 2006-2010 productions (000mt) (source: national bureau of statistics) as recorded by food and agriculture organization of the united nations (faostat 2012), nigeria is the fourth leading exporter of cocoa in the world with cote d’ivoire as the first following by indonesia and ghana. cocoa is the main agricultural export in nigeria because it accounts for substantial quantity of the country total annual agricultural export contribution to the gross domestic (gdp) export of nigeria. however, production can be www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 18 increased if government make and implement decisive policy or measures that will enhance production and enlist nigeria as the first or second cocoa producing and exporting country in the world. figure 2: world top ten cocoa producing countries in 2010 (source: faostat) 1.1 climate change and cocoa production it is well established that cocoa is highly sensitive to climatic variation from hour of sun, to rainfall and application of water, soil conditions and temperature due to effects on evapo-transpiration. variation in climate could alter stages and rate of development of cocoa pests and pathogens, modify host resistance and result in changes in the physiology of host-pathogen/pests interaction. the most likely consequences depend on geographical distribution of host of pathogen, affect crop yields and crop loses which will impact socio-economic variables including farm income, livelihood and farm-level decision making. hence, the need for an understanding of climatic variation impacts on cocoa production and the potential for adaptation to variation of climatic elements are essential. 2. material and methods 2.1 the study area the study area is cocoa plantation in ondo state nigeria. it lies within the central cocoa cultivation and forest belt of southwestern nigeria, which comprises of ondo, osun and ekiti states. ondo state is located in the geographical coordinates of 7 0 10 1 n and 5 0 5 1 e. it has the total land area of 15,500km 2 (6,000sqm) (). and it share boundary with ekiti, kogi, edo, ogun and osun states. 2.1.1. climate the climate of ondo state ranges from tropical wetanddry climate with mean annual rainfall of about 1500mm and 2000mm in the derived savanna and humid forest zones respectively (adefolalu, 1997). the wet season starts in april and ends in october and dry season commences from november to march, though the average annual amount of rainfall mostly increased to 2500mm at the sothern coast and can reduced to about 1220 mm in some years at the northern limit of the forest belt (gilbert, 1969). the mean annual temperature is about 26.6 0c with the average yearly www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 19 humidity of 76.05%. the climate is monsoonal with a contrast between well-defined dry and wet seasons (adebekun, 1978). 2.1.2. geology and soil ondo state comprises of two distinct geological regions of sedimentary rocks in the southern part and second is the pre-cambrian basement complex rocks in the northern part of the state. the sedimentary rocks contain mainly postcretaceous sediments and also the abeokuta formation of the cretaceous. the basement complex rocks on the other hand contain the medium grained gneisses which are strongly foliated rocks occurring as an outcrops with alternating bands of dark and light minerals. the light bands color is rich in minerals such as feldspar and quartz and the dark colored bands are full of abundant biotic mica. a portion of the state in the northeast overlies the coarse grained granites and gneisses (a.j. smyth, 1962). the soil ranges from medium –grained granitic rocks, mediumgrained gneisses and schist which support the development of low rainforest suitable for tree crops such as cocoa, kola, and oil-palm (ekanade, 2007). the relief of ondo state is dominated by the plain that rises gently from the coast northwards to the area of crystalline rock where icebergs rise above the surrounding plains (adebekun, 1978). 2.1.3. relief and drainage the state composed of lowlands in the southern part and certain part in the central. and rugged hills with granitic outcrops dominate several places mostly in the northern part of the state. there is a rising of the land from the coastal area in the south i.e. less than 15 meters above sea level to the rugged hills of the north eastern area of akoko region. the notable hills in ondo state are found at idanre and akoko areas of the state which rise beyond 250 meters above the sea level (adebekun, 1978). the geomorphological units of the creek and riverine portions of the state contain sand ridges, lagoons, swamp flats, creeks and distributaries of the western niger delta (online nigeria community portal, 2013)/ www.onlinenigeria.com. the major rivers found in ondo state include: owena, oluwa, oni, ogbese and ose and their drainage system characterize with basement complex rocks. 2.1.4. vegetation the southern and central parts of the state contains natural vegetation of high forest rich in various hardwood for timber such as melicia excels, antaris africana, iroko, obeche, wawa, terminalia superba, lophira procera etc. but in the northern part are found the woody savanna and grassland such as blighia sapida and parkia biglobosa which dominate the akoko area (online nigeria community portal, 2013). the swamp flats are the area of fresh water swamp forests dominated the interior and the units of mangrove vegetation near the coast. worthy of notice in the state vegetation is the prevalence of tree crops plantation such as cocoa, kola, coffee, rubber, oil palms and citrus with cocoa being the most vital tree crops in the state. ondo state falls within the evergreen tropical rainforest, a transitional zone between the fresh-water swamps along the coast and guinea savanna belt in the north (ekanade, 1990). http://www.onlinenigeria.com/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 20 figure 3: map of nigeria showing ondo state 2.1. data sources the study makes use of both primary and secondary data sources. the primary data used in this study was obtained through researcher field survey, focused group discussion and other means of social survey to access information about cocoa farmers perception on how rainfall variation over the years affect their yields and the coping strategies they have adopted over time. the secondary data for this research includes rainfall and cocoa yield data obtained from agroclimatology department of ministry of agriculture, akure, ondo state. 2.2. data analysis the data rainfall and cocoa yield data collected were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. the descriptive statistics involved the used of table and simple percentage while the result were presented with bar charts and line graph to reveal the relationship between mean annual rainfall from year 2000 to 2014 and the yield of cocoa plantation recorded in tons during these same years. regression inferential statistics was employed to predict the cocoa yield as a result of rainfall variation as the most unstable climate parameter in the study area. 3. result and discussion the outcome of the analysis of the rainfall and cocoa yield data are presented and discussed in this section. the results of the descriptive analyses made in the survey were presented with bar charts and line graph to show or reveal how the independent variable (rainfall) determine the performance of dependent variable (cocoa yield). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 21 figure 4: rainfall distribution between 2000 and 2014 the rainfall bar graph above depicts the distribution of rainfall in the study area between 2000 and 2014 with the highest average annual rainfall of 1826.2 mm recorded in the year 2011 and lowest mean annual rainfall of 1169.1 mm recorded in the year 2003. the variation in the mean annual rainfall recorded in the study area can be attributed to climate change which is a global phenomenon. however, the amount of rainfall does not necessarily determine the yield but the distribution of rainfall once the amount of rainfall is up to the minimum amount (1450mm) requires for the survival of cocoa plantation. figure 5: cocoa yield between 2000 and 2014 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 22 yield of cocoa plantation is a function of a lot of factors ranging from natural factors such rainfall, temperature, soil etc. to human induced factors such as constant treatment of the plantation with insecticide, pesticide and herbicide to prevent attack from diseases, the application of fertilizer, taken care of the plantation environment against unwanted weed and some other factors. thus, most of these favorable factors for the better yield of cocoa are available in the study area. hence, for the purpose of this research, rainfall as a very unstable climatic parameter was considered for the yield of this plantation in the study area. gradual increase was observed from the cocoa yield graph though not on a regular basis and interval based on various factors some of which was stated above. this gradual increased in the yield justified the result of an increase in the area of land occupied by cocoa plantation in ondo state as an outcome of the detected change that took place in this plantation during the investigated period of this research. the lowest yield was recorded in the year 2003 with 45203 tons of cocoa and the highest in 2014 with 79210 tons which can be traced to impact of rainfall. figure 6: rainfall and cocoa yield graph. the above graph reflects the relationship between rainfall variability and cocoa yields between 2000 and 2014. it can be deducted from the graph that yield is highly dependent on rainfall but not at the same proportion. the highest quantity of cocoa yield was recorded in 2014 with 79210 tons of cocoa and 1782.12 mm of rainfall during that same year. and the lowest yield was in 2003 with 45203 tons of cocoa and mean annual rainfall of 1169.8 mm, the reduction in the cocoa yield in this year can be attributed to shortage of rainfall which was actually below the minimum amount of rainfall required for the growth of cocoa crop. as noted by international cocoa organization (ico 2010), cocoa required at least 1450 mm of rainfall to thrive very well. it is very obvious from this graph that the quantity of yield is a function of availability of adequate rainfall, though there was a lot of variation between the yield and rainfall whereby the rainfall was high but low yield was recorded which can be attributed to the distribution pattern of rainfall. the 2008 witnessed increase in rainfall with 1681.38 mm compare to 2005 with 1496.8 mm but more yield was recorded in 2005 than 2008, in this case emphases on the distribution of rainfall cannot be ignored i.e. when rainfall is high during the flowering period of cocoa it will reduce the yield because www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 23 some of the flowers would have been removed by rainfall. however in comparing the yield and rainfall, distribution and period of rainfall are very important factors to consider. generally, it can be deducted from this analysis that rainfall is a very important parameter that led to increase in the area cover by cocoa plantation as the change that took place in cocoa plantation class of the land cover of ondo state. therefore, there is a strong correlation or relationship between gradual increases in rainfall and increased in the area of land covered by cocoa plantation in the study area within the investigated time of this research. 3.1. regression model regression model was employed as an inferential statistical approach to measured how important rainfall as the most unstable climatic parameter determine the cocoa yield. in this regards, rainfall is independent variable while cocoa yield was set as the dependent variable. the rainfall data from ondo state agroclimatological station and cocoa yields from ondo state ministry of agriculture and forest resources from year 2000 to 2014 was subjected to regression analysis in order to infer or drawn certain conclusion about how the rainfall flunctuation affected cocoa yields during the period of investigation. this is solved by applied the most widely measured of goodness fit equation line of y a bx  related to bivariate data express as:    1 1 n nx y x y , this is the sum of the square deviation about the line expressed as:         2 2 1 1 2 2 – . . n n ny a bx y a bx y a bx y a bx                        these can be expressed by an equation of the form: 0 1 2 .....   ny b bx b bx      where: y = dependent variable b0 = constant term b1,2 = regression coefficient ∑ = error term that can enter the model       2 2 * x y r xy n x y x y n n            the outcome of regression analysis reveals strong tied on how rainfall variation affect the cocoa yield as one of phenological factors that determine the cocoa yield. the explanation from analysis depict y-dependent variable which represent the cocoa yield in tons in ondo state from year 2000 to year 2014 while the amount of rainfall measure in millimeter represent the indepent or explanatory variable depicted as’x‘. the result show very strong www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 24 relationship between rainfall and cocoa yield with 0.97 correlation coefficient result. this implies that the more the amount of rainfall recorded and well distributed within the range of amount of rainfall required for the growth of cocoa, the more the cocoa yield and the vice versa all other factors remain constant. this establishe the fact that few millimiter of rainfall deviation above or below the range of the required amount of rainfall for the growth of this crop is heinous to yield of this plantation. hence, addiquate attention should be given to rainfall consideration for better cocoa yield in ondo state because this parameter is the most unstable natural factor for cocoa raising in this region because this plantation is purely rainfed agriculture. 4. conclusion cocoa farming is a typical rainfed agricultural practice that required high amount of rainfall with at least seven months of distribution which is a condition beyond the control of man. the variation in the amount and distribution of rainfall in the tropic has been greatly caused by antropogenic activities mostly deforestation as the situation is in the tropical rainforest region of ondo state. the consequence of these human activities in this region have great impact on the yield of cocoa as the largest cocoa producing state in nigeria (national bureau of statistics, 2011). rainfall is considered as the most unstable climatic parameter and of course one of the most difficult humanly enhanced natural factors responsible for the growth of cocoa (boyer, 1982). the more efforts government can put to control human activities especially deforestation in this region to stablize the amount and distribution of rainfall, this will go a long way to improve cocoa yield as the highest contributor of agricultural crop to gross domestic product of nigeria over time. the outcome of this research will be very useful for the decision maker in ondo state to control human activities that reduce the mean annual rainfall and its distribution and also to increase its investment on this plantation to increase cocoa yield and thereby increase the revenue derive from this crop. references adebekun, o. (1978). atlas of the federal republic of nigeria. 1 st edition, under the chairmanship of national atlas committee, pp. 136. adefolalu, b.o. stephen, and e.m. tobi. (2014). rainfall distribution and change detection across climatic zones in nigeria. weather and climate extreme journal of science direct, vol. 5-6: pp. 1-6. adegeye, a. o. (2006). introduction to forest entomology and pathology. faculty of agriculture and forestry, university of ibadan nigeria. agboola, a. f. (2005). socio-economic assessment of farmers’ usage of indigenous and non-indigenous pest control technologies in cocoa agro-ecosystems of ondo and osun states of nigeria. department of agricultural extension and rural sociology, obafemi awolowo university, ile-ife, nigeria. anim-kwapong g.j, frimpong e.b (2005). vulnerability of agriculture to climate change: impact of climate change. new tafo akim: cocoa research institute of ghana. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 25 http://www.nlcap.net/fileadmin/ncap/countries/ghana /cocoa_dra ft_final_report.pdf.accessed on 02/09/09. boyer, j.s. (1982). plant productivity and environment. science 218: 443-448. ekanade, o. (1990). an evaluation of soil productivity in inter-planted cocoa and kola environmental systems in southwestern nigeria. international journal of environmental study, gordon and breach science publications, uk, vol.35: pp.253-261. food and agricultural organization of united nations statistical database (2012). international cocoa organization (icco) (2003). icco quarterly bulleting of cocoa statistics. accessed <http:// www.icco.org/statistics/production-and-grindings/production jagtap, s. (2007). managing vulnerability to extreme weather and climate evens: implications for agricultural and food security in africa. proceedings of the international conference on climate change and economic sustainability at nnamdi azikiwe university, enugu, nigeria. 12 th -14 th june, 2007. jones, p.g. and thornton, p.k. (2002). croppers to livestockers: livelihood transition to 2010 in africa due to climate change. global environmental change, world health organization, geneva, switzerland. hokana, f. (1994). world cocoa bean production. agricultural production, 10, 36-39. nwafor, j.c. (2007). global climate change: the driver of of multiple causes of flood intensity in sub-saharan africa. paper presented at the international conference on climate change and economic sustainability at nnamdi azikiwe university, enugu, nigeria. 12 th -14 th june, 2007. olajide, m.g. and s.o. adeogun (2006). assessment of cocoa growers’ farm management practices in ondo state nigeria. spanish journal of agricultural research, vol. 4(2): pp.173-179. oyedele, j.o. (2007). enhancing the sustainability of cocoa growing in nigeria. a paper presented at the cocoa roundtable on sustainable world cocoa economy, accra, ghana, 3-6 october. united nations framework convention on climate change (2007). climate change impact, vulnerabilities and adaptation in developing countries. unfcc secretariat, martin-luther-king-stratze 853175 bonn, germany. (available and accessed on http://www.unfcccint 2007). ziervogel g., a. nyong, b. osman, c. conde, s. cortes, and t. dowing (2006 ). climate variability and change: implications for household food security. assessments of impacts and adaptations to climate change (aiacc) working paper no. 20, january 2006. the aiacc project office, international start secretariat, washington dc, usa. zoellick, robert b. a. (2009). climate smart future. the nation newspapers. vintage press limited, lagos, nigeria. page 18 copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 published by american center of science and education, usa 26 critical perspective on agribusiness supply chain management (ascm) in developing nations: what are the policy and institutional lessons for developing economies? ume chukwuma o department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka ihedioha nice n department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka opata patience i department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka obiajulu chukwuchebe u department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka correspondence to: chukwuma.ume@unn.edu.ng phone number: 08032533956 received: november 8, 2018 accepted: november 12, 2018 online published: november 17, 2018 abstract this paper seeks to explore and assess literature on supply chain management. the overarching aim is to derive institutional and policy lessons for the agribusiness sector, especially among the least developed economies. the focus is to better understand the range of supply chain initiatives prevalent in literature and how they fit into the developing nations contexts. unpacking what supply chain initiatives exist in scholarly publications is relevant since scholarly ideas often shape institutional and policy directions and negotiations in the agricultural sector interventions. using subjective criteria, sourcing, screening and selection of documents, and conducting qualitative analysis and validation were done. in exploring this discourse, we observe the emergence of a variety of overarching initiatives – development of short food supply chains, supply chain partnership, and supply chain integration. findings from the study suggest that there is a need for some level of coordination of processes and activities within and between agribusiness firms in the supply chain, in order to build a stronger agribusiness subsector. keywords: supply chain, integration, partnership, rural development, agribusiness http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:chukwuma.ume@unn.edu.ng www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 27 abbreviations: scm: supply chain management; ascm: agribusiness supply chain management 3pls: third party logistics; ict: information and communication technology 1. introduction agribusiness activities around the world are expanding beyond boarders and redefining the way supply and demand of agricultural and agro-allied products are managed (undp, 2013). today, with the help of information and communication technology (ict), 3rd party logistics (3pls) and free liberalization, ascm has the power to improve customer service delivery, reduce preying cost and improve financial position of agribusiness enterprises. as per definition, ascm is the coordination of the network of activities business from raw-material procurements to manufacturing and distribution of finished goods. the concept of ascm refers to the activities of procurement to delivery, executed by two or more separate organizations in the agribusiness industry (folinas, vlachopoulou, manthou, & manos, 2003). recently, there has been a high demand on the agribusiness sector in today’s digital economy to spread its enterprise and communicate automatically with its suppliers, customers and trading partners, to take advantage of the icts, to participate in emerging supply chain networks, and to energizing their core competencies (folinas et al., 2003). the forgoing suggests that enterprises with weak or inefficient supply chain strategy will be unable to make its products available at the necessary positions, thereby deterring prompt service delivery and customer satisfaction. in africa, there is the need to leverage on ascm to improve agribusiness performance in the continent. studies dealing with the role of agriculture in economy recovery and growth have helped create a sense of urgency among policy makers to focus on agribusiness as a foundation for thelong-term economic transformation of the continent. a robust and integrated agribusiness supply chain will help the agricultural sector build competitive edge in the global market. one of the reasons the attempt at agricultural development is still crawling in africa is due to the poor performance ascm that is the prerequisite for the expected take-off (adeosun, 2016). the ascm when fully developed will provide the necessary ladder to move to the phase of industrialization which is synonymous with the phase of rural development (marsden, banks, & bristow, 2000). in recent years, research interest agribusiness and food supply chain framework analysis in africa has risen considerably. this is evidenced by the number of research articles published on this subject matter in recent years (2008 2018). this article is grounded in the developing nations of africa. agribusiness activities in these nations www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 28 have been slow due to the poor performance of ascm (undp, 2013). dialogues on agricultural development within the least developed economies have acknowledged the importance of strengthening collaboration and partnerships in the ascm and to address the low performance of the 3pls, as well as to develop an appropriate policy and institutional background to support needs based policy actions (njoku & alexanda, 2015). robust decision-making processes in the agribusiness sector that are participatory and decentralised will facilitate efficient coordination in ascm (ume, 2017). such processes can present new ideas before policymakers, making policymakers aware of the opinions held by key actors in the sector (chukwuemeka, kingsley, & ume, 2018). good ascm integration framework is essential for the good performance of the agribusiness sector in africa (undp, 2013). the ascm within and among agribusiness organizations are often organised separately. if these activities are considered together, integration can become significantly easier (njoku & alexanda, 2015). since it is no longer suitable to use a standalone scm framework in the developing countries agribusiness sector (folinas et al., 2003), integration across key policy areas holds promise (carys, waddell, & sinclair, 2007), harmonising divergent approaches will align them to reduce vulnerabilities (ellram & cooper, 1990). integration helps to avoid setbacks and ensures that implementation delivers multiple solutions to agribusiness firms. indeed, integrating supplychain activities in the agribusiness sector can be well suited to local agribusiness development course. several researches on ascm in africa are organized around three sets of themes: “ascm development risk structures”, “influence of scm by either internal environment or organization of the firm, or by external institutional factors”, and “different frameworks for assessing the impact ascm on the competitive position of agribusiness. to establish the field further, this paper serves three purposes: first was to offer a systematic literature review on ascm in africa taking 8 papers published from 2008 to 2016 into account. the main message from the lessons of the last ten years is that countries can overcome their most intractable challenge in agribusiness development if they can bring high-level integration into their ascm framework, by establishing supply chain partnerships. the second purpose is to underscore africa’s latecomer benefits. exponential growth in icts and 3pls is expanding the range of technical knowledge that the continent can marshal for agribusiness transformation. 3) the final objective is to offer policy and institutional lessons for policy makers and industrialists. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 29 2. research design and methods it should be pointed out that this article does not attempt to provide a complete inventory of all the issues bothering on ascm in africa but only a sample of those that have received a fair amount of attention in literature. likewise, no effort is made to cover the vast literature on supply chain management by authors whose studies are not grounded in africa nor focused on the key frameworks and structures necessary for strengthening supply chain networks in the regions. what we hope to do is provide enough examples of these structures to show why they are important for understanding and analysing ascm problems and devising strategies for solving them. systematic literature review approach was employed to thoroughly analyse selected 8 studies covering issues pertaining to scm in the developing nations, to unpack narratives and implications for the agribusiness subsector. using subjective criteria, screening and selection of documents, sourcing for documents, and conducting qualitative analysis and validation was done. summary of article selection criteria is presented on table 1. in this study, articles on the key themes on scm from africa, including those written by non africans authors were selected and sampled (n = 20). documents that did not meet these criteria were screened out, leaving 12 for further analysis. documents selected were those targeting key intervention needs in the supply chain management particularly in the developing nations and included published and unpublished publicly available materials. research gate, google scholar, and the web of knowledge sources were searched to collate the documents. triangulation via informal discussions with agribusiness officials were done to further collaborate the discussions. whilst this review cannot claim to include all related literature, the emerging narratives showed gaps in vital areas across ascm. analysis of literature began by reading all the selected papers in detail, marking sections, phrases, and keywords, and identifying the lessons they communicate in relation to ‘supply chain’, ‘agribusiness’, ‘integration’, ‘partnership’ and ‘africa’, including identifying the range of approaches/strategies implemented or proposed in the papers. next, the specific initiatives and approaches identified were further analysed within a wider discursive context in which the approaches are situated. this further guided the in-depth discussion which followed a series of questions about whether partnerships and integrations are considered in ascm in africa? are there benefit in for africa in terms of integrating ict development and 3pls in agribusiness supply chain framework? table 2 shows the findings from the qualitative analysis. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 30 3. results and discussion 3.1 what is the range of ascm initiatives developed/implemented to lubricate the wheel of scm in the agribusiness subsector? africa holds 60% of the world’s uncultivated arable land therefore, remains a strategic continent for the world’s agro-food industry (undp, 2013)the agricultural sector contributes over 25% of the regions gross domestic product (gdp) and accounting for more than 60% towards regional employment (undp, 2013). however, 80% of all farms in most parts of the region are under smallholder production supplying up to 90% of the food production in some countries (undp, 2013). the emergence of supply chain development and integration models has been prominent in much ascm initiative that has been proposed in the last decade. before then, much attention focused on addressing short food supply chains and their role in rural development. the attention shifted to supply chain integration (including web-based integration) following ever increasing globalization of markets. at the same time, advances in ict appeared to have forced agribusiness firms in africa to develop innovative web-based supply chain networks, in order to build their competitiveness and interoperability. the forgoing saw the emergence of a variety of overarching initiatives. the existing initiatives were screened and categorised under these three themes – development of short food supply chains, supply chain partnership, and supply chain integration 3.2 development of short food supply chains under the current form of local market conditions in most developed and developing nations, characterised by long, rationally organized and complex industrial chains (marsden et al., 2000), there is the possibility of a steady and continuous leakage of substantial capital away from the rural areas and the farms. hence, the need for a shorter food supply chains that will be relevant in bridging the distance between the producers and consumers. this has been the argument of most literature cantered on the development of short food supply chains (adeosun, 2016; marsden et al., 2000; roekel et al., 2018). short food supply chains, according to guy, (2000) involves the development of alternative food chains or food networks that reduces the number of times products are handled between production and final delivery to the consumers. the overarching goal is to short circuit irrelevant middlemen while majority of the total value additions are captured by primary producers, the farmers in the rural sectors. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 31 key policy and institutional lessons can be derived from this model. first, one critical theme in the short food supply chains discourse is the key role it plays in rural development. for instance, a study conducted by marsden et al., (2000, p.429) using case studies of different short food supply chains in europe shows that, 1) producers with short food supply chains tends to develop “innovations that go beyond state support”. 2) they develop “experiments and innovations” that resists adverse national policies. as noted by adeosun, (2016), one of the critical risk structures in agribusiness supply chain arises from negative state policies, hence the need to establish supply chain alternatives that will resist such negative state policies. 3)this mode represents a new form of asc that combine regional and value addition supply of food in a composite form beyond the normal or simple forms. in other words, they add values associated with the commodity themselves. 4) their study showed that the cross section of short food supply chains studied had encouraging value added profits in terms of farm-level income. these gains were found to be more than what would have been obtained if they had adopted the usual mainstream industrial channels. secondly, okpara (2003) advanced the concept of “traceability” as an important aspect of the short food supply chain model. apart from its role in rural development, short food supply chain can also be very important in engendering timely and accurate traceability of commodities in the asc. this is because in short food supply chains, commodities delivered to final consumers are embedded with information (this can be in the form of printed labels on the packaging or even communicated in person at the point of sale). this model assists the consumer to “confidently make connections and associations with the place/space of production, and, potentially, the values of the people involved and the production methods employed” (marsden et al., 2000, p.425). this can be related to the current trend in the fruit juice industry in nigeria. the products capri-sun and capri-sonne are two different fruit drinks supposed from the same company. whereas capri sun is a brand name owned by rudlf wild, a german company, chi limited is the exclusive licensee of capri sonne under licence of capri-sun ag, zug switzerland for nigeria. the information contained in the packaging of these products makes it easy for the consumers to make purchase decisions in choosing which product they desire based on people involved and the production methods employed. a typical case of short food supply chain is the case of capri sonne by chi limited. the shortness of the chain gives more gains to the company compared to what it would have been when chi limited engaged in the distribution imported capri sun, as the total value additions are by chi limited. further, when chi limited www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 32 successfully translates their information to the consumers, it allows for product differentiation from more “anonymous products” and to attract a first-class price if the embedded information appeals to consumers. marsden et al., (2000) identified 3 types of short food supply: the face-to-face, spatial proximity, and spatially extended. in face -to-face, consumers purchase a commodity directly from the producer. in this case, through personal interactions, authenticity and trust are mediated (thevenot, 1998). similar variant of the face-toface type is the internet market and on-line trading(see: folinas et al., 2003). in spatial proximity, production and marketing are done within a location and the ‘local’ nature of the product conveyed to the consumers who have personal experience of that region. in spatially extended, information about the producers and place of production conveyed to consumers who are outside of the region. in general, it is possible for a business to be involved in more than one of these different food supply chains. 3.3 integrated agri-supply chain management there are different components of an agri supply chain. success and effectiveness in ascm entails managing the relationships between the components for an efficient production and supply of products from the farm level to the consumers(habib, 2014). for effectiveness in ascm review and empirical studies are replete with key lessons. first, there must be a sound relationship between transportation and warehousing among agribusiness firms (folinas et al., 2003). this will lead to reduced inventory and ensure quick response to customer requests (ambe & badenhorst-weiss, 2012). secondly, studies like folinas et al., (2003) have shown the importance of web-based integration of data and processes in the agribusiness supply chain. several benefits are derivable from leveraging internet applications. integrating ict into scm will lead to time and cost reduction. thirdly, integration will help expand markets beyond firms’ boundaries thereby increasing sales volume. recently, there has been an increase in the level of coordinated supply chains for most agricultural commodities in india (indian ministry of agriculture, 2018). many developing nations can learn from india’s coordinated supply chain. according to (agriculture, 2018), coordinated supply chain will involve strategic dealings among producers, processors, traders, and buyers. the strategy was based on the idea that detailed specifications are provided to all stakeholder on what and how much of the commodity to produce, quality and safety conditions required, the time of www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 33 delivery, etc. this was achieved, according to the ((indian ministry of agriculture, 2018), through web based technology and finance. given the short lifetime of many agricultural products, and the seasonality on harvest, there is the need for a collaborative effort in decision-making about planning, procurement, inventory management and distribution. in india for instance, different models are emerging. one of such model that has enhanced asc is the fruit and vegetable retail outlets. the retail outlets directly purchase produce from the farms through contract arrangements. collection and grading centres were also established in the rural areas. all the produce is scheduled to move through a central distribution facility located in the rural areas. these facilities have central modern infrastructures such as cold storage, controlled atmosphere chambers, and ripening rooms. according to (indian ministry of agriculture, (2018, p.8), “growers are required to follow certain specifications and are often provided with some inputs and technical advice about agronomic and post-harvest practices”. a terminal market for the fruits and vegetables was also established in different regions. the markets (locally called safel) have the capacity of handling over 1600 metric tons of produce daily and are linked to over two hundred and fifty farmers and forty collection centres. this model presents a typical asc integration for perishables. it was based on one of india’s major agricultural marketing act known as the apmr act. one key advantage of the integrated agri-supply chain management typified by the apmr model is that it provides for economies of scale to the small firms in establishing direct linkage between farmers, and other stakeholders such as the processors, exporters, and retailers. also, the model provided both forward and backward linkages that will engender integrated asc for different agricultural produce in the country. 3.4 establishing supply chain partnerships with the substantial rise in partnerships between 3pls providers, the range of services provided has also increased, however, many agribusiness enterprises in the developing nations are yet to take advantage of these services. this is in spite of the potential benefits of involvement in supply chain partnership. carys, waddell, & sinclair, (2007) conceptualized partnership in scm as trading relationship between firms and branded manufacturers of foodstuffs. according to ellram & cooper, (1990), efficient partnership among scm must go beyond partnership between agribusiness firms to include partnerships between firms 3pls providers. undp, (2013) identified an array of www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 34 pertinent transactional services that 3pls typically offer to agribusiness firms: operating warehouse functions, big data analytics, sending out shipments, technology (ict) management, booking freight, asset recovery, and robust reporting. as identified in ellram & cooper, (1990) one of the problems that has hindered collaboration between 3pls and agribusiness firms, especially in the developing economy is there inability to employ the more strategic services offered by 3pls. according to carys et al., (2007) “the majority of clients utilize logistics services such as warehousing and transportation, forgoing the latest developments in supply chain consulting and it, trade and compliance services”. with the advancements in information and communication technology, agribusiness firms in the developing nations must promote long-term savings by partnering with the more strategic 3pl services. studies has shown that most firms enjoy cost savings transactions with 3pl services, but that savings begin to go down as the firms fail to innovate over time. according to ellram & cooper (1990) “the prime method to preventing these declines in roi is to move the 3pl relationship from transactional to strategic”. one important case study which developing firms can engage is the strategic partnership services offered by “flash global – a 3pl provider”. 3pl such as the flash global have the tools and visibility to furnish agribusiness firms with an overview of risk exposure and advise suitable solutions that may be systemic or local. by this, agribusinesses will begin to gain greater insight into hidden costs and the gain advice on how to develop innovative solutions. for instance, flash global provides a comprehensive overview to predict labour related disruptions or unexpected natural disasters by analysing risk intelligencedata across the supply chain. leading agribusiness firms are already exploring these services. many firms have already employed the use of artificial intelligence or robotics to automate repetitive labour-intensive tasks such as invoicing, purchasing, and accounts payables. predictive analytics are aiding firms forecast demand, so as to reduce volatility, provide customer convenience, increase asset utilization, and optimized cost. 4. conclusion discourses of ascn serve to articulate the variety of important themes that can serve as lessons in improving supply chains management among agribusiness firms in the developing nations. the analysis presented here illustrates that there are three main initiatives that has dominated food supply chain over the years supply chain www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 35 integration, establishing supply chain partnerships, and development of short food supply chains. based on literature review and case studies, idea from this article suggests that there is a need for some level of coordination of processes and activities within and between agribusiness firms in the supply chain. also, current insights illustrate a deterministic narrative of short food supply chain can induce saving for farmers and hence a tool for rural development. in this light, an inclination towards improving the capacity of farmers in value addition offers a useful direction on how we might improve grass root agribusiness. this idea points to what may constitute parts of an integrative framework’s requirements for modeling pathways between local production and agribusiness revolution. it is our contention that since much the take-offs in the agricultural sectors is been driven by a robust agribusiness subsector, building strong supply chain initiatives that will re-enforce or merge the three initiatives that will allow for more convergence will be of significant benefit to the agribusiness sector of most developing economies. references adeosun, k. p. (2016). unravelling risk structures in nigeria ’ s rice supply chain : a review of the literature, 8(6), 26–34. agriculture, m. o. (2018). supply chain management in agriculture reading material. national institute of agricultural extension management, training manual ambe, i. m., & badenhorst-weiss, j. a. (2012). supply chain management challenges in the south african public sector, (november). https://doi.org/10.5897/ajbm12.360 carys, e. s., waddell, f. n., & sinclair, m. a. (2007). the role of ‘partnership’ in supply chain management for fast-moving consumer goods: a case study. international journal of logistics research and applications, 2(1), https://doi.org/10.1080/13675569908901574 chukwuemeka, s. u. m. e., kingsley, o. a., & ume, c. (2018). climate change vulnerability analysis of smallholder farmers in enugu state nigeria : gender sensitive approach, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.25081/jaa.2018.v4.3374 ellram, l. m., & cooper, m. c. (1990). supply chain management, partnership, and the shipper third party relationship. the international journal of logistics management, 1(2), 1–10. folinas, d., vlachopoulou, m., manthou, v., & manos, b. (2003). a web-based integration of data and processes in supply chain, (july), 143–149. guy, c. (2000). pilot study of local retailer-supplier linkages in two rural areas. unpublished report for tesco stores ltd. habib, m. (2014). supply chain management ( scm ): its future implications, (september), 238– 246. marsden, t., banks, j., & bristow, g. (2000). exploring their role in rural development food supply chain approaches :, 40(4). njoku, m. e., & alexanda, k. (2015). effective supply chain management :, 3(12), 90–112. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 36 okpara, l. u. (2003). traceability in agriculture and food supply chain : a review of basic concepts , technological implications , and future prospects. food, agriculture & environment, 1(1), 101–106. roekel, j. van, kopicki, r., j.e, c., & boselie, d. m. (2018). building agri supply chains : issues and guidelines. agri chain competence center. thevenot, l. (1998). innovating in ‘qualified’ markets: quality, norms and conventions. in paper presented at systems and trajectories of innovation conference, institute of international studies, university of california, berkeley. ume, c. (2017). critical perspective on climate change adaptation among farmers in developing nations : unpacking divergent approaches. mod concep dev agrono, 2(1), 1–6. undp. (2013). nigerian agribusiness supplier development programme. nigerian agribusiness supplier development programme. appendices list of tables table 1: summary of article selection criteria the article focused on supply chain management in the developing nation context the research was conducted within the last decade the word “africa” or “rural development” was mentioned either in the title, abstract or body of the article, apart from the reference list employed a clear research methodology and suggested clear approach agribusiness firms have or should employ (articles not showing a clear research methodology and adaptation approach were excluded) table 2: findings from the qualitative analysis initiative contained in sampled document overarching goal and the associated thematic area(s) theme of the initiative source supply chain integration guiding model for the manufacturing industry it shows the flow of a five stage process which starts from having sound knowledge of the company’s current supply chain operations to the critical examination of the supply chain integration level in the company; establishing the external challenges thereof, then putting in place a successful supply chain integrated operations in practice that will go a long way in reducing the lead time and also reduce the cost of production supply chain integration (njoku & alexanda, 2015) agribusiness supplier development programme. its ambition is to work on practical knowledge for market development through collaborating more directly with the private sector in order to have establishing supply chain partnerships (undp, 2013) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 37 a larger impact the emergence of ‘short food supply chains’: exploring their role in rural development it offers potential to develop supply chains that can potentially ‘short-circuit’ the long, complex and rationally organized industrial chains within which a decreasing proportion of total added value in food production is captured by primary producers. development of short food supply chains (marsden et al., 2000) technological challenges in implementing traceable agricultural supply chains development of appropriate measurement tools for food product labeling and identification, activity/process characterization, information systems for data capture, analysis, storage and communication, and the integration of the overall traceable supply chain are essential for success development of short food supply chains (okpara, 2003) e-partnerships of agribusiness supply chain to function in the agribusiness sector in order to enable organizations to set up and manage reliably asc networks, an internet-based application is developed which aims to model and integrate dynamically and collaboratively business processes and agribusiness data establishing supply chain partnerships (folinas et al., 2003) developing chain strategy and organization this paper draws on the experience of the agri-chain competence center to discuss the critical issues and step-by-step actions necessary to stimulate and support the emergence of supply chains in developing countries supply chain integration (roekel, kopicki, j.e, & boselie, 2018) risk management strategies in various supply chain levels what contextual risks (production, processing and storage risks) are important in describing output variation for different actors and national output over the years development of short food supply chains. (adeosun, 2016) potential benefits and risks of involvement in supply chain partnership the paper begins with an overview of some of the forces that have shaped supply chain management and partnership relationships. establishing supply chain partnerships (ellram & cooper, 1990) copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 36 replacement value of maize with other cereals on performance and cost benefit of broiler chickens dr. olufemi olubunmi egbewande associate professor department of animal production ibrahim badamasi babangida university, lapai, niger state, nigeria e-mail: femi2015.ooe@gmail.com prof. (mrs.) iyabo comfort alemede professor department of animal production technology school of agriculture and agricultural technology federal university of technology, minna, niger state, nigeria e-mail: tee_baby2k6@yahoo.com mr. maroof mohammed afolabi department of animal production ibrahim badamasi babangida university, lapai, niger state, nigeria e-mail: mofabs@yahoo.com abstract the study investigated the effect of replacing maize with alternatives (white sorghum, red sorghum, grey millet and brown millet) on the growth performance and cost benefit of broiler chicken. a total of one hundred and fifty (150) day-old aboica strain broiler chicks were purchased for this study and were randomly allotted to five dietary treatments. the five is caloric and is nitrogenous diets for both the starter and finisher phases were formulated with the test ingredients (yellow maize, white sorghum, red sorghum, grey millet and brown millet) as the main source of energy and were designated as t1, t2, t3, t4 and t5. each treatment was further divided into three replicates with ten (10) birds per replicate. the parameters investigated were growth performance and economics of production. this study revealed no significant (p>0.05) differences in weight gain among all the treatment. furthermore, it showed a significantly (p>0.05) lower cost of producing the four alternatives as compared to the control (maize) and higher gross profit. it was concluded that white sorghum, red sorghum, grey millet and brown millet can replace yellow maize without any adverse effect on the health status and general performance of broiler chickens. keywords: cost benefit, millet, performance, sorghum. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:femi2015.ooe@gmail.com mailto:tee_baby2k6@yahoo.com mailto:mofabs@yahoo.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 37 introduction poultry is one of the animals with the highest rate of production and growth ezieshi et al. (2004). oke et al. (2016) also noted that it is the quickest source of meat, as it matures very quickly compared to other livestock. ukomu et al. (2018) added that poultry products are popular and well accepted in all cultural, social and religious functions. poultry meat and egg, generally regarded as the animal source foods, are the best sources of high quality protein and micronutrients that are essential for normal development and good health (anyaegbu et al., 2018). according to taste inc. (2019), chicken provides less calories, as well as low cholesterol and saturated fat than beef. as regards health status, white meat (from chicken) is more preferable for consumption to red meat (beef) as the later has been correlated with increased incidence of certain body challenges, including cancer and heart related ailments (mcanlis, 2019). nosike et al. (2018) clarified that chicken is suitable for high blood pressure and coronary heart disease patients. however, nigerian poultry industry has been witnessing series of problems, owing largely to high cost of feed ingredients, which has been a major problem militating against progress in poultry enterprises in nigeria (anyaegbu et al., 2018). according to igboeli (2000), provision of feed alone accounts for up to 80 % of the total cost of production, enough to rob the farmer of his total profit worth. in view of this ugly development therefore, ukomu et al. (2018) considers it imperative to intensify efforts in the search for cheaper, abundant and locally available alternatives. to this effect, ndanusa (2016) stressed that for good result, such alternatives must be used to replace the major energy or protein sources with the highest rate of inclusion in the diet. the major energy source used in poultry feed formulation is maize. it takes up to 60 % of the poultry diet (oyawoye et al., 2017). maize is also a major staple food for human population in developing countries such as nigeria. hence, there is high competition for maize as livestock feed ingredient and as food by humans, which has led to high cost of maize, thereby increasing the cost of animal feed production. it is this high cost of the commodity, coupled with stiff competition for its consumption between man and livestock that has necessitated its replacement with its alternatives in formulation of poultry feed. according to yisa et al. (2017), the most common alternative cereal grains used in replacement of maize in livestock feed are sorghum and millet. these contain nutritive values that are closely related to those of maize. more so, their inclusion in animal ration has not been found to have significant negative impact on the growth and performance characteristics of chickens. mohamed et al. (2015) had reported an experiment in which sorghum had been used to replace maize up to 45 % and appeared to be biologically better without any adverse effects on broiler production. this study therefore investigated the impact of these important alternatives (white and red sorghum, and grey and brown millet) on the performances and cost benefit of producing broiler chickens. materials and methods experimental location the experiment was conducted at the poultry unit of niger state agricultural and mechanization development authority (namda), maitumbi-shiroro road, minna, niger state, between july and september, 2019. minna is a metropolitan settlement situated in the southern guinea savannnah vegetation belt of central nigeria. it is situated on latitude 90 37’ and longitude 60 33’ (longman, 2003) and bordered by latitude 90 33’ and 90 42’ to the north and longitude 60 27’ and 60 35’ to the east (googlearth, 2012). https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 38 sources of experimental ingredients the test ingredients (maize, sorghum and millet) and soyabean were purchased from maitumbi and gunu markets. vaccines, antibiotics, lysine, methionine and premixes were purchased from step-by-step shop along kpakungu dutsen kura road, opposite minna ultra-modern market, while other ingredients, including bone meal, fishmeal and limestone were purchased from timzac livestock ventures at gbeganu along bida road. experimental diets five experimental diets were formulated using each of the test ingredients (yellow maize, white sorghum, red sorghum, grey millet and brown millet), mixed with other ingredients which included soya bean meal (full soya), fishmeal, wheat offal, bone meal, limestone, salt, lysine, methionine and vitamin premix. they were thoroughly mixed. the diet containing maize, which was the control diet, was labeled t1. the diets containing white sorghum, red sorghum, grey millet and brown millet were labeled t2, t3, t4 and t5 respectively. two categories of the diets were formulated: starter diet which contained 23 % cp and fed to the birds from 1st4th week (table 1), and finisher diet which contained 20 % cp and provided from 5th8th week (table 2). table 1. gross composition of experimental starter diet ingredient (%) treatments______________________ t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 maize 49.9 white sorghum 49.9 red sorghum 49.9 grey millet 49.9 brown millet 49.9 soya bean meal 31.6 31.6 31.6 31.6 31.6 fish meal 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 wheat offal 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 bone meal limestone 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 salt 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 *premix 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 lysine 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 methionine 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 total 100 100 100 100 100 calculated value (%): crude protein metabolizable energy (kcal/kg) 22.14 2764.65 21.64 2733.71 21.64 2733.71 22.64 2370.44 22.64 2370.44 * agri-mix: a – 12,000,000iu; vitamin b1 – 2,000mg; vitamin b6 – 3,500mg; vitamin b12 – 20mg; vitamin d3 – 3,000,000iu; vitamin e – 30,000mg; vitamin k3 – 2,500mg; antioxidanrt – 125,000mg, biotin – 80mg; calpan – 10,000mg, choline chloride – 200,000mg; cobalt – 250mg, copper – 8,000mg, folic acid – 1,000mg; iodine – 1,200mg; iron – 40,000mg; manganese – 70,000mg; niacin – 40,000mg; selenium – 250mg; zinc – 60,000mg. t1 = yellow maize based diet, t2 = white sorghum based diet t3 = red sorghum based diet, t4 = grey millet based diet, t5 = brown millet based diet https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 39 table 2. gross composition of experimental finisher diet ingredients (%) treatments________________________ t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 yellow maize 59.0 white sorghum 59.0 red sorghum 59.0 grey millet 59.0 brown millet 59.0 soya bean meal 22.0 22.0 22.0 22.0 22.0 fish meal 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 4.0 wheat offal 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 10.0 bone meal limestone 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 2.0 0.7 salt 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 *premix 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 salt 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 lysine 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.5 methionine 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.3 total calculated values: 100 100 100 100 100 cp (%) 20.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 20.0 energy kcal/kg 3460.7 3496.5 3446.2 3400.6 3453.6 *agri-mix: a – 12,000,000iu; vitamin b1 – 2,000mg; vitamin b6 – 3,500mg; vitamin b12 – 20mg; vitamin d3 – 3,000,000iu; vitamin e – 30,000mg; vitamin k3 – 2,500mg; antioxidanrt – 125,000mg, biotin – 80mg; calpan – 10,000mg, choline chloride – 200,000mg; cobalt – 250mg, copper – 8,000mg, folic acid – 1,000mg; iodine – 1,200mg; iron – 40,000mg; manganese – 70,000mg; niacin – 40,000mg; selenium – 250mg; zinc – 60,000mg. t1 = yellow maize based diet t2 = white sorghum based diet t3 = red sorghum based diet t4 = grey millet based diet t5 = brown millet based diet experimental birds and management before the arrival of the chicks, the pen was thoroughly cleaned and disinfected. although well ventilated, adjustable air-resistant nylons were used to cover all the sides to ensure warmth. the floor was also well insulated with a thick layer of wood shavings upon which were laid sheets of papers to prevent injury to their eyes and to guard against swallowing of wood shafts. on arrival, they were immediately taken into the pen, already adequately heated using charcoal, to provide warmth for brooding. they were immediately served water containing glucose as anti-stress. feed and clean water were supplied without restriction (ad libitum). vaccination routine was carried out as follows: 2nd week lasota 1st dose https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 40 3rd week gumboro 5th week lasota 2nd dose medication was also made available, through drinking water. vitalyte® was frequently served to prevent stress and improve appetite. virucine® and pox proline® were used for the control and treatment of fowl pox. amprolium® was administered to prevent coccidiosis and neo-furaseryl plus was given when scouring was noticed. fresh water was provided every morning after washing the drinkers. prompt removal and replacement of wet litter ensured a dry pen at all time which, coupled with good ventilation, prevented accumulation of ammonia and foul odor in and around the house. throughout the trial, proper hygiene in and around the house helped to keep disease outbreak at bay. data collection feed intake the amount of feed intake was determined on a weekly basis. a pre-determined quantity of feed was always served. at the end of the week, the left-over weight was subtracted from the amount feed served. body weight the birds were weighed (initial weight) at the start of the trial and weekly interval throughout the experimental period. the weekly body weight for the treatment groups were obtained collectively and divided by the number of birds in the groups to obtain the mean weekly weight for the treatment. body weight gain the body weight gain for each week was obtained by the differences between the body weight for the preceding week and body weight for the current week. body weight gain at the starter phase was determined using kerro weighing scale with model number bl-p1d/20001. at the finisher phase, digital weighing indicator with model number xk3190-a12e was used. feed conversion ratio (fcr) the feed conversion ratio was determined on a weekly basis by dividing the quantity of feed consumed by the weight gain of the birds in each replicate in grams, using the following expression as cited by malik et al. (2010): feed conversion ratio (fcr) = estimated cost of production the costs of feeding one bird per treatment for 8 weeks were determined by:  multiplying the proportions of each ingredient in the diets with the total feed consumed to obtain the actual quantity (kg) of the ingredient consumed.  multiplying the price of each ingredient with the quantity (kg) of that ingredient for the different experimental diets. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 41 statistical analysis all the data obtained were subjected to one-way analysis of variance (anova) using statistical analysis system (sas, 2010) and significant means were separated using duncan’s multiple range test (duncan, 1955). results growth performance of broilers fed diets containing test ingredients at the starter phase table 3 showed results on growth performance of broiler chicks placed on diets containing the test ingredients at the starter phase. the result shows that there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in initial body weight of the birds at the beginning of the experiment and at the final stage of the starter phase (4th week). also, there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in the feed intake and feed conversion ratio among all the treatments. consequently, there was no significant difference in the growth pattern of the birds at the starter phase. however, numerical differences in total weight gains among all the treatments indicated an improvement in growth of birds in treatment 5 over those in treatment 1. birds in treatment 2 (t2) recorded the lowest (817.27g) weight gain. for feed intake, treatment 5 was consistent for recording a higher numerical feed consumption value than treatment 1. treatment 3 has the least feed intake. the best (1.55) feed conversion ratio was recorded in birds fed treatments 1 and 5. there were no mortalities throughout the feeding period. table 3. growth performance of broiler fed diets containing test ingredients at starter phase parameter treatment sem p value t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 initial weight (g) 41.12 40.17 41.61 38.88 38.21 2.05 0.46 final weight (g) 899.15 857.44 867.75 862.37 898.22 9.31 0.09 total weight gain (g) 858.03 817.27 826.15 823.47 860.01 10.48 0.12 total feed intake (g) 1326.60 1330.37 1305.37 1318.27 1334.40 23.15 0.08 average daily weight gain (g) 30.64 29.18 29.50 29.41 30.71 0.37 0.06 average daily feed intake (g) 47.38 47.51 46.62 47.08 47.66 0.83 0.15 feed conversion ratio mortality (%) 1.55 0.00 1.63 0.00 1.58 0.00 1.60 0.00 1.55 0.00 0.31 0.01 0.25 0.00 abc means of the same row with different superscript were significantly (p<0.05) different sem = standard error of mean lsd = least significant difference ns = not significant t1 = yellow maize based diet t2 = white sorghum based diet t3 = red sorghum based diet t4 = grey millet based diet t5 = brown millet based diet growth performance of broilers fed test ingredients at the finisher phase table 4 showed the result of growth performance of the birds at the finisher phase (4 – 8 weeks). similar to starter phase, there were no significant (p>0.05) differences across all the treatment values at the finisher phase. however, treatment 2 appeared to show a little improvement in growth at the final phase above the record in the starter phase. this prompted it to rank relatively https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 42 equal in total weight gain with treatment 4, although both still record the lowest numerical values. numerically, treatment 5 still recorded the highest value in total weight gain. like in the starter phase, it was higher than treatment 1, which was subsequently higher than treatments 2, 3 and 4. daily feed intake across the treatments revealed progressive growth pattern of the birds. birds in treatment 2 consumed highest, with resultant improvement in their growth, though way below treatment 3. feed intake in treatment 5 was higher than in treatment 1, and so there was a resultant higher body weight. while the feed conversion ratio of treatment 5 and treatment 1 remained the same, it differed for treatments 2, 3 and 4. table 4. growth performance of broilers fed diets containing test ingredients at finisher phase parameters treatment sem p value t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 initial weight (g) 899.15 857.44 867.75 862.37 898.22 9.32 0.00 final weight (g) 2730.74 2586.93 2625.63 2592.09 2735.58 40.08 0.00 total weight gain (g) 1831.59 1729.49 1757.88 1729.72 1837.36 32.65 0.62 total feed intake (g) 4444.42 4503.59 4475.23 4383.35 4464.44 50.09 0.25 av. daily weight gain (g) 65.41 61.77 62.67 61.78 65.62 1.79 0.25 av. daily feed intake (g) 158.73 160.82 159.83 156.55 159.44 1.17 0.62 feed conversion ratio (g) mortality (%) 2.43 3.33a 2.60 0.00ab 2.55 0.00ab 2.53 3.33a 2.43 3.33a 0.06 0.20 0.58 0.00 abc means of the same row with different superscript were significantly (p<0.05) different sem = standard error of mean lsd = least significant difference ns = not significant t1 = yellow maize based diet t2 = white sorghum based diet t3 = red sorghum based diet t4 = grey millet based diet t5 = brown millet based diet cost benefit of broiler chickens fed diets containing test ingredients table 5 showed the cost benefit of broiler chickens fed diets containing test ingredients. cost of feed production per kilogram was significantly (p<0.05) highest in treatment 1. although all the remaining treatments did not vary significantly, it was observed that dietary treatment 2 had the cheapest cost of production. total cost of investment also varied relative to the cost of feed per kilogram. in all, treatment 1 attracted significantly (p<0.05) highest cost of investment. however, unlike in the case of cost of feed per kg, treatment 5 had the lowest cost of total investment. gross return did not vary significantly (p>0.05) across the treatment means. however, treatment 5 had a higher return than treatment 1, which in turn was higher than all other treatments. for the gross profit, treatment 5 emerged significantly (p<0.05) highest. it is followed by treatment 2 which was also significantly (p<0.05) higher than treatment 3. although treatment 4 had a higher profit margin, it was not significantly (p>0.05) different from treatment 2. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 43 table 5. economics of production of broiler chickens fed diets containing test ingredients parameters t1 t2 t3 t4 t5 cost at day old (n) 230 230 230 230 230 final weight (kg) 2.73 2.59 2.63 2.59 2.74 total feed intake (kg) 5.77 5.93 5.79 5.70 5.79 cost of feed/kg (n) 151.66 141.44 142.89 146.26 142.37 total cost of feed intake (n) 875.08 838.74 827.33 833.68 824.32 fixed cost (n) 430 430 430 430 430 total investment (n) 1535.08 1498.74 1487.33 1493.68 1484.32 cost of bird/kg (n) 800 800 800 800 800 gross return (n) gross profit (n) 2184 648.92 2072 573.26 2104 616.67 2072 578.32 2192 707.68 total cost of feed intake = cost of feed/kg x total feed intake total investment = fixed cost + total cost of feed intake + cost at day old gross return = final weight x cost of bird/kg gross profit = gross return – total investment discussion growth performance of broiler chickens fed diets containing test ingredients the results showed no significant (p<0.05) differences in growth among the experimental diets at both starter and finisher phases. this compared well with the results obtained by akinmoladun et al. (2015) when they fed broilers different energy sources using maize as the control. adamu et al. (2006) also reported no significant side effect on growth when sorghum completely replaced maize in poultry diets. the result is also supported by medegu et al. (2010) who reported no significant differences in the dry matter (dm) intake in chick fed sorghum and millet as replacement for maize. the current study shows that initial weight, final weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio of the birds did not differ (p<0.05) significantly for the various treatments at the two phases. although this is in complete harmony with medegu et al. (2010) who had reported similar results earlier, it is however noteworthy that treatment 3 which contained red sorghum outperformed treatment 2 which is white-sorghum based, in the two phases. this does not agreed with the findings of selle et al. (2013) and liu et al. (2015) which revealed that white sorghum-based diets had a better performance than chickens offered red sorghum-based diets. the result also contradicts the assertion of freitas (2014) that white sorghum was easier for animals to digest than the red variety. one probable cause for this incongruence may be that the red sorghum procured for this experiment was very low, or absent in, tannin content. if this is the case, then it will compare favorably with the report of jacquie (2015) that there is now availability of tannin-free sorghum which tremendously improves its value in poultry diets. also, according to rooney et al. (2000), tannin-free red sorghum had higher total phenols than white sorghum. cost benefit of broiler chickens fed diets containing test ingredients economics of production analysis indicated that the highest cost per kilogram of feed belongs to https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 44 the control diet (treatment 1) and the cheapest was treatment 2, closely followed by treatment 5. treatment 5 recorded the highest profit margin. from the outset, it would appear that treatment 1 had a profit margin higher than treatments 2, 3 and 4. however, when the gross profit is compared with the total cost of investment in each treatment, it becomes obvious that all the studied alternatives performed better than the control (treatment 1) in terms of economic gain. the cost differentials in the study can be explained from two standpoints – current market prices of the test ingredients at the time of their purchase and their nutrient contents, particularly energy. a kilogram of yellow maize sold for n73.33 while grey and brown millets cost n66.67. white sorghum was the lowest in price at n53.33 per kilogram followed by red sorghum at n60 per kilogram. consequently, white sorghum offered the lowest cost of production, but this advantage is overshadowed by brown millet which has a higher content of both crude protein and energy. despite costing more than white sorghum and included at a level higher than all other test ingredients in their various dietary preparations, it considerably reduced the quantity of soya beans needed for balancing dietary treatment 5 (tables 3.2 and 3.3). this led to the eventual drop in the cost per kilogram of treatment 5 since soya bean meal, being a protein source in the diets, costs a whooping n180 per kilogram. the economic parameter obtained in this study compares favorably with the result obtained by gebeyew et al. (2015) who reported in a similar study that sorghum was more profitable in replacement for maize in broiler diet. in a more incisive study, yunusa et al. (2015) deduced that the two varieties of millet (gero and dauro) were a better substitute to maize in terms of performance and economic advantage. conclusion from this study there was reduced cost of production when maize was replaced with sorghum and millet. the cereals were less expensive compared to maize and they were equally readily available. it is however safe to conclude that millet and sorghum can completely replace yellow maize in broiler diets without adverse effects. nevertheless, birds fed brown millet (gero) had the highest performance and best cost benefit and so, recommended as a replacement for maize in broiler diets. it is also recommended that further studies should be conducted on other poultry species such as layers and turkeys, to ascertain the suitability of these alternative energy sources. government should intervene in form of grants and subsidies to farmers, to encourage large scale production of millet and sorghum. references adamu, m.s., nafarnda, w.d., iliya, d.s., & kubkomawa, h.i. (2006). replacing value of yellow sorghum (sorghum bicolor) for maize in broiler diets. global journal of agricultural science, 5(2), 151-154. akinmoladun, o.f., onibi, g.e., & lamuwagun, a.t. (2015). performance and economics of productions of broiler chicks fed diets of varying energy levels. proceedings of 40th conferences of nigerian society for animal production, 15th – 19th march, napri/abu zaria. pp. 399-402. anyaegbu, b.c., okunkwo, d.n., nosike, r.j., & orji, m.c. (2018). growth performance of starter broilers fed processed cocoyam (xanthsoma sagittifolium) as energy source in place of maize. nigerian journal of animal production, 44(3), 230-237. duncan, d.b. (1955). multiple range tests and multiple f-tests biometrics, 11, 1-42 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 45 ezieshi, e.v., okhuenbie, i.f., ezennabike, c.c., & olomu, j.m. (2004). comparative performances of broiler chicks fed graded levels of palm kernel oaks and maize offal. proceedings of the 29th annual conference of nigerian society for animal production (nsap). pp. 253-256. frietas, e.r., raquel, d.c., nasciments a.j.n, watanabe, p.h., & lopes, i.r.v. (2014). complete replacement of corn by white or red sorghum in japanese quails feeds. brazilian journal of poultry science, 16(3), 333-336. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516635x1603333-336 gebeyew, k., mohamed, a., & urge, m. (2015). the effect of replacing maize with sorghum on carcass characteristics and economics feasibility on commercial broiler chicken. poultry, fish and wildlife science, 3(1), 1-5. googlearth. (2013). minna, nigeria a satellite image. retrieved from www.googlearth.com igboeli, g. (2000). animal production and agriculture in the new millennium. nigeria journal of animal production, 26, 1-3. jacquie, j. (2015). common feed ingredients in poultry diets. retrieved from https://articles.extension.org/pages /68432 liu, s.y., fox, g., khoddami, a., neilson, k.a., truong, h.h., & moss, a.f. (2015). grain sorghum: a conundrum for chicken-meat production. agriculture, 5(4), 1224-1251. malik, a.a., balogun, o.o., & dikko, a.h. (2010). an evaluation of the effect of storage of a locally produced and natural vitamin premise on the performance of layers hens. journals of agriculture, forestry and social sciences, 8(1), 208-214. mcanlis, c. (2019). white meat vs. red meat. retrieved from https://www.fitday.com medegu, c.i., kwari, i.d., igwebuike j., nkama i., & mohammed i.d. (2010). performance and economics of production of broiler chickens fed sorghum and millet as replacement for maize in the semi-arid zone of nigeria. agriculture and biology journal of north america, 11, 445-450. mohamed, a., urge, m., & gebeyew, k. (2015). effects of replacing maize with sorghum on growth and feed efficiency of commercial broiler chicken. journal of veterinary science & technology, 6(3), 1-5. ndanusa, m. (2016). effect of replacement of maize with soaked mango seed kernel meal on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of broiler chickens. an undergraduate thesis in the department of animal production, federal university of technology, minna, niger state. p 3. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-635x1603333-336 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1516-635x1603333-336 https://articles.extension.org/pages%20/68432 https://www.fitday.com/ https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 46 nosike, r.j., nwakpu, o.f., & okocha, c.n. (2018). phenotypic correlations between biological markers and growth traits in arbor acres broiler chicken strain. nigerian journal of animal productions, 45(2), 21-28. oke, f.o., oluwatosin, o.o., & adeyemi, o.a. (2016). performance characteristics and nutrient digestibility of finisher turkeys fed diets containing malted sorghum with varying combinations of additives. nigerian journal of animal production, 43(1), 77. oyawoye, e.o., joseph, d.s., & okurerie, a.m. (2017). replacement value of sundried cassava peel meal for maize in broiler ration. proceedings on 42nd annual conference nigerian society for animal production. pp. 434-437. rooney, l.w., & waniska, r.d., (2000). sorghum food and industrial utilization. in: smith, c.w., frederiksen, r.a. (eds). sorghum: origin, history, technology and production. wiley, new york. pp. 689-729. sas. (2010). statistical analysis system sas/stat 9.2 user guide. sas institute incorporation, cary, north carolina, usa. selle, p.h., liu, s.y., & cowieson a.j. (2013). steam-pelleting temperatures, grain variety, feed form and protease supplementation of mediumly ground sorghum-based broiler diets: influences on growth performance, relative gizzard weights, nutrient utilization, starch and nitrogen digestibility. animal production science, 53, 378-387. taste inc. (2019). battle of the meats: chicken vs. beef. retrieved from https://www.tasteinc.com ukomu, e.c., ohanaka, a.u.c., uzegbu, h.o., & oduehie d.n. (2018). response of finisher broiler birds fed graded levels of yam peel meal as an energy source in maize-based diet. nigerian journal of animal production, 45(2), 185-188. yisa, g., edache, j.a., kamshiwe, b. yaro, b., & okwechime, a. (2017). comparative effects of different cereal grains on growth performance of broiler starter chickens. 42nd annual conference of nigerian society for animal production. pp. 457-459. yunusa, y., doma, u.d., zahraddeen, d., abubakar, s.b., umar, a., & isah, a. (2015). performance and economics of production of broiler chickens fed different dietary energy sources. asian journal of poultry science, 9, 41-49. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). https://www.tasteinc.com/ american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 19 strategies for agricultural produce exports by nigerian firms ifediora chuka uzoma ph.d department of marketing university of nigeria, nigeria e-mail: chuka.ifediora@unn.edu.ng nwankwo clement department of marketing university of nigeria, nigeria ifediora raluchukwu ifeoma doctoral candidate department of educational administration and planning ebonyi state university,abakaliki ,nigeria abstract this study dwelt on the strategies for agricultural produce exports by nigerian firms. the specific objective was to identify the most significant and commonly adopted strategies for agricultural produce exports by nigerian exporting firms. survey research method was used for the study with structured questionnaire used for data collection. the data gathered was analyzed using factor analysis. findings show that 13 out of 21 components of 5 factors such as product adaptation, pricing adaptation, promotion adaptation, distribution adaptation and other related exporting strategies were the most significant and commonly adopted strategies for exporting agricultural produce by nigerian export firms. these other related strategies include market scope, technology strength, brand name, export experience, retention capacity, face-to-face marketing, product service quality, market position, competitive pricing; export marketing attitude, channel development, policy, and size of the exporting firm. it was concluded that exporting agricultural produce from nigeria can only be successfully done if strategies like product adaptation strategies; pricing adaptation; promotional adaptation, distribution adaptation and other related exporting strategies are adopted. to the prospective exporting firms and individuals, it is recommended that they plan their exports around these strategies to enhance success in the export market. keywords: agricultural produce, strategies, exports, nigerian firms 1. introduction globalization and economic treaties both increasingly intensify the internationalization of businesses (morgan, katsikeas & vorhies,2012). exporting is one of the means through which businesses that were once operating within domestic markets can gain new access to international market space (leonidou & katsikeas, 2010). as of 2008, exports accounted for over 25% of the world’s gross domestic product (world bank, 2008). despite the growth in exporting business, there are risks and barriers of different kinds that pose challenges against exporting performance (jensen & davis, 1998). many years ago, it used to be difficult for companies especially manufacturers to export their goods to countries abroad because there were several protectionist policies, including local tariffs and quotas but in recent years, however, countries have been removing the tariff barriers consequent to the increasing rate of trade liberalizations and economic treaties signed among countries of like-minds. despite this, exporting firms are still faced with some trade barriers referred to as 'technical' or 'non-tariff' barriers which are basically national technical requirements arising from local laws, regulations and standards, together with conformity certification schemes all of which may affect the design, manufacture, markings and use of some products in the concerned target country. many of these technical barriers to trade have not been put up to eliminate exports, but are either an inherent part of the make-up of the importing country or the consequence of a historical situation. in most cases, these barriers are http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 20 not in any way new and have existed for some time. they have become more pronounced in the last decade due to the substantial increase in trade between nations and the associated growth in competition for the markets involved. competition has also been the challenge facing exporting businesses – especially among most african exporting firms. they export mainly agricultural products that are hardly differentiable like cocoa, rubber, beans, cashew nuts among others, all at competitive pricing. scores of other barriers that face most exporting firms include buyers’ awareness or attitudes about the product in the foreign market, export country product regulations, import restrictions (jensen & davis, 1998; robino, 1980; moini, 1997; barker & kaynak, 1992), financial and market risk barriers such as lack of proper market research or trade leads, exchange rate risk, or inability to obtain financing for export have also been cited as barriers to exporting (shoham & albaum, 1995; bauerschmidt, sullivan, & gillespie, 1985; bodur, 1986; cavusgil, 1984; howard & borgia, 1991; katsikeas, 1994; kedia & chhokar, 1996). nigerian export firms are not excluded from these challenging experiences in export businesses. in overcoming these barriers, many exporting firms adopt a variety of strategies such as export marketing budget allocations (francis & collins-dodd, 2000); selling force efficacy, product adaptation and service levels development (mcguiness & blair, 1981; czinkota & johnson, 1981); export marketing commitment (dean et al., 2000); and several others. these strategies have been broadly adopted because of their performance generating potencies (gomez & valenzuela, 2006). bringing these down to nigerian export business level, recently, the nigerian government lamented citizens’ overdependence on imported goods. the government now engages in the promotion of exports and local content consumption, a paradigm shift that is targeted toward gradual diversification of the nigerian economy, away from oil to agriculture (oyeniyi, 2009). the chances of the prospective exporting firms succeeding in this new move, considering the scores of barriers awaiting them in international markets majorly depends on the various strategies the existing ones have been adopting. this current study, therefore, seeks to determine the most common and significantly adopted strategies for exporting agricultural produce by nigerian firms. 2. objective of the study the primary objective of this study is to address strategies for agricultural produce exports by nigerian firms. specifically, the study seeks to identify the most significant and commonly adopted strategies for agricultural produce exports by nigerian export firms. 3. review of literature 3.1 conceptualizations strategy is defined merely as a plan of action or an elaborate and systematic plan of action. in the military, it is described as a military intelligence used in command, planning and conduct of a war. in managerial economics, resources meant to achieve organizational goals are in limited supply. therefore, strategy is needed for setting realizable goals and to determine actions for achieving the goals and lastly, mobilize resources for executing the actions (freedman, 2015; simandan, 2018). in other words, strategy is a comprehensively planned guide to achieving some set goals. blending this ultimate meaning into the context of this current study, strategy for agricultural produce exports or export strategy for agricultural products – merely refers to the systematic plan of action for taking agricultural produce from one country to international markets. before elaborating on this, it is worthy first to examine the concept of export. from international marketing literature, the term export merely refers to the process of taking goods and services from one country to another for sale. export is a broad subject. it covers a wide array of activities that require diverse skills. on a broader basis, before resolving to take goods and services to international markets, exporting companies need to address specific factors including their reasons for wanting to export all regarding  strategy – why do they need to export their goods or services;  research – how to get to know the various marketplaces abroad;  sales and marketing – identifying the customers and markets for the goods to be exported;  finance – ensuring payment for goods supplied;  freight and documentation – ensuring that delivery is not delayed; and  after-sales support – providing for spares, servicing, warranty claims among others. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 21 the ‘strategy’ mentioned in (i) above is different from the concept of ‘export strategy’ referred to in this current study. this strategy is referring to the firm’s business strategy (i.e., finding a new market for their product usually as a result of stiff competition in the domestic market). however, the concept of ‘export strategy’ refers to the approach or planned method of entering the international market (adegbuyi, 2011). ideally, knowing where to begin from is usually the hardest part of exporting. often, this is influenced by the degree of awareness or knowledge the exporting company has about the international market together with its understanding of the world demand for its product and also with its ability to spot new market opportunities in the international marketplace (morgan et al., 2012). the next stage is to initially test and confirm the market potential for its product and then convert the information garnered into a working plan that can be meaningful and worthwhile for the export business. there is no single strategy described as the golden rule for exporting goods and services. research authors and scholars of international trade have advocated for diverse strategies for exporting which may form part of the strategies nigerian exporting firms too are adopting for exporting agricultural products. to know more about these, a thorough review of existing studies would be required. 2.2 theoretical framework the theoretical thinking regarding the use of appropriate strategies for exporting agricultural produces as purportedly driven by this current study has been approached from different perspectives in past studies. some authors use the resource-based view (rbv) while some use the dynamic capability view (dcv) (alegre, & plabarber, 2014). however, cieslik, kaciak and thongpapanl(2015) propose that an exporting firm’s success depends not only on its given portfolio of resources and capabilities as argued by the resource-based view (rbv) but also on its capacity and ability to continually change and adjust to international uncertainties. hence they complement rbv with the dcv (teece, pisano & amy, 1997). another suitable growing theory for describing internationalization strategies is the uppsala model which postulates that the traditional internationalization pattern of every first timer exporting firm should have a narrow-to-broader market scope. according to kuivalainen et al., (2012), the firms should gradually increase the number and diversity of the markets they serve. these three theories are useful and suitable for this study especially in this period that the nigerian government is encouraging domestic agribusiness to go international. the uppsala model is a suitable theory for explaining the strategy of entry for prospective exporting firms. the dynamic capability view and the resourcebased view are both useful for explaining the strategies existing exporting firms can adopt just as cieslik et al. (2015) proposed. 2.3 empirical reviews quite some studies have been done on export marketing strategies. some authors explored various strategies exporting firms adopt about their performance while some authors assess the strategy implementation as it drives the firms’ performance. while the focus of this current study is on the formal taxonomy of research works, cieslik et al. (2015) studied the effect of export experience and market scope strategy on export performance drawing evidence from poland. findings indicate that a firm’s export experience and performance have an inverted s-shaped relationship, i.e., performance is increasing at low and high levels but decreasing at moderate levels of experience. findings also indicate that the relationship between the increase in the number of export countries and export performance is initially positive, but becomes negative over time. third, over time the growth of a firm’s share of the primary export market is found to be negatively related to export performance. zeriti, robson, spyropoulou and leonidou (2014) is yet another essential study carried out on a sustainable export marketing strategy fit and performance. their findings indicate that sustainable export marketing strategy adaptation requires adequate fit with this macroand micro-environmental factors such as competitive intensity, economic and technological conditions, stakeholder pressures and customer characteristics. leonidou, katsikeas and samiee (2002) also did a study on a meta-analysis of marketing strategy determinants of export performance. findings indicate that marketing strategy variables have positive effects on overall export performance but, the relationship is not always significant. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 22 oyeniyi (2009) studied the effect of marketing strategy on export performance drawing evidence from nigeria. findings reveal that the overall export performance was related to marketing strategies adaptation, including product adaptation, promotion adaptation and firm market position. however, the uniqueness of product features was negatively related to product and promotion adaptation which can be attributed to another variability outside the scope of the study. top management commitment was also directly related to the higher level of price competitiveness. oyeniyi, obamiro and ogunnaike (2008) also did a study on marketing strategy and performance with evidence from nigerian export companies. their findings indicate that the firms’ product adaptation, promotion adaptation and firm marketing position affect the firm’s export performance. still, on export strategies, adebguyi (2011) also researched on the marketing strategies and performance of agricultural marketing firms in nigeria focusing on the conceptual and empirical integration. the study examines the application of contemporary marketing strategies and their impact on agricultural marketing firms performance in south-west nigeria. findings show that there is a combined contribution of transaction marketing (arms-length, marketing mix, functional marketing and internal capacity) in predicting customers' acquisition. the study also revealed that there is a significant difference in generating retention capacity as well as improved market share between agricultural marketing companies with high adoption of database marketing and those with low adoption of database marketing. it was also observed that agricultural marketing firms with high and low use of face-to-face and dyadic relationship marketing have a significant difference in sales value and volume. the results equally show that agricultural marketing firms with high and low penetration of network marketing have a significant difference in market share. 2.4 gaps in the reviewed literature some gaps can be identified from the reviewed academic studies. first, it can be deduced that there are few or small studies on export strategies not to talk of the ones carried out in the context of nigerian exporting firms. among those studies previously carried out in nigeria, only adegbuyi (2011) approached export strategies from the contemporary practices and be as well carried out on export of the agricultural product. one limitation of adegbuyi’s (2011) study is that it was carried out in south-west nigeria and its findings cannot be generalized on all exporting firms from the entire six (6) geopolitical zones in the country. therefore, there is still a need for a replica of this study is south-east nigeria. 2.5 meta-analysis of strategies adopted for exports from the studies reviewed in the preceding section, some export strategies were studied, some of which might form part of the strategies adopted for agricultural produce exports by nigerian firms by nigerian firms. a cursory analysis of the approach of each of these authors shows that the strategies commonly adopted for export depend on the marketing mix elements such as product strategy, pricing strategy, promotional strategy and place/distribution strategy. oyeniyi’s (2009) study among others testified to this. importantly, the authors agree on adaptation strategy. from these strategies, therefore, a list of strategies was extracted for measuring the strategies adopted for agricultural produce exports by nigerian firms (see appendix i). 3.methodology survey research method was adopted for this study. the study was carried out in southeast nigeria. specifically, among nigerian exporting firms. a sample of 70 exporting firms was selected for this study across the five (5) southeast states using snowball sampling technique. the nigerian export promotion council was the starting point for identifying the export firms. in line with adegbuyi (2011), a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. the questionnaire was validated using content validity method and its reliability was ascertained using cronbach’s alpha method of testing internal consistency. principal component analysis which is a method of factor analysis was used to test the hypothesis formulated for this study. 4.results and discussion out of the 70 copies of questionnaire administered on the exporting firms’ owners in southeastern states in nigeria, four copies were not returned. only 66 copies were returned and this gives a success response rate of 94.29%. the demographic data of the respondents is presented and analyzed in appendix ii. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 23 appendix ii presents the demographic data of the respondents (exporting firms’ owners). their gender distribution data indicates that 48(72.7%) are males while 18(27.3%) others are female export firm owners. the number of exporters captured across the southeast nigeria states showed that 15(22.7%) of them are from abia state, 12(18.2%) of them are from anambra state, 17(25.8%) are from ebonyi state, 13(19.7%) are from enugu state while 9(13.6%) are from imo state. as for their educational qualification, none of them is presently a first school leaving certificate holder but 2(3.0%) of them said they are o’level (i.e., gce/ssce) holders, 16(24.2%) are holders of ond/nce, 37(56.1%) of them said that they are bsc/hnd holders while 11(16.7%) others are postgraduate degree holders. the exporters’ years of experience showed that 7(10.6%) of them have < 5years of experience, 19(28.8%) have 5 – 9years experience, 26(39.4%) have 10 – 14years experience, while 14(21.2%) have ≥ 15years experience. the implication of the educational qualification and years of experience of the exporters indicate that majority of them are learned and are well experienced in exporting business. 4.1 test of hypothesis to identify the most significant and commonly adopted strategies for agricultural produce exports by nigerian exporting firms, the responses gathered from the exporting firms’ owners in southeast nigeria were used and were subjected to test using principal component analysis method of factor analysis using spss version 17.0. the result of the test is presented in appendix iii. appendix iii presents the total variance explained using an eigen-value of ≥ 0.5. out of the 21 components measured, only 13 components could be explained with a cumulative variance of 91.186%. the implication of this is that 13 out of 21 components explain 91.186% cumulative variance. eight others are invariably not significant. they do not carry heavy factor loading. hence, they are insignificant. out of the 21 components measured, only 13 components were extracted as the most significant and commonly adopted strategies for exporting agricultural produce by nigerian firms. as orderly extracted, the components include – market scope; technology strength; brand name; export experience; retention capacity; face-to-face marketing; product service quality; market position; low/competitive pricing; export marketing attitude; channel development; policy; and size of the exporting firm. these components are further classified under each factor as thus; product adaptation strategies others product/service quality export experience policy market scope brand name size of the exporting firm pricing adaptation export marketing attitude low/competitive pricing technology strength promotional adaptation market position retention capacity distribution adaptation face-to-face marketing channel development based on this result, it can be deduced that the exports strategies found significant include: product adaptation strategies; pricing adaptation; promotional adaptation distribution adaptation and other exporting strategies as obtained from existing studies. these findings are consistent with existing studies like adegbuyi (2011), cavusgil (1983), oyeniyi (2009) and many others. 5. conclusion and recommendation this study has empirically investigated the various strategies nigerian exporting firms commonly adopted for exporting agricultural produce. findings have clearly shown that marketing mix adaptation strategies are the gateways for successful exporting of agricultural produces. it can now be concluded that exporting agricultural produce from nigeria can be successfully done if strategies like product adaptation strategies; pricing adaptation; promotional adaptation distribution adaptation and other related exporting strategies are adopted. to the prospective www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 24 exporting firms and individuals, it is recommended that they plan their exports around these strategies if they must succeed at all. references aaby, n. & slater, s. f. (1989). management influences on export performance: a review of the empirical literature 1979 – 88. international marketing review, 6(4) 7 – 26. adegbuyi, o. (2011). marketing strategies and performance of agricultural marketing firms: conceptual and empirical integration study from nigeria. lambert academic publishing gmbh & co. kg, 5(1), 11– 21. barker, t. & kaynak, e. (1992). an empirical investigation of the differences between initiating and continuing exporters. european journal of marketing, 26 (3):27–35. bauerschmidt, e., sullivan, d. ,& gillespie, k. (1985). common factors underlying barriers to export: studies in the u.s. paper industry. journal of international business studies, 16: 111–123. bodur, m. (1986). a study on the nature and intensity of problems experienced by turkish exporting firms. advances in international marketing, 1, 205–232. cavusgil, t. (1984). differences in exporting firms based on their degree of internationalization. journal of business research, 12:195–208 christen, c., da rocha, a. & gernter, r. (1987). an empirical investigation of the factors influencing exporting success of brazilian firms. journal of international business studies, 18:61–77. cieslik, j., kaciak, e., & thongpapanl, n. (2015). effect of export experience and market scope strategy on export performance: evidence from poland. international business review, 24, 772–780.url: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ibusrev.2015.02.003 cooper, r. g., & kleinschmidt, e. t. (1985). the impact of export strategy on export sales performance, journal of international business studies, 16(spring) pp. 37 – 55. cunha,r.d. & rocha,t.v. (2015). export marketing strategy and performance among micro and small brazilian enterprises, in s. zou, h. xu & l. shi (eds.). entrepreneurship in international marketing (advances in international marketing, volume 25) emerald group publishing limited, pp.129 – 159. czinkota, m.r. & johnson, m.j. (1981), exporting: does sales volume make a difference? journal of international business studies, 14(1), 147-153. douglas, s. p. & craig, c. s. (1989). evolution of global marketing strategy: scale, scope and synergy. columbia journal of world business, (fall), 47 – 58. francis, j. & collins-dodd, c. (2000). the impact of firm's export orientation and the export performance of high-tech small and medium sized enterprises. journal of international marketing. 8 (20), 84-103. freedman, l. (2015). strategy: a history. oxford: oxford university press. gomez, m., & valenzuela, a. (2006). export marketing strategies for high performance: evidence from spanish exporting companies. journal of euromarketing, 15(1), 5–28. howard, d. & borgia, d. (1991). exporting and firm size: do small exporters have special needs? journal of global marketing, 4 (1):79–97. jensen, k.& davis, g. (1998). an analysis of export market strategies and barriers perceptions by u. s. agricultural hpv exporters. international food and agribusiness management review, 1(4), 509–524. katsikeas, c. (1994). perceived export problems and export involvement: the case of greek exporting manufactures. journal of global marketing, 7 (4):29–57. kaynak, e. & kuan, w.k. (1993). government, strategy, structure and performance in the context of export activity: an empirical study of taiwanese manufacturing firms. journal of business research, 9270: 33-49. kedia, b. & chhokar, j. (1986). factors inhibiting export performance of firms: an empirical investigation. management international review, 24 (4):33–43 kirpalani, v. h & macintosh, d (1980). international marketing success on collecting more relevant research, in rosson, p. s.,& reid, s.d. (eds.) managing export entry and expansion: an international context, n.y: linger lages, l.f., sandy, d. & griffith, d.a. (2008). the role of past performance in export ventures: a short-term reactive approach, journal of international business studies, 39 (2), 304–325. leonidou, l. c., katsikeas, c. s. and samiee, s. (2002). marketing strategy determinants of export performance: www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 25 a meta-analysis. journal of business research, 55, 51–67. mcguiness, n.w. & blair, l. (1981), the influence of product characteristics on the export performance of new industrial products. journal of marketing, 45, 110-22. moini, a. (1997). barriers inhibiting export performance of small and medium-sized manufacturing firms. journal of global marketing, 10 (4):67–93. morgan, n. a., katsikeas, c. s.& vorhies, d. w. (2012). export marketing strategy implementation, export marketing capabilities, and export venture performance. journal of the academy of marketing science, 40(2), 271–289. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-011-0275-0 oyeniyi, o. (2009). effect of marketing strategy on export performance: evidence from nigerian export companies. annals of university of bucharest, economics and administrative series, (3), 249–261. oyeniyi, o., obamiro, j. k. & ogunnaike, o. o. (2008). marketing strategy and performance; evidence from nigerian export companies. international journal of social and management sciences, ( usa ), 2(1). rabino, s. (1980). an examination of barriers to exporting encountered by small manufacturing companies. management international review, 20 (2):67–73. shoham a. & albaum g. (1995). reducing the impact of barriers to exporting: a managerial perspective. journal of international marketing, 3 (4):85–105. simandan, d.(2018). iterative lagged asymmetric responses in strategic management and long-range planning. time & society. url:https://doi.org/10.1177/0961463x17752652 sousa, c. & bradley, f. (2008), antecedents of international pricing adaptation and export performance. journal of world business, 43(3), 307–320. teece, d., pisano, g.,& amy, s. (1997). dynamic capabilities and strategic management. strategic management journal, 18(7): 509 – 533. theodosiou, m. & katsikeas, c.s. (2001), factors influencing the degree of international pricing strategy standardization of multinational corporations. journal of international marketing, 9 (3), 1–18. world bank. (2008).world development indicators database.washington dc: world bank. zeriti, a., robson, m. j., spyropoulou, s. & leonidou, c. n. (2014). sustainable export marketing strategy fit and performance. journal of international marketing, 22(4), 44–66. appendix appendix i: meta-analysis of export strategies authors exporting strategies cieslik, kuciak and thongpapanl (2015) export experience, market scope zeriti et . (2014) sustainable export marketing strategy fit sousa and bradley (2008), theodosious and katsikeas (2001) pricing strategies kaynak and kuan (1993) size, export volume, export marketing attitude aaby and slater (1989) technological strength, age of the firm, and experience omer (1986) marketing adaptation involves manipulation of marketing mix components (product, promotion, price and distribution) rosenbloom, larsen and mehta (1997) (christensen, da rocha and gertner 1987) product adaptation lages (2000) sholam (1996); donthu and kim (1993) product adaptation strategies include: product quality, service, policy brand name, packaging, styling, appeal, warranty, color and design cavusgil (1983) company offering, role of distributors and agents, promotion function, price/selling terms douglas and craig (1983); cooper and kleinschmidt (1985); kirpalani and macintosh product adaptation, promotion adaptation, channel development and competitive pricing strategies www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 26 (1980) oyeniyi (2009) marketing plan, marketing mix, market adaptation/standardization oyeniyi, obamiro and ogunnaike (2008) export firms’ product adaptation, promotion adaptation and marketing position adegbuyi (2011) transaction marketing: arms-length, marketing mix, functional marketing and internal capacity, retainership capacity, adoption of database marketing, high and low use of face-to-face for making dyadic relationship marketing, network marketing source: compiled by the researchers appendix ii: respondents’ demographic data frequency percent frequency percent gender distribution years of experience in exporting business male 48 72.7% < 5yrs 7 10.6% female 18 27.3% 5 – 9yrs 19 28.8% total 66 100.0% 10 – 14yrs 26 39.4% ≥ 15yrs 14 21.2% education qualification total 66 100.0% fslcert. 0 0.0% o’level 2 3.0% exporters captured from southeast ond/nce 16 24.2% abia 15 22.7% bsc/hnd 37 56.1% anambra 12 18.2% postgraduate 11 16.7% ebonyi 17 25.8% total 66 100.0% enugu 13 19.7% imo 9 13.6% total 66 100.0% source: field survey. appendix iii: total variance explained component initial eigenvalues extraction sums of squared loadings total % of variance cumulative % total % of variance cumulative % 1 5.473 26.062 26.062 5.473 26.062 26.062 2 2.788 13.274 39.336 2.788 13.274 39.336 3 1.634 7.782 47.118 1.634 7.782 47.118 4 1.487 7.081 54.199 1.487 7.081 54.199 5 1.389 6.614 60.813 1.389 6.614 60.813 6 1.277 6.080 66.893 1.277 6.080 66.893 7 1.058 5.037 71.930 1.058 5.037 71.930 8 .902 4.294 76.224 .902 4.294 76.224 9 .770 3.665 79.889 .770 3.665 79.889 10 .688 3.278 83.167 .688 3.278 83.167 11 .602 2.864 86.031 .602 2.864 86.031 12 .572 2.723 88.754 .572 2.723 88.754 13 .511 2.432 91.186 .511 2.432 91.186 14 .416 1.979 93.165 15 .346 1.649 94.815 16 .289 1.376 96.190 17 .255 1.213 97.403 18 .181 .864 98.267 19 .149 .711 98.978 20 .124 .590 99.567 21 .091 .433 100.000 extraction method: principal component analysis. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 27 extracted components component 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 product/service quality .269 .511 .007 .582 .019 .225 .792 .125 .085 .097 .195 .129 .245 policy .268 .272 .622 .148 .143 .401 .164 .017 .009 .070 .258 .460 .329 brand name .174 .023 .783 .017 .051 .238 .225 .072 .182 .041 .342 .116 -.199 packaging .449 .463 .054 .402 .010 .003 .362 .292 .067 .191 .151 .154 .001 product appeal .680 .012 .121 .228 .339 .068 .325 .035 .019 .116 .250 .220 .053 warranty .651 .406 .015 .301 .292 .005 .092 .214 .169 .038 .087 .017 -.054 product feature – colour and design .597 .347 .013 .299 .261 .203 .166 .266 .046 .173 .149 .177 .064 low/competitive pricing .320 .091 .433 .225 .194 .418 .191 .019 .546 .005 .148 .033 .231 retention capacity .179 .031 .057 .255 .647 .135 .130 .609 .012 .159 .047 .021 -.109 network marketing .602 .337 .309 .003 .225 .207 .192 .172 .084 .026 .065 .281 -.199 face-to-face marketing .363 .527 .349 .114 .027 .453 .109 .006 .022 .093 .230 .099 -.298 database marketing .749 .149 .007 .178 .149 .026 .202 .128 .108 .442 .039 .189 -.037 channel development .734 .354 .041 .015 .154 .016 .110 .078 .031 .409 .565 .100 .019 export experience .634 .030 .237 .667 .184 .053 .373 .071 .063 .125 .200 .200 .168 market scope .766 .311 .042 .156 .037 .163 .093 .008 .058 .038 .041 .335 .162 size of the exporting firm .723 .312 .124 .223 .308 .088 .119 .038 .197 .122 .053 .090 .650 export volume .686 .306 .125 .132 .227 .195 .145 .200 .219 .295 .144 .022 -.008 export marketing attitude .296 .666 .196 .224 .102 .359 .149 .095 .137 .613 .087 .229 -.062 technology strength .162 .698 .098 .124 .074 .353 .200 .304 .234 .078 .104 .109 .050 market position .145 .429 .237 .082 .557 .189 .198 .675 .279 .044 .306 .196 -.102 internal capacity .089 .035 .113 .523 .188 .395 .480 .176 .361 .232 .000 .193 .060 extraction method: principal component analysis. a. 13 components extracted. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 9 an assessment of compliance with disclosure requirements of ias 41 (agriculture) by listed agricultural firms in nigeria nura ibrahim busary department umaru musa yar’adua university katsina-nigeria shafi’u abubakar kurfi department of accounting umaru musa yar’adua university katsina-nigeria e-mail: abubakarkurfishafiu@gmail.com tel: +2348034810371 abstract this study examined the extent of compliance with disclosure requirements of ias 41 by agricultural companies listed on the nigerian stock exchange (nse) for the period of 5 years (2013-2017). the data for the study were obtained from the published financial statements of the sampled firms for the period under review from which a compliance index were constructed, the tools for analysis used were the qualitative grading using a compliance index and the one way anova purposely to test the hypotheses proposed. the study observed that three out of the four companies achieved more than 70% with overall mean scores of 76.02%. this shows that majority of the agricultural firms in nigeria strongly complied with the disclosure requirements of ias 41. based on the findings the study recommends among others that firms should strive at all times to comply with all regulatory and statutory requirement in the preparation and presentation of financial statements, giving the fact that it is a set of documents that prescribe the performance of the reporting entity. the financial reporting council of nigeria should publish annually the compliance status of all listed firms in nigeria; so that the compliance status of every firm will become known to all interested users of financial statements; and also the council should urge external auditors of firms to ensure that their clients are complying with the requirements of iass issued by the international accounting standards board (iasb). keywords: agricultural firms, compliance, disclosure, nigeria 1. introduction agriculture is a major source of livelihood throughout the world, in nigeria in has over the years been largely a private indigenous activity in spite of the recent intensification of interest by government in the sector and its official effort to infuse foreign private participation. agriculture covers diverse range of activities; these include raising livestock, forestry, annual or perennial cropping, cultivating orchards and plantations, floriculture, aquaculture (plus fish farming). agricultural activities cannot be detached from the operational processes that comprise the purchasing, transformation, harvesting and the associated sale of produce or offspring (biljon, 2016). these operational processes are recorded and valued to allow agriculturalists to control budgets, increase production, and meet financial obligations and drive profits (bayboltaeva, makulova, abaeva, alibekova & bolysbayeva. 2015). to allow agriculturalists and other users a comparative review and analysis of the financial results, a uniform criterion on how to record and report on the operational activities should exist (baigrie, 2014). accounting standards were developed to detail the requirements of how and when transactions should be recorded (vukmirovic, arsenovic, lalic & milovanovic, 2012). the recording of these transactions and the reporting thereon is regarded as financial accounting. deegan and unerman (2011) define financial accounting as a ‘process involving the collection and processing of financial information to assist in the making various decisions by many parties internal and external to the organisation’. their definition refers to the investors, suppliers, lenders, employees, government, customers and the community as parties interested in the business operations. consistency http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:abubakarkurfishafiu@gmail.com http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international_accounting_standards_board http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international_accounting_standards_board www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 10 in the financial reporting processes of organisations, supported by a uniform valuation and disclosure technique will ensure that financial information can be compared with that of other organisations (gonçalves & lopes, 2015). the harmonization of financial reporting therefore enhances comparability of financial information as the degree of variation of information is restricted (deegan & unerman, 2011). a number of accounting standards have been developed as the required criterion to record agricultural activities and to provide fairly presented results to the financial statement users. the international accounting standard (ias) 41 prescribe the accounting treatment to record the initial purchase of the biological assets, to account for the biological transformation, to value and report on the biological assets and to derecognise the assets at the point of harvest when the inventory is recognised (iasb, 2013). it was issued in 2001 and is applicable to entities engaged in agricultural activities for periods beginning on or after 1st january, 2003 the objective of this study is to determine whether listed agricultural firms in nigeria have complied with disclosure requirement of ias 41 in financial reporting framework; and to determine the level of the compliance. in the light of the above; the following hypotheses were tested: h01: agricultural firms in nigeria have not complied with the disclosure requirement of ias 41 in financial reporting framework. h02: there is no significant difference in the level of compliance with the requirements of ias 41 among listed agricultural firms. 2. literature review accounting standard is defined by yahaya (2011) as an information system through which financial and monetized information is generated for economic, social and political decisions. they are documents developed by standard setting bodies locally and internationally to ensure a high degree of standardization, uniformity and comparability in published financial statements. they have proved to be effective in providing necessary guides on how accounting information should be prepared and presented in order to enhance the value of its contents and facilitate its thorough understanding. the quality of financial information according to kothari (2000) is a function of both the quality of accounting standards and the regulatory enforcement or corporate application of the standards. absence of adequate enforcement, therefore, renders the best accounting standards useless, ineffective and inconsequential. in nigeria, until 2003 when the nigerian accounting standards board (nasb) act was enacted, now financial reporting council of nigeria act, 2011 makes it mandatory for accountants preparing corporate reports to adhere strictly to the provisions of all issued accounting standards, it is imperative therefore that in applying accounting standards it is important to be guided by the spirit and reasoning behind their issuance. however, if in exceptional circumstances compliance with the requirements of an accounting standard is inconsistent with the requirement to give a true and fair view, the requirements of the accounting standard departure from the standard could be permissible to the extent necessary to give a true and fair view. in such cases informed and unbiased judgment should be used to devise an appropriate alternative treatment, which should be consistent with the economic and commercial characteristics of the circumstances concerned (siyanbola, musa, & wula, 2014). ias 41 prescribes the accounting treatment, financial statement presentation, and disclosures related to agricultural activity. agricultural activity is the management of the biological transformation of biological assets (living animals or plants) and harvest of biological assets for sale or for conversion into agricultural produce or into additional biological assets. ias 41 establishes the accounting treatment for biological assets during their growth, degeneration, production and procreation, and for the initial measurement of agricultural produce at the point of harvest. it does not deal with processing of agricultural produce after harvest (for example, processing grapes into wine, or wool into yarn). it does not also apply to land related to agricultural activity (ias 16 property, plant and equipment and ias 40 investment property); and intangible assets related to agricultural activity (ias 38 intangible assets). examples of biological assets are sheep, tress in plantation forest, plants, dairy cattle, bushes, fruit trees, etc. examples of agricultural produce are wool, felled trees, cotton, harvested cane, milk, leaf, grapes, picked fruits etc. (iasb, 2013). 2.1 theoretical framework accounting theory encompasses assumptions, methodologies and frameworks used in the study of financial principles. this involves a review of the historical foundations of accounting practices, as well as the way in which accounting practices are verified and added to the regulatory framework that governs financial statements and financial reporting. this paper dwells on two theories; agency theory and the stakeholder theory. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 11 2.1.1the agency theory the agency theory states that when one party (the principal) delegates decision-making powers to another party (the agent) under a contract, a principal–agent relationship arises (clarke, 2004). the principal-agent relationship is a contract under which one or more persons (principals) engage another person (the agent) to perform some services on their behalf, which involves giving some decision-making authority to the agent. from the business perspective, the agency relationship arises when shareholders (who are the owners of resources) delegate the administration of an entity to management (who administers the enterprise), thus making management the agent of the shareholders. in this kind of relationship, the expectation is that the agent (management) will pursue the shareholders’ wealth maximisation objective (fama & jensen, 1983) the agency theory is relevant to this study because the sampled companies are those listed on the nigerian stock exchange. the managements of these companies are separated from the owners (shareholders) and are required by the respective legal and regulatory authorities to render the account of stewardship to the shareholders at the annual general meetings. in fulfilling this obligation, managements employ the accounting standards and other relevant provisions to disclose information to the shareholders. 2.1.2 the stakeholders theory this theory was developed to address the shortcomings of the agency theory. the agency theory was criticized for prioritizing the interest of the shareholders above the general interest of other stakeholders such as government, employees, and the society at large. this theory argued that firm is a social person and therefore is responsible and accountable not only to the shareholders but to numerous other stakeholders. in the light of this, firms should disclose more information in their financial statement to satisfy the interest of various stakeholders (arthur & busenitz, 2004) 2.2 review of empirical study several studies have been conducted to determine compliance with disclosure requirements of accounting standards within and outside nigeria. hodgdon, tondkar, adhikari & harless (2009) investigate the extent of disclosure compliance by companies from developed countries with non us listings that claim to have complied with iass in 1999 and 2000. the study reveals that the level of compliance from a sample of 101 companies selected from 13 countries (austria, china, czech republic, denmark, finland, germany, hong kong, hungary, italy, netherlands, south africa, sweden and switzerland) is 58% and 64% in 1999 and 2000 respectively. ballas and tzovas (2010) further affirmed significant non-compliance by examining the extent to which greek firms comply with the disclosure requirements of ifrs. financial statements of 32 greek firms were examined for compliance. the compliance ratio was computed as what a company disclosed in its report to what it is obliged to disclose for each category. the study revealed that no single firm fully complied with disclosure requirements while the average compliance rate was 62.9%. the study also revealed that, level of compliance was positively related with company attributes such as listing status, size, and profitability while a negative relationship was established for sector classification. al-mutawaa and hawaidy (2010) empirically investigate the extent of compliance of kuwaiti listed companies with ias/ifrss disclosure requirements and examined the factors associated with the level of compliance. 2006 annual report of 48 non-financial companies were randomly sampled from 121 kuwaiti companies listed and carefully scrutinized for compliance with iass disclosure compliance. standards examined were ias 1, 10, 14, 16, 18, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 32 and 34. the study revealed an overall average compliance rate of 70%. ias 18 was reported as the standard with the highest mean compliance score of 95%. al-shammari (2011) evaluated the extent of compliance with disclosure requirements of international financial reporting standards (ifrss) by 168 companies listed on the kuwaiti stock exchange in 2008 using a selfdisclosure compliance index and multivariate regression analysis to test the relationship between the level of disclosure compliance with ifrss and nine company characteristics. the results showed that the level of compliance by sampled firms is 82%. the findings suffer limitations because the model was able to explain only 40% of the compliance variation coupled with the fact that it is based on assumption that compliance items have the same weight and that companies that are disclosing the most information would have selected the most important information. al-jabri & hussain (2012) assessed the level of disclosure in the annual reports of 94 manufacturing and service firms listed on muscat securities market (msm) in oman. a disclosure checklist consisting of 66 mandatory items was developed to assess the level of disclosure in the 2003 annual reports of the sampled firms to investigate the level of compliance with eight standards namely ias 1, ias 2; ias 10; ias 16; ias 21; ias 24; ias 28 and ias 33. the study reveals that the mean level of compliance by all the sampled firms was 79% while the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 12 minimum compliance level observed was 41%. disclosure with ias 16 shows that it enjoys mean level of compliance of 83%, while item by item analysis reveals a maximum and minimum level of compliance of 100% and 23% respectively. equally significant from the study is the existence of considerable variation between individual companies in terms of the level of compliance with international accounting standards. research on compliance with accounting standards disclosure practice in nigeria include: barde (2009) appraised the extent of compliance with disclosure requirements of sas 2 (information to be disclosed in financial statements) by nigerian oil marketing companies. through the compliance index and chi square technique the study affirms that compliance by sampled firm was 50% for disclosure relating to balance sheet and its content, 100% for all other disclosure requirements of the standard. in a similar study, nyor (2010) who examines compliance with sas 2 (information to be disclosed in financial statements), sas 10 (accounting by banks and nonbank financial institutions) and sas 18 (on statement of cash flows) by nigerian banks for a sample of 6 out of 24 banks listed on the nigerian stock exchange (nse) between 1999 and 2008. the result exposes existence of several areas of noncompliance in each standard. yahaya (2011) assesses the level of nigerian banks’ compliance with 16 statements of accounting standards. twenty selected banks quoted on the nigerian stock exchange constituted the target sample. both primary and secondary sources of data were adopted in carrying out the study with a researcher-designed questionnaire used to obtain data from sampled banks. a total of five hundred randomly selected senior and management staff of banks were chosen as respondents for the study. the annual financial reports of the selected banks from 2005-2009 were also used. the result of anova reveals that there is significant difference between the banks in their level of compliance with statement of accounting standards. sa’idu and umar (2014) study the level of compliance with ifrss as a reporting framework in the nigerian banking industry. using ex-post facto and survey research designs, the study sourced data from structured questionnaire and recent audited financial reports of the sampled banks. qualitative grading system (qgs) was employed in determining the degree of compliance of the banks while multivariate regression and chi-squire test were used in measuring the effect of the factors responsible of such compliance and identified probable difficulties in the process respectively. the study concludes that, nigerian banking industry complied (semi-strongly) with the requirements of ifrs-framework siyambola, zaharadden & adegboye (2014) examined the extent of disclosure compliance with sas 3 and ias 16 by companies listed on the nigerian stock exchange (nse) for the years (2002-2011). the data for the study were obtained from the published financial statements of the sampled listed agricultural firms from which two sets of compliance indexes were constructed, one for the statement of accounting standard (sas) and the other for the international accounting standard (ias). the tools of analysis used were the compliance index and the 2 way anova purposely to test the hypotheses proposed. the study observed that at present nigerian companies are far from achieving the disclosure requirements of ifrs going by poor level of compliance with the international accounting standard (ias) 16 of 34.72% however, studies relating to the implementation of the ias 41 include elad and herbohn (2011) who conducted a survey concerning biological assets in three countries, australia, the united kingdom and france. they have concluded that, as main lessons, the costs of measuring and reporting biological assets at fair value outweigh the benefits and that the fair value accounting model prescribed by the ias 41 increases the volatility of earnings. also silva, figueira, pereira, and ribeiro (2012) have developed a disclosure index concerning the information related to the agricultural sector of 45 brazilian firms regarding the 2010 annual report. the disclosure of the types of biological assets and the reconciliation of the carrying value of their changes are the most frequently reported items, but other items are neglected, such as management risks and other restrictions of biological assets. they have concluded that a higher transparency level in disclosure helps to mitigate information asymmetry. from the review of empirical study above, few studies were conducted on the compliance with requirements of ias 41 (agriculture) and are not related to nigerian firm. it is a result of this therefore that, this study attempt to fill this existing gap in determining whether listed agricultural firms in nigeria have complied with disclosure requirement of ias 41 in their financial reporting framework; and to determine the level of the compliance. 3. methodology this study investigates the level of compliance of quoted companies on the nigerian stock exchange (nse) under agricultural sector with the provisions of ias 41. the study employs secondary data which are sourced from the published financial statements of the firms listed in the sector. the population of study comprises of five listed companies as contained in the nse website as at september, 2018. they are ellah lakes plc., ftn cocoa processing plc., okomu oil palm plc., presco plc. and livestock feeds plc. of the five listed above, four of them www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 13 namely: ellah lakes plc., okomu oil palm plc., presco plc. and livestock feeds plc. were selected. the basic criteria for sample selection are that the sample firms must meet the application criteria provided by ias 41. qualitative grading using a compliance index and anova statistics similar to siyanbola et al., (2014) were used in the data analysis. 4. data analysis and discussion in this study, qualitative grading using a compliance index and anova statistics were used in the data analysis. a total of 21 requirements were developed from the international accounting standard based on a critical review of relevant literatures and concept of ias 41. each of the requirement was assigned a number “r” from requirement 1 (r1) to the last requirement (r21), this study adopted a scoring system of assigning numbers between 1 – 10 depending on the extend of compliance. the criteria used for assessing the overall level of compliance with the requirements of ias 41 in financial reporting by agricultural firms are set out in table 1 below. the criterion set out above provides the decision rule to which the computed compliance index will be lead to acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis of the study. table 1 criteria for grading compliance with requirement of ias 41 by listed agricultural firms in nigeria s/no. percentage point form 1 70% 100% 7 10.0 strongly applied (sa) 2 50% 69% 5 6.9 semi strongly applied (ssa) 3 40% 49% 4 4.9 weakly applied (wa) 4 20% 39% 2 3.9 very weakly applied (vwa) 5 0% 19% 0 1.9 non application (na) source: adopted with modification from siyanbola et al., (2014) the disclosure requirements of ias 41 are clearly arranged in table 2 as it relates to issues that must be addressed in the preparation of financial statements by reporting entities globally. this is to facilitate ease of comparison with the financial statements, awarding scores appropriately and ultimately provide data for analysis using the anova method. the approach adopted for data presentation and analysis is in tandem with siyanbola et al., (2014). the sample companies are ellah lakes plc., okomu oil palm plc., presco plc. and livestock feeds plc. are represented as company 1, company 2, company 3 and company 4 respectively. table 2: disclosure requirement of ias 41 variable representin g disclosure requirement r1. disclosure of the aggregate gain or loss for the period on initial recognition of biological assets r2. disclosure of the aggregate gain or loss for the period on initial recognition of agricultural produce r3. disclosure of the aggregate gain or loss for the period on change in fair value less estimated pointof-sale costs of biological assets r4. disclosure of the description and the nature of activities involving each group of biological assets r5. disclosure of non-financial measures or estimates of the physical quantities of agricultural produce output for the period and biological assets as at the year-end date r6. disclosure of the methods and significant assumptions in determining fair value r7. disclosure of the fair value less costs to sell of agricultural produce harvested for the period r8. disclosure on the restrictions on title, pledges and commitments in respect of biological assets r9. disclosure of the financial risk management strategies related to agricultural activity r10. disclosure of the reconciliation of changes in the carrying amount of those biological assets between the beginning and the end of the current period. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 14 r11. disclosure of the nature and extent of government grants recognised in the financial statements r12. disclosure of the unfulfilled conditions and other contingencies attaching to government grants r13. disclosure of the significant decreases expected in the level of government grants. r14. disclosure of the description of those biological assets r15. disclosure of the explanation of why fair value cannot be measured reliably r16. disclosure of the range of estimates within which fair value is highly likely to lie (if possible) r17. disclosure of the gain or loss recognised on disposal of those biological assets impairment r18. disclosure of the losses (if any), reversals of impairment losses (if any) and depreciation expense r19. disclosure of the depreciation method used r20. disclosure of the useful lives or the depreciation rates used r21. disclosure of the gross carrying amount and the accumulated depreciation (aggregated with accumulated impairment losses) at the beginning and end of the period. source: researcher’s field work, 2018 from iasb 2013 a critical look at table 3 below shows that the compliance of the firms with ias 41 is remarkable. the companies, company 1, company 2 company 3 and company 4 achieved 76.54%, 86.62%, 87.19% and 53.71% respectively. it is apparent from the summary of the scores that the total compliance with the disclosure requirements of ias 41 is significant at 76.02% mean scores. using the grading scale it can be inferred that the nigerian agricultural firms comply with the provisions of the standard. on examining the requirement by requirement basis all the firms attained a higher compliance on requirements 1, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 19, 20 & 21 at above 70%. none of the firms comply with the provision of requirement 8, 15, & 16 and only one of them complied with requirement 5 of the standard. year by year analysis revealed that the compliance rate for all the years were above 70%. table 3: summary of compliance index with ias 41 by listed agricultural firms in nigeria company year total observed total expected compliance index remark ellah lakes plc. 2013 143.5 210 68.33% ssa ellah lakes plc. 2014 146.5 210 69.76% ssa ellah lakes plc. 2015 158.5 210 75.48% sa ellah lakes plc. 2016 177.6 210 84.57% sa ellah lakes plc. 2017 177.6 210 84.57% sa sub-total 803.7 1050 76.54% sa okomu oil palm company plc. 2013 176.7 210 84.14% sa okomu oil palm company plc. 2014 181.7 210 86.52% sa okomu oil palm company plc. 2015 183.7 210 87.48% sa okomu oil palm company plc. 2016 183.7 210 87.48% sa okomu oil palm company plc. 2017 183.7 210 87.48% sa sub-total 909.5 1050 86.62% sa presco plc. 2013 175.7 210 83.67% sa presco plc. 2014 183.7 210 87.48% sa presco plc. 2015 184.7 210 87.95% sa presco plc. 2016 185.7 210 88.43% sa presco plc. 2017 185.7 210 88.43% sa sub-total 915.5 1050 87.19% sa www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 15 livestock feeds plc. 2013 112.8 210 53.71% ssa livestock feeds plc. 2014 112.8 210 53.71% ssa livestock feeds plc. 2015 112.8 210 53.71% ssa livestock feeds plc. 2016 112.8 210 53.71% ssa livestock feeds plc. 2017 112.8 210 53.71% ssa sub-total 564 1050 53.71% ssa total 3192.7 4200 76.02% sa source: researcher’s field work, 2018 4.1 discussion of the result of hypotheses tested table 4: agricultural firms compliance with disclosure requirements of ias 41 in nigeria compliance index n mean df f sign. ellah lakes plc. 5 76.542 16 73.162 0.000** okomu oil palm company plc. 5 86.620 presco plc. 5 87.192 livestock feeds plc. 5 53.710 source: researcher’s field work, 2018 (spss output). note: (**) indicates significant at 5%. table 4 above presents summary of anova result on agricultural firms’ compliance with disclosure requirements of ias 41 in nigeria. the f statistics of 73.162 is significant at 5% level of significant. in testing the hypothesis one (h01), the null hypothesis which states that “agricultural firms in nigeria have not complied with the disclosure requirements of ias 41 in financial reporting” is rejected since the p – value 0.000 is less than 0.05 level of significant. this shows that agricultural firms in nigeria have complied with the disclosure requirements of ias 41 in financial reporting. table 5: the level of compliance with requirements of disclosure of ias 41 among agricultural firms in nigeria compliance index n mean df f sign. strongly complied 13 85.668 18 128.726 0.000** semi strongly complied 7 58.091 source: researcher’s field work, 2018 (spss output). note: (**) indicates significant at 5%. table 5 above presents summary of anova result on the level of compliance with disclosure requirements of ias 41 among agricultural firms in nigeria. the f statistics of 128.726 is significant at 5% level of significant. in testing the hypothesis two (h02), the null hypothesis which states that “there is no significant difference in the level of compliance with requirements of disclosure of ias 41 among agricultural firms in nigeria” is rejected since the p – value 0.000 is less than 0.05 level of significant. this shows that majority of the agricultural firms in nigeria strongly complied with the disclosure requirements of ias 41. 5. conclusion and recommendation the aim of every research work is to arrive at credible findings that will provide correct answers to the research hypothesis. using a constructed disclosure compliance checklist, the extent of compliance with disclosure requirement of ias 41 by 4 listed companies under the agricultural sector of the nigerian stock exchange at the end of 2017 were measured. data was collected manually from annual reports of companies. company 1, 2, 3, & 4 achieved 76.54%, 86.62%, 87.19% and 53.71% respectively. it is apparent from the summary of the mean scores that the total compliance with the disclosure requirements of ias 41 is significant at 76.02%. the results suggest that enforcement mechanisms to ensure total compliance should be put in place to address the existing compliance gap particularly on the requirement 5, 8, 15, & 16 of the standard. to this end, the study recommends that our firms should strive at all times to comply with all regulatory and statutory framework in the preparation and presentation of financial statements, giving the fact that it is a set of documents that prescribe the performance of the reporting entity. the financial reporting council of nigeria should publish annually the compliance status of all listed firms in nigeria; so that the compliance status of every firm will become known to all interested users of financial statements; and also the council should urge external auditors of firms to ensure that www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 16 their clients are complying with the requirements of iass issued by the international accounting standards board (iasb) references al-jabri, h., & hussain, m. m. (2012). compliance with international accounting standards requirements among omani listed companies. journal of administrative and economic sciences, qassim university, 5(2), 75105. al-mutawaa, a., & hewaidy, a. m. (2010). disclosure level and compliance with ifrss: an empirical investigation of kuwaiti companies. international business & economics research journal, 9(5), 33-50. al-shammari, b. (2011). factors influencing the extent of mandatory compliance with international financial reporting standards: the case of kuwaiti listed companies. journal of international business and economics. volume: 11 no 4. arthurs j. d. & busenitz l. w. (2004) entrepreneurship theory and practice: the boundaries and limitations of agency theory and stewardship theory in the venture capitalist/entrepreneur citizenship. (28)2: 145 azevedo, g.m.c. (2007) the impact of international accounting standard 41 (agriculture) in the wine industry [online]. instituto superior de contabilidade e administração da universidade de aveiro. available from: http://ssrn.com/abstract=975508 baigrie, i. (2014) an analysis of the financial reporting compliance of south african public agricultural companies. university of johannesburg available at: https://ujdigispace.uj.ac.za/bitstream/handle/10210/14020/ingrid%20baigrie.pdf?sequence=1&isallo wed=y ballas, a. a., & tzovas, c. (2010). an empirical investigation of greek firms’ compliance with ifrs disclosure requirements. international journal of managerial and financial accounting, 2(1), 40-62. barde, i. m. (2009). nigerian oil marketing companies and compliance with the requirements of statement of accountingstandard (sas) 2. in k. i. dandago, contemporary issues in accounting, auditing and taxation (pp. 104-125). kano: triumph publishing company bayboltaeva, n.a., makulova, a.t., abaeva, k., alibekova, b.a. & bolysbayeva, a. (2015) problems of development of accounting of peasant (farm) enterprises in republic of kazakhstan’, asian journal of social sciences, 11(14):211-218. biljon, m. v. (2016) an application guideline for the fair value accounting of biological assets a ph.d's dissertation, department of accounting science, university of south africa clarke, t. (ed.). (2004). theories of corporate governance: the philosophical foundations of corporate governance. routledge publisher; london: 1st edition (october 1, 2004) isbn 10: 041532307x isbn 13: 9780415323079 deegan, c. and unerman, j. (2011). financial accounting theory. second edition. berkshire: mcgraw-hill. hodgdon, c., tondkar, r. h., adhikari, a., & harless, d. w. (2009). compliance with international financial reporting standards and auditor choice: new evidence on the importance of the statutory audit. the international journal of accounting, 44, 33–55. elad, c., and herbohn, k. (2011). implementing fair value accounting in the agricultural sector. scotland: institute of chartered accountants of scotland. available at: https://icas.org.uk/res/elad_report_feb_2011.pdf fama, e. f., & jensen, m. c. (1983). separation of ownership and control. journal of law and economics, 26(3), 301-325. gonçalves, r. and lopes, p. (2015). value-relevance of biological assets under ifrs[online]. fep working papers, school of economics and management. university of porto. available from: http://wps.fep.up.pt/wps/wp556.pdf international accounting standards board (iasb). (2013). international accounting standards (ias) 41 agriculture [online]. united kingdom. available from: http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/bnstandards/en/2013/ias41.pdf kothari, s. p. (2000). the role of financial reporting in reducing financial risks in the market. in e. s. rosengren, & j. s. jordan (eds.), building an infrastructure for financial stability. federal reserve bank of boston conference (vol. 44). nyor, t. (2010). determinants of compliance with the disclosure requirements of accounting standards by nigerian banks. bayero international journal of accounting research, 4(1), 34 – 48. siyanbola, a. a.; musa, u m and wula, t. j. (2014) an assessment of compliance with disclosure requirements of ias 16 by listed agricultural firms in nigeria scholarly journal of agricultural science vol. 4(4), pp. 201http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/international_accounting_standards_board https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780415323079/19667819583&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-plp3 https://www.abebooks.co.uk/products/isbn/9780415323079/19667819583&cm_sp=snippet-_-srp1-_-plp3 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 17 212 april, 2014 available online at http:// www.scholarly-journals.com/sjas issn 2276-7118 © 2014 scholarly-journals siyanbola, a. a., zaharadeen, a. and adegboye, k. (2014). assessment of compliance with disclosure requirements of sas 3 and ias 16 by listed agricultural firms in nigeria. international journal of applied research and technology. 3(11): 117 – 129. available online at http:// www.esxpublisher.com issn 2277-0585 sa’idu, s. & umar, d. (2014) an assessment of compliance with ifrs framework at first-time adoption by the quoted banks in nigeria, journal of finance and accounting, vol. 2, no. 3, 64-73 available online at http://pubs.sciepub.com/jfa/2/3/3 © science and education publishing silva, r., figueira, l., pereira, l., and ribeiro, m. (2012). process of convergence to the international financial reporting standards: an analysis of the disclosure requirements of cpc 29/ias 41. available at http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2012705 vukmirovic, n., arsenovic, d., lalic, s. & milovanovic, d. (2012). ‘evaluation of accounting acquisition of biological assets and property’, third international scientific symposium, agrosym jahorina, 723-727. yahaya, k. a. (2011). compliance with statement of accounting standards by nigerian quoted banks. european journal of economics, finance and administrative sciences (34), 104-112. appendix one-way anova notes output created 16-oct-2018 04:41:16 comments input data c:\users\user\documents\compliance index.sav active dataset dataset2 filter <none> weight <none> split file <none> n of rows in working data file 20 missing value handling definition of missing user-defined missing values are treated as missing. cases used statistics for each analysis are based on cases with no missing data for any variable in the analysis. syntax oneway cpi by cmp /statistics descriptives /missing analysis. resources processor time 00:00:00.02 elapsed time 00:00:00.03 descriptive compliance index n mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean lower bound ellah lakes plc 5 76.5420 7.80157 3.48897 66.8551 okomu oil palm company plc 5 86.6200 1.44734 .64727 84.8229 presco plc 5 87.1920 2.00794 .89798 84.6988 livestock feeds plc 5 53.7100 .00000 .00000 53.7100 total 20 76.0160 14.40737 3.22159 69.2731 http://www.scholarly-journals.com/sjas http://www.esxpublisher.com/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 18 descriptives compliance index 95% confidence interval for mean minimum maximum upper bound ellah lakes plc 86.2289 68.33 84.57 okomu oil palm company plc 88.4171 84.14 87.48 presco plc 89.6852 83.67 88.43 livestock feeds plc 53.7100 53.71 53.71 total 82.7589 53.71 88.43 anova compliance index sum of squares df mean square f sig. between groups 3675.911 3 1225.304 73.162 .000 within groups 267.964 16 16.748 total 3943.875 19 descriptives compliance index n mean std. deviation std. error 95% confidence interval for mean minimum lower bound upper bound sa 13 85.6677 3.49830 .97025 83.5537 87.7817 75.48 ssa 7 58.0914 7.49409 2.83250 51.1605 65.0223 53.71 total 20 76.0160 14.40737 3.22159 69.2731 82.7589 53.71 copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 yam farmers’ adaptation practices towards climate change disaster in cross river state, nigeria samuel tom elijah department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria ogonna olive osuafor department of agricultural economics and extension nnamdi azikiwe university, awka, nigeria e-mail: oo.osuafor@unizik.edu.ng ogochukwu cecilia edeh department of agricultural extension university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria abstract this paper focused broadly on exploring yam farmers’ adaptation practices towards climate change disaster in cross river state, nigeria. the study employed a survey design involving 150 respondents (farmers). ordinary least squares (ols) regression and descriptive statistics were employed to actualize the objectives while t-test was adopted to test the hypothesis. the results show that some of the socio-economic variables such as; age, number of years in school, farmer’s membership in associations, access to extension facilities and hectarage of farm land significantly influenced farmer’s adoption of climate change adaptation strategies at p<0.05. the result also shows that the strategies adopted by farmers in order of widespread use by farmers were; multiple cropping, crop diversification, multiple planting dates, cover cropping and fertilizer application, irrigation practices, mulching, land fragmentation, tree planting, organic manure and fallowing. the paper recommended that farmers should organise sensitisation programs in their communities to educate themselves on the more effective measures to employ to adapt to climate change in their yam production. keywords: climate change, adaptation practices, yam production. 1. introduction 1.1 background information yam is an annual tuber and monocot plant. it belongs to the genus “dioscorea” and the family “dioscoreacea”. the food plant comprises of 600 species out of which ten species produces edible tubers and only six are cultivated in africa (musa, onu, vosanka& anonguku, 2011). as a root crop, the place of yam in the diet of the people in west africa and in nigeria in particular cannot be overemphasized. akinola, oke, adesiyan & famuyini (2019) reported that yam holds important position as a food and industrial crop in the nigerian economy. babaleye (2003) noted that yam contributes more than 200 dietary calories per capita daily for more than 150 million people in west africa http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 2 while serving as an important source of income to the people. yam production in nigeria is entirely dominated by small-scale farmers (baimey,2006). yam production in nigeria is among the most susceptible to the deleterious effects of climate change (oluwasusi & tijani, 2013). this is because; the production of this crop like every other crop is affected by factors varying from physical through economic to cultural factors. climate, one of the physical factors, is the most crucial factor, which determines the nature of the natural vegetation, the characteristics of the soils, the crops that can be grown, and the type of farming that can be practiced in any region (obiokoro, 2005). hence, any variation in climatic condition will have significant effects on crop productivity, especially yam yield. elijah, osuafor and anarah (2018) asserted that climate change is no longer a trivial issue; it is a reality that is seriously affecting the earth already, especially challenging agricultural productivity and food security in both developed and developing economies of the world and thus requires urgent attention. similarly, falola and achem (2017) posited that climate change is gradually attaining a catastrophic dimension given the associated impacts in the various key socio-economic sectors in recent time. one of these sectors is agriculture, specifically the crop sector, which appears to be most susceptible to this phenomenon. climate affects various aspects of plant growth and development. in fact, it has been earlier predicted that climate change is likely to reduce yields and/or damage crops in the 21st century (ipcc 2001). climate change will affect all economic sectors of africa and will therefore present unprecedented challenges for the continent, particularly in terms of meeting its sustainable development goals (sdgs). indeed, climate change is already eroding decades of hard-won national and international development gains, thus the need for concerted and coherent efforts in urgently tackling the development challenge. this challenge has further exacerbated poverty in africa as rising temperature and sea level results in undue flooding, droughts, and salinization in low lying areas. reconnaissance surveys and pan-african stakeholder consultations carried out by the african technology policy studies network (atps) and its partners, including the united nations environment program (unep) in 2007, 2008 and 2009 show that the sectors that are mostly affected by climate variability in africa are agriculture, water and biodiversity. these sectors were prioritized as most critical as they will have direct impacts on rural livelihoods (ozor, madukwe, eneteet al.,2012). adaptation seems to be the most significant option for the subsistence farmers if they must thrive in the business of farming. according to zilberman, zhao and heirman (2012), adaptation is the response of economic agents and societies to major shocks such as climate change. adaptation practices are adjustments intended to enhance resilience or reduce vulnerability to observed or expected changes in climate (ipcc,2001). ipcc (2007) defined adaptation to climate change as an adjustment in natural or human systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli or their effects, which moderates harm or exploits beneficial opportunities. it also refers to all adjustments in behaviour or economic structure that reduce the vulnerability of society to changes in the climate system including its current variability and extreme events as well as longer-term climate change. adaptation to climate change is imperative to sustain and promote agricultural productivity, and site-specific empirical evidence is needed to facilitate policy making (roco, bravo-ureta, engler& jara-rojas, 2017). obayelu, adepoju, and idowu(2014) noted that the goal of adaptation to climate change is neither to prevent its negative impacts nor merely clean up after its adverse effects. rather, it is a long-term resilience, to create the conditions in which the society is largely able to absorb the impacts, such that any residual impact beyond www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 3 the coping capacity of the society remains within a socially defined acceptable limit of risks. they also noted that adaptation to climate change necessitates that farmers first notice the change, and then identify useful adaptations and implement them. adaptation measures are widely recognized as a vital component of any policy response to climate change. brussel (2009) posited that adaptive measures to climatic change in agriculture range from technological solutions to adjustments in farm management or structures and to political changes such as adaptation plans. smit and skinner (2002) substantiated that agricultural adaptation options can be categorised into technological development, government programmes and insurance; farm production practices, and farm financial management. at farm level, the practice of organic agriculture is one of the most important measures for adaptation to climate change by farmers. organic agriculture according to ifoam (2007) is a holistic production management system which enhances agro-ecosystem health, utilizing both traditional and scientific knowledge. it prevents nutrient and water loss through high organic matter content and soil covers, thus making soils more resilient to floods, drought and land degradation processes. some strategies that serve as an important form of insurance against rainfall variability are: increasing diversification by planting crops that are drought tolerant and/or resistant to temperature stresses, taking full advantage of the available water and making efficient use of it, and growing a variety of crops on the same plot or on different plots, thus reducing the risk of complete crop failure since different crops are affected differently by climate changes (benhin, 2006). such farm-level adaptations aim at increasing productivity and dealing with existing climatic conditions and draw on farmers' knowledge and farming experience (eneteet al.,2011).adebayo et al. (2011) in their study on emerging and indigenous technology for climate change adaptation in southwest nigeria established that the main strategies and technologies promoted by extension officers for farmers to cope with the effects of climate change in southwest nigeria are; tree planting and timely planting of crops. in the rainforest zone, it is provision of small scale irrigation, mulching especially on yam farms,avoidance of felling of trees and avoidance of bush burning in the swamp zone. in the savanna zone, the main coping strategies and technologies are: avoidance of tree felling, avoidance of bush burning, small scale irrigation and studying weather condition before planting crops. 1.2 statement of the problem the impact of climate change in agricultural productivity is increasingly becoming alarming to agriculturists in africa and nigeria in particular. crop production which is largely subsistence in africa is constantly being hindered by the substantial effects of climate change. this has affected food prices, food security, land use as observed by lobell and field (2007). kahil, connor and albiac (2015) asserted that the severity of climate change impact depends on the degree of adaptation at the farm level, farmers’ investment decisions and policy choices. however, farmers are constantly confronted with the challenges of choosing the best adaptation option(s) that will be resilient to the impact of climate change. moreover, some of the farmers’ socio-economic factors may also influence their decisions and choices in adopting relevant adaptation strategies. although, there are influx of literatures on climate change and adaptation strategies among farmers in africa (maddison, 2007; deressa et al., 2008; agabi, 2012; ozor, et al., 2012;bosello, campagnolo &eboli, 2013; www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 4 umunakwe, nnadi, chikaire & nnadi, 2014;amusa, okoye & enete, 2015; roco, et al., 2017), stakeholders keep wondering whether these bulk of literatures have effected any significant positive outcome in crop production (bosello, et al., 2013). the current escalation in food prices, decrease in crop yields among farmers, increased poverty among the farming households, and the likes seem to reveal that more studies are needed in this area to proffer feasible solutions to the rural farmers. moreover, enete and onyekuru (2011) observed that much of climatic change agricultural research has tended to concentrate on assessing the sensitivity of various attributes of crop systems (e.g. crop yields, pest, diseases, weeds etc.) – the biophysical aspects of food production, with little or no regard to the socioeconomic aspects. these partial assessments most often consider climatic change effects in isolation, providing little insight into the socio-economic factors influencing farmers’ decisions and choices of adaptation strategies and what they are doing to cope with climate change. this could be one of the reasons why the farmers are still facing critical setback in crop production. this therefore, makes this study worthwhile. 1.3 objectives of the study the broad objective of this study was to explore yam farmers’ adaptation practices towards climate change disaster in cross river state, nigeria. specifically, the study was meant to: ▪ ascertain socio-economic factors influencing the adoption of strategies for mitigating the problems of climate change and variability; and ▪ determine the adaptation strategies adopted and intensity of adoption by yam farmers in adjusting to the impacts of climate change on yam production in the study area. 1.4 hypothesis of the study the relevant hypothesis considered was: h0: farmers’ socio-economic factors have no significant influence on farmer’s adoption of adaptation strategies. 2. materials and methods this study was carried out in cross river state. cross river state, lies between latitudes 5032' and 4027' north and longitudes 7050' and 9028' east, bounded in the north by benue state, in the south-west by akwa ibom state, in the west by ebonyi and abia states. the state shares an internal frontier to the east with the united republic of cameroon, and its atlantic coastline is to the south, where the calabar river meets the sea (cross river state government of nigeria [crsg], 2004). cross river state has a land area of about 21,787 km2 and a population of about 2,892,988 people (npc, 2006). it has the largest rainforest covering about 7,290 square kilometres described as one of africa’s largest remaining virgin forest harbouring as many as five million species of animals, insects and plants (mofinews, 2004).the climate of the area is controlled by two tropical air masses namely the equatorial maritime (mt) air mass, which originates from the south-west and the tropical continent (ct) air mass, which originates from north east (alobi, 1992), with average temperatures ranging between 15°c 30°c, and the annual rainfall between 1300 – 3000mm. the high plateau of obudu experience climatic conditions which are markedly different from the generalized dry and wet period in the rest of cross river state. temperatures are 4°c 10°c www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 5 lower due to high altitude than in the surrounding areas. similarly, the annual rainfall figures are higher than in areas around them, particularly on the windward side (crsg, 2011). multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the respondents. this procedure considered the delineation of the study area into agricultural zones by the cross river agricultural development project (cradp). these zones are ogoja zone, ikom zone and calabar zone of the state (adinya, ibom, ayuk, agiopu, umoh& umeh, 2008). each of the agricultural zones comprises six local government areas. at the first stage one local government area was selected randomly from each of the zones. in the second stage, five farming communities were randomly selected from each of the local government areas (making a total of 15 farming communities). in the third stage, 10 respondents (farming households) were finally selected from each of the farming communities making a total of 150 farm households. only primary data were used for the analysis. the primary data were collected with the aid of detailed and well-structured questionnaire administered to the selected yam crop farmers and was complemented by scheduled interview. the questionnaire was designed to capture information on socioeconomic and demographic data like age, gender, household size, size of land holding, etc. in this study, ols regression was used to achieve objective i. objective ii was realized using descriptive statistics. t-test statistic was employed to test the hypothesis. 2.1 model specification ordinary least squares (ols) regression the model can be expressed implicitly as: explicitly, the ols equation can be expressed as; where = adoption index, derived by censoring four (4) and above adaptation strategies practiced by the respondents. the variables and their measurement are thus described: = sex of farmer (1, if male, 0 otherwise) = marital status (1, single; 2, married; 3, widowed; 4, divorced) = age of farmer (years) = level of education (number of years spent in school) = experience in farming (years) = cost due to excessive rainfall (₦) = cost due to extra supply of yam (₦) = cost of disease prevention (₦) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 6 = loss from diseases (₦) = whether climate change affects agriculture (1 if yes, 0 otherwise) 11 = access to market(1 if yes, 0 otherwise) 12 = spray intervals (in number) 13 = re-spray intervals (in number) 14 = household size (number of persons) 15 = member of association (1 if yes, 0 otherwise) 16 = access to extension facilities (1 if yes, 0 otherwise) = farm size (ha) = average annual income of farmer (₦) = stochastic term. 3. results and discussion objective 1: socio-economic factors influencing the adoption of strategies to determine socio-economic factors influencing the adoption of strategies to mitigating the problems of climate change on yam production, we employed an ols regression. the adoption of strategies was censored into two. the respondents that practiced up to 4 and above of the 11 strategies were selected and the results are illustrated in table 1. table 1. results of the socioeconomic determinants of the adoption of strategies variable name coefficient standard error t-test p-value sex 0.130559 0.1670936 0.78 0.436 marital status─ single ─ married ─ widowed ─ divorced 0.1253903 0.1715602 0.73 0.466 0.1365397 0.1958683 0.70 0.487 -0.1056218 0.223144 -0.47 0.637 0.1567532 0.3902937 0.81 0.363 age -0.2887816 0.1328545 -2.17 0.032 years in school 0.1481436 0.027326 5.42 0.000 experience in farming 0.114494 0.0137465 0.83 0.407 cost due to excessive rainfall -7.10e-07 0.0000117 -0.06 0.952 cost due to extra supply of yam -0.0000146 0.0000139 -1.05 0.294 cost of disease prevention 1.14e-06 6.44e-06 0.18 0.860 loss from diseases 9.62e-06 0.0000155 0.62 0.535 whether climate change affects agriculture -0.0716991 0.1670935 -0.43 0.669 access to market 0.3843645 0.2166113 1.77 0.079 spray intervals -0.0048456 0.0101822 -0.48 0.669 re-spray interval 0.01155125 0.0141071 1.10 0.274 house hold size -0.0594967 0.0374586 -1.59 0.115 member of association 0.4415376 0.4415376 3.7 0.000 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 7 access to extension facilities 0.6547313 0.1318776 4.96 0.000 farm size 0.2548498 0.098196 2.6 0.011 average annual income of farmer 0.377416 0.3049237 1.24 0.218 constant -1.640632 3.301837 -0.5 0.620 prob> chi2 0.0000 pseudo r2 0.6320 table 1 above shows the results of the ols regression of the censored adaptation strategies practiced with respect to its socio-economic determinants. the ols regression was tested for its overall significance which is based on the probability and pseudo r2. the prob>chi2 is 0.0000 which shows a high overall significant model as it is not only less than 0.05 as required, but 0.000. also the pseudo r2 is equally relatively high at 0.6320. this implies that the independent variables considerably explained the censored dependent variable. tobit model was employed to further test the predicting power of the independent variable. figure 1 illustrates the outcome. 0 2 4 6 8 1 0 to ta l n u m b e r o f a d a p ta ti o n c a te g o ri e s p ra c ti c e d b y f a rm e rs 2 4 6 8 10 linear prediction figure 1. predicting power of tobit model it can be seen in figure 1 that the predicting model is scattered and follows a 450 line pattern. this shows an excellent potency of the predicting power of the independent on the censored dependent variables. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 8 based on the foregoing, the results from table 1 show that sex insignificantly determined farmers’ adoption of adaptation practices as its t-statistic is seen to be 0.78 which is less than two. also, it can be seen from the table that the various categories of marital status do not significantly determine farmers’ adoption of adaptation practices as all their t-values are less than two. the table shows that the three categories of marital status; single, married and divorced are positively related with the adoption of adaptation practices, whereas one of the categories; the widowed is negatively related. this means an increase in the number of farmers that are single, married or divorced might increase the intensity of adaptation measures, while an increase in the number of widowed farmers might reduce their adaptation to climate change mitigation measures. nevertheless, marital status remains an insignificant factor. this finding is noteworthy as it implies that of all the categories of marital status, once a farmer becomes widowed, the likelihood of participating in adaptation practices reduce. age happens to be a significant determinant of the practice of climate change adaptation as its t-value is 2.17 (since its absolute value is greater than two). for every unit increase in age there is a 0.2887816 point decrease in the predicted value of adaptation practice. the negative sign suggests an inverse relationship between age and climate change adaptation implying that, the older the farmer is, the less likely he/she is to get involved in adaptation practices. this is not surprising as the effects of climate change has worsened in the last two decades and some of these farmers had been farming without such measures of adaptation, therefore agriculture related organizations should take up the responsibility to sensitize older farmers on the need for climate change adaptation to them and the world at large. the results also suggest that the more years spent in school by the farmer, the more likely he/she is to participate in adaptation practices. the t-value for years in school is 5.42, which is the highest and most significant of all the independent variables. it is interesting to note that the education system has inculcated the notion and need for climate change adaptation such that farmers with higher educational level are more conscious and actually practice adaptation measures to climate change. for every unit increase in the years spent in school, there is a 0.1481436 point significant increase in the predicted value of adaptation practices. among the other independent variables, the results suggest that farmer’s experience, cost of disease prevention, loss due to diseases, market access, re-spray intervals, and farmer’s income are not significant in determining the ability of a farmer to practice adaptation strategies. however, they are all positively related with adaptation practices; meaning they increase the likelihood that an individual may be involved in adaptation practices. also, the cost of disease prevention and the loss due to diseases are positively related as they are indicators of climate change effects and so farmers that expend on the disease prevention would be more engaged in climate change adaptation in order to reduce the effect of climate change on their yield. again, we expect that the higher a farmer’s income the more likely he/she should be involved in adaptation practices, though the farmer’s income is not significant in determining whether a farmer is highly involved in participation or not. finally, we observed that farmers’ associations, farmers’ access to extension facilities and the farm size are significant positive determinants of adaptation practices with t-values that are 3.7, 4.96 and 2.6 respectively. this is interesting to note, as it implies that associations play a significant role in determining farmer’s participation in adaptation practices. many more of such associations should be encouraged in different products and in other states www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 9 nation-wide to encourage climate change adaptation. also access to extension facilities is also significant in determining adaptation practices and this should therefore be promoted by policy makers and implementers. farm size is also significant in determining adaptation practices. this is expected because farmers with larger farm size should be more encouraged in using adaptation practices than the small farm owners in the study area. on the other hand, the results show that the cost due to excessive rainfall, cost due to extra supply of yam seeds, spray intervals, and household size are all negatively related and not significant determinants of adaptation practices. hypothesis testing h0: socio-economic factors do not have influence on farmer’s adoption of adaptation strategies. variables such as sex, marital status, experience, cost due to excessive rainfall, cost due to extra supply of yam, cost of disease prevention, loss due to diseases, access to market, spray intervals, re-spray intervals, household size and income of farmer were not significant. we therefore fail to reject the null hypothesis and conclude that socio-economic factors do not have any significant effect on climate change adaptation practices. objective 2. adaptation strategies adopted by yam farmers in adjusting to the impacts of climate change on yam production in order to determine the adaptation strategies adopted by yam farmers in adjusting to the impacts of climate change on yam production in the study area, descriptive statistics was adopted. the results are presented in table 2. table 2. adaptation strategies adopted by yam farmers variable name dummy proportion percentage (%) multiple cropping/ varieties 0 0.0785714 7.8 1 0.9214286 92.1 land fragmentation 0 0.6857143 68.6 1 0.3142857 31.4 use of alternative fallow practices 0 0.8857143 88.6 1 0.1142857 11.4 multiple planting dates 0 0.2785714 27.9 1 0.7214286 72.1 irrigation practice types 0 0.5428571 54.3 1 0.4571429 45.7 crop diversification 0 0.2285714 22.9 1 0.7714286 77.1 mulching 0 0.6071429 60.7 1 0.3928571 39.3 cover cropping 0 0.3928571 39.3 1 0.6071429 60.7 fertilizer application 0 0.3928571 39.3 1 0.6071429 60.7 organic manure 0 0.7571429 75.7 1 0.2428571 24.3 planting of trees 0 0.7285714 72.9 1 0.2714286 27.1 this study considered eleven adaptation practices and the dummy variable represents; 1 for farmers that adhered to the practice of each of the listed adaptation practices and 0 otherwise. the table above shows that the www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 10 major proportion (0.9214286) of the farmers that were interviewed practiced multiple cropping; few of the farmers with a proportion of 0.3142857 practiced land fragmentation, very little proportion of the farmers (0.1142857) practiced the use of alternative fallow practices. a large proportion (0.7214286) of the farmers adopted multiple planting dates, a substantial proportion (0.4571429) practiced irrigation, another large proportion (0.7714286) of the farmers practiced crop diversification and lesser proportion (0.3928571) practiced mulching. the table also shows that an ample proportion of 0.6071429 practiced cover cropping and fertilizer application. a little proportion (0.2428571) of them applied manure and 0.2714286 proportion of the farmers planted trees. the table therefore suggests that multiple cropping was the highest practiced climate change adaptation measure with about 92.1% of the farmers practicing it, closely followed by crop diversification (77.1%) and those that used multiple planting dates (72.1%). on the other hand, the least practiced adaptation strategies by the farmers were use of organic manure (24.3%) and use of alternative fallow practices (11.4%). the intensities of the adaptation practices are better revealed in the bar chart in figure 1 below. figure 2. means of the proportion of yam farmers practicing the adaptation practices based on the means (averages) of adaptation practices, it becomes apparent from figure 2 that multiple cropping seems to be the highest practiced measure, followed by crop diversification and then the multiple planting 0 .2 .4 .6 .8 1 mean of multi-cropping mean of land fragmentation mean of fallowing mean of multiple planting mean of irrigation practice mean of crop diversification mean of mulching mean of cover cropping mean of fertilizer application mean of organic manure mean of tree planting www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 11 dates. on the other hand, the use of fallowing appears to be the least practiced measure by the farmers, followed by mulching and tree planting as shown in the figure 2above. still in an attempt to get a clearer picture of the contribution of each adaptation strategy the study used a pie chart to illustrate the findings as shown in figure 3. figure 3. pie chart for adopted cropping strategies the pie chart above (figure 3) shows that multiple cropping contributes 17% of the climate change adaptation strategies practiced by the farmers, 14% of the farmers practiced crop diversification, while 13% of the farmers practiced multiple planting dates. cover cropping and fertilizer application was practiced by 11%, 9% practiced irrigation practices, 7% practiced mulching, 6% practiced land fragmentation. also, planting of trees and organic manure was adopted by a very low percentage (5%) of the farmers followed by use of fallowing which was practiced by negligible proportion (2%) of the farmers which is relatively very poor as well. this implies that government and non-governmental organizations that are interested in the adaptation of climate change should encourage farmers to be involved in more of these practices. 4. conclusion and recommendation the study shows that some of the farmers’ socio-economic variables such as; age, number of years in school, farmer’s membership in associations, access to extension facilities and hectarage of farm land are significant determinants in a farmer’s practice in climate change adaptation identified to be driving farmers' practice of climate change adaptation practices. this study also shows that majority of the farming households use different adaptation strategies to combat the deleterious effects of climate change on the farm operations. the results of the mean values established that the key strategies adopted by farmers in the area in order of relatively high intensity were; multiple cropping, crop diversification and multiple planting dates. fallowing was the least strategy adopted by farmers in the area of study. based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made: ▪ the farmers should organize sensitization programs and outreach in their various communities and educate themselves on the more effective measures (such asmulti-cropping, crop diversification and cover cropping) to employ in their adaptation attempt. multiple cropping mulching land fragment fallowing fertilizer application organic manure planting of trees crop diversification irrigation multiple planting cover cropping www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 12 ▪ agricultural programs such as value chain development program (vcdp) need to visit the farmers in the study area and assist the farmers to review their adaptation practices from time to time to ensure consistent positive effect of these strategies on yam production in the study area. ▪ agricultural policy makers should encourage widowed farmers to adopt the key adaptation practices. references adebayo, k., dauda, t.o., rikko, l.s., george, f.o.a., fashola, o.s., atungwu, j.j., iposu, s.o., shobowale, a.o.& osuntade, o.b.(2011). emerging and indigenous technology for climate change adaptation in southwest nigeria. african technology policy studies network, research paper, no. 10. nairobi: apts. agabi, b.m.(2012). the perception and adaptation to climate change among rural farmers in north central nigeria. middle east journal of environmental research,5(2), 338-352. akinola, a.a., oke, j.t.o., adesiyan, a.t.& famuyini, c.a. (2019). climate change and economic efficiency of yam farmers in ekiti state, nigeria. invited paper presented at the 6th african conference of agricultural economists, september 23-26, abuja, nigeria. alobi, b.o. (1992). plantation agriculture in cross river state study of abia-bendeghe cocoa estate, ikom. unpublished bachelor of science degree project, department of geography and regional planning, university of calabar, cross river state. amusa, t.a., okoye, c.u.& enete, a.a.(2015).determinants of climate change adaptation among farm households in southwest nigeria: a heckman double stage selection approach. review of agricultural and applied economics, 18(2), 3-11. babaleye, t.(2003). west africa: improving yam production technology.african news bulletin, 463, 56–59. baimey, h.k. (2006). scutellenemabradys as a pathogen of yam in benin. unpublished phd thesis submitted to the faculty of natural and agricultural science, university of pretoria, pretoria, south africa. benhin, j.k.a. (2006). climate change and south african agriculture: impacts and adaptation options. ceepa discussion paper no. 21. ceepa, university of pretoria, south africa. bosello, f., campagnolo, l.& eboli, f. (2013). climate change and adaptation: the case of nigerian agriculture. research papers. rp0174. brussel, s.e.c. (2009). adapting to climate changes: the challenge for european agriculture and rural areas’. commission of the european communities. commission working staff working document accompanying the white paper no. 147. cross river state government (crsg) (2011). about cross river state. http://kekerete.tripod.com/crsg/about.html. deressa, t., hassan, r.m., alemu, t., yesuf, m. & ringler, c.(2008a). analyzing the determinants of farmers’ choice of adaptation methods and perceptions of climate change in the nile basin of ethiopia. international food policy research institute (ifpri). discussion paper, no. 00798, environment and production technology division, ifpri, washington d.c. elijah, s.t., osuafor, o.o. & anarah, s.e. (2018). effects of climate change on yam production in cross river state, nigeria. international journal of agriculture and forestry, 8(2), 104-111. enete, a.a., madu, i.i., onwubuya, e.a., onyekuru, a.n., mojekwu, j.c. & eze, f. (2011). indigenous agricultural adaptation to climate change: study of southeast nigeria. african technology policy studies network, working paper series, no. 53. www.atpsnet.org. enete, a.a. & onyekuru, a.n. (2011). challenges of agricultural adaptation to climate change: empirical evidence from southeast nigeria. tropicultural, 29(4), 243-249. falola, a. & achem, b.a. (2017). perceptions on climate change and adaptation strategies among sweet potato farming households in kwara state north central nigeria. ceylon journal of science, 46(3), 55-63. gyasi, k.o., abatania, l.n., paulinus, t., abdulai, m.s. & langyintuo, a.s. (2005). a study on the adoption of improved maize technologies in northern ghana’. in b. badu-apreku, m.a.b. fakorede, m. ouedraogo, r.j. carsy, & a. menkir (eds.). maize revolution in west and central africa. proceedings of a regional maize workshop. iita-cotonou, benin republic, 14-18 may. intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) (2001a). climate change: the scientific basis. report of working group i of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, geneva. http://www.ipcc.ch. accessed 20 march, 2018. intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) (2001b). climate change: impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability. report of working group ii of the intergovernmental panel on climate change, geneva. http://www.ipcc.ch .accessed 20 march, 2018. http://kekerete.tripod.com/crsg/about.html http://www.atpsnet.org/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 13 intergovernmental panel on climate change (ipcc) (2007). climate change: the physical science basis (summary for policy), intergovernmental panel on climate change. cambridge: cambridge university press. international federation of organic agriculture movement (ifoam) (2007). organic agriculture's role in countering climate change. ifoam, germany. kahil, m.t., connor, j.d. & albiac, j. (2015). efficient water management policies for irrigation adaptation to climate change in southern europe. ecol. econ, 120, 226–233. lobell, d.b. & field, c.b. (2007). global scale climate-crop yield relations and the impacts of recent warming. environ. res. lett.,2, 1–7. maddison, d. (2007). the perception of and adaptation to climate change in africa. policy research working paper 4308. new york: world bank. mofinews (2004). why agriculture? cross river state: producing milk and honey for the nation. a bimonthly journal of finance incorporated, calabar, cross river state, nigeria. julyaugust, 3(6), 4-5. musa, y.h.i. & onu, j., vosanka, i.p. & anonguku, i.(2011). production efficiency of yam in zing local government area of taraba state, nigeria. journal of horticulture and forestry, 3(12), 372-378. obayelu, o.a., adepoju, a.o. & idowu, t.(2014). factors influencing farmers’ choices of adaptation to climate change in ekiti state, nigeria. journal of agriculture and environment for international development, 108(1), 3-16. obiokoro, o.g. (2005). agrometeorology, onitsha: dunkwu publishers. pp. 24-30. oluwasusi, j.o. & tijani, s.a. (2013). farmers adaptation strategies to the effect of climate variation on yam production: a case study in ekiti state, nigeria.agrosearch, 13(2), 20-31. ozor, n., madukwe, m.c., enete, a.a., amaechina, e.c., onokala, p., eboh, e.c., ujah, o.& garforth, c.(2012).a framework for agricultural adaptation to climate change in southern nigeria. international journal of agriculture sciences, 4(5), 243-251. pindyck, r.s. & rubinfeld, d.l. (1998). econometric models and economic forecast. boston: irwin/mcgrawhill. roco, l., bravo-ureta, b., engler, a. & jara-rojas, r.(2017). the impact of climatic change adaptation on agricultural productivity in central chile: a stochastic production frontier approach. sustainability, 9(9), 1-16. smit, b.& skinner, m.w.(2002). adaptation options in agriculture to climate change: a typology. mitigation and adaptation strategies for global change, 7, 85-114. umunakwe, p.c., nnadi, f.n., chikaire, j. & nnadi, c.d. (2014). information needs for climate change adaptation among rural farmers in owerri west local area of imo state, nigeria. agrotechnology, 3(118), 1-6. zilberman, d., zhao, j. & heirman, a. (2012). adoption versus adaptation, with emphasis on climate change. annual review of resource economics, 4, 27-53. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 15 effect of growing substrate on yield of radish in nigeria under rainfed and hand watering conditions ossai c. okolie research supervisor yiifswa project international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org stephanie clara akpeji graduate student microbiology department university of ibadan, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: akpejistephanie@gmail.com e. martha olorode research fellow biochemistry unit forestry research institute of nigeria e-mail: efeandrew@yahoo.com ogbole samson graduate student biochemistry department federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, nigeria e-mail: ogbolesamson@gmail.com s. oye azeez seed delivery officer yiifswa project international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: o.azeez@cgiar.org abstract radishes (raphanus sativus l) have high nutritive and medicinal values, and are predominantly cultivated in the temperate regions of the world. with the high malnutrition rate in nigeria, domesticating radish is necessary. however, despite being successfully cultivated using the hydroponics system with cocopeat substrate in nigeria, the adaption to the soil type is an important factor to consider. seeds of three genotypes of radish were grown in cocopeat substrate and topsoil under rainfed and hand watering conditions. the experiment was set up as a 3 (genotypes) by 2 (substrates) by 2 (watering methods) factorial laid in a completely randomized design with three replicates. data were collected on the plant height, number of leaves, leaf area, and the tuber and leaf weights respectively. data collected were analyzed http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:c.ossai@cgiar.org mailto:akpejistephanie@gmail.com mailto:efeandrew@yahoo.com mailto:ogbolesamson@gmail.com mailto:o.azeez@cgiar.org https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 16 using anova (sas 9.0 version) and differences in treatment means were separated using least significant differences at 5 % significance level. results obtained showed that the tuber weight of white icicle radish (21.35±3.32) was significantly heavier than the rest genotypes, and the hand watering system also encouraged the production of heavier tuber size (17.79±2.71) than the rainfed system (7.9.6±2.71). however, the planting substrate was insignificant in all parameters considered. keywords: raphanus sativus, substrate, cocopeat, topsoil, rainfed, water. jel classification codes: q15 introduction radishes (raphanus sativus l) belong to the cruciferae family and are quick and easy to grow (abdel, 2011). different varieties of radish exist, with the local red and black varieties predominantly cultivated in asia where it originated (abdel, 2011). radishes are mainly cultivated for the tuber parts which can be eaten raw as salad or cooked; however, it also has several medicinal uses (bakhsh et al., 2006), with high minerals and vitamins a and c contents (baloch, 1994). radish can thrive under temperate and tropical climatic conditions, as well as on different soil types especially under moist rich soils (bakhsh et al., 2006). however, reports of its production are largely skewed in favor of the temperate climate with low humidity level (wan & kang, 2005; ossai et al., 2020). in nigeria, radish is an exotic vegetable as there are little or no report of its cultivation and consumption. although, owing to the above nutritive and medicinal characteristics of radish and the rate of malnutrition in nigeria, there is need to exploit this vegetable for consumption due to its quick rate of production (ossai et al., 2020). however, being a crop that requires cool climatic conditions for optimum yield, timing of the plant period is required as nigeria has two main season; the wet and dry. the predominant farming system operational in nigeria is the fallow system, and the planting period is timed to the onset of rain (hula, 2013). although, for a plant that is being introduced to a new environment, adequate care is given in the planting environment to provide all the necessary soil, water, temperature and nutrient requirements. the soil type and planting substrates in case of hydroponics system plays an important role in making moisture and nutrient available to the plant (hoang, 2020). however, with the first report of radish production in nigeria using the hydroponics system using the cocopeat substrate (ossai et al., 2020), it is important to investigate the growth rate of radish in the natural soil condition of nigeria in comparison to the cocopeat substrate under a rain-fed and hand watering regime, hence; the objective of this study. materials and methods seeds of three varieties of radish were sourced from the soilless farmlab, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria. the seeds were raised in a dissolved cocopeat substrate in a hydroponics trough for a week. the cocopeat substrate was purchased in block form from afri-agri company, lagos, nigeria. the buffered cocopeat blocks were dissolved in water and poured into 12 hydroponics troughs (8 litres capacity with 4 segments of 2 litres each). also topsoil was dug from a dumping ground, and used to fill 12 troughs. the 1 week old radish seedlings were transplanted into the cocopeat substrates and the topsoil at the rate of 1 plant per segment of the trough. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 17 6 of the 12 troughs containing cocopeat and topsoil respectively were kept outside to be irrigated by natural rainfall during the period of the radish growth, while 6 of the troughs containing cocopeat and topsoil respectively were irrigated manually every 3 days interval. poultry dropping was sourced from ajayi farm, ibadan, nigeria. the poultry manure was allowed to dry for one week, ground into fine particles and liquefied by dissolving 1 g in 1 litre of water over a period of 3 days. the liquefied poultry manure was used in fertigating each plant at a rate of 100 ml per plant every week till harvest. experimental design, data collection and statistical analysis: the experiment was 3 varieties (cherry red radish, cherry belle radish and white icicle radish) x 2 substrates (cocopeat and topsoil) x 2 watering method (rainfed and hand watering) factorial experiment laid in a completely randomized design with four replicates. at bi-weekly intervals, data were taken on the plant height, number of leaves and leave area, while at harvest, the harvested tubers and leaves (fresh biomass) were weighed and recorded. data collected were analyzed using anova (sas 9.0 version) and differences in treatment means were separated using least significance differences at 5 % level of significance. results and discussions the results obtained from this study has shown that the genotypic effect on the plant height, number of leaves at 4 weeks after planting and the tuber weight were significant, while the method of watering the plants had a significant effect on the height of the plants at 2 weeks after planting and the tuber weight respectively (table 1). at 4 weeks after planting, the height of the cbr genotype was 13.05±0.31 which was significantly taller than crr (10.95±0.31) and wir (10.47±0.31) respectively. also at 4 weeks after planting, the number of leaves produced by the cbr and crr genotypes was 5.50±0.18 respectively, and this was significantly higher than the 4.92±0.18 produced by wir. while the area of the leave produced at 4 weeks after planting was insignificant. however, the weight of the tuber produced by wir (21.35±3.32) was significantly heavier than cbr (7.97±3.32) and crr (7.15±3.32) respectively (table 2). table 1. the effects of genotypes, substrates and watering methods and their interactions on the growth and yield of radish source of variation plant height (cm) number of leaves leaf area (cm2) tw(g) lw(g) week2 week4 week2 week4 week2 week4 gen 37.14** 22.63** 0.58ns 1.36* 0.78ns 0.71ns 762.84** 189.07ns subs 1.40ns 0.16ns 0.03ns 0.03ns 1.32ns 0.16ns 27.39ns 139.63ns wm 12.84** 2.35ns 0.69ns 0.25ns 0.78ns 3.00ns 1142.44** 31.17ns gen*subs 3.37* 4.30* 0.53ns 0.03ns 0.45ns 3.46ns 23.35ns 45.50ns gen*wm 4.59* 6.95** 1.36* 0.08ns 7.77** 1.61ns 211.39ns 28.99ns subs*wm 0.02ns 0.54ns 0.69ns 0.69ns 0.03ns 1.69ns 135.39ns 43.78ns gen*subs*wm 10.20* 6.89** 0.19ns 0.19ns 1.34* 0.58ns 58.46ns 30.04ns gen: genotypes, subs: substrates, tw: tuber weight and lw: leaf weight, wm: watering method https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 18 table 2. growth and yield performance of three varieties of radish in hydroponics and loamy soil genotypes plant height (cm) number of leaves leaf area (cm2) tw(g) lw(g) week2 week4 week2 week4 week2 week4 cbr 10.94a 13.05a 4.17a 5.50a 7.13b 12.00a 7.97b 14.95a crr 8.08b 10.95b 3.83a 5.50a 7.37ab 11.93a 7.15b 13.72a wir 6.66c 10.47b 3.75a 4.92b 7.63a 12.38a 21.35a 21.13a lsd(0.05) 0.54 0.92 0.49 0.53 0.48 1.21 9.69 6.87 se 0.19 0.31 0.17 0.18 0.17 0.42 3.32 2.88 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % significance level. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error. tw: tuber weight and lw: leaf weight. crr: cherry red radish, cbr: cherry belle radish and wir: white icicle radish. the result obtained on the effect of substrates used in this study on the agronomic and yield parameters was insignificant (table 3). however, at 2 weeks after planting, the height of the plants grown by watering the plants by hand at 3 days interval (9.16±0.15) was significantly taller than the rainfed plants (7.96±0.15), and the weight of the tubers produced by the hand watered plants (17.79±2.71) was also statistically heavier than the rainfed plants (6.52±2.71), while the watering method was insignificant on the number of leaves produced, the leaf area and leaf weight respectively (table 4). table 3. effect of different substrate sources on the growth and yield of radish substrates plant height (cm) number of leaves leaf area (cm2) tw(g) lw(g) week2 week4 week2 week4 week2 week4 loamy soil 8.76a 11.56a 3.89a 5.33a 7.57a 12.04a 13.03a 18.57a cocopeat 8.36a 11.42a 3.99a 5.28a 7.18a 12.17a 11.28a 14.63a lsd(0.05) 0.44 0.75 0.4 0.43 0.4 0.99 7.92 6.87 se 0.15 0.26 0.14 0.15 0.14 0.34 2.71 2.35 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % significance level. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error. tw: tuber weight and lw: leaf weight. table 4. effect of different substrate source on the growth and yield of radish in hydroponics system watering methods plant height (cm) number of leaves leaf area (cm2) tw(g) lw(g) week2 week4 week2 week4 week2 week4 hand watering 9.16a 11.74a 4.06a 5.39a 7.52a 12.39a 17.79a 17.53a rainfed 7.96b 11.23a 3.78a 5.22a 7.23a 11.82a 6.52b 15.67a lsd(0.05) 0.44 0.75 0.4 0.43 0.39 0.99 7.92 6.87 se 0.15 0.26 0.14 0.15 0.14 0.34 2.71 2.35 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 19 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % significance level. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error. hw: hand watering, tw: tuber weight and lw: leaf weight. radish is grown for two reasons; the tuber part, which is grown for the purposes of salad making, and the leafy part used for medicine (bakhsh et al., 2006). the agronomic performances of the three genotypes used in this study showed that the three genotypes can be effectively cultivated for the leafy vegetable purposes. however, there is more efficient transfer of photosynthate assimilates (net photosynthetic conversion) from the leaves of wir genotype to the roots which undergoes secondary enlargement to form the tubers (evans & poorter, 2001). although, cool environment favour tuber formation in radish (sirtautas et al., 2011), this condition cannot be guaranteed in nigeria as the climatic conditions is not stable (fluctuation between cold and more of hot weather). this implies that the wir genotype adapts better to the environmental fluctuations. the first report of radish production in nigeria was carried out using the cocopeat substrate effectively (ossai et al., 2020). however, in this study, the difference in performance of the genotypes in both cocopeat and top soil in terms of the agronomic and yield parameters was insignificant. on the other hand, while simulating the production of radish to the natural environmental condition, where rainfall distribution also varies, the consistent supply of water to the plants every 3 days encourages tuber production than the rainfed system. this is because there are periods the plants will be starved of water in rainfed system due to the plants high rate of evapotranspiration (wan & kang, 2005), and the plants will be stressed before regaining its good condition by the reoccurrence of rain. this situation validates the work of bakhsh et al. (2006) and that stated that radish thrives better in a moist rich soil. conclusions the nutritive and medicinal components radish makes radish introduction to nigeria important as majority of the populace are malnourished in many essential nutrients. the results of this study had shown that radish can be effectively grown on the soil type of nigeria as in cocopeat system. however, the practice of irrigation system is more favorable for the cultivation as rainfall distribution varies and local farmers mostly lack the means to study the weather condition. thus both the agrometerological and extension agencies will play a vital role in the weather forecasting and dissemination of the weather condition to the local farmers, as this will help the farmers in planning their cropping system to improve their harvest. references abdel, c. g. (2011). improving the production of radish (raphanus sativus l.cv. local black) by fe-eddha and carrots (daucus carrota l. var. sativus cv. nates) by indole-3-butyric acid (iba). african journal of agricultural research, 6(4), 978-985 bakhsh, k., ahmad, b., ahmad, z. and gill, h. s. (2006). estimating indicators of higher yield in radish cultivation. int j agric biol, 8(6), 783-787 baloch, a. f. (1994). vegetable crops. horticulture, national book foundation, islamabad evans, j. r., & poorter, h. (2001). photosynthetic acclimation of plants to growth irradiance: the relative importance of specific leaf area and nitrogen partitioning in maximizing carbon gain, plant, cell and environment, 24, 755-767 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 20 hoang, m. (2020). effects of growing substrates and seed density on yield and quality of radish (raphanus sativus) microgreens. research on crops. 21. 579-586. hula, m. (2013). exploring the relationship between farming practices and vegetation dynamics in benue state, nigeria. world journal of agricultural sciences, 1, 232-240. ossai, c. o., ogbole, s., balogun, m. o., & akpeji, s. c. (2020). production of radish (raphanus sativus l.) in nigeria using the hydroponics system. journal of environmental and agricultural studies, 1(2), 6-9. sirtautas, r., samuoliene, g., brazaitytė, a. & duchovskis, p. (2011). temperature and photoperiod effects on photosynthetic indices of radish (raphanus sativus l.). zemdirbyste, 98, 57-62. wan, s. & kang, y. (2005). effect of drip irrigation frequency on radish (raphanus sativus l.) growth and water use. irrig. sci. 24, 161-174. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 published by american center of science and education, usa 1 benefits of agro forestry land use in nsukka local government area, enugu state, nigeria ugwuoke chukwuchebe obiajulu lecturer department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka opata ifeyinwa patience, phd lecturer department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka ihedioha nice nneoma lecturer department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka ume chukwuma otum lecturer department of agricultural economics university of nigeria, nsukka corresponding email: chukwuma.ume@unn.edu.ng received: november 6, 2018 accepted: november 10, 2018 online published: november 17, 2018 abstract the natural environment of the nsukka, is characterized by a combination of trees and grasses in different proportions. this readily provides conducive conditions for the combined cultivation of annual crops and perennial crops, or trees. but, some factors might have stalled the espousal and practice of agro forestry in nsukka; this is because nsukka until recently was generally inaccessible and lacked basic infrastructure. these have contributed negatively to result in wastage of farm products especially during harvest periods, and consequent loss of income to the farmers. the broad aim of the study was to analyze agro forestry land use practices of nsukka farmers, assess the benefits, and draw up lessons and recommendations for sustainable agro forestry development in communitybased forestry projects by describing the socioeconomic characteristics of farmers, determining the type of agro forestry practiced in the area, identifying the reasons for farmers’ participation in agro forestry practices, identifying the constraints to sustainable agro forestry in the area and the measures for tackling the constraints and determining the benefits of agro forestry to participating farmers and their communities at large. the results of the study showed that most farmers sale greater part of their produce as the only source of income and most farmers spend less because they use animal dropping as a source of fertilizer. the land tenure system of the entire study area is largely by inheritance, and land use is determined by the male head and, on whom the right of usage is vested. similarly, the ownership, sponsorship and management of agro forestry farms are largely by the families. keywords: agro-forestry, land ownership, land use, sustainable cropping, land tenure http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 2 1. introduction one of the utmost challenges facing nigerians in general, and the inhabitants of nsukka, enugu state precisely, is that of deforestation or vegetation loss. agro forestry has been defined as an old practice, but a new science (nair, 1983; raintree, 1983; huxley, 1986; beets, 1990; kang et al, 1999). the situation is not different in nsukka as it has been practiced by peasant farmers over the years, though on a small holder basis. certain factors might have either facilitated or hindered the practice of agro forestry in this territory. the natural environment of the nsukka, is characterized by a combination of trees and grasses in different proportions. this readily provides conducive conditions for the combined cultivation of annual crops and perennial crops, or trees. moreover, the accessibility of grasses, shrubs and fodder from woody species further encourages the rearing of animals (areola, 2008). the natural environment therefore favors agro forestry and the peasant farmers might have easily adopted it naturally. on the other hand, some factors might have stalled the espousal and practice of agro forestry in nsukka; this is because nsukka until recently, was generally inaccessible and lacked basic infrastructure. presently, most of the rural areas are still in this condition. these have contributed negatively to result in wastage of farm products especially during harvest periods, and consequent loss of income to the farmers. the implementation of agro forestry might have been an attempt by the peasant farmers to certify security against crop losses and wastage, as the agro forestry products will provide substitutions to food, income and other uses (gaza 2005). another factor is the land tenure system. in nsukka, the land tenure system is traditional and collective (ejaro 2000). land occupation and acquisition in nsukka has remained largely traditional, despite the promulgation of the land use decree of 1978 which vested all land in nigeria to the federal government. this communal ownership of land especially in the rural parts of the territory has invigorated land fragmentation, and in some cases, the “slash and burn” system which is associated with large-scale deforestation, immigrant settlers of nsukka have problems in acquiring land for cultivation, and they do so only on a temporary basis. these factors have all combined to hinder the large-scale adoption of agro forestry in the territory (obi s. nc 1963). also, the remote nature of most parts of nsukka coupled with the absence of basic infrastructure, have for a long time enacted poverty within the territory. the enactment of poverty has therefore been an obstacle to farmers’ investment in agriculture generally in terms of procurement of inputs, and particularly the procurement of tree seedlings and animal species for agro forestry practices (abumere, 2008) nigerian forests have been enduring rapid depletion because of human influence. the problem exists at all levels. onumadu (2002) has reported that the federal government of nigeria, assisted by some international organizations, namely: european economic community, world bank, established agro forestry projects to check the risk of deforestation in nigeria. despite these efforts, the problems of deforestation together with the attendant effects seem to continue. there are little, or no research previously carried out in the study area (nsukka) in the nearest time past, as a result, the need to heighten level of awareness among researchers about the potentials of agro forestry. in nigeria, environmental degradation ensuing from increased soil erosion, deforestation or vegetation loss and hydrological changes leading to loss of productivity of land is also being tackled through agro forestry projects (onumadu et al., 2001). agro forestry is mainly an incorporation of the forestry programs into rural farm activities of the farmers. the main focus is on the sustainability of the environment with prominence on the desirable ways in which farmers can utilize the land to prevent it from degrading. apart from ensuring maximum exploitation of land resources for adequate provision of food, shelter and capital, agro forestry also checks environmental hazards like erosion, desertification, global warming, and ozone depletion acid rains among others. this study therefore will provide a basis for the design of agro forestry practices that would fit into the farmers’ system and experience. finally, the study would also serve as a reference material for researchers and students who may wish to conduct further study on this subject or related topics therefore, the gap required to be filled is articulated within the following research questions: (i) what are the benefits of agro forestry, to participating farmers, as well as the community? (ii) what types of agro forestry are widely practiced in the study area? www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 3 (iii) why do farmers participate in agro forestry in the study area? (iv) what problems are encountered and what measures are being used to tackle the problems? how is the ownership of land and the tree tenure system of the area? the broad aim of the study is to analyze agro forestry land use practices of nsukka farmers, assess the benefits, and draw up lessons and recommendations for sustainable agro forestry development in community-based forestry projects. 2. methodology 2.1 the study area the study was done in nsukka local government area of enugu state. nsukka local government area lies between longitudes 7°13’00”-7°35’30” and latitudes 6°43’30”-7°00’30” in enugu state, south-eastern nigeria. (nbs 2006) nsukka has an area of 1,810 km² and a population of 309,633 at the 2006 census. nsukka local government area is made up of 16 communities with moderately rolling plains and hills. it shares boundaries with igbo-eze south local government area and udenu local government area to the east, igbo-etiti local government area to the south and benue state to the north. it also has a boundary with kogi state. the area has tropical climate with temperature range of between 26°c and 28°c and average annual rainfall of between 30003500mm per year. farming is the major mode of economic activity. 2.2 sampling procedure sampling was done using two stage random sampling technique. the first stage involves a random sampling of five (5) communities out of the sixteen in the local government area. the second stage involves selection of respondent from each of the communities. from the five communities, 10 farmers were randomly selected for the study, giving a sample size of fifty (50) respondents 2.3 data collection data for this study was obtained from both primary and secondary sources. a well-structured questionnaire for the collection of primary data, which was administered to the selected farmers from the five research communities. the questionnaire was divided into five incomes and other socio-economic characteristics of the farmers. nature and types of agro forestry and constraints, that is, problems encountered in both tree and animal production, etc. the secondary data was obtained from library research, internet, annual reports and other relevant information useful to research 2.4 measurement of variables the questionnaire was divided into five sections based on the objectives of the study. first objective was aimed at obtaining information on the socio-economic characteristic of the respondents in the study area. the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents were measured and operationalized as follows: sex: the sexes of the respondents were recorded at nominal level as male (1) or female (2). age: the respondents were asked to give their age in years, after which it was grouped as follows < 20,21-30years, 31-40years, 41-50, 51-60, 61years and above. marital status: the respondents were asked to indicate their marital status as single (1), married (2), divorced (3), widowed (4), and separated (5). level of formal education: the respondents were asked to indicate their level of formal education as follows: no formal education (1), primary school incomplete (2), primary school completed (3), secondary school incomplete (4), secondary school completed (5), vocational education (6), and others. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 4 secondary occupation: the farmers were asked to indicate their secondary occupations as farming, civil service, trading, artisan and others. religion: respondents were asked to indicate their belief practices namely christianity, islam and traditional religion and others. farming experience: farmers were asked to give the average number of years he/she has spent in farming. income: respondents were asked to give their estimated annual income generated from agricultural and nonagricultural activities, and the total annual income generated. other objectives follow similar pattern. 2.5 data analysis data collected from the field was analyzed using simple statistical description such as means, percentages, frequency distribution, tabulation and gross margin analysis; the statistical package for service and solution (spss) constitute the software package was used for the analysis. example of percentage and frequency distribution: no of respondents who completed primary school x 100 total number of respondents 1 example of gross margin: gross margin = total revenue – total cost 3. results and discussion 3.1 socio-economic characteristics of respondents this section borders on the socio-economic features of the farmers in the study area. this was measured by characteristics such as sex, size of household, age, marital status, educational level, occupation (both major and minor), farm size, livestock size, farming experience, frequency of contacts with extension agents, annual income etc. age plays a significant role in farm household’s ability to respond appropriately to agro forestry and other emerging trends in the agricultural sector both at the individual levels and at the national level. as shown in table 1 respondents representing 56% aged 50years and below while the rest 44% were older. shows that majority are of youthful age this further implies that the youth segment of the study is more into agriculture than the other segments and may reflect the population of study. table 1 shows the distribution of respondents according to sex. the table shows that majority (60%) of the respondents are males while the remaining (40%) are females. this finding is indicative of the fact that male household heads out numbered the female household heads and so do have more access to land and other resources. the sex of the household head could determine consumption level of the household and access to other resources such as land in the south eastern part of nigeria. table 1. socio-economic characteristics of the respondents age frequency percentage 50 and below 28 56 above 50 22 24 total 50 100 gender frequency percentage www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 5 male 30 60 female 20 40 total 50 100 religion frequency percentage christianity 49 98.0 traditional religion 1 2.0 total 50 100 marital status frequency percentage single 7 14.0 married 37 74.0 widowed 6 12.0 total level of education no formal education primary education attempted primary education completed secondary education attempted secondary education completed vocational education total 50 frequency 15 4 10 13 7 1 50 100 percentage 30 8 20 26 14 2 100 major occupation frequency percentage farming 43 86.0 trading 3 6.0 civil service 1 2.0 artisan 3 6.0 total 50 100 minor occupation frequency percentage farming occupation 11 22.0 non-farm business 39 78.0 total 50 100 source: field survey, 2018 entries in table 1 show that majority of the respondents were christians while only 2.0% practiced traditional religion, this can be attributed to the large population of south easterners that practice christianity marital status has a huge impact on agricultural practices as farming activities may largely be dependent on this. an individual who is married and has procreated for instance would have less need towards employing farm labor from outside his/her household thus making the marital status of individuals a pertinent factor in agricultural practices. for this study therefore, table 1 shows the distribution of farm households based on respondents’ marital status. majority (74.0%) of the respondents were married while 14.0% and 12.0% were single and widowed respectively. taken that a greater number of respondents are married may perhaps expand their labor force during farming activities usually, the size of farm households affects productivity, consumption, technical efficiency, farm income among several others. fig below shows the frequency of distribution of the respondents according to household size. these reasons underscore the importance of farm household size in the area of study. the figure below shows the distribution of farm household in the study area. result revealed that a little over half (52%) of the sampled respondents representing 26 respondents have 6-10 persons in their household, on the other hand household size of between 11-15, 1-5 and 16 and above had 28.0%, 12.0% and 8.0% respectively. the fig. below result suggests that majority of the sampled respondents have a moderate house hold size of 6-10 members which could be because of some other socio-economic factors like monogamous marriage (one man, one wife), religion (encourages monogamy) and economic factors (high cost of living) compel people to have a moderate family size with 6-10 persons. this situation is also congruent with the realities of the south eastern nigeria. also, can be because they are still in child bearing age and so could have more children. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 6 figure 1: pie chart showing the distribution of farm household in the area of study. individual’s educational levels primarily impact on knowledge, attitudes and practices that are related to agro forestry practices. table 1 that 30% of the 50 respondents have no formal education. whereas 8%, 20%, 26% and 14% also have primary education attempted, primary education completed, secondary education attempted, and secondary education completed respectively, the remaining (2%) respondents have vocational education. the result below suggests that individuals who hold primary, secondary and tertiary certificates do not really differ from each other; going by the proximity in percentages which is indicating a ‘mix’ of educational levels among the sampled respondents and can be understood from the huge presence of educational institutions both within and close (outside) to the study area. the major occupation of respondents is the primary economic activity which the respondents engage in and acquire wealth or income for sustenance of their livelihood and investments. table 1 discloses the distribution of respondents according to major occupation. finding showed that a majority (86%) are primarily farmers while 2%, are civil servants; 6% are into trading and the remaining 6% of the respondents, artisan. the result from table 1 suggests that farming activities is a predominant occupation among respondents and perhaps reflective of the occupational realities among the study population in the local government area. the uncertainties that accompany farming activities can have far reaching consequences on the survival and livelihood of farmers; hence the need to engage in other secondary activities that could enhance the supportive capacity of farmers becomes crucial. the minor occupation by implication therefore refers to all other secondary or supportive engagements undertaken by sampled farmers in the area of study in order to increase their income. table 1 presents the distribution of respondents according to their minor occupation. judging from the table 1, an over whelming majority (78%) of the entire respondents engage in non-farming business as their minor occupation. on the other hand, 22% engage in farming which they see as a minor occupation. this also indicates that non-farming business plays a supportive role to agricultural activities. table 2 other socio-economic characteristics monthly income from major occupation (₦) 1000-10000 18 36 10001-20000 23 46 20001-30000 8 16 30001 and above 1 2 annual income from minor occupation ≤50000 21 47.7 50001-100000 12 27.3 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 7 100001-150000 7 15.0 150001-200000 3 6.8 250000 and above 1 3.2 annual income from major occupation (₦) ≤100000 9 18.0 100001-200000 23 46.0 200001-300000 14 28.0 300001-400000 3 6.0 400001 and above 1 2 monthly income from minor occupation (₦) ≤5000 31 62 5001-10000 14 28 10001-15000 4 9.3 20000 and above 1 0.7 source of labor individual 26 52.0 family 24 48.0 size of farmland (ha) homestead frequency percentage ≤ 0.5 29 58.0 0.6-1 21 42.0 outlaying farms frequency percentage ≤ 5 18 36 6-10 32 64 access to extension service frequency percent no 50 100 method of land acquisition purchase 8 16.0 inheritance total 42 50 84.0 100 years in agro forestry frequency percentage ≤20 8 16 21-40 20 40 41 and above 22 44 total 50 100 source: field survey, 2018 greater proportion (46.0%) of the respondents had between ₦100001-₦20000 as monthly income from major occupation followed by 36.0% of respondents that had between ₦1000₦10000. similarly, 16.0% and 2.0% of the respondents had ₦20001-₦30000 and ₦30001 and above respectively. the income levels of farm household have a significant impact on procurement of necessary tools and other technologies that re-impact on agricultural activities, efficiency, productivity, financial management skills and other aspects of their livelihood. the distribution of respondents according to their annual income is shown in table 2. result from table 2 shows that greater proportions (46%) of the respondents had annual income from major occupation as 100001-200000 while 28%, 6% ,18% and 2% had ₦200001-300000, -₦ 300001-400000, ₦≤100000 respectively. this result therefore suggests that majority of the entire respondents earn just enough. this outcome may also be reflective of the fact that though agricultural practice is predominant in the nation, it does not provide adequate remuneration that matches the input of agricultural labor. majority (55.8%) had monthly income from minor occupation of ≤ ₦5000 and 27.3% had between ₦5001 ₦10000. also, 23.0% and 9.3% had between ₦20000 and above and ₦10001₦15000 above. greater proportion www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 8 (47.0%) of the respondents had annual income from minor occupation of ≤₦50000 followed by 27.3% and 15.0% that had between ₦50001-₦100000 and ₦1000001-₦150000 respectively. however, 6.8% and 2.3% had between ₦150001₦200000 and ₦200001 and above respectively. greater proportion (52.0%) of the respondents used individual labor and source of labor while 48.0% used family labor. the economic importance of farm size cannot be over emphasized in agro forestry. the reason for this is probably due to the fact large or small farm size if appropriately utilized can improve farm productivity and enhance agricultural sufficiency even in the face of unexpected events. this was considered paramount to the understanding of this study. table 2 therefore shows the distribution of respondents according to farm size. results from table 2 depicts that 58.0% of the entire (50) respondents have a farm size ≤ 0.5ha in their homestead farm as opposed to 64% of the respondent having above 0.6 ha in outlying farms, whereas 42% representing 21 respondents have farm sizes of 0.6-1ha in homestead farm as opposed to 36% having ≤ 5ha in outlying farm. suggesting that there is limited area of land available for agricultural purposes in their homestead farm and vast area of land are available in their outlying farms in the area of study. it is common knowledge that extension agents’ roles are to equip farmers with the needed working knowledge of the main elements of the agricultural system, the frequency of contact between farmers and agricultural extension workers may be of significance in ensuring the best agricultural practices that is particularly suited for the farmer’s environment. the frequency of contact between respondents and extension agents was therefore measured. result showed that extension agents are scarce or don’t visit the farmers at all. majority (84.05) acquire land through inheritance while 16.0% acquired through purchase. this shows without doubt that most of the farm land were handed down to them by their fore fathers. the implication of this is that in situation where inherited land is small, mechanization is impaired, it also results to land fragmentation. the table shows that greater proportion (46.8%) of respondents had agro forestry experience of 41 years and above while 42.6% and 10.6% had between 21-40 years and ≤20 years respectively. all (100.0%) of the respondents indicated that the source of capital for agro forestry activities is personal savings. data on table 2 show that greater proportion (46.0%) of the respondents had estimated monthly income from agro forestry of ≤₦5000 while 27.7%, 19.6% and 6.4% had ₦5001-₦10000, ₦100001-₦15000 and ₦15000 and above. majority (55.3%) of the respondents indicated that their estimated monthly income from non-agro forestry is ≤ ₦5000. also, 22.3%, 18% and 4.4% had between ₦5001-₦10000, ₦10001-₦15000, ₦15001 and above. greater proportion (42.0%) of respondents had an estimated monthly income of between ₦20001-₦30000 while 26.0% and 22.0% had ₦20001-₦30000 and ₦10001-₦20000 respectively. however, 10.0% of the respondents had between ₦30001-₦40000 and ₦40001 and above each. greater proportion (38.0%) of the respondents had estimated annual income of between 100001-200000. also 26.0% had between ₦300001-₦400000 while 18.0%, 12.0% and 6.0% had ₦200001-₦300000, ≤₦100000 and between ₦400001 and above 3.1.1gender aspect in agro forestry all (100.0%) of the respondents said women do not own tree in the village. this is in line with custom of the people of south east part of the country. all (100.0%) indicated women can buy tree in the village. once a woman has the finance, she can buy any tree she desires. majority of the respondents 94% indicated women can sell tree while only 6.0% indicated on the contrary. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 9 3.1.2 decision making on household owned trees figure 2. decision making on household in agro forestry practice greater proportion (54.0%) of the respondents indicated that decision making on the type of trees to plant is done by male while 40.0% is done jointly (both male and female). however, only 6.0% of the decision is done by the female. greater proportion (52.0%) of the respondents also indicated that decision on where to plant trees is done by male while 40.0% is done jointly and 8.0% by women. decision on produce to be retained by household as indicated by greater proportion (46.0%) of the respondent is done by male. also, 30.0% and 24.0% are done by female and jointly respectively. about 50.0% of the respondents indicated that decision on sale of produce is done by female while 34.0% is by male and 16.0% is jointly. greater proportion (44.0%) of the respondents indicated that decision on harvest of tree products is done by male while 36.0% is done jointly and 20.0% is by female. figure 3.continuation decision on cutting down of trees is down majorly by male as indicated by the majority (62.0%) of the respondents. about 36.0% of the respondents indicated the decision is done jointly while 2.0% is done by female. greater proportion (50.0%) of the respondents indicated that the decision on when to prune trees is done by male while 34.0% is by female and 16.0% by male. the decision on annual crop to be grown according to the greater proportion (46.0%) of the respondents is done by male while 36.0% o and 18.0% indicated it is done and jointly by female respectively. the decision on type of animal to rear is mainly done through joint decision and by male as indicated by 52.0% and 40.0% of the respondents respectively. only 8.0% of the decision is done by female. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 10 3.2 type of agro forestry practiced table 3 showing details of agro forestry practiced by respondents type of animal reared (multiple response) frequency percent goat 29 56.9 poultry 13 25.5 pig 15 29.4 where do tree and shrubs occur in the landscape (multiple response) home compound 14 27.5 range land 14 27.5 river bank 10 19.6 crop land 11 21.6 pastures 9 17.6 forest 14 27.5 property boundaries 2 3.9 arrangement of trees (multiple response) lines 21 42. dispersed 29 58 most important tree crops grown in the homestead cashew (anacardiun occidentale) 40 78.4 ube (pyrus spp) 37 72.5 paw paw (carica papaya) 1 2.0 mango (mangifera indica) 37 72.5 guava (psidiun guajava) 6 11.8 banana (musa spp) 9 17.6 plantain (musa spp) 9 17.6 coconut (cocos nucifera) 2 3.9 oil palm (elaeis guineensis) 6 11.8 orange (citrus sinensis) 11 21.6 most important food crops grown in the homestead maize (zea mays) 37 72.5 cassava (manihot utilisima) 31 60.8 yam (dioscorea spp) 29 56.9 garden egg (solanum melongena) 25 49.0 cocoyam (colocasia esculenta) 24 47.1 black beans (phaseolus vulgaris) 6 11.8 cucumber (cucumis sativus) 4 7.8 most important tree crops grown in outlay farms ube (pyrus spp) 28 54.9 cashew (anacardiun occidentale) 20 39.2 mango (mangifera indica) 13 25.5 orange (citrus sinensis) 12 23.5 coconut (cocos nucifera) 9 17.6 oil palm (elaeis guineensis) 9 17.6 banana (musa spp) 5 9.8 guava (psidiun guajava) 5 9.8 pawpaw (carica papaya) 5 9.8 most important food crop grown in outlay farms cassava (manihot utilisima) 36 70.6 maize (zea mays) 29 56.9 coco yam (colocasia esculenta) 27 52.9 yam (dioscorea spp) 22 43.1 garden egg (solanum melongena) 22 43.1 okro (abelmoschus esculentus) 8 15.7 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 11 cucumber (cucumis sativus) 1 2.0 method of tree establishment deliberately planted 30 60 sprouted on its own 12 24 during bush clearing 8 16 source: field survey, 2018 3.2.1 type of agro forestry practiced the bar chat below shows that the major type of agro forestry practiced as indicated by majority (62.0%) of the respondents was agro silvopastoral (combination of food crop, pasture and tree) while agro silviculture (use of crops and trees) was practiced by 38.0%. figure 4. type of agro forestry practiced the major type animal reared as indicated by the majority (56.9%) of the respondent in table 3 above was goat while 29.4% and 25.5% reared pig and poultry respectively greater proportion (27.5%) each of the respondents indicated that trees and shrubs occur in home compound, range land and forest respectively. while 21.6%, 19.6% and 17.6% indicated tree and shrubs occur in crop land, river bank and pastures respectively. however, only 3.9% of these occur in property boundaries. greater proportion (58.0%) of the respondents indicated that trees are arranged in dispersed form while 42% arrange in lines. data on table 3 above… indicated that the major important tree crop grown in the homestead as indicated by majority (78.4%) of the respondent is cashew. similarly, 72.5% of the respondents each grow mango and ube while 62.7%, 41.2% and 21.6% grow ujiri, oroma and orange respectively. also, 9.0% each accounted for respondents that grow nkwu, banana and plantain respectively. on the other hand, 11.8% each indicated they grow guava and oil palm while 7.8%, 3.9% and 2.0% accounted for respondents that grow aki, coconut and pawpaw respectively. data on table 3 above… indicated that the major important food crop grown in the homestead as indicated by majority (72.5%) of the respondent is maize. similarly, 60.8% of the respondents each grow yam, while 56.9%, 49% ,47.1%,19.6%,11.8 and 7.8 grow garden egg, cocoyam, pepper, black beans, and cucumber respectively. on the other hand, 11.8% each indicated they grow guava and oil palm while 7.8%, 3.9% and 2.0% accounted for respondents that grow aki, coconut and pawpaw respectively. data on table 3 shows that 60% of farmers deliberately planted their crops and trees, 24% sprouted on its own while 16% during bush clearing 3.3 reasons for participating in agro forestry table 4: percentage distribution of farmers based on reasons for participating in agro forestry practices reasons frequency percentage economic reasons 50 100.0 decrease of inputs 41 82.0 entails more productivity 50 100.0 as a source of income 50 100.0 it is cheaper 48 96.0 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 12 it enriches the soil 50 100.0 encourages afforestation 50 100.0 to use as collateral 35 70.0 protect the soil from erosion 46 92.0 source: field survey, 2018 data on table 4 shows clearly that all the respondents agree that economic reason, entails more productivity, as a source of income, it enriches the soil, encourages afforestation are the major reasons they engage in agro forestry, most of the respondents believe that they can hardly gain collateral with their agro forestry practice from financial institutions 3.3.1 constraints to agro forestry table 5: mean distribution of farmers on constraints to agro forestry constraints to agro forestry mean standard deviation high cost of agro-chemicals 3.38* 0.490 poor access to information about climate change 3.14* 0.783 land ownership 2.82* 0.774 costs associated with the adequate 2.86* 0.783 unfavorable policy on agro forestry 2.78* 0.582 pest and diseases attack 2.98* 0.714 poor road/transportation 3.64* 0.485 poor extension contacts 3.44* 0.705 poor access to capital 3.46* 0.706 post-harvest losses 3.49* 0.505 inadequate storage facilities 3.48* 0.614 lack of agricultural input/subsidies 3.14* 0.808 cultural barrier (women not owing land) 2.88* 0.918 limited access to health care/facility 2.66* 1.022 low price of agricultural produce 3.02* 1.204 poor/hazardous working condition 3.54* 0.542 theft 3.62* 0.490 tax charged for using farmland 2.44 1.128 insufficient land 2.69* 0.713 land tenure insecurity that discourages migrant farmers from embarking on large scale farming 2.86* 0.904 long distance from farmland 2.92* 1.047 infertile land 3.22* 0.616 poor market for agric 3.22* 0.679 lack of formal edu 2.88* 1.043 discrimination and social isolation 2.36* 1.174 source: field survey, 2018 data on table 5 … shows that the major constraints to agro forestry include poor road/transport (m=3.64), theft (m=3.62), poor/hazardous working condition (m=3.54), poor harvest lost (m=3.49), inadequate storage facilities (m=3.48) poor access to capital (m=3.46), poor extension contact (m=3.44), high cost of agro chemicals (m=3.38), poor access to information about climate change (m=3.14), lack of agricultural input/subsidies (m=3.14), low price of agricultural produce (m=3.02), land ownership (m=2.82), cost associated with the adequate (m=2.86), pest and www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 13 diseases attack (m=2.98), cultural barrier (women not owing land) (m=2.88), land ownership (m=2.82), unfavorable policy on agro forestry (m=2.78), insufficient land (m=2.69), tax charged for using farmland (m=2.44). poor road/transport (m=3.64), poor harvest lost (m=3.49), inadequate storage facilities (m=3.48) and long distance from farmland (m=2.92). others include, poor access to capital (m=3.46), high cost of agro chemicals (m=3.38), lack of agricultural input/subsidies (m=3.14), low price of agricultural produce (m=3.02), cost associated with the adequate (m=2.86), tax charged for using farmland (m=2.44) and poor market for agricultural produce (m=3.22) also, other constraint as identified by farmers include: poor/hazardous working condition (m=3.54), land ownership (m=2.82), unfavorable policy on agro forestry (m=2.78), insufficient land (m=2.69), land tenure insecurity that discourages migrant farmers from embarking on large scale farming (m=2.86), discrimination and social isolation (m=2.36), and infertile land (m=3.22). in addition to these, extension contact (m=3.44), poor access to information about climate change (m=3.14) lack of formal education (m=2.88) equally constitute to challenges to agro forestry. 3.4 farmers’ perception of benefits of agro forestry table 6: mean distribution of farmers’ perception of benefits of agro forestry benefits of agro forestry mean standard deviation fight soil erosion 3.38* 0.490 provision of raw material 3.36* 0.485 medicinal purposes 3.34* 0.717 maintenance of genetic diversity 3.34* 0.658 increase land productivity 3.42* 0.499 food provision 3.46* 0.503 reduces poverty level 3.52* 0.505 increases source of income for the farmer 3.50* 0.505 improved economic and social condition in rural area 3.40* 0.495 ensures better land management 3.54* 0.503 provision of shade 3.48* 0.931 enriches the soil/source of manure 3.74* 0.443 local climate and air regulations 3.08* 0.944 aesthetic quality 2.90* 0.931 wind break 3.26* 1.065 watershed mgt 2.92* 0.986 all year-round income 3.76* 0.555 use of tree as collateral 2.30* 1.159 source: field survey, 2018 data on table 6 above … shows that the farmer’s perceived benefits to agro forestry include: all year round income (m=3.76) enrich soil with manure (m=3.74), fight soil erosion (m=3.38), increase land productivity (m=3.42), maintenance of gen diversity (m=3.34), ensure better land management (m=3.54), ), provision of shade (m=3.48), local climate and air regulation (m=3.08), wind break (m=3.26) others include provision of raw materials (m=3.36), provision of food (m=3.46), reduce poverty level (m=3.52), increases source of income for the farmer (m=3.50), improved economic and social condition in rural area (m=3.40), aesthetic quality (m=2.90), watershed management (m=2.92). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 14 4. conclusion and recommendations the following conclusions could be drawn from the findings of this research work.  many farmers in the study area practiced agro forestry while minority are non-agroforestry farmer.  farmers have adopted agricultural practices which fit into their socio-economic conditions.  many farmers can grow crops, animals and trees in the same piece of land, they use the manure from animals to offset cost of buying fertilizer.  agro forestry farmers derived substantial financial benefits.  contact with extension agents was relatively poor in the study area.  another significant revelation of this study is the way agroforestry farms are managed and sponsored. these are handled entirely by individual farmers and their families.  government’s involvement is almost not visible.  accessibility to land and its resources is restricted by the prevailing land tenure system of the territory which is predominantly inheritance. immigrant farmers are especially hindered and cannot easily invest in agroforestry. household in the study area can gain much from agro forestry practice. also, the quality of lives of the farmer in the area can also be improved, if the following is done: 1) agro forestry farming naturally requires large area of land. however, most agroforestry farmers do not have access to such lands. government should therefore investigate the possibilities of facilitating access to farm lands by reviewing the land tenure act. .2) farmers awareness in agroforestry technologies ought to be improved through mass media programmes. these technologies are not as popular as one would expect. some of the farmers interviewed needed to be educated about agroforestry programmes. 3) women constitute a very large work force, yet they hardly participate in most agroforestry practices in the study area. this situation ought to be changed as their participation could expand the scope of agroforestry farming and by implication reduce the effect of desertification. 4) government should motivate agricultural production with more emphasis on agroforestry practices since agroforestry farming combines the production of food, fiber, livestock and protection of the environment. thus, economic and social assistance should be provided to farmers to enhance adoption of agroforestry practices. .5) investigations have revealed that adoption of agroforestry practices was constrained by lack of farm inputs such as high cost of agro chemicals, transportation, theft, pest and diseases etc. the government and concerned agencies should provide these promptly to farmers as incentives to increase their adoption of agroforestry practices. 6) agro forestry is lucrative in the study area, more people are advised to go into agro forestry practice. references abumere, s.i. (2008), in udo, r.k. and mamman, a.b. (eds) nigeria: giant in the tropics vol. 2 state surveys, pp. 15-24 areola, o (2008). ecology of natural resources in nigeria, athenaeum press ltd, newcastle upon tyne. ejaro, s.p. (2000), “land administration”. in dawam, p.d. (ed) geography of nsukka, enugu nigeria, famous/asanlu publishers, pp.158-172 gaza, l.z. (2005), “induced changes in the rural areas of the enugu state, nigeria”, unpublished m.sc. dissertation, abu, zaria huxley, p. a. (1983). comments on agroforestry, classification with special reference to plant aspects. in: plant research and agroforestry. icraf. nairobi, kenya. 161-172 kang, b. t., atto-krah, a. n., and renoids, l. (1999). alley farming. macmillian education ltd. nair, p. k. r. (1983). agroforestry with coconuts and other tropical plantation crop. in: huxley, p. a. (eds) plant research and agroforestry. nairobi, kenya. 79-102 obi s.nc (1963), “the igbo law of property” _butterworth and co (publishers) ltd.london,uk. onumadu, (2001). forestry extension: the missing links. in: popoola l., abu, j. e. and oni, p. i. (eds) proceedings of the 27 annual conference of fan, forestry and national development abuja, september 17-21, 2001, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 15 raintree, j.b., thomson and van-mardell, h. (1984) agroforestry in west africa sahel, national academy press, washington dc copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 21 response of different storage containers in rice genotypes during storage dr. sanjoy kumar bordolui assistant professor department of seed science and technology bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india e-mail: sanjoy_bordolui@rediffmail.com nagapuri sachin kumar pg student department of seed science and technology bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india e-mail: sachinnagapuri@gmail.com dr. kanu murmu assistant professor department of agronomy bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india e-mail: kanumurmu@gmail.com abstract rice is the staple food of more than half the world’s population and is being cultivated in asia since ancient time’s generation after generation. good quality seeds are the seeds of the green revolution, it has been assertively and emphatically shown that 15-20% increased yield could be achieved by the use of good quality seeds alone. good quality seed is one of the most important requirements for production and supply to achieve higher production and productivity in any crop. the seed quality is depended on various factors viz. genetic, edaphic, environmental, biotic, etc. good quality seed production depends on complex conditions evoking the most favorable interactions between the genetic makeup of the seed and the environment, under which it is produced, harvested, processed, and stored. seeds undergo deterioration at various levels during storage resulting in a decline in vigor and viability. with the above considerations, the present investigation has been undertaken to observe the potentials of ten rice genotypes and observed its seed quality after harvesting in 2016-2017 at seed testing laboratory, department of seed science and technology, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india. just after harvesting g2 (gobindabhog) and g9 (ir-36) showed highest germination percentage (97.66) and g9 (ir-36) showed highest vigor index (3204.13). but most of the varieties germination and vigor were nearer to g2 & g9. among the containers with seed moisture content aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content, 8% is the best storage http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:kanumurmu@gmail.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 22 container for rice among the other containers as up to one-year storage vigor index was observed highest in that conditions. keywords: containers, germination, rice, storage, vigor. introduction rice (oryza sativa l.) is the major staple food and is being cultivated in asia since ancient time’s generation after generation. the landraces and wild species, the genetic resources of rice also include the natural hybrids and a range of different genetic stocks comprising commercial and absolute varieties (biswas et al., 2020). seeds undergo deterioration at various levels during storage resulting in decline in a vigor and viability (bordolui et al., 2015). the loss of viability during storage due to atmospheric factors from the time of maturity is a common phenomenon in all crop seeds until the next planting season (ramanadane et al., 2005; chandra et al., 2006). the deterioration leading to a loss in viability of seed may affect the yield of the crop in two ways: firstly, decrease in germination may lead to a suboptimal population of plants per unit area, secondly poor performance by the surviving plants (roberts, 1972). maintenance of viability, vigor, and storability of seeds is a problem in tropical regions where high temperature and high relative humidity accelerate seed deterioration which ultimately results in non-viability (bordolui et al., 2018). over the years, researchers have, involved themselves to develop more suitable techniques to keep the seed healthy, viable, and vigorous during storage. with this available background information, the present investigation is proposed to evaluate the morphology and quality of produced seeds. materials and methods the panicles of ten rice genotypes giz, kailash (g1), gobindabhog (g2), kalma (g3), dudheswar(g4), malabati (g5), kanakchur (g6), kalojira (g7), radhatilak (g8), ir-36 (g9) and pusa-1509 (g10) were collected from the trial plot of gontra village, nadia, west bengal. the laboratory experiment was carried out in seed testing laboratory, department of seed science and technology, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india, during 2016-2017. immediately after harvesting, seeds were properly sun-dried to its safe moisture content of rice seed collected from control plot of individual genotype for each replication were kept in four different packaging materials and one condition viz., different treatments were earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 10%t3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4 and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10% t5. different seed quality parameters such as root length (cm), shoot length (cm), seedling length (cm), germination percentage, and vigor index were recorded/determined at the pre-storage condition as well as at every three months interval up to one year of storage (bordolui et al., 2006). the seedling vigor index was computed using the formula suggested by abdul baki and anderson (1973) and data were analyzed by employing crd through sassa, dmrt. results and discussion among the genotypes, significant variation was recorded for test weight, seedling root length, fresh weight, and dry weight only. among the genotypes mean value of test weight varied from 11.84g for g2 to 22.27 for g1, and the deviation from the mean value was recorded from1.00 to 1.53. constitution of different groups was: group a was constituted with single https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 23 genotypes g10, b with two constituents g1 & g3, group c with g4 & g9 and remaining genotypes constituted group d. average seedling shoot length varied from 10.81cm g1 to 14.76 cm g7. as the genotypes displayed non-significant variation in performance for this character, they formed a single group a. for g2, while g9 exhibited the highest root length (19.94 cm) and it was the lowest (11.24 cm) for g2, while the deviation from the mean value varied from 0.57 to 4.10. the genotypes formed different groups as g1 was grouped under dc, g2 was under d, g3 under ab group, bac was formed with g4 , g5 and g7, while g6 and g8 were grouped under bcd, and g10 & g9 were grouped under ab and a respectively. seedling fresh weighs highest (1.60g) for g9 and it was lowest (1.25g) for g2. as the genotypes displayed significant variation performance for this character, they formed different groups: g1 was grouped under the h group, g2 was grouped under j, both g3 and g9 were grouped under a, g4 was grouped under g, g5 was grouped under b, g6 was grouped under e, g7 was grouped under f, g8 was grouped under i, and g10 was grouped under c. while considering seedling dry weight the mean value was highest (0.95g) for g4 and lowest (0.52g) for g8. the genotypes constituted different groups with varying constituents: the genotype g1 was grouped under f, g2 was under g, g5 was under b, g4 was under a, g3 and g9 were under c, g7 was under e, g6 was under d, g8 was under i group, and g10 was grouped under h group. maximum germination (97.66%) was recorded for both g2 and g9 though non-significant and it was minimum (96.66%) for g5, g7, and g3, while the deviation from the mean value varied from 0.52 to 1.15. the genotypes failed to constitute different groups due to their highest magnitude for vigor index (3204.13) was recorded for g9 and it was lowest for g10 (2009.17). though non-significant variation among genotypes was noted for this character, genotype g1 was grouped under b, g2 was grouped under c, g3 and g9 were under a group, and g10 was grouped under ba, g8 was grouped under bac. so, harvested fresh seeds of g2 (gobindabhog) & g9 (ir-36) showed the highest germination percentage and that of g9 (ir-36) showed the highest vigor index. there is no effect of different storage containers in fresh harvest seed. table 1. mean value with standard deviation for test weight, seedling root-shoot length and fresh, dry weight, germination (%) and vigor index of the genotypes at harvest fresh condition. genotypes test weight (g) mean±sd shoot length (cm) mean±sd root length (cm) mean±sd fresh weight (g) mean± sd dry weight (g) mean± sd germination% mean± sd g.i. mean± sd g1 22.27b±1.53 10.81a±3.05 13.0dc±0.57 1.29h±0.00 0.63f±0.00 97.00a±1.00 2312.86b±335.36 g2 11.84d±1.53 11.44a±1.52 11.24d±0.57 1.25j±00.0 0.63g±0.00 97.66a±0.57 2216.49c±152.66 g3 21.38b±1.53 13.57a±2.51 18.82ab±0.57 1.45a±0.00 0.91c±0.00 96.66a±0.57 3137.92a±259.12 g4 18.05c±1.53 13.78a±2.51 16.98bac±1.52 1.30g±0.00 0.95a±00.0 97.00a±1.00 2986.70ba±397.35 g5 13.89d±1.53 13.85a±2.51 17.18bac±2.30 1.52b±0.00 0.92b±0.00 96.66a±0.57 3001.82ba±463.24 g6 13.51d±1.53 12.86a±2.51 15.29bcd±4.10 1.38e±0.00 0.85d±0.00 97.00a±1.00 2981.82ba±575.41 g7 13.47d±1.53 14.76a ±2.51 16.81abc±3.21 1.31f±0.00 0.72e±0.00 96.66a±0.57 3053.30ba±541.44 g8 12.74d±1.53 12.60a±2.51 15.32bcd±4.58 1.26i±0.00 0.52i±0.00 97.33a±1.15 2721.45bac±618.78 g9 18.44c±1.00 12.85a±2.51 19.94a±0.57 1.60a±0.00 0.91c±0.00 97.66a±0.57 3204.13a±271.25 g10 13.49a±1.53 13.24a±2 17.65ab±3.21 1.50c±0.00 0.62h±0.00 97.33a±1.15 2009.17ba±502.70 sem (±) 0.331 0.547 0.583 0.01 0.01 0.191 97.694 lsd (0.05) 1.1262* ns 1.4414* 0.027 * 0.026 * ns ns nb: kailashg1, gobindabhogg2, kalmag3, dudheswar-g4, malabatig5, kanakchurg6, kalojirag7, radhatilakg8, ir36g9 and pusa-1509g10. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 24 table 2. mean values for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%), and vigor index of the genotypes stored in different containers at three months after storage genotypes with treatments shoot length (cm) root length (cm) fresh weight (g) dry weight (g) germination (%) vigor index t1g1 10.50 18.11 0.24 0.07 89.00 2548.62 t1g2 6.24 9.12 0.41 0.04 91.00 1395.95 t1g3 13.40 16.43 0.25 0.08 90.67 2705.20 t1g4 8.96 12.42 0.22 0.05 91.00 1949.28 t1g5 9.80 17.56 0.24 0.05 93.00 2545.28 t1g6 7.14 9.16 0.23 0.05 90.00 1468.76 t1g7 8.22 10.12 0.35 0.08 91.67 1683.45 t1g8 6.42 8.50 0.13 0.04 88.67 1320.96 t1g9 9.35 18.61 0.16 0.06 91.33 2579.19 t1g10 12.83 20.02 0.29 0.11 91.33 2995.17 t2g1 9.29 16.96 0.21 0.07 88.67 2323.13 t2g2 6.05 7.79 0.09 0.02 91.00 1257.41 t2g3 11.07 16.40 0.15 0.06 91.33 2512.09 t2g4 8.06 13.93 0.17 0.06 90.00 1979.61 t2g5 10.17 18.61 0.26 0.07 91.00 2616.23 t2g6 5.64 8.81 0.15 0.03 91.67 1326.49 t2g7 5.73 9.04 0.13 0.03 90.33 1334.85 t2g8 8.18 11.20 0.21 0.04 89.00 1725.63 t2g9 13.52 16.85 0.17 0.07 91.00 2764.77 t2g10 13.28 19.42 0.25 0.09 90.67 2962.96 t3g1 8.50 20.95 0.14 0.06 90.33 2661.55 t3g2 7.20 9.58 0.40 0.04 90.33 1515.01 t3g3 8.29 13.84 0.22 0.07 88.33 1955.78 t3g4 8.59 14.71 0.15 0.05 89.00 2075.33 t3g5 8.28 15.65 0.14 0.06 89.67 2144.90 t3g6 7.16 10.09 0.16 0.08 91.33 1575.38 t3g7 9.06 9.51 0.11 0.04 91.33 1695.01 t3g8 7.27 11.44 0.15 0.06 90.00 1685.12 t3g9 11.68 19.11 0.17 0.04 91.67 2821.88 t3g10 12.97 19.94 0.34 0.01 91.33 3003.39 t4g1 8.93 20.83 0.15 0.06 90.67 2697.18 t4g2 9.17 11.75 0.38 0.05 92.00 1926.89 t4g3 8.12 13.52 0.20 0.05 91.00 1964.60 t4g4 8.35 14.48 0.17 0.05 91.33 2084.28 t4g5 8.24 16.25 0.14 0.05 91.67 2246.01 t4g6 7.03 9.26 0.19 0.05 91.67 1494.59 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 25 t4g7 8.49 9.51 0.10 0.13 90.67 1634.22 t4g8 7.77 11.52 0.15 0.04 90.67 1759.74 t4g9 11.54 18.75 0.15 0.05 91.33 2764.78 t4g10 15.68 14.10 0.40 0.08 92.67 3064.73 t5g1 8.59 20.68 0.13 0.07 88.00 2577.61 t5g2 8.84 12.88 0.50 0.05 90.00 1954.80 t5g3 8.01 13.34 0.19 0.07 91.00 1943.07 t5g4 8.00 14.11 0.16 0.05 91.67 2025.62 t5g5 8.36 15.91 0.15 0.06 89.00 2159.39 t5g6 7.47 10.13 0.19 0.05 91.67 1612.81 t5g7 8.29 9.35 0.09 0.05 90.67 1598.37 t5g8 7.91 11.39 0.14 0.04 89.00 1718.86 t5g9 11.17 18.52 0.15 0.04 92.00 2732.08 t5g10 12.47 19.96 0.33 0.08 90.67 2944.03 sem(±) 0.177 0.132 0.012 0.009 0.063 18.57 lsd(0.05) 0.501 0.403 0.037 0.028 0.191 55.28 nb: kailashg1, gobindabhogg2, kalmag3, dudheswar-g4, malabatig5, kanakchurg6, kalojirag7, radhatilakg8, ir36g9 and pusa-1509g10. earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 10%t3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. at three months after storage, the longest seedling shoot length was found for t1g10 (15.68 cm) and it was shortest for t2g6 (5.64 cm). in the case of root length t3g1 (20.95 cm) recorded as highest and t2g2 (7.79 cm) as lowest performed for this character. the fresh weight of seedling was the highest for t1g2 (0.41g) and lowest for t5g1, t2g7 & t1g8 (0.13g). seedling dry weight was recorded as highest for t4g7 (0.13g) and lowest for t3g10 (0.01g). maximum germination percentage (93.00) was recorded for t1g5 and it was lowest (88.00) for t5g1. but for the vigor index, it was high as (3064.73) for t4g10 and (1257.41) as lowest for t2g2. so, it can be concluded that t1g5 (malabati stored in earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%) exhibited the highest germination percentage followed by t1g10, t5g9, and t4g2 at three months after storage and t4g10 (pusa-1509 stored in an aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%) recorded highest vigor index followed by t3g10 and t2g9 in comparison to other combination. table 3. mean values with standard deviation for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination percentage, and vigor index of storage containers at three months after storage treatments no of geno shoot length (cm) mean±sd root length (cm) mean±sd fresh weight (g) mean±sd dry weight (g) mean±sd germination (%) mean±sd gi mean±sd t1 10 9.57a±3.02 13.41a±4.06 0.60a±1.11 0.06a± 0.016 90.9a±1.40 2126.14a±633.91 t2 10 9.09a±2.91 13.90a±4.36 0.25a±0.20 0.054a±0.022 90.46a±0.98 2080.31a±642.66 t3 10 8.90a±1.94 14.48a±4.37 0.28a±0.24 0.051a±0.019 90.33a±1.11 2113.33a±540.34 t4 10 9.05a±1.78 14.58a±4.23 0.27a±0.24 0.094a±0.119 91.23a±0.47 2156.74a±509.55 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 26 t5 10 8.91a±1.60 14.62a±4.02 0.28a±0.23 0.056a±0.013 90.36a±1.34 2126.66a±473.98 sem (±) 0.347 0.627 0.078 0.164 0.165 13.01 lsd (0.05) ns ns ns ns ns ns nb: earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packett3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. at three months after storage, variation in the potentiality of storage containers for seedling shoot length, root length, vigor index, dry weight, and germination percentage were non-significant. all the genotypes belonged under a single group for all the characters studied. the mean value of shoot length was ranged from 8.90 cm to 9.57 cm, and t1 and t3 recorded as the highest and lowest values respectively. the deviation from the mean value ranged from 1.60 to 3.02. the average longest root (14.62 cm) was found for t5 and it was shortest for t1 (13.41cm). the deviation from the mean value was 4.02 to 4.37. in the case of seedling fresh weight, maximum value (0.60g) was recorded for t1 and lowest (0.25g) for t2. the deviation from the mean value ranged from 0.20 to 1.11 and t1 showed the highest. maximum seedling dry weight (0.094g) was noted for t4 and it was lowest (0.051g) for t3. the deviation from the mean value ranged from 0.016 to 0.119. the mean value of germination percentage was as maximum as (91.23) for t4 and as minimum as (90.33) for t3. with the deviation ranging from 0.47 to 1.40 and the highest vigor index (2156.74) was determined after t4 and it was the lowest (2080.31) for t2. the deviation from the mean value ranged from 473.98 to 642.66. at three months after storage, t4 (aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%), average over genotypes, recorded both highest germination (%) and vigor index followed by t1 and t2 for germination (%) and t5 and t4 for vigor index. so, at three months after storage t4 (aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%) is best. table 4. mean values for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%), and vigor index of the genotypes stored in different containers at six months after storage genotypes with treatments shoot length (cm) root length (cm) fresh weight (g) dry weight (g) germination (%) vigor index t1g1 9.55 17.68 0.13 0.06 88.33 2400.67 t1g2 5.42 8.15 0.11 0.03 90.67 1250.19 t1g3 12.22 15.11 0.17 0.07 90.00 2460.54 t1g4 8.57 10.74 0.17 0.03 91.33 1767.24 t1g5 8.26 14.22 0.18 0.04 88.00 1979.02 t1g6 6.59 7.98 0.20 0.02 89.00 1297.86 t1g7 7.08 10.20 0.14 0.02 89.33 1538.08 t1g8 6.67 9.46 0.12 0.03 89.67 1442.72 t1g9 8.88 16.96 0.17 0.04 91.00 2350.69 t1g10 14.18 15.18 0.36 0.05 91.00 2673.90 t2g1 8.14 14.59 0.31 0.06 89.00 2022.72 t2g2 5.03 7.70 0.27 0.11 89.33 1140.47 t2g3 12.12 16.85 0.19 0.07 88.67 2559.49 t2g4 6.57 11.88 0.28 0.05 90.33 1664.89 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 27 t2g5 8.98 16.84 0.23 0.05 90.00 2316.53 t2g6 5.07 7.87 0.28 0.09 89.33 1158.40 t2g7 5.02 6.60 0.10 0.02 88.33 1025.59 t2g8 5.91 10.24 0.15 0.04 90.00 1453.53 t2g9 12.98 16.47 0.13 0.04 90.67 2670.40 t2g10 12.45 16.95 0.18 0.07 91.33 2684.50 t3g1 7.48 17.85 0.11 0.04 89.67 2268.26 t3g2 6.75 10.78 0.38 0.04 88.33 1548.43 t3g3 7.12 12.38 0.15 0.07 89.33 1744.18 t3g4 7.88 13.85 0.15 0.07 88.33 1920.46 t3g5 8.01 15.29 0.08 0.03 88.67 2068.04 t3g6 6.68 9.48 0.26 0.02 88.00 1422.46 t3g7 8.01 8.85 0.10 0.04 88.00 1483.66 t3g8 7.50 10.58 0.31 0.10 90.00 1626.36 t3g9 11.28 18.74 0.18 0.03 91.67 2751.47 t3g10 12.21 18.54 0.40 0.12 91.67 2823.17 t4g1 8.29 10.42 0.28 0.05 88.00 1637.53 t4g2 6.03 9.26 0.14 0.04 88.33 1351.46 t4g3 7.79 12.52 0.16 0.03 88.33 1790.72 t4g4 7.57 15.25 0.14 0.05 89.33 2039.80 t4g5 7.49 9.37 0.11 0.03 89.33 1506.12 t4g6 8.35 14.48 0.17 0.05 89.33 2039.17 t4g7 12.32 19.42 0.29 0.08 86.67 2748.50 t4g8 7.89 11.52 0.15 0.04 87.67 1700.29 t4g9 8.93 20.18 0.15 0.06 90.33 2625.27 t4g10 11.54 18.75 0.15 0.05 91.00 2759.76 t5g1 7.92 20.68 0.11 0.07 88.00 2514.66 t5g2 8.14 12.88 0.29 0.05 87.67 1840.59 t5g3 7.84 13.34 0.19 0.07 87.67 1858.03 t5g4 7.07 14.11 0.16 0.05 89.00 1888.95 t5g5 7.36 15.91 0.15 0.06 88.33 2054.72 t5g6 7.80 10.15 0.19 0.05 88.33 1585.50 t5g7 8.29 9.35 0.29 0.05 88.00 1552.71 t5g8 7.91 11.39 0.14 0.04 87.67 1692.24 t5g9 11.18 18.52 0.15 0.04 90.00 2671.24 t5g10 12.40 19.96 0.33 0.08 91.33 2951.48 sem(±) 0.172 0.128 0.012 0.009 0.051 17.76 lsd(0.05) 0.501 0.399 0.036 0.026 0.152 51.77 nb: kailashg1, gobindabhogg2, kalmag3, dudheswar-g4, malabatig5, kanakchurg6, kalojirag7, radhatilakg8, ir36g9 and pusa-1509g10. earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 10%t3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. at six months after storage, the longest root was noted (20.68 cm) for t5g1 and it was lowest for t2g7 (6.60 cm). shoot length was highest for t1g10 (14.18 cm) and lowest for t2g7 (5.02 cm). the highest fresh weight of seedling was observed for t3g10 (0.40 g) and lowest for https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 28 t3g5 (0.08g). while maximum dry weight (0.12g) was noted for t3g10 and the lowest were found for t3g6 t2g7 t1g6 and t1g7 (0.02g). after six months of storage germination percentage was highest in both t3g10 and t3g9 (91.67) and lowest for t4g7 (86.67). vigor index was recorded as maximum as (2951.48) for t5g10 and lowest for t2g2 (1140.47). so, it can be concluded that t3g9 (ir-36 store in the aluminum foil packet) showed the highest germination percentage followed by t1g4 and t3g10 (pusa-1509 stored in the aluminum foil packet) at six months after storage and t5g10 (pusa-1509 stored in polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%) recorded highest vigor index followed by t4g7 and t3g10 in comparison to other combination. table 5. mean value with standard deviation for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%) and vigor index of storage containers at six months after storage treatments no of geno shoot length (cm) mean±sd root length (cm) mean±sd fresh weight (g) mean±sd dry weight (g) mean±sd germination% mean±sd gi mean±sd t1 10 8.74a±2.69 12.56a±3.66 0.17b±0.071 0.039b±0.016 89.83a±1.16 1916.09a±528.42 t2 10 8.22a±3.24 12.59a±4.24 0.19ab±0.072 0.107a±0.079 89.69a±0.93 1869.65a±664.10 t3 10 8.29a±1.89 13.63a±3.79 0.33a±0.281 0.056ab±0.033 89.36ab±1.39 1965.64a±507.99 t4 10 8.59a±1.74 14.62a±4.01 0.23ab±0.143 0.056ab±0.013 88.60b±1.20 2061.01a±484.31 t5 10 8.62a±1.90 14.11a±4.17 0.25ab±0.224 0.088ab±0.12 88.83ab±1.28 2019.86a±522.51 sem(±) 0.353 0.594 0.026 0.010 0.179 81.265 lsd (0.05) ns ns ns ns ns ns nb: earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packett3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. at six months after storage, treatments over genotypes shoot length was highest in t1 (8.74 cm) and t2, (8.22 cm) was showed lowest. the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 1.74 to 3.24 and the t2 was the highest and all genotypes were non-significant in variation for this trait. genotypes were grouped under the same group i.e a group. in the case of root length t5 (14.62 cm) showed the highest and t1, (12.56 cm) was showed the lowest and the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 3.66 to 4.24 and the t2 was showed the highest and all genotypes were non-significant variation. all genotypes were grouped under the same group i.e. under a. in fresh weight t3, (0.33g) showed highest and t1 (0.17g) showed lowest. the deviation from the mean value ranged from 0.071 to 0.281 and t3 was highest and the genotypes showed non-significant variation t1, which was grouped under b, t2, t4, and t5 were grouped under ab, t3 was grouped under a. dry weight was recorded highest in t2 (0.107g) and lowest in t1 was shows lowest (0.039g). the deviation from the mean value ranged from 0.013 to 0.079 and t2 was showed highest and showed the non-significant variation. t1 was grouped under b, t2 grouped under a. t3, t4, and t5 were grouped under ab. germination percentage was highest in t1 (89.83) and t5 lowest in (88.60). the deviation from the mean value ranged from 0.93 to 1.39 and t3 showed the highest. the treatments were non-significant variation. the treatments were grouped under two groups. t1 and t2 were grouped under a.t3 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 29 and t4 were grouped under a b, t5 was grouped under b group. among the genotypes, vigor index found the highest t4 (2061.01) and the lowest in t2 (1869.65). the deviation from the mean value ranged from 664.10 to 484.31.t2 was shows highest. the treatments over genotypes were non-significant variation and all genotypes were grouped under a. at six months after storage, t1 (earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%) preferred best for germination percentage followed by t2 & t3 while t4 (aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%), performed best for vigor index followed by t5 and t3. so, at six months after storage t4 (aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%) could be identified as best with joint consideration of germination (%) and vigor index. table 6. mean values for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%) and vigor index of the genotypes stored in different containers at nine months after storage genotypes with treatments shoot length (cm) root length (cm) fresh weight (g) dry weight (g) germination (%) vigor index t1g1 9.22 17.68 0.13 0.06 88.33 2379.17 t1g2 5.29 8.15 0.11 0.03 88.00 1182.84 t1g3 12.22 15.11 0.13 0.07 87.67 2395.22 t1g4 7.93 10.76 0.14 0.03 88.67 1687.30 t1g5 7.93 14.03 0.06 0.04 87.67 1921.16 t1g6 7.25 7.98 0.20 0.02 88.00 1341.52 t1g7 6.91 9.93 0.14 0.02 87.67 1478.53 t1g8 6.67 9.29 0.11 0.03 86.33 1376.89 t1g9 8.88 17.96 0.17 0.04 90.00 2417.42 t1g10 13.87 15.07 0.36 0.05 89.33 2586.79 t2g1 8.04 14.51 0.31 0.06 89.00 2004.72 t2g2 5.03 7.70 0.27 0.04 87.67 1115.54 t2g3 9.14 16.74 0.20 0.02 87.33 2258.05 t2g4 6.50 11.81 0.28 0.08 88.00 1609.38 t2g5 8.91 16.80 0.22 0.03 87.33 2247.10 t2g6 5.07 7.87 0.11 0.03 88.33 1144.31 t2g7 4.71 6.53 0.10 0.02 87.33 981.48 t2g8 5.67 10.24 0.14 0.04 86.67 1378.59 t2g9 11.74 16.47 0.13 0.04 90.33 2518.17 t2g10 12.34 16.78 0.18 0.07 90.00 2622.17 t3g1 7.21 17.85 0.11 0.04 87.00 2178.13 t3g2 6.75 10.71 0.38 0.04 87.00 1519.48 t3g3 7.15 11.21 0.12 0.07 86.67 1592.63 t3g4 7.81 13.80 0.15 0.06 87.33 1886.77 t3g5 7.97 13.44 0.08 0.03 87.33 1868.30 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 30 t3g6 6.68 9.41 0.26 0.02 86.67 1395.95 t3g7 8.01 8.85 0.28 0.04 88.00 1482.49 t3g8 7.37 10.58 0.29 0.10 87.33 1567.36 t3g9 11.14 18.41 0.18 0.03 87.67 2592.99 t3g10 12.21 18.54 0.40 0.12 87.33 2685.01 t4g1 8.20 10.42 0.28 0.05 85.67 1593.48 t4g2 5.65 9.26 0.14 0.04 86.67 1289.22 t4g3 7.54 11.82 0.16 0.03 86.33 1667.16 t4g4 6.91 14.91 0.14 0.05 87.67 1913.34 t4g5 7.49 9.37 0.09 0.06 86.67 1462.78 t4g6 8.35 13.48 0.17 0.05 88.33 1928.32 t4g7 12.32 17.42 0.29 0.08 87.00 2590.28 t4g8 7.89 11.52 0.15 0.04 87.00 1687.76 t4g9 8.93 18.51 0.15 0.06 88.00 2415.18 t4g10 11.54 16.09 0.15 0.05 88.00 2434.51 t5g1 7.59 16.34 0.11 0.07 86.33 2068.93 t5g2 8.14 12.21 0.29 0.04 86.33 1754.77 t5g3 7.84 12.74 0.19 0.06 87.67 1804.47 t5g4 7.03 13.11 0.15 0.05 85.67 1725.30 t5g5 7.36 13.91 0.15 0.06 86.00 1828.77 t5g6 7.50 10.15 0.19 0.04 85.00 1502.26 t5g7 8.29 9.35 0.27 0.05 87.33 1542.29 t5g8 7.91 11.39 0.14 0.04 88.33 1704.23 t5g9 10.18 15.86 0.15 0.04 88.33 2301.62 t5g10 12.40 16.74 0.33 0.08 89.33 2603.05 sem(±) 0.169 0.123 0.011 0.008 0.054 17.64 lsd(0.05) 0.495 0.379 0.035 0.023 0.150 52.85 nb: kailashg1, gobindabhogg2, kalmag3, dudheswar-g4, malabatig5, kanakchurg6, kalojirag7, radhatilakg8, ir36g9 and pusa-1509g10. earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 10%t3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. after nine months of seed storage of ten genotypes in a different containers, maximum shoot length was observed for t1g10 (13.87 cm) and minimum for t2g7 (4.71 cm). root length was maximum for t3g10 (18.54 cm) and minimum for t2g7 (6.53 cm). fresh weight was seen as highest for t3g10 (0.40g) and lowest for t1g5 (0.06g). the average seedling dry weight was recorded as maximum for t3g10 (0.12g) and lowest for t1g6, t1g7, t2g7 (0.02g). average germination percentage was highest for t2g9 (90.33) and lowest for t5g6 (85.00). vigor index https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 31 was recorded as maximum for t3g10 (2685.01) followed by t2g10 (2622.17), t5g10 (2603.00), t3g9 (2592.99), and t4g7 (2590.28). so, it can be concluded that t2g9 (ir-36 stored in a cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%) was recorded highest germination percentage followed by t1g9 and t2g10 at nine months after storage and t3g10 (pusa-1509 stored with aluminum foil packet), recorded highest vigor index followed by t2g10 and t5g10. table 7. mean value with a standard deviation of shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%) and vigor index of seed stored in different containers after nine months after storage treatments no of genotypes shoot length (cm) mean±sd root length (cm) mean±sd fresh weight (g) mean±sd dry weight (g) mean±sd germination% mean±sd gi mean±sd t1 10 8.61a±2.61 12.59a±3.82 0.155b±0.081 0.039b±0.016 88.16a±1.009 1876.68a±530.40 t2 10 7.71a±2.78 12.54a±4.21 0.194ab±0.074 0.106a±0.079 88.19a±1.218 1787.95a±616.82 t3 10 8.23a±1.88 13.28a±3.77 0.334a±0.283 0.055ab±0.032 87.23b±0.416 1876.91a±465.23 t4 10 8.48a±2.03 13.28a±3.33 0.25ab±0.224 0.081ab±0.098 87.13b±0.848 1898.20a±445.46 t5 10 8.42a±1.64 13.18a±2.55 0.229ab±0.144 0.053ab±0.014 87.03b±1.381 1883.56a±345.07 sem (±) 0.333 0.534 0.026 8.819 0.153 72.90 lsd (0.05) ns ns ns ns 0.9278* ns nb: earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packett3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. at nine months after storage treatments over genotypes shoot length was highest in t1 (8.61) and lowest in t2 (7.71 cm). the deviation from the mean value ranged from 1.64 to 2.78 and t2 was the highest. all treatments over genotypes showed non-significant variation for this trait and were grouped under the same a. in the case of root length t3 & t4 (13.28) showed the highest and t2 (12.54) showed the lowest. the deviation from the mean value ranged from 2.55 to 4.21 and t2 was the highest. all genotypes were non-significant variation and were grouped under the same a. highest fresh weight was found in t3 (0.334g) and lowest in t1 (0.155g). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 0.074 to 0.283 and t3 showed the highest. the genotypes were non-significant variation. t1 was grouped under b, t2, t4, and t5 were grouped under ab, t3 was grouped under a. dry weight was the highest t2 (0.106g) and the lowest in t1 (0.039g). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 0.014 to 0.098 and t4 was the highest genotypes were non-significant variation. t1 was grouped under b, t2 was grouped under a, t3, t4, and t5 were grouped under ab. germination percentage was found in t2 (88.19) and lowest in t5 (87.03). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 0.416 to 1.381 and t5 was the highest. the genotypes were significant variation. t1 and t2 were grouped under a, t3, t4, and t5 were grouped under b. among the genotypes, highest vigor index was recorded in t4 (1898.20) and the lowest in t2 (1787.95). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 345.07 to 616.82 and t2 was the highest. the genotypes showed non-significant variation they were grouped under the same group i.e. under a. at nine months after storage, the seed of genotypes stored in t2 (cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%) maintained the highest germination percentage followed by t3 and t1 and https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 32 while highest vigor status of seed was maintained when stored in t4 (aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%) followed by t5 and t3. aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8% therefore, can be recorded as best storage materials when the seed of this crop, in general, are stored for nine months. table 8. mean values for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%), and vigor index of the genotypes stored in different containers at twelve months after storage. genotypes with treatments shoot length (cm) root length (cm) fresh weight (g) dry weight (g) germination (%) vigor index t1g1 7.22 16.34 0.11 0.07 84.67 1996.23 t1g2 8.12 12.21 0.25 0.04 85.33 1732.97 t1g3 7.77 12.74 0.19 0.05 86.67 1777.80 t1g4 7.03 13.11 0.15 0.05 84.67 1705.16 t1g5 7.29 13.91 0.15 0.05 85.00 1801.48 t1g6 7.50 10.15 0.18 0.04 84.00 1484.61 t1g7 8.29 9.35 0.29 0.05 86.33 1524.65 t1g8 7.68 11.39 0.14 0.04 87.67 1671.09 t1g9 9.97 15.86 0.15 0.04 87.67 2264.74 t1g10 8.74 16.74 0.33 0.05 88.33 2544.57 t2g1 8.04 14.51 0.31 0.06 87.67 1973.54 t2g2 5.03 8.06 0.55 0.13 86.67 1102.81 t2g3 9.14 16.74 0.20 0.05 86.33 2232.18 t2g4 6.50 11.81 0.28 0.04 87.00 1591.07 t2g5 8.91 16.80 0.22 0.02 86.00 2212.82 t2g6 5.07 7.87 0.20 0.03 87.33 1131.38 t2g7 4.71 6.53 0.10 0.01 86.00 966.48 t2g8 5.67 10.24 0.14 0.04 85.67 1362.68 t2g9 11.74 16.47 0.13 0.04 89.33 2523.29 t2g10 12.34 16.78 0.18 0.07 88.00 2546.54 t3g1 7.21 17.85 0.11 0.04 85.67 2144.00 t3g2 6.75 10.74 0.38 0.04 85.67 1496.04 t3g3 7.58 11.21 0.12 0.07 86.00 1579.81 t3g4 7.54 13.80 0.15 0.06 86.00 1857.69 t3g5 6.84 13.44 0.08 0.03 86.00 1840.56 t3g6 7.41 9.41 0.26 0.02 85.67 1379.36 t3g7 7.35 8.85 0.29 0.04 86.33 1454.97 t3g8 8.37 10.58 0.37 0.10 86.33 1549.41 t3g9 9.21 18.41 0.19 0.03 86.33 2552.37 t3g10 11.47 18.54 0.40 0.12 86.00 2580.86 t4g1 9.53 10.42 0.28 0.05 84.67 1598.23 t4g2 6.99 9.26 0.14 0.04 85.33 1272.33 t4g3 7.31 11.82 0.16 0.03 85.33 1105.91 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 33 t4g4 6.92 14.91 0.14 0.05 85.67 1869.13 t4g5 6.78 9.37 0.27 0.06 85.33 1439.84 t4g6 8.35 13.48 0.17 0.05 86.67 1925.42 t4g7 12.32 17.42 0.29 0.08 86.00 2558.28 t4g8 7.89 11.52 0.15 0.10 86.33 1674.87 t4g9 8.93 18.51 0.15 0.06 86.33 2370.59 t4g10 11.54 16.09 0.15 0.05 86.00 2376.96 t5g1 7.59 16.34 0.11 0.07 84.67 2029.51 t5g2 8.14 12.21 0.25 0.04 85.00 1728.35 t5g3 7.84 12.74 0.19 0.05 86.33 1789.79 t5g4 7.03 13.11 0.12 0.05 84.67 1705.25 t5g5 7.36 13.91 0.15 0.05 85.00 1807.50 t5g6 7.50 10.13 0.18 0.04 84.33 1489.41 t5g7 8.29 9.38 0.29 0.05 86.00 1518.10 t5g8 7.91 11.39 0.14 0.04 85.67 1653.39 t5g9 10.18 15.86 0.15 0.04 87.00 2268.25 t5g10 12.40 16.74 0.33 0.08 86.00 2507.26 sem(±) 0.167 0.122 0.011 0.008 0.053 17.36 lsd(0.05) 0.492 0.376 0.034 0.021 0.149 52.14 nb: kailashg1, gobindabhogg2, kalmag3, dudheswar-g4, malabatig5, kanakchurg6, kalojirag7, radhatilakg8, ir36g9 and pusa-1509g10. earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 10%t3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. at twelve months of storage, seedling root length was recorded as highest when seeds were stored in t3g10 (18.54 cm) and it was lowest when stored for t2g7 (6.53 cm). among the ten genotypes, the average shoot length was highest in t5g10 (12.40 cm) and lowest for t2g7 (4.71 cm). in the case of fresh weight showed highest for t2g2 (0.55g) and lowest for t2g2 (0.13g). the highest dry weight was recorded for t4g5 (0.36g) followed by t2g4, t2g6, and t2g5. among the ten genotypes germination percentage was highest in t2g9, (89.33) and lowest in t1g6 (84.00). vigor index recorded highest in t3g10 (2580.86) and lowest in t2g7 (966.48). so, it can be concluded that t2g9 (ir-36 store in a cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%) recorded the highest germination percentage followed byt1g8, and t4g6 at twelve months after storage while t3g10 i.e., pusa-1509 stored in aluminum foil packet recorded highest vigor index followed by t4g7 and t3g9. table 9. mean value with standard deviation for seedling shoot length, root length, fresh weight, dry weight, germination (%), and vigor index of seed stored in different containers after twelve months of storage. treatments no of geno shoot length (cm) mean±sd root length (cm) mean±sd fresh weight (g) mean±sd dry weight (g) mean±sd germination% mean±sd gi mean±sd t1 10 7.96 a ±0.88 13.18a±2.55 0.224a±0.143 0.048a±0.009 86.03a±1.51 1850.33a±331.56 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 34 t2 10 7.71 a ±2.78 12.95a±2.98 0.231a±0.129 0.077a±0.044 87.0a±1.21 1764.27a±607.16 t3 10 7.97a±1.42 13.28a±3.76 0.335a±0.283 0.055a±0.32 86.0b±0.26 1996.96a±827.47 t4 10 8.65a±1.95 13.28a±3.33 0.243a±0.203 0.087a±0.097 85.76b±0.60 2306.94a±1360.24 t5 10 8.42a±1.64 13.18a±2.54 0.221a±0.145 0.051a±0.013 85.46b±0.86 2059.67a±692.92 sem(±) 0.275 0.513 0.028 8.16 0.144 124.60 lsd (0.05) ns ns ns ns 0.4259* ns nb: earthen pot with seed moisture content 10%t1, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%t2, aluminum foil packett3, aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%t4, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10%t5. twelve months after storage, treatments over genotypes highest mean value of shoot length observed in t2 (8.65 cm) and the lowest in t4 (7.71). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 0.88 to 2.78 and the t2 showed the highest. all the genotypes showed nonsignificant variation they were grouped under same group i.e. under a. in case of root length longest was recorded in t3 and t4 (13.28) and shortest in t2 (12.95 cm). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 2.54 to 3.76 and the t3 showed the highest. all genotypes showed non-significant variation they were grouped under the same group i.e. under a. the highest fresh weight was observed in t3 (0.335g) and the lowest int5 (0.221g), the deviation from the mean value was ranges from 0.129 to 0.283 and the t3 was shows highest. all genotypes showed nonsignificant in variation they were grouped under same group i.e. under a. dry weight was observed highest in t4 (0.087g) and lowest in t1 (0.048g). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 0.009 to 0.32 and the t3 was shown the highest. all genotypes showed nonsignificant variation they were grouped under the same group i.e. under a. highest germination percentage was recorded in t2 (87.0) and lowest in t5 (85.46). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 0.26 to 1.51 and the t1 was shown the highest. all genotypes showed significance variation they were grouped under various groups t1 & t2 were under group a and t3, t4 & t5 were grouped under group b. vigor index was highest in t4 (2306.94) and lowest in t2 (1764.27). the deviation from the mean value was ranged from 331.56 to 1360.24 and the t3 showed the highest. all genotypes showed non-significant variation they were grouped under same group i.e. under a. after twelve months of storage containers, t2 (cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%) maintained the highest germination percentage followed by t3 and t1 and while highest vigor index was determined for t4 (aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8%) followed by t5 and t3. aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content 8% (t4), therefore, is regarded as the best storage material when seeds of this crop, in general, are stored for twelve months. conclusion it can be concluded that aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content of 8% is the best storage container of rice among the other containers like earthen pot with seed moisture content of 10%, aluminum foil, cloth bag with seed moisture content 10%, and polythene packet with seed moisture content 10% as every three months interval up to one year, vigor index was observed highest in an aluminum foil packet with seed moisture content of 8%. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 35 references abdul baki, a. a., & anderson, j. d. (1973). vigor determination in soybean seed by multiple criteria. crop science. 13, 630-633. biswas, s., bordolui, s. k. & chattopadhyay, p. (2020). determination of sowing time of parental lines of hybrid rice seed production in microclimatic condition in target regions of west bengal. international j. of microbiology research, 12(5), 1836-1840 bordolui, s.k., chattapadhyay, p., & chandra, p (2006). morphological characters of some conserve folk rice genotypes. environment and ecology, 24 (2), 421-417. bordolui, s.k., chattopadhyay, p., & basu, a. k. (2018). evaluation of some small seeded aromatic indigenous genotypes for commercial utilization as high value rice. international journal of minor fruits, medicinal and aromatic plants, 4 (1), 40-43. bordolui, s.k., sadhukhan, r., & chattopadhyay, p. (2015). participatory evaluation of some folk rice genotypes. journal crop and weed, 11(2), 59-62. chandra, p, samui, r.c., & bordolui, s. k. (2006). growth, yield attributes and yield of different cultivars of groundnut as affected by potassium application. journal of crop and weed, 2(1), 37-39. ramanadane, t., ponnuswamy, a. s., & raja, k. (2005). influence of production environment on seed quality. madras agricultural journal, 92(4-6), 200-207. roberts, e. h. (1972). loss of viability and crop yields. viability of seeds. chapman and hall, london, 307-320. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 28 foreign direct investment (fdi) in agriculture implication into emerging country change and socio-economic development vilaikham douansouvanh college of public administration huazhong university of science and technology wuhan, huebei 430074, p. r china e-mail: douansuvanh_dsc@yahoo.com liu qijun college of public administration huazhong university of science and technology wuhan, huebei 430074, p. r china e-mail: qijun_liu@163.com bienmali kombate college of public administration huazhong university of science and technology wuhan, huebei 430074, p. r china e-mail: bienmali41@hust.edu.cn abstract foreign direct investment (fdi) has been used as a strategy in emerging countries which made a tremendous change in their economy. however, lack of study have been undertaken to know how these change can have contributed the country poverty alleviation and economy growth. therefore, looking to fulfil the research gap, this paper aimed to seek how fdi implication in agriculture development through as job creation, taxes payment, transfer of knowledge and technology contribute the country poverty alleviation. the lao people's democratic republic was used as a case study and a sample of 450 respondents were collected through a survey questionnaire by self-administrated (face to face with interaction with the participant). the results shown that fdi implication in agriculture development through fdi job creation, fdi taxes payment have a strong impact on poverty alleviation but with weak effect at long-term, however, fdi transfer of knowledge and technology have a weak impact on poverty alleviation though with greater significance at long term. transfer of knowledge and technology is the significant asset needed for emerging economy from fdi to boost change and contribute to their economy growth. keywords: foreign direct investment, poverty alleviation, fdi transfers of knowledge and technology, fdi job creation, fdi taxes payment. 1. introduction nowadays, fdi has become the main driver of socio-economic development and the transformation of emerging countries. however, the predominantly exceptional expansion of fdi in emerging countries has led, according to oecd countries, to boost foreign direct investment (fdi) in emerging countries, compared to one third of the world stock, against one fifth added in 1990. therefore, the greater role played by fdi in emerging countries has raised expectations about possible development assistance. fdi allows a significant change by generating high quality jobs and introducing updated production and management practices, facilitated by many governments that develop new policies to liberalized their fdi system and charted best policies to attract investment that promote foreign direct investment. as acknowledged by previous scholars and researchers, it has been recognized that the take full advantage of fdi for the host country is substantial such as technology spill overs, human capital formation support, enhancement of government revenue through taxes payment, and development of agriculture through new practices. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:qijun_liu@163.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 29 all these benefits contribute to strengthen economic growth, which is the main instrument to reduce poverty in these economies. however, the economic impact of fdi is difficult to measure accurately. the benefits of fdi do not increase automatically and uniformly among counties, sectors and local communities. these benefits vary from country to country and are difficult to separate and measure. when the inflow of fdi has significant (non-marginal) effects, the measure is even more difficult: there is no precise method to specify the hypotheses that “what would have happened if or several transnational corporations had not made a particular investment”. the evaluation of the effects of fdi on development generally uses one of two approaches. one is the econometric analysis of the relationship between incoming fdi and various measures of economic performance. the second is a qualitative analysis of several aspects of the impacts of transnational corporations, without trying to calculate a specific relationship or rate of return (unctad, 2006). the last approach, which was adopted in the impact discussion of the host country below, includes an examination of the interactions between the unique characteristics of transnational corporations and the unique characteristics of countries (dunning, 1993). however, previous literatures suggest that investments that involve local farmers as equal business partners give farmers an active role and leave them in control of their land, have more positive and lasting effects. about the local economy and social development. although the possible benefits of fdi in agriculture have been the subject of much discussion, there is lack of study to show the systematic evidence of the actual effects in the host country. in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of the benefits, this study was conducted to identify trends, drivers and impacts of foreign investment in agriculture on emerging country changes and socio-economic development. 2. investment in agriculture and its impact on socio-economic development investing in agriculture is the most important and effective strategy to reduce poverty in rural areas, where the majority of the world's poorest people are concentrated (world bank 2008, fao 2012). investing in agriculture helps reduce poverty and hunger in several ways. farmers are investing to improve their productivity and increase their income. from a social perspective, this generates a demand for other rural goods and services and creates jobs and income for those who respond to this demand, usually the rural poor without land. these benefits are reflected from the economy of the people to the economy as a whole. investing in agriculture is also essential to eradicate hunger in all its forms and ensure food and nutrition security. agricultural investment by farmers or the public sector to increase farm-level productivity can also help improve the availability of food in the market and push down prices. make food more accessible for rural and urban consumers (alston et al., 2000). lower food prices allow consumers to supplement their diet with a wider variety of foods, such as vegetables, fruits, eggs and milk, which improves the use of nutrients in the diet (bouis, graham et al. welch, 2000). finally, agricultural investments can also reduce the vulnerability of food supply to shocks, thereby improving consumption stability. however, only public sector investments will not be sufficient. more investment from the private sector is needed, especially the investments of the farmers themselves, which account for most of the investment in agriculture. lowder, carisma and skoet, (2012) concluded their study that farmers are by far the main investors in agriculture. they added that the annual investment in operating capital exceeds government investment by more than 3 to 1 and the gap widens significantly for other sources of investment. operational investments are more than double that of all other sources of investment combined. 3. foreign direct investment as a driver of changes in emerging country in market economies, the private sector is the main driver of growth. it nourishes and stimulates growth when several factors are combined to provide an environment conducive to its expansion. private investment is a prerequisite for economic growth: it is the driving force behind the machinery of the economy by allowing entrepreneurs to raise the necessary resources to produce goods and services. rapid and sustainable growth is favoured by a favourable conjunction in which entrepreneurship and investment lead to greater productivity, which in turn allows greater investment in the future. this sequence is also conducive to job creation and the emergence of new technologies, particularly through international trade and investment. the existence of competitive and developed markets is crucial because they promote and reward innovation and diversification, accelerate the entry and exit of companies and help harmonize the rules of the game applicable to all players in the private sector. in addition, markets play a vital role in giving the growth process a broader social and geographical base that opens the door for the poor to participate and benefit. therefore, the mobilization of private investment is likely to gain importance both for job creation and for the acceleration of growth or the fight against poverty. increasing the productive capacity of the private sector is not the only factor that counts for socio-economic development, but must www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 30 be accompanied by productivity gains resulting from the rationalization and modernization of the means of production. despite the new focus on agriculture, many emerging countries face limited financial capacity to fill the investment gap. commercial bank loans to the agricultural sector account for less than 10 per cent of loans in subsaharan africa, and microfinance loans are generally too weak and inadequate for capital formation in agriculture (da silva and mhlanga, 2009). the solution is also unlikely to come from international donors, as the proportion of official development assistance allocated to agriculture has increased from almost 10 per cent to only 5 per cent (hallam, 2011). emerging country public sector with limited and no alternative resources have resorted to foreign direct investment which helping them to close the investment gap in agriculture. while the available data showing that the agricultural fdi is very low compared to some emerging countries national investment in agriculture some emerging country have took the initiative to develop innovative policies to attract fdi in agriculture. however, the agricultural sector still represents a very small percentage of total fdi flows in most emerging countries. the case studies in sub-saharan africa show that less than 5 percent of fdi goes to agriculture (gerlach and liu, 2010). therefore, there is strong growth potential if more investments can be directed to the sector. although fdi cannot be expected to become the main source of capital, the agricultural sector of the host country can obtain various types of benefits, such as job creation, technology transfer, value add to government revenue, and better access to capital and markets. in addition, fdi can contribute directly and indirectly to the growth of an economy by improving knowledge, technical skill and indirect technological effects (learning by doing and observing), improving capital stock and improving fostering production and consumption (feenstra and markusen 1994, blomström and kokko 2003). beugelsdijk et al. (2008) distinguishes between horizontal and vertical fdi, concluded that these two types of fdi have different impacts not only on the type of fdi, but also on the level of development of the countries that host fdi. they concluded that horizontal ideas have a much greater effect on economic growth than vertical ideas, but only in developed countries. on the other hand, they did not find a significant relationship between economic growth and the two types of fdi. on the other hand, vertical ideas have a greater impact on the demand for work. not only can fdi contribute new technologies and knowledge to host countries, but they also contribute to the accumulation of human capital by increasing the demand for skilled labour and, therefore, encouraging people to enrol in the higher education curriculum. in addition, as described in the millennium development goals, education is a key element for human development and economic growth, and the mechanisms that interact with it must be carefully studied. human capital is "the knowledge and skills acquired by men through education, training and experience, and that are useful in the production of goods, services and new knowledge "(de la fuente and ciccone 2003). the theory of endogenous growth treats the accumulation of human capital as a process of increasing returns to scale, mainly due to the effect of learning by doing between physical and human capital (lucas 1988). lucas and romer's endogenous growth models suggest that endogenously accumulated human capital has a direct impact on labour productivity. as a result, capital human becomes specific to the individual, leaving innovation in the stock of knowledge as an exogenous factor. it is an important source of long-term growth, either as a direct proxy in research (romer. 1990, aghion and howitt 1992), or due to its positive externalities (lucas 1988) becker et al., 1990) in addition, lucas (1988) postulates that differences in growth rates between countries they are the result of differences in the rate of accumulation of human capital. according to him, capital does not necessarily go to where it is most scarce, because the returns on investment are greater where the workforce is better trained and infrastructure is more developed. that is why capital, in fact, is moving where its presence is already strong (mishra et al., 2001). based on the work of barro and lee (1994), borensztein, de gregorio and lee (1998) show that the stock of human capital is essential to determine the magnitude of the effects of fdi on growth. his work focuses on the 1970s and 1980s. they even point out that in countries where the level of human capital is very low, the effects of fdi are negative. ram and zhang (2002), who test the impact of fdi on growth for the 1990s, with cross-country data for a large number of countries, find that the impact of fdi on growth is generally significantly positive; on the other hand, they do not find the links highlighted by borensztein, de gregorio and lee (1998) between fdi, human capital and growth. the possible technological advances contributed by foreign direct investments in agricultural for a given factor or sectors have important implications for the evaluation of the general economic impact. as emerging countries seek to improve their current low levels of productivity and human capital formation, the technological dimension of agricultural investment is of crucial importance for both the production and processing of food and www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 31 agricultural products. these investments can introduce imported equipment and improved seeds, or provide direct training or on-the-job training of the workforce. they can also foster innovation in the production, distribution or management of companies, as well as generate splits derived from increased trade in research and development. but again, these innovations and productivity gains are not necessarily guaranteed. 4. methodology to analyse the effect of fdi in agriculture, the lao people’s democratic republic was chosen as a model of emerging country research data was collected through a survey questionnaire using the 5-point likert scale commonly used in the social sciences to allow participants to choose between several options and answer accordingly. this process was completed from february 2019 to jun 2019, including: translating the research survey questionnaires from english langue into lao language, meeting with the expert of fdi in laos for consultation regarding the research, and editing the questionnaires according to the expert recommendation., the place of data collection was suggested by laos republic fdi expert including the three provinces such as vientiane capital, xiengkhouang province and louangnamtha province. the choice of the three provinces was not a hazard but based on the important number of fdi in agriculture they are hosting and their prominence contribution in the country change and socio-economic development. to fulfil the administrative procedure and start the data collection, permission letters were sent to the relevant ministry offices and representative in each province such as the director of department of planning and cooperation, department of rural development and cooperative, department of livestock and fisheries, department of agriculture, the ministry of agriculture and forestry in laos; and the director of department of foreign investment promotion, the ministry of planning and investment in laos, and the head of provincial department of agriculture and forestry in xiengkhouang province and the head of provincial department of agriculture and forestry in luangnamtha provice, in laos. however, the convenient sampling method was used to select respondents and the study population was the civil servant working in the institutions cited above and having a task related to fdi or/and agriculture, fdi in agriculture managers and workers. in public sector, questionnaires were sent to each public institution according to the number of staffs working in this area who are deem to have deep knowledge on the issue rise in this paper. but in fdi and community, participants were conveniently contacted to ask them to respond to survey questionnaires following the steps as follow: the search for potential respondents, initial communication, questionnaires and followup. table 1: summary period of data collection in each province province period of time number distributed number collected vientiane 25 march – 20 april 200 177 xiengkhouang 22 april – 16 may 150 141 louangnamtha 18 may – 8 june 150 132 source: data field 2019 5. operationalization of variables foreign direct investment (fdi) in agriculture can make a positive contribution to the host socio-economic development by stimulating the development of agricultural industry, providing technology and management resources that would not otherwise be available. such a transfer of resources can stimulate the economic growth of the host economy (hill, 2000 and selma 2013). 6. poverty alleviation previous work on the impacts of fdi in emerging countries also focuses on the role they can play in poverty reduction. the articles by jalilian and weiss (2002) and klein, aaron and hadjimichael (2001) explicitly raise the issue of the relationship between fdi and poverty reduction. fdi has a positive impact on growth and growth has a positive impact on poverty reduction. fdi is the engine to growth which is good for the poor "(dollar and kraay, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 32 2000). this link can be made through the labour market. however, jalilian and weiss (2002) focus on some of the problems of poverty measurement: choosing the poverty line, comparing data between countries, etc. in the case of asia, it seems that rapid growth has been associated with a decrease in poverty thanks to the increase in the level of employment, the development of social infrastructure (education, etc.). however, data at the national level does not capture inequalities between regions within a country. asian crisis would have had significant negative effects, but still little known, in the countries of the region klein, aaron and hadjimichael (2001) argue that fdi cannot replace the necessary government policies, such as the provision of social services and the provision of public services (water, energy), but for them, fdi remains the greatest effective fight against poverty. growth reduces poverty, but it can do so to a greater or lesser extent. kakwani and pernia (2000) emphasize the redistributive effects of growth. growth favourable to the poor would be growth accompanied by such effects. 7. agricultural industry development several literatures on the role of fdi on growth, especially on macroeconomic impacts in emerging countries however, most of these surveys have sometimes focused more specifically on inequality and, more recently, on poverty reduction. currently, researchers tend to recognize a positive overall effect of fdi on growth in emerging countries, but with often significant nuances. jenkins and thomas (2002) argue that fdi can contribute to economic growth not only by providing foreign capital, but also by increasing additional domestic investment; then the effect of total fdi growth increases. bosworth and collins (1999) provide evidence on the effect of capital inflows on domestic investments of 58 developing countries between 1978 and 1995. they distinguish three types of inflows: fdi, portfolio investment and other financial flows (mainly bank loans). they found that about half of every dollar of capital inflows resulted in an increase in domestic investment. according to them, a one-dollar increase in capital inflows is associated with an increase in domestic investment of about 50 cents. (capital inflows and internal investments are expressed as a percentage of gdp). 8. tax revenue collected from fdi fdi can have a positive impact on poverty reduction through the taxation of foreign affiliates, which increases government revenue and, in turn, the state can use it to finance various productive activities, social and development, such as intensive work (industry and agriculture) or poverty reduction projects. 9. job creation the employment effects associated with fdi are both direct and indirect. in countries where capital is relatively scarce, but where labour is abundant, the creation of employment opportunities, directly or indirectly, has been one of the most important impacts of fdi. the direct effect occurs when a foreign multinational employs several citizens of the host country. at the same time, the indirect effect occurs when jobs are created at local suppliers as a result of the investment and when jobs are created due to the increase in local expenses of emn employees. to illustrate the effects on employment in the host country, we will use the example of toyota's investment in france. according to published information (hill 2000), this investment has created 2,000 direct jobs and perhaps 2,000 more jobs in the support industries. the domestic private sector can benefit from building trade relations by providing inputs to these new market players (back links) or by transforming the products of a foreign investor (downstream links). by promoting the exchange of production with domestic industries and other sectors, for example through outsourcing systems between a foreign company and local subcontractors supplying spare parts, components or semi-finished products. finished at the foreign company, in the end, additional jobs are created. encouraged economic activity. the effects of fdi on employment are of considerable interest to beneficiary developing countries: in many of them, the capacity to absorb the human resources released by agriculture in the manufacturing and service sectors is an essential condition for sustainable growth. it has been found that the quantitative effects of fdi on employment in the world are modest, but somewhat larger in host developing countries than in the developed host countries, and particularly in the informal sector. manufacturing (world investment report, 1999). according to nzomo (1971), a study in kenya showed that fdi makes only a modest contribution to the creation of total employment, since direct job creation was low, while there was no evidence of its indirect creation of jobs. this may suggest that foreign companies operating in this country do not have production links with local companies. according to aaron (1999), fdi is probably directly responsible for 26 million jobs in developing countries around the world. in addition, for www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 33 each direct work created by fdi, it has been estimated that about 1.6 additional jobs were created indirectly through production linkages between fdi and local sectors. 10. transfer of technology and knowledge the crucial role played by technical progress in economic growth is now widely accepted (romer, 1994). technology can stimulate economic development and industrialization. it can take two forms, which are valuable. technology can be integrated into a production process (for example, a technology for discovering, extracting and refining oil) or it can be integrated into a product (for example, personal computers) (hill, 2000). however, many emerging countries lack the resources and research and development skills needed to develop their own technology products and processes. this is especially true in the less developed countries of the world. the evidence shows that the vast majority of economic studies dealing with the relationship between fdi, on the one hand, and productivity and / or economic growth, on the other hand, have shown that the transfer of technology through fdi it has contributed positively to the productivity and economic growth of the recipient countries (oecd, 1991). transfer of technologies to emerging countries in relation to foreign direct investment tends to be more modern and environmentally "cleaner" than those available locally. in addition, positive externalities have been observed where local imitation, job rotation and supply chain requirements have led to more general environmental improvements in the host economy. by transferring knowledge, fdi will increase the existing knowledge stock in the host country through vocational training, skills transfer and the transfer of new management and organizational practices. management skills acquired abroad through fdi can also have significant benefits for recipient countries. the derived beneficial effect occurs when local personnel trained to occupy managerial, financial and technical positions in the subsidiary of a foreign emn leave the company and contribute to the creation of local companies. similar benefits can be achieved if the superior management skills of a foreign emn encourage local suppliers, distributors and competitors to improve their own management skills. workers acquire new skills through explicit and implicit training. in particular, training in foreign firms may be of better quality since only the most productive firm trade. workers acquire these skills when they re-enter the national labour market. training courses taken by foreign companies can sometimes be considered under the general title of "organization and administration", which means that the host country will benefit from the "superiority of management" of multinationals. lall and streeten (1977) emphasize three types of benefits to management: (1) the efficiency of operations management comes from better training and higher standards, (2) entrepreneurship in the search for investment opportunities, and (3) the externalities derived from training received by employees (such as technicians, managers, accountants, etc.) (dunning, 1993). 11. findings and discussion to check the impact of fdi in agriculture sector on the country change and socio-economic development, pearson correlation test to define the existing relation between the chosen factors. table 2: pearson correlations results (dv: fdi in poverty alleviation) fdi in poverty alleviation fdi technology transfer fdi employment fdi taxes payment coef sig 1 tailed coef sig 1 tailed coef sig 1 tailed coef sig 1 tailed fdi in poverty alleviation 1.000 . .435 .000 .604 .000 .621 .000 fdi technology transfer .435 .000 1.000 . .560 .000 .398 .000 fdi job creation .604 .000 .560 .000 1.000 . .569 .000 fdi taxes payment .621 .000 .398 .000 .569 .000 1.000 . n = 398 iv: fdi technology transfer, fdi employment, and fdi taxes payment source: data field 2019 according to the results shown in table 2, the pearson correlation coefficients for each path, that is, the links between each of the variables, is statistically significant. however, while the pearson correlation coefficient between fdi in poverty alleviation and fdi in job creation with coef = .604 > .5, and pearson correlation www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 34 coefficient between poverty alleviation and fdi in taxes payment with coef = .621 > .5 are strong enough but, the pearson correlation coefficient between fdi in poverty alleviation and fdi technology transfer and knowledge with coef = .435 < .5 is weak. table 3: pearson correction results (dv: fdi in agriculture) fdi in agriculture fdi technology transfer fdi employment fdi taxes payment coef sig 1 tail coef sig 1 tail coef sig 1 tail coef sig 1 tail fdi in agriculture 1.000 . .473 .000 .606 .000 .513 .000 fdi technology transfer .473 .000 1.000 . .567 .000 .400 .000 fdi job creation .606 .000 .567 .000 1.000 . .555 .000 fdi taxes payment .513 .000 .400 .000 .555 .000 1.000 . n = 398 iv: fdi technology transfer, fdi employment, and fdi taxes payment source: data field 2019 likewise, as the correlation results with poverty alleviation as dv, all the variables are statistically significant, but the variable fdi technology transfer remain having a weak influence with on fdi in agriculture coef = .473 < .5 compared to the coef between fdi in agriculture and fdi job creation (coef = .606 > .5) and fdi in agriculture and fdi taxes payment (coef = .513 > .5) which have a strong influence on fdi in agriculture, the dv. table 4: total, direct, and indirect effect total effect of x on y effect se t p llci ulci c_ps c_cs .80 .04 19.80 .00 .72 .88 .41 .71 direct effect of x on y m1= fdi job creation effect se t p llci ulci c_ps c_cs .54 .05 10.51 .00 .44 .64 .27 .47 indirect effect of x on y m1= fdi job creation effect bootse bootllci bootulci .36 .26 .05 .18 direct effect of x on y m2= fdi taxes payment effect se t p llci ulci c_ps c_cs .60 .05 12.53 .00 .50 .69 .30 .52 indirect effect of x on y m2= fdi taxes payment effect .18 bootse .03 bootllci .12 bootulci .25 y: fdi poverty alleviation, x: fdi agriculture development, m1: fdi job creation, and m2= fdi taxes payment source: data field 2019 as the results shown in table 2 & 3 confirmed that the two variables (fdi job creation and fdi taxes payment) are statically significant and have a strong influence on fid agriculture development and fdi poverty alleviation, a process analysis were carried out to check the direct and indirect effect of the two variables of fdi job creation (m1) and fdi taxes payment (m2) used as intervening factors of fdi agriculture development (id) on fdi poverty alleviation (dv). the process analysis results shown in table 4 that the total effect of x on y = 0.80 with standard error estimates (se) = 0.40, t = 19.80, and p = 0.00 < 0.05, the total effect is statically significant. although, the direct effect x on y through m1 = 0.54 with standard error estimates = 0.05, t = 10.51, and p = 0.00 < 0.05. and the direct effect x on y through m2 = 0.60 with standard error estimates = 0.05, t = 12.53, and p = 0.00 < 0.05. consequently, the direct effects of x on y through both mediating variables (m1 & m2) are also significant. hence, the indirect www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 35 effect of x on y through m1 = 0.26 with the bootstrap “nonparametric resampling" standard error estimates = 0.05, and the indirect effect of x on y through m2 = 0.18 with the bootstrap “nonparametric resampling" standard error estimates = 0.03, confirmed that the indirect effect of x on y through m1 & m2 are significant, (biesanz, falk, & savalei, 2010; fritz, taylor, & mackinnon, 2012). for instance, following the mediation analysis steps of baron and kenny (1986) to the finding shown in table 4 that, there are a significant relationship from step 1 to step 3. however, in step 4, x remain significant when both mediating variables m1 & m2 are controlled. hence, the finding supports a partial mediation, (mackinnon, fairchild, & fritz, 2007). table 5: models (model 1 & model 2) significance model sum of squares df mean square f sig. 1 regression 777.018 1 777.018 391.845 .000b residual 785.256 396 1.983 total 1562.274 397 2 regression 813.452 2 406.726 214.546 .000c residual 748.822 395 1.896 total 1562.274 397 a. dependent variable: fdi in poverty alleviation b. b. predictors: (constant), fdi in agriculture and poverty alleviation c. c. predictors: (constant), fdi in agriculture, fdi in transfer of technology to test the impact of “fdi in transfer of technology” which was initially the statically significant but with weak influence on fdi in agriculture and fdi in poverty alleviation shown in table 2 & 3, anova statistic test was applied using the variable “fdi in transfer of technology” as moderating variable between fdi in agriculture (dv) and fid in poverty alleviation (iv). the results in table 5 shown that the model 1 without the moderator term is statically significant, f (1. 396) = 391.845, p = 0.00 < 0.05 and the model 2 with the moderator term is statically significant as well, f (2.395) = 214.546, p = 0.00 < 0.05. table 6: models (model 1 & model 2) summary model r r square adjusted r square std. error of the estimate change statistics durbinwatson r square change f change df1 df2 sig. f change 1 .705a .497 .496 1.40818 .497 391.845 1 396 .000 2 .722b .521 .518 1.37686 .023 19.219 1 395 .000 1.824 a. predictors: (constant), fdi in agriculture b. predictors: (constant), fdi in agriculture, fdi in transfer of technology c. dependent variable: fdi in poverty alleviation the regression analysis was carried out to know if the model 2 account for significantly more variance than model 1. the results in table 6 shown that model 2 with the moderator between fdi in agriculture and fdi in poverty alleviation accounted for significantly more variance than just fdi in agriculture and fdi in poverty alleviation by themselves, r2 change = .023, p = .00, indicating that there is potentially significant moderation between fdi in agriculture and fdi transfer of technology on fdi in poverty alleviation. 12. conclusion and recommendation emerging countries governments are increasingly seeking best practices in foreign direct investment (fdi). however, the renewed confidence in the benefits of fdi has led many of them to limit fdi between the 1960s to 1970s and to be more open in the 1990s, (safarian, 1999). governments liberalize fdi regimes because they associate fdi with positive effects on economic development and poverty reduction in their countries (eg, lall, 2000a and borensztein et al., 1998). these previous finding have had been insightful and reference material in many www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 36 emerging countries policies makers, however, there still lacking of research aiming to seek how the development of fdi in specific area can impact emerging country economy grow and boost the change. this paper grounded on empirical investigation and the first part shown that the factors such as fdi job creation and fdi taxes payment are seemly have a strong impact on poverty alleviation in emerging countries (cf pearson correlation table 2 & 3), though, they still have a partial effect on poverty alleviation when they were used as interacting term between dfi in agriculture development and fdi in poverty alleviation, (cf indirect effect table 4), (biesanz, falk, & savalei, 2010; fritz, taylor, & mackinnon, 2012). consequently, the study concluded that fdi job creation and fdi taxes payment have a short term impact on poverty alleviation. the second part of the finding shown that the factor fdi transfer of technology seemly having a weak influence on poverty alleviation, (cf pearson correction table 2 & 3), conversely, used as interacting term between agriculture development and poverty alleviation shown that it accounts for significantly more variance which motivated the study concluded that even though fdi transfer of technology have a weak influence on poverty alleviation at short term, its effect is strong and much better in long term which is good for emerging economies. emerging countries government, looking to attract fdi in agriculture as a strategy to boost change and poverty alleviation should design appropriate policies that taking into account their long-term development strategy including:  develop a national capacity (r & d, education, etc.) and infrastructure to establish economic fundamentals that are considered relatively important. this is crucial to take advantage of fdi, for example to raise the level of local suppliers. there is evidence that in many emerging countries, local capacity is being left behind, reducing fdi inflows and decreasing absorptive capacity to offset indirect effects.  determine whether fdi fits in with the country's long term development strategy and focus on the type of fdi.  target specific fdi that fit the country long term development strategy. this should be coordinated by an investment promotion agency that can act as a one-stop-shop, i.e., to be able to promote, negotiate, facilitate, and perhaps advocate.  the strategy should be flexible enough to change the direction of the fdi to update it for other higher value-added activities.  stimulate the training of local employees working in of foreign companies.  encourage the implementation and the use of new technology by foreign companies. references aghion, p., bloom, n., blundell, r., griffith, r., & howitt, p. (2005). competition and innovation: an inverted-u relationship. the quarterly journal of economics, 120(2), 701–728. baron, r. m., & kenny, d. a. (1986). the moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. journal of personality and social psychology, 51(6), 1173. barro, r. j., & lee, j.-w. (1994). sources of economic growth. carnegie-rochester conference series on public policy, 40, 1–46. elsevier. becker, g. s., murphy, k. m., & tamura, r. (1990). human capital, fertility, and economic growth. journal of political economy, 98(5, part 2), s12–s37. beugelsdijk, s. (2008). strategic human resource practices and product innovation. organization studies, 29(6), 821–847. biesanz, j. c., falk, c. f., & savalei, v. (2010). assessing mediational models: testing and interval estimation for indirect effects. multivariate behavioral research, 45(4), 661–701. blomström, m., kokko, a., & mucchielli, j.-l. (2003). the economics of foreign direct investment incentives. in foreign direct investment in the real and financial sector of industrial countries (pp. 37–60). springer. borensztein, e., de gregorio, j., & lee, j.-w. (1998). how does foreign direct investment affect economic growth? journal of international economics, 45(1), 115–135. bosworth, b. p., collins, s. m., & reinhart, c. m. (1999). capital flows to developing economies: implications for saving and investment. brookings papers on economic activity, 1999(1), 143–180. bouis, h. e., graham, r. d., & welch, r. m. (2000). the consultative group on international agricultural research (cgiar) micronutrients project: justification and objectives. food and nutrition bulletin, 21(4), 374–381. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 37 cann, h. m., de toma, c., cazes, l., legrand, m.-f., morel, v., piouffre, l., … cambon-thomsen, a. (2002). a human genome diversity cell line panel. science, 296(5566), 261–262. clak, d. a., & beck, a. t. (1999). scientific foundations of cognitive theory and therapy of depression. john wiley & sons. da silva, c. a. (2009). agro-industries for development. cabi. de la fuente, a., & ciccone, a. (2003). human capital in a global and knowledge-based economy (vol. 562). office for official publications of the european communities. djipa, c. d., delmée, m., & quetin-leclercq, j. (2000). antimicrobial activity of bark extracts of syzygium jambos (l.) alston (myrtaceae). journal of ethnopharmacology, 71(1–2), 307–313. dollar, d., & kraay, a. (2000). property rights, political rights, and the development of poor countries in the postcolonial period. world bank working papers. feenstra, r. c., & markusen, j. r. (1994). accounting for growth with new inputs. international economic review, 429–447. fritz, m. s., taylor, a. b., & mackinnon, d. p. (2012). explanation of two anomalous results in statistical mediation analysis. multivariate behavioral research, 47(1), 61–87. gerlach, a.-c., & liu, p. (2010). resource-seeking foreign direct investment in african agriculture. a review of country case studies. fao commodity and trade policy research working paper, 31. gupta, h. k., harinarayana, t., kousalya, m., mishra, d. c., mohan, i., rao, n. p., … sarkar, d. (2001). bhuj earthquake of 26 january, 2001. journal-geological society of india, 57(3), 275–278. hallam, t. g., & mccracken, g. f. (2011). management of the panzootic white‐nose syndrome through culling of bats. conservation biology, 25(1), 189–194. hejazi, w., & safarian, a. e. (1999). trade, foreign direct investment, and r&d spillovers. journal of international business studies, 30(3), 491–511. hill, j., szewczyk, r., woo, a., hollar, s., culler, d., & pister, k. (2000). system architecture directions for networked sensors. acm sigops operating systems review, 34(5), 93–104. acm. jalilian, h., & weiss, j. (2002). foreign direct investment and poverty in the asean region. asean economic bulletin, 231–253. kakwani, n., & pernia, e. m. (2000). what is pro-poor growth? asian development review, 18(1), 1–16. klein, m., aaron, c., & hadjimichael, b. (2001). foreign direct investment and poverty reduction. the world bank. kurtishi-kastrati, s. (2013). the effects of foreign direct investments for host country’s economy. european journal of interdisciplinary studies, 5(1), 26. lall, s. p. (2000). nutrition and health of fish. avances en nutrición acuícola v. memorias del v simposium internacional de nutrición acuícola, 19–22. lall, s., & streeten, p. (1977). foreign investment, transnationals and developing countries. springer. lin, m., & huybers, p. (2012). reckoning wheat yield trends. environmental research letters, 7(2), 24016. lowder, s. k., carisma, b., & skoet, j. (2012). who invests in agriculture and how much? an empirical review of the relative size of various investments in agriculture in low-and middle-income countries. lucas jr, r. e. (1988). on the mechanics of economic development. journal of monetary economics, 22(1), 3–42. mackinnon, d. p., fairchild, a. j., & fritz, m. s. (2007). mediation analysis. annu. rev. psychol., 58, 593–614. martínez-garcía, m.-a., de la rosa carrillo, d., soler-cataluña, j.-j., donat-sanz, y., serra, p. c., lerma, m. a., … dalfo, a. r. (2013). prognostic value of bronchiectasis in patients with moderate-to-severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. american journal of respiratory and critical care medicine, 187(8), 823– 831. morisset, j. (1999). foreign direct investment in africa: policies also matter. the world bank. ram, r., & zhang, k. h. (2002). foreign direct investment and economic growth: evidence from cross-country data for the 1990s. economic development and cultural change, 51(1), 205–215. romer, p. m. (1990). endogenous technological change. journal of political economy, 98(5, part 2), s71–s102. romer, p. m. (1994). the origins of endogenous growth. journal of economic perspectives, 8(1), 3–22. von oepen, b., kördel, w., & klein, w. (1991). sorption of nonpolar and polar compounds to soils: processes, measurements and experience with the applicability of the modified oecd-guideline 106. chemosphere, 22(3–4), 285–304. weaver, c. (2008). hypocrisy trap: the world bank and the poverty of reform. princeton university press. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 38 woon, d. e., & dunning jr, t. h. (1993). gaussian basis sets for use in correlated molecular calculations. iii. the atoms aluminum through argon. the journal of chemical physics, 98(2), 1358–1371. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 14 influence of inorganic fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao (theobroma cacao l) leaf litter application rates on cowpea (vigna unguiculata l.) performance in the tropics onwuchekwa ojimgba phd department of soil science faculty of agriculture, abia state university, uturu, nigeria e-mail: onwuchekwao@yahoo.com abstract influence of inorganic fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao (theobroma cacao l.) leaf litter application rates on cowpea (vigna unguiculata l.) performance in the tropics was studied for 24 months (january, 2017 – december, 2018) at cocoa research institute of nigeria (crin) ibeku sub-station, umuahia, nigeria. three 3 x 3 factorial experiments, each in a randomized complete block design (rcbd) with three replicates/blocks were used to study the responses of cowpea to three npk 15:15:15 fertilizer rates 0 kg, 500 kg and 1000 kg ha-1 represented by (factor f) f0, f1 and f2, respectively, and cocoa leaf litter rates 0 t, 10 t and 20 t ha-1 which were also represented by lo, l1 and l2 (factor l), respectively. the results obtained from the study show that the application of either 10 or 20 t ha-1 cocoa leaf litter alone or complementary application of either 10 or 20 t ha-1 cocoa leaf litter plus 500 or 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 fertilizer significantly increased the various cowpea growth and yield components than the fertilizer rates alone. the treatment without fertilizer and leaf litter, i.e. topsoil only (f0l0) gave significantly the least cowpea growth and yield components. the highest values were obtained with the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 fertilizer with 20 t ha-1 cocoa leaf litter (f2l2). the cowpea crop performance in terms of growth, yield and yield components over the study periods, 2017 and 2018 were statistically similar. therefore, the inclusion of leaf litter has greater potential for improving cowpea yield than when fertilizer was used alone. leaves are potential sources of valuable nutrients providing a high quality of organic matter, which should be returned to the soil. keywords: cowpea, fertilizer, cacao leaf litter, application rates, performance, tropics. 1. introduction 1.1 background information the increasingly dependence of modern agricultural technology on high-value inputs, on the one hand, and the deteriorating economic situation of most of the developing countries, on the other, have led to a renewed awareness of the productive and protective value of trees, and a realization of the potentials of age-old conservation farming techniques (ojimgba, 2019). consequently, efforts are now being made to devise the most appropriate ways to integrate trees and other woody species with agricultural crops and/or livestock simultaneously from the same piece of land in a sustainable manner (fernandes and chen, 2008). farmers in tropical west africa rely mainly on traditional farming system, such as the bush fallow system, for the restoration of soil fertility after a cultivation cycle (okeke and omaliko, 1994). to meet the nutrient demand of crops especially for the resource poor farmers, the use of organic materials would be an inevitable practice for a long http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:onwuchekwao@yahoo.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 15 time to come (heerendra, 2017). in traditional farming systems in nigeria, a piece of land is cultivated for a few years and left to fallow in order to regain fertility. in the farming systems of the tropics, the bush fallow system, cheaply utilized for the maintenance of soil fertility, is still a dominant food production system (kang et al., 1985). various crop production techniques, including alley cropping, have been tested in the humid tropics to replace the traditional bush fallow in order to increase food production (kang et al., 1985). however, large quantities of plant nutrients contained in crop residues, plant litter, poultry and cattle manure are often lost by wasteful methods of disposal, such as burning during land preparation (prabhakaran nair and gosh, 1984). thus, the efficient use of these resources to recycle plant utilizable nutrients, especially in agricultural system of developing countries beset by chronic shortages of fertilizer inputs, has attracted some studies recently (nordmeyer and ritcher, 1985; prabhakaran nair and gosh, 1984). in forest with year’s long life cycle, litter is a major source of nutrient systematically enriching the soil. these forest tree leaf litters can be applied as an organic amendment for the production of agricultural crops. to meet the nutrient demand of the crops especially for the resource poor farmers, the use of organic materials would be an inevitable practice for a long time to come (heerendra, 2017). ojimgba (2019) found that the application of 1000 kg ha-1 of inorganic fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) with 20 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter gave significantly the highest maize grain yield, while topsoil only (control) 0 kg ha–1 fertilizer + 0 t ha-1 leaf litter gave the least yield. kang et al., (1985) also found that the addition of low rates of n and leucaena prunings in their alley cropping experiments significantly increased crop yields, compared to low crop performance where none of these was used. repeated applications of prunings, they further contended, maintained higher soil organic matter levels and increased soil moisture retention capacity, exchangeable k, ca, mg and no3 levels. omaliko and agbim (1983) also obtained significantly higher yields of forage maize (zea mays l.) with the application of either 75 or 150 t ha-1 of incubated rice waste than that with no waste application. they showed that yields of forage maize further increased as the waste was supplemented with n, p and k fertilizers applied together. similarly, okeke and omaliko (1994) found that the incorporation of either 75 or 150 t ha-1 of d.barteri leaf litter into the soil significantly increased the growth and yield of maize. okeke and omaliko (1994), however, cautioned that although the use of litter has potential for improving crop yields, there is yet little information on the various responses of different crops to the rates of incorporating litter in the soil and even the time-lag between the litter incorporation and sowing of the food crop. therefore, this study looked at the influence of inorganic fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao (theobroma cacao l.) leaf litter application rates on cowpea (vigna unguiculata l.) performance in the tropics and how best this leaf litter could enhance cowpea production. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 16 2. materials and methods the study was conducted on the experimental research farm of the cocoa research institute of nigeria (crin) ibeku sub-station at ajata ibeku, umuahia, nigeria. this study area is located on latitude 0.5° 29’ n and longitude 07° 33’ e in the rainforest ecological zone of south eastern nigeria and lies at a mean elevation of 122 metres (400 ft) above sea level (climatic data for national root crops research institute (nrcri) meteorological station, umudike) (odurukwe, et al., 1995) the soil is classified as ultisol according to usda and as an acrisol according to fao/unesco classification schemes, as summarized by opara-nadi (2000). the soil is characterized by inherent constraints such as low organic matter, poor structural stability, low nutrient and water holding capacities, low clay activities and high susceptibility to soil erosion and drought stress (opara-nadi, 2000; salau et al., 1992). the vegetation of the study area is typical of tropical rainforest vegetation. the secondary bush which dominates the area is the remnant of the tropical rainforests which are fast disappearing in the area. 2.1 land preparation and layout this study was carried out on the experimental research farm of the cocoa research institute of nigeria (crin) ibeku sub-station at ajata – ibeku, umuahia, nigeria. in early may of 2017, experimental plots were selected at the adjacent bush fallow site of the cocoa plantation. each of these plots had not been cultivated for at least eighteen (18) months thus ensuring that the topsoil had not been recently disturbed in order to collect soil samples. thereafter, all the plots were cleared, ploughed and harrowed. three 3 x 3 factorial experiments, each in a randomized complete block design (rcbd) with three replicates/blocks were used to study the responses of cowpea to three npk 15:15:15 fertilizer rates o kg, 500 kg and 1000 kg ha-1 represented by (factor f) f0, f1 and f2, respectively, and cocoa leaf litter rates 0 t, 10 t and 20 t ha-1 which were also represented by lo, l1 and l2 (factor l), respectively. possible treatment combinations are shown in table 1 below i.e. 9 treatment combinations per replication. field application rates 1. f0l0= no treatment 2. f1l0 = 0.8 kg f + 0 kg l/16 m2,equivalent to 500 kg f + 0 kg l/ha 3. f2l0= 1.6 kg f + 0 kg l/16 m2, equivalent to 1000 kg f + 0 kg l/ha 4. f0l1= 0 kg f + 16 kg l/16 m2, equivalent to 0 kg f + 10,000 kg l/ha 5. f1l1= 0.8 kg f + 16 kg l/16 m2, equivalent to 500 kg f + 10,000 kg l/ha 6. f2l1= 1.6 kg f + 16 kg l/16 m2, equivalent to 1000 kg f + 10,000 kg l/ha 7. f0l2= 0 kg f + 32 kg l/16 m2, equivalent to 0 kg f + 20,000 kg l/ha 8. f1l2= 0.8 kg f + 32 kgl/16 m2, equivalent to 500 kg f + 20,000 kg l/ha 9. f2l2= 1.6 kg f + 32 kg l/16 m2, equivalent to1000 kg f + 20,000 kg l/ha table 1. treatment combinations – npk 15: 15: 15 fertilizer and cacao leaf litter rates www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 17 f = fertilizer l = leaf litter these treatment combinations were randomized within the plots. the experiment was replicated three times. there were, therefore, a total of twenty – seven (27) treatments and plots. each replicate measured 45 m x 4 m (180 m2), while the plot measured 4 m x 4 m (16 m2) each. the total area of the experimental site was 0.063 ha. sources of materials the cocoa leaf litter was collected from cocoa research institute of nigeria (crin) ibeku sub-station, umuahia, nigeria, while the cowpea (test crop) was obtained from the national seed service, umudike, nigeria. the fertilizer npk 15:15:15 was bought from umuahia main market. application of waste the cocoa leaf litter was incorporated into the soil in early may and incubation period of four (4) months was allowed after the application before cowpea was planted early august. inorganic fertilizer treatments were applied in split doses, at planting and one month after planting by incorporation into the soil. planting and observation planting of cowpea was done on a flat harrowed soil surface. cowpea was planted at 1m x 0.5 m spacing, which gave about 20,000 plants ha-1 that is 32 plants per plot of 16 m2. cowpea was planted in early august each year. this study lasted for a period of 12 weeks each year. attributes studied measurements in each plot were done using twelve stands, three stands each from the four inner rows randomly selected, tagged and sampled. cowpea studies with cacao leaf litter + fertilizer rates at 4, 8 and 10 w.a.p. i)plant height (ii) no of leaves plant-1 (iii) leaf diameter,(iv) cowpea grain yield plot-1 ha-1,(v) leaf length (vi) leaf area (leaf length x leaf diameter x 0.6 i.e. k (ambasht and ambasht, 2006) ). weed control npk 15:15:15 rates (kg ha-1) leaf litter rates ( t ha-1 ) lo l1 l2 0 10 20 fo 0 f1 500 f2 1,000 folo (1) fol1 (4) fol2 (7) f1lo (2) f1l1 (5) f1l2 (8) f2lo (3) f2l1 (6) f2l2 (9) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 18 no herbicide was applied to control weeds; rather, hand weeding was done using native hoe. the weeds were not thrown away, but were spread within the plot from which they were removed and allowed to decompose to release the absorbed nutrients. harvest and yield computation harvest was done at 12 weeks after planting. the matured pods were harvested from each plot, dried, shelled and weighed. the grains were dried at 600c for 48 hours. 2.2 statistical analysis the data collected was analyzed statistically and significant differences between treatment means of various experiments were tested at p < 0.05 using the fisher’s least – significant differences (f – lsd), standard errors and or student’s “t” – test, according to the procedures of steel and torrie (1980). . in all statistical analyses, p < 0.05 was used to test for significant differences between the treatments means of the various experiments. 3. results and discussion chemical properties of the topsoil prior to fertilizer and cacao leaf litter applications at umuahia, nigeria table 2 summarizes the chemical properties of the topsoil of the study site prior to fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao (theobroma cacao l.) leaf litter applications at umuahia, nigeria. however, the topsoil of the study site had low ph, total nitrogen, organic carbon and consequently organic matter, available phosphorus, exchangeable cations (k, na, ca, mg) and percentage base saturation. however the percentage aluminium saturation, effective cation exchange capacity (ecec) and exchangeable acidity (ea) were high. these values are peculiar with soils of tropical rainforest ecological zone of southeastern, nigeria which requires amendment for effective crop performance. table 2. chemical properties of the topsoil prior to fertilizer and cacao leaf litter applications at umudike, nigeria. attributes /statistics units of measurement mean values soil ph and chemical properties ph 4.42 nitrogen % 0.03 organic c % 0.42 organic matter % 0.72 available p ppm 3.40 exchangeable k c mol (+) kg –1 0.06 “ na “ 0.12 “ ca “ 0.70 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 19 “ mg “ 0.50 “ al “ 2.20 exchangeable h “ 0.60 exchangeable acidity (ea) “ 2.80 effective cation exchange capacity (ecec) “ 4.18 al saturation % 62.90 base saturation % 39.00 c:n 14:1 influence of fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao leaf litter application rates on plant height of cowpea (vigna unguiculata l.) figures 1 and 2 summarize the influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on plant height of cowpea in 2017 and 2018, respectively. at 4 wap significant differences existed between the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 along with cacao leaf litter (0,10,20 t ha-1) treatments over the years. however, the application 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 gave significantly higher plant height than the similar values of 500 kg ha-1 and 0 kg ha-1 in the following order: f2 > f1 = f0. also, the applications of 20 t ha-1 of cocoa leaf litter gave significantly higher plant height than the values of 10 t ha-1, while 0 t ha-1 had the least result in 2017 and 2018, in the following order 20 > 10 > 0 t ha-1. there were no significant f x l interaction effects on cowpea plant height in both 2017 and 2018 (figures 1 and 2) at 8 wap, the plant height values of 2017 and 2018 followed the same trend. the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 gave significantly higher plant height than the similar results of 500 and 0 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 . also, the statistically similar plant height values of 20 and 10 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter gave significantly higher results than 0 t ha-1 (no leaf litter, l0). generally, the application of fertilizer (f) plus leaf litter (l) rates gave similar plant height values at 8 wap which were significantly greater than the plant height results of f0l0 and f1lo (i.e. no fertilizer + no leaf litter and no fertilizer application along with 500 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15, respectively) in 2017. but in 2018, the application of various rates of fertilizer (500, 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15) along with the cacao leaf litter (10, 20 t ha-1) gave statistically similar plant height values. however, at 10 wap, npk 15:15:15 fertilizer application rates had statistically similar cowpea plant height values in 2018, whereas in 2017 the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 gave significantly higher plant height than the statistically similar plant height values of 500 and 0 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15. the application of various rates of cacao leaf litter followed same trend in 2017 and 2018. the application rates of 20 and 10 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter which gave statistically similar plant height values had significantly higher values than that of 0 t ha-1. generally, the application of higher rates of fertilizer and any of the two litter rates (10 or 20 t ha -1) gave statistically similar plant height values which were (p>0.05) significantly higher than the values of fertilizer rates www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 20 alone. the least plant height was obtained with the application of f0 and f1 without leaf litter. the relative improvement of the final plant height of cowpea in 2008 is in the order: f1l2 = f1l1 = f2l1 = f2l2 = f0l2 = f0l1 > f2l0 > f1l0 > f0l0. the final plant height values of 2017 followed same trend. influence of fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao leaf litter application rates on leaf diameter of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) figure. 1 : influence of fertilizer and cocoa leaf litter application rates on cowpea plant height in 2017 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 4wks 8wks 10wks weeks after planting folo f1lo f2lo fol1 f1l1 f2l1 fol2 f1l2 f2l2 plant height (cm) figure. 2 influence of fertilizer and cocoa leaf litter application rates on cowpea plant height in 2018 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 4wks 8wks 10wks weeks after planting folo f1lo f2lo fol1 f1l1 f2l1 fol2 f1l2 f2l2 plant height (cm) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 21 tables 3 and 4 summarize the effects of fertilizer, (npk 15:15:15) and cacao leaf litter application rates on leaf diameter of cowpea in 2017 and 2018, respectively. table 3 shows that in terms of fertilizer treatments at the weeks after planting (wap) in 2017, the 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 had significantly higher leaf diameter than the 0 kg ha-1. however, at 8 wap the results of 500 and 1000 kg npk 15:15:15 were statistically similar. the cacao leaf litter rates significantly influenced cowpea diameter as follows: 10 = 20 > 0 t ha-1. the similar cowpea leaf diameter results of the 20.0 and 10.0 t ha-1 were significantly higher than that of the control (0 t ha-1). in 2017, there was no significant fertilizer (f) x leaf litter (l) interaction effects on cowpea leaf diameter in 4 and 8 wap. however, in 10 wap, the complementary use of f2l2, f2l1, f1l1 and f1l2 had statistically similar cowpea leaf diameter results which were significantly greater than the control (no fertilizer and no leaf litter i.e. f0l0), 500 or 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 rates without leaf litter. the relative improvement in final leaf diameter values of 2017 was in the order: f2l2 = f2l1 = f1l1 = f1l2 = f0l2 > f0l1 = f2l0 = f1l0 > f0l0. generally, the addition of 10 or 20 t ha -1 cocoa leaf litter with or without inorganic fertilizer npk 15:15:15 rates significantly increased leaf diameter than no leaf litter rates with or without fertilizer application rates. the results in table 4 show that the application rates of 1000 and 500 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15: had significantly higher leaf diameter than the 0 kg ha-1 at 4 wap. however, the results of 500 and 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 as well as 0 and 500 kg ha-1 treatments were statistically similar at 4 wap in 2018. the cacao leaf litter rates significantly influenced cowpea leaf diameter. this leaf diameter results at the 4th, 8th and 10th wap had similar trends of cacao leaf litter treatment as follows: 20 > 10 > 0 t ha-1. there was no significant fertilizer (f) x leaf litter (l) interaction effects on cowpea leaf diameter in 2018. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 22 table 3. influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on leaf diameter of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) (2017) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 4 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 8 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 10 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 3.57 7.73 9.37 6.89 3.97 8.37 9.77 7.37 4.20 9.00 9.83 7.68 500 5.43 8.80 9.60 7.94 6.20 9.77 10.30 8.76 7.00 10.50 10.43 9.31 1000 7.07 9.73 9.97 8.92 7.07 10.17 10.60 9.28 7.77 10.53 10.80 9.70 mean 5.36 8.76 9.64 5.74 9.43 10.22 6.32 10.01 10.36 f-lsd(0.05) (t ha-1) weeks 4 8 10 fertilizer rates (f) 0.91 0.63 0.72 leaf litter rates (l) 0.91 0.63 0.72 interaction f x l ns ns 1.25 table 4. influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on leaf diameter of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) (2018) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 4 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 8 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 10 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 4.17 7.67 9.73 7.19 4.60 8.37 10.37 7.78 4.73 8.77 10.70 8.07 500 5.70 8.43 10.17 8.10 5.93 10.43 10.93 9.10 6.37 11.07 11.40 9.61 1000 6.80 9.63 10.30 8.91 7.43 11.17 12.33 10.31 8.33 12.10 12.83 11.09 mean 5.56 8.58 10.07 5.99 9.99 11.21 6.48 10.64 11.64 f-lsd(0.05) (t ha-1) weeks 4 8 10 fertilizer rates (f) 0.92 1.09 0.43 leaf litter rates (l) 0.92 1.09 0.43 interaction f x l ns ns ns www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 23 influence of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on the number of leaves plant -1 of cowpea tables 5 and 6 also summarize the effect of fertilizer, npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on the number of leaves plant-1 of cowpea in 2017 and 2018. generally, the application of fertilizer, npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter increased the number of leaves plant-1 more than the control. however, at 4 wap in 2017 and 2018, the complementary use of 500 or 1000 kg ha-1 plus either 10 or 20 t ha-1 leaf litter gave similar number of leaves plant-1. at 8 wap in 2017, 1000 kg ha -1 npk 15:15:15 gave significantly the highest number of leaves plant-1 as follows: 1000 > 500 > 0 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15. but in 2018, the applications of 1000 and 500 kg ha-1 which have similar cowpea number of leaves plant-1 were significantly greater than the 0 kg ha-1 (no fertilizer). cacao leaf litter application rates (20, 10 and 0 t ha-1) followed the same trend. however, in 2017 and 2018 study periods, the use of 20 t ha-1 leaf litter alone or the complementary use of either 500 or 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 with either 10 or 20 t ha-1 leaf litter gave similar leaf number plant-1 values. these results, however, were significantly higher than those of the other treatments. the control, again gave the least result, at 10 wap in 2017 and 2018, the number of leaves plant-1 values obtained followed the same trend with those of 8 wap. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 24 table 5. influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on the number of leaves plant-1 of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) (2017) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 4 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 8 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 10 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 3.27 4.40 4.62 4.09 3.83 5.86 6.40 5.36 3.87 6.83 6.68 5.80 500 3.60 4.51 4.72 4.28 4.46 5.86 6.51 5.61 4.83 6.53 6.73 6.03 1000 3.78 4.72 5.06 4.52 5.54 6.48 6.70 6.24 6.61 7.00 7.11 6.90 mean 3.55 4.54 4.80 4.61 6.07 6.54 5.10 6.79 6.84 f-lsd(0.05) (t ha-1) weeks 4 8 10 fertilizer rates (f) 0.14 0.22 0.26 leaf litter rates (l) 0.14 0.22 0.26 interaction f x l ns 0.38 0.44 table 6. influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on the number of leaves plant-1 of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) (2018) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 4 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 8 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 10 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 3.21 4.32 5.04 4.19 3.83 6.48 5.94 5.42 3.95 6.65 6.19 5.60 500 3.51 4.42 4.86 4.26 5.42 6.21 6.52 6.05 5.75 6.45 6.67 6.29 1000 3.56 4.79 5.19 4.51 5.48 6.35 6.81 6.21 5.72 6.63 6.91 6.42 mean 3.43 4.51 5..03 4.91 6.35 6.42 5.14 6.58 6.59 f-lsd(0.05) (t ha-1) weeks 4 8 10 fertilizer rates (f) ns 0.40 0.45 leaf litter rates (l) 0.34 0.40 0.45 interaction f x l ns 0.69 0.78 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 25 influence of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on cowpea leaf length tables 7 and 8 summarize the effect of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on cowpea leaf length in 2017 and 2018, respectively. the results in the tables show that the applications of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 as well as cacao leaf litter significantly influenced cowpea leaf length. at the 4 th, 8th and 10th wap in 2017 and 2018, the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 fertilizer significantly gave higher leaf length than either 500 or 0 kg ha-1 (control i.e. no fertilizer). in terms of cacao leaf litter treatment, the similar results of 20 and 10 t ha-1 gave significantly higher leaf length than the 0 t ha-1 as follows; 20 = 10 > 0 t ha-1 however, at 10th wap in 2017 and 2018, there was no significant fertilizer (f) x leaf litter (l) interaction effects on cowpea leaf length. the 4th and 8th wap had similar trends of f x l interaction effects on cowpea leaf length. generally, the addition of 10 or 20 t ha-1 cocoa leaf litter with or without inorganic fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) rates more significantly increased leaf length than no leaf litter rates with or without fertilizer application rates. the complementary use of f2l2, f1l2 and f0l2 had statistically similar cowpea leaf length results which were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) greater than those of the control treatment (no fertilizer and no leaf litter). the order of improvement in 2018 was as follows: f2l2 = f2l1 = f1l2 = f0l2 = f1l1 = f0l1 > f1l0 = f2l0 > f0l0. this means that the use of 10 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter without fertilizer gave significantly higher cowpea leaf length than either 1000 or 500 kgha-1 fertilizer when used alone. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 26 table 7. influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on leaf length of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) (2017) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 4 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 8 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 10 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 4.00 7.50 7.73 6.41 3.90 9.17 7.93 7.00 4.00 8.17 7.97 6.71 500 6.17 7.67 9.67 7.83 7.30 9.80 10.17 9.09 7.50 9.87 10.17 9.18 1000 6.67 10.00 10.83 9.17 7.93 10.63 9.50 9.36 8.37 10.77 10.00 9.71 mean 5.61 8.39 9.41 6.38 9.87 9.20 6.62 9.60 9.38 f-lsd(0.05) (t ha-1) weeks 4 8 10 fertilizer rates (f) 0.54 0.84 1.26 leaf litter rates (l) 0.54 0.84 1.26 interaction f x l 0.94 1.46 ns table 8. influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on leaf length of cowpea (vigna unguiculata) (2018) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 4 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 8 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 10 weeks leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 4.43 8.00 9.07 7.17 4.93 9.40 9.77 8.03 5.17 9.53 9.00 7.90 500 6.83 7.33 8.73 7.63 7.67 9.50 10.00 9.06 8.13 9.83 10.63 9.53 1000 6.33 9.33 9.23 8.30 6.93 10.63 10.63 9.40 7.20 11.00 10.87 9.69 mean 5.87 8.22 9.01 6.51 9.84 10.13 6.83 10.12 10.17 f-lsd(0.05) (t ha-1) weeks 4 8 10 fertilizer rates (f) 0.41 0.56 1.04 leaf litter rates (l) 0.41 0.56 1.04 interaction f x l 0.71 0.96 ns www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 27 f2l1 f1l0 f1l2 f2l0 f0l2 f2l2 cowpea plants at 6 weeks after planting (wap) treated with various rates of npk 15:15:15 fertilizer (f) and cocoa leaf litter (l) influence of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on the leaf area (cm2) of cowpea in 2017 and 2018 table 9 summarizes the effects of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on cowpea leaf area at the 10th week after planting (wap) in 2017 and 2018. the results from the table show that the applications of the various rates of fertilizer had significant (p>0.05) effect on leaf area of cowpea. however, the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 gave significantly (p>0.05) higher cowpea leaf area than the 0 or 500 kg ha-1 in the following significant order : f2 > f1 > f0. cacao leaf litter application rates followed same trend as that of the fertilizer in the order : l2 > l1 > f0. table 9 also shows that fertilizer npk 15:15:15 (f) x cacao leaf litter (l) interaction had significant effects on cowpea leaf area at the 10th week after planting (wap) in 2017 and 2018. however, cowpea plants with leaf litter application gave significantly higher leaf area than those without leaf litter application. also, cowpea plants treated with 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 plus 20 or 10 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter (i.e. f2l2 or f2l1) gave higher leaf area than the rest treatments. the treatment without fertilizer and leaf litter, i.e. the topsoil only (f0l0), gave significantly the least leaf area values in 2017 and 2018. the relative improvement of the leaf area in 2018 was in the following significant order : f2l2 > f2l1 > f1l2 > f1l1 > f0l2> f0l1 > f2l0 > f1l0 > f0l0. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 28 table 9. influence of fertilizer and cacao (theobroma cacao l.) leaf litter application rates on cowpea (vigna unguiculata) leaf area ( cm2) npk fertilizer (15:15:15) (kg ha -1) 2017 leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 2018 leaf litter rates (t ha – 1) 0 10 20 mean 0 10 20 mean 0 10.1 44.1 47.0 33.7 14.6 50.2 57.8 40.9 500 31.5 62.2 63.6 52.4 31.1 65.3 72.7 56.4 1000 39.0 68.1 64.8 57.3 36.0 79.9 83.7 66.5 mean 26.9 58.3 58.5 27.2 65.1 71.4 f-lsd(0.05) (cm2) year 2017 2018 fertilizer rates (f) 0.55 0.27 leaf litter rates (l) 0.55 0.27 interaction f x l 1.70 1.24 influence of fertilizer npk 15:15:15 and cacao leaf litter application rates on cowpea grain yield in 2017 and 2018 figure 3 summarizes the influence if various npk 15:15:15 fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on cowpea grain yield in 2017 and 2018. the significant performances of the various fertilizer rates were as follows; a. 1000 = 500 > 0 kg ha-1 for 2017 and b. 1000 > 500 > 0 kg ha-1 for 2018. however, the influence of various cacao leaf litter rates on grain yield of cowpea for 2017 and 2018 were as follows: 20 > 10> 0 t ha-1. thus, the 20 and 0 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter gave significantly the highest and least cowpea grain yield, respectively in 2017 and 2018. there was no significant f x l interaction effects on cowpea grain yield in 2017 (figure 3). however, in 2018 the application of 1000 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 + 20 t ha-1 cocoa leaf litter (f2l2) gave significantly the highest cowpea grain yield than the control – 0 kg ha-1 fertilizer plus 0 t ha-1 leaf litter. again, the application of 20 t ha-1 leaf litter with either 1000 kg ha-1 or 500 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 gave significantly higher cowpea grain yield than those of the 10 t ha-1 leaf litter plus either 1000 kg ha-1 or 500 kg ha-1 npk 15:15:15 . however, the applications of various rates of npk 15:15:15 (1000, 500 and 0 kg ha-1) with no cacao leaf litter application rates, that is f2l0, f1l0 and f0l0, gave significantly lower cowpea grain yield results than those of the fertilizer application rates plus either 20 or 10 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter (f2l2, f2l1, f1l2 or f1l1). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 29 (a) cowpea growth parameters generally, the cowpea growth components followed the same trend with those of maize growth components as indicated by ojimgba (2019). the addition of 10 or 20 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter with or without inorganic fertilizer npk 15:15:15 rates more significantly increased the cowpea plant height, leaf diameter, number of leaves plant-1, leaf length and leaf area than no leaf litter rates with or without fertilizer application rates. this improvement according to young (1989) could be as a result of the return in litter and pruning of some 100 – 300 kg n/ha/yr under cocoa and coffee plantations with shade trees. ouda and mahadeen (2008) added that shoot fresh and dry weights of broccoli plants tended to increase by increasing dose of organic manure. they further stated that number of leaves per plant showed a little increase with increased organic manure dose. that each increase in inorganic fertilizer dose tended to increase number of leaves per plant compared with control. they confirmed that plots receiving a combination of organic and inorganic fertilizers produced slightly higher (p>0.05) fresh and dry weights of shoot. these results are in accordance with magnusson (2002) on chinensis cabbage (b. chinensis) and abdelrazzag (2002) on onion (allium cepa). furthermore, organic manure activates many species of living organisms, which release phytohormones and may stimulate the plant growth and absorption of nutrients (arisha et al., 2003). such organisms need nitrogen for multiplication. this is plausible reason that use of organic manure with inorganic fertilizer showed a beneficial effect on dry matter accumulation. organic manure can serve as alternative practice to mineral fertilizers (naeem et al., 2006) for improving soil structure (dauda et al., 2008) and maize growth mbagwu, 1992). however, the litter fall is major recognized avenue for addition of organic matter (nutrients) to the soil from the trees. therefore, figure.3 influence of fertilizer and cacao leaf litter application rates on cowpea grain yield in 2017 and 2018 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 f0l0 f1l0 f2l0 f0l1 f1l1 f2l1 f0l2 f1l2 f2l2 treatment combinations cowpea grain yield (kg/ha) 2017 2018 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 30 the increase in cowpea growth components might be due to the combinations of the cacao leaf litter with high organic matter status and inorganic fertilizer npk 15:15:15, nitrogen being one of the major nutrient elements. (b) cowpea grain yield the results contained in figure 3 shows that the applications of various rates of npk 15:15:15 fertilizer (i.e. 1000, 500 and 0 kg -1) without cacao leaf litter application rates gave significantly lower cowpea grain yield results than those of the fertilizer application rates plus either 20 or 10 t ha-1 cacao leaf litter. however, the applications of the highest dose of inorganic fertilizer (1000 kg ha-1, f2) with the highest dose of cocoa leaf litter (20 t ha-1, l2) (i.e. f2l2) which produced the highest yield of cowpea grain yield was similar to results obtained by ouda and mahadeen (2008) and ojimgba (2019). they confirmed that the application of the highest dose of inorganic fertilizer (60 kg ha-1) with the highest dose of organic manure (80 t ha-1) produced the highest yield of main heads of broccoli and maize, respectively. furthermore, anikwe et al., (2003) added that the cumulative results of maize plots amended with manure + npk had an over 8-fold increase in grain yield relative to the control. they added that other treatments (mulch + npk and npk alone) did not statistically affect grain yield of maize relative to the control (unamended plots). according to them, in groundnut plots amended with manure + npk, cumulative data show that grain yield also increased (p<0.05) by 123% relative to the control. ojimgba et al., (2008) reported similar results and concluded that the reason for this is that organic wastes had about 90% higher mineralization rate than the unamended control or inorganic fertilizer. the poor yield obtained in unamended control plots may be associated with the acidity which is a major problem in many tropical soils (ojimgba and mbagwu, 2007). muller-samann and johannes (1997) confirmed this statement that on soils with ph values under 5, the exchange particles elements are coated with hydrogen and nutrient cations (mg, k, ca) and often also with aluminum (al) ions which may lead to aluminum toxicity and phosphate fixation through the formation of al-phosphates. also, only at ph values exceeding 5 does aluminum become hydroxide, so that toxicity is no longer a problem. the signs of aluminum toxicity are reduced, stunted growth and disrupted ca and p metabolism, which was the problem with the control and fertilizer treated plots as well as their high al saturation. the little yield of the unamended control plots of cowpea might be due to nitrogen fixed by the cowpea which is the characteristics of all leguminous crops. 4. conclusion and recommendations the research has documented basic information about the potentials and uses of cacao in an agroforestry farm at the cocoa research institute of nigeria (crin) ibeku sub-station, umuahia, nigeria. the study also revealed that cowpea (vigna unguiculata l.) can be successfully grown with cacao leaf litter incorporated in the soil without the use of costly inorganic fertilizers. the results also pointed to the fact that the leaf litter improved highly the grain yield of cowpea in the eroded soils, whereas inorganic fertilizer had no such effect. the following recommendations are made based on the results of the study: i) studies on litter production and decomposition effects on crop growth and yield should be carried out in different agroforestry ecosystems of the humid and sub-humid (including the arid and semi-arid) zones of west africa. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 31 ii) i, also recommend that farmers should plant cocoa trees along the contour bunds or boundaries as alley, prune them periodically or allow the leaves to fall and decay to improve the nutrient status and structure of the soils. it is hoped that the results of this study will encourage farmers embark on the establishment of cacao plantations using economically viable landuse management system such as agroforestry. the results will encourage greater production of cocoa beans as well as encourage the establishment of small-scale industries to process the products. the establishment of cocoa plantations and the processing of the products from the plantations could boost the income of farmers and the nation’s foreign exchange reserve via exportation of the processed products. it is also hoped that the results of the study will encourage the farmers to profitably grow cowpea with little or no inorganic fertilizer application. references abdelrazzag, a. 2002. effect of chicken manure, sheep manure and inorganic fertilizers on yield and nutrient uptake by onion. pakistan j. biol. sci., 5: 266 – 8. ambasht, r. s. and ambasht, n. k. 2006. a textbook of plant ecology. 4th edn. cbs publishers, inaja. 375pp. anikwe, m.a.n., obi, m.e. and agbim, n.n. 2003. effect of crop and soil management practices on soil compatibility in maize and groundnut plots in a paleustult in southeastern nigeria. netherlands. plant and soil 253: 457465. arisha, a., gad, a. and younes, s.e. 2003. response of some pepper cultivars to organic and mineral nitrogen fertilizer under sandy soil conditions. zagazig j. agric. res., 30: 1875-99. dauda, s.n., ajayi, f.a. and ndor, e. 2008. growth and yield of water melon (citrullus lanatus) as affected by poultry manure application. j. agric. soc. sci., 4: 121-4. fernandes, e. c. m. and chen, s. h. 2008. alley cropping in: fernandes and chen (eds). tropical cropping systems and agroforestry. the institute of terrestrial ecology/hmso, london. pp. 1 – 15. heerendra p, paramjeet s, meena k and sps solanki. 2017. effect of organic manures and biofertilizer on plant growth, yield and quality of horticultural crops: a review. intern. journ. of chemical studies 5(1) 217-221. p issn. 2349-8528 kang, b. t., grimme, h. and lawson, t. l. 1985.alley cropping sequentially cropped maize and cowpea with leucaena on a sandy soil in southern nigeria. pl. soil, 83 (3): 433 – 445. magnusson, m. 2002. mineral fertilizers and green mulch in chinese cabbage (brassica pekinensis rupr): effect on nutrient uptake, yield and internal tipburn. soil plant sci., 52: 25-35. mbagwu, j.s.c. 1992. improving the productivity of a degraded ultisol in nigeria using organic and inorganic amendments. part 1. effects on the chemical properties and maize yield. bioresource technol. 42, 149-154. muller-samann, k. m. and johannes, k. 1997. sustaining growth : soil fertility management in tropical smallholdings. cta; gtz. transl. : christine ernsting and simon chaterl.weikersheim : margraf. pp. 99-186. naeem, m., iqbal, j. and bakhsh, m. a.a. 2006. comparative study of inorganic fertilizers and organic manures on yield and yield components of mungbean (vigna radiat l.). j. agric. soc. sci., 2: 227-9. nordmeyer, h. and richter , j. 1985. incubation experiments on nitrogen mineralization in loess and sandy soils. pl. soil 83 (3) : 433 – 445. odurukwe, s. o. , anuebunwa, f. o., iloka, a. w., udealor, a. and ibedu, m. a. 1995. physical environment of south-eastern nigeria. in: indigenous fallow and multi-purpose tree and shrub species in the farming systems of southeast zone of nigeria. a report of diagnostic survey. n.r.c.r.i., umudike publications. ojimgba, o. (2019). effect of inorganic fertilizer (npk 15:15:15) and cacao (theobroma cacao l.) leaf litter application rates on maize (zea mays l.) performance in the tropical forest. agric. science res. journ. vol. (9) issue (8): 112-122. issn 2026-6073. http://www.resjournals.com/agriculture.science.research.journal/ ojimgba, o. and mbagwu, j. s. c. (2007). evaluation of the physical and chemical properties of an eroded ultisol and their effects on maize yield. journal of the science of agric., food tech., and the envt. , vol 7 (1). pp 57-64. ojimgba, o., omenihu, a.a. and chukwu, g.o. 2008. effects of soil amendments on degraded ultisol and maize (zea mays l.) performance in southeastern nigeria. journal of the science of agric., food tech., and the environment. 1: 5764. http://www.resjournals.com/agriculture.science.research.journal/ www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 32 okeke, a. i. and omaliko, c. p. e. 1994. litterfall and seasonal patterns of nutrient accumulation in dactyladenia barteri (hook fex. oliv.). engl. bush fallow at ozala, nigeria. for. ecol. manage., 67 : 345 – 351. omaliko, c. p. e. and agbim, n. n. 1983. forage corn response to rice – mill wastes and fertilizers. j. environ. qual., 12 (3) : 320 – 324. opara-nadi, o. a. 2000. soil resources and agricultural productivity in nigeria. in: food and fibre production in the 21st century. nwaigbo, l. c., ukpabi, u. h. and anene, a. (eds) . proceedings of the first annual conference of the college of agriculture and veterinary medicine, abia state university held on the 10 th 13th september, 2000. ouda, b.a. and mahadeen, a. y. 2008. effect of fertilizers on growth, yield, yield components, quality and certain nutrient contents in broccoli (brassica oleracea) int. j. agri. biol., 10:672-32. prabhakaran nair, k. p. and ghosh, g. n. 1984. efficiency of recycled nitrogen from residues of maize (zea mays) , soyabean (glycine max) , moong (vigna radiate) on wheat (triticum aestivum) grain yield. plant soil, 82 (1) : 125 – 132. salau, o. a., opara-nadi, o. a. and swennen, r. 1992. effects of mulching on soil properties, growth and yield of plantain on a tropical ultisol in south-eastern nigeria. soil tillage res. 23 : 73 – 93. steel , r. g. d. and torrie , j. h. (1980). principles procedures of statistics. a biometric approach . mc graw – hill publications, new york, 633 pp. young, a. 1989. agroforestry for soil conservation. cab international, uk, p. 26. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 occurrence and identification of fungal rots in tomato (lycopersicum esculentum mill) fruit stephanie clara akpeji graduate student microbiology department university of ibadan, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: akpejistephanie@gmail.com ossai c. okolie research supervisor yiifswa project international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria e-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org ogbole samson graduate student biochemistry department federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, nigeria e-mail: ogbolesamson@gmail.com abstract tomato fruits have high nutritional qualities, but their spoilage by soil-borne pathogens results in food poisoning. it is important to isolate and identify the strains of fungi associated with tomato rot, to understand their pathogenic state. seeds of 3 genotypes of tomato were grown in both hydroponics and soil systems. it is a factorial experiment laid in a completely randomized design with four replicates. the number and weight of fruits produced, number of infected and uninfected fruits by rots were recorded. data collected were analyzed using anova and means were separated using lsd at 5 % significance level. at harvest, the infected and uninfected fruits were harvested and 10 g each were sliced, dissolved in sterile distilled water and were serially diluted before plating on sterile potato dextrose agar-pda and sabouraud dextrose agar-sda media with 2 % streptomycin and incubated at 28oc for 3 – 7 days. genotypes and substrates were significant in the rate of fruit infection, with the roma tomato having 78.1 % fruit infection rate, while the identified fungi from the infected tomato fruits are aspergillus flavus and mucor racemosu, as no organism grew in the uninfected fruits cultured in both pda and sda culture media. keywords: infection, genotypes, tomato, fungi, hydroponics, pathogenic. jel classification codes: q10 http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:akpejistephanie@gmail.com mailto:c.ossai@cgiar.org mailto:ogbolesamson@gmail.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 2 introduction tomato (lycopersicum esculentum) is a yearly, dicotic, angiospermic short lived perennial plant belonging to solanaceae family. the fruit is used globally and it is consumed as both raw and processed forms (moneruzzaman et al., 2008). the fruit contains vitamins (a, b, c and e), carbohydrates (fructose and glucose), minerals (phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium), trace elements (iron, copper, zinc and dietary fibres for humans (smith, 1994; andrew, 1994) and it is also used as raw materials for agro allied industries. this important staple vegetable is highly perishable and deteriorates easily few days after harvest, which could result in loss of needed qualities or total waste of these vegetables. the deterioration is mainly caused by microbial contamination, natural ripening processes and environmental conditions such as heat and drought (idah et al., 2007). over the years, bacteria and especially fungi have been reported as causing spoilage and deterioration of nutrients in different fruits (willey et al., 2008). plants are susceptible at all stages of development, but symptoms are most obvious at or soon after flowering (rowe et al., 1995). fungi are the most significant and ubiquitous pathogens, infecting variety of fruit and causing economically important losses of fruits. different fungal species such as aspergillus, fusarium, penicillium, mucor, rhizopus, geotrichum, phytophthora and botrytis have been reported as spoilage organisms, and aspergillus niger, rhizopus stolonifer and mucor sp. have all been isolated from spoilt tomatoes (sharma, 2012). thousands of spores are produced in spots of infected leaves and are capable of causing more infections. when conditions are favorable, fungal fruiting bodies appear as tiny black specks in the middle of the spots (sanoubar & barbanti, 2017). the colonization process involves the ability of the microorganism to establish itself within the produce (besser et al., 1993). pathogenic microorganism in tomato is recognized as a source of potential health hazard to man and animals following ingestion, this is due to their production of toxins which are capable of causing diseases like respiratory infection, meningitis, gastroenteritis, diarrhoea in man (beuchat, 2006; e, o. e, 2018). the contamination of tomato by microorganism could be as a result of poor handling practices in the tomato production environment, predominantly due to soil borne disease infection (beuchat, 1996). the above reason coupled with the prolonged cultivation period and little yield in the soil system have attracted researchers attention in the hydroponic system (andriolo et al., 1999). this system provides a good platform to identify if the deterioration encountered in tomato variety is as a result of environmental infection or a generic disease state, coupled with the high crop quality yield as documented (logendra et al. 2001). hence, due to the serious food safety risk posed by the consumption of pathogenic contaminated tomato fruits coupled with the economic damages, it is then important to identify and isolate the fungal microorganisms associated with tomato spoilage while using a controlled hydroponics system. materials and methods planting tomato seeds: seeds of here tomato genotypes (roma, san marzano and red cherry large) were sourced from the soilless farmlab, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria and raised in hydroponics troughs containing dissolved cocopeat for 2 weeks before transplanting. more cocopeat blocks were dissolved in water and poured into the 12 hydroponics troughs, while 12 troughs were filled with topsoil. the raised tomato seedlings were sown directly on the troughs https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 3 in a completely randomized design with 4 replicates. the plants were watered every 3 days and fertigated with dissolved poultry manure (100 mg of poultry manure was dissolved in 100 ml of water to give a concentration of 1 mg/ml) every week till harvest. at 2 and 4 weeks after transplanting, plant height and number of leaves were taken. the number of days to 50 % flowering and days to fruiting, number of fruits produced, average fruit weight, number of infected fruits and uninfected fruits were also recorded. the data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using anova and the differences in treatment means were separated using the least significant differences at 5 % level of significance. collection of rotten tomato fruits: infected tomato fruits and few uninfected fresh tomato fruits were harvested from the plant into a sterilised polythene bag and were taken to the laboratory for further analysis. materials sterilization: all the glass wares were appropriately washed, dried and sterilized in the oven at 1600c for one hour. the entire working surfaces were also disinfected with ethanol to decrease contaminants. samples processing: 10 g of the spoilt and uninfected tomatoes was carefully cut with the aid of a sterile scalpel and enriched in sterile sabouraud dextrose broth and potato detrose broth for twenty four hours. ten fold serial dilutions of the samples were thereafter carried out. isolation of associated fungi: infected and uninfected roma tomatoes samples were first washed separately with running tap water. 10 g size of spoilt tomatoes were carefully cut with the aid of sterile blade then sterilized with 70% ethanol and rinsed in sterile distilled water. 10 g of sliced portion was dissolved in sterile distilled water and was serially diluted then plated on sterile pda and sda medium with 2% streptomycin to inhibit bacterial growth and then incubated at 28oc. incubation was carried out in inverted positions of petriplates for 4-7 days. the colonies that developed were subcultured repeatedly on sabouraud dextrose agar and potato dextrose agar plates to obtain pure cultures. they were later stored on sda and pda slants for characterization and identification (burnett, 1992). characterization and identification of the isolates: the pure cultures of the fungi were identified on the basis of their colony growth pattern, conidial morphology and pigmentation using the slide culture technique and microscopic examination. results and discussions result obtained on the agronomic parameters showed that the height of the red cherry large tomato genotype (7.88±0.33) was significantly taller than both roma (6.74±0.33) and san marzano (5.86±0.33) genotypes at 2 weeks after transplanting. however, at 4 weeks after, the height of the genotypes were statistically same. also, the number of leaves produced by the red cherry large (24.63±1.86) at 4 weeks after transplanting was significantly higher than the san marzano (17.63±1.86), however, both san marzano and the roma (22.75±1.86) was statistically same (table 1). it took the roma genotype a period of 47.00±0.77 number of days for 50 % of the plants to produce flower, which was significantly higher than the period taken by both san marzano (42.50±0.77) and red cherry large (37.25±0.77) genotypes respectively. also, it took the red cherry large genotype 52.13±1.15 days to produce fruit, and it was significantly quicker than the 62.13±1.15 and 61.38±1.15 taken by both roma and san marzano respectively to produce https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 4 fruits. the number of fruits produced by the red cherry large genotype (2.38±0.69) was significantly higher than the number produced by both roma (8.00±0.69) and san marzano (6.75±0.69) (table 2). however, in roma, 6.25±0.31 of the fruits produced were infected by rot, which was significantly higher than the 0.00±0.31 recorded in red cherry large and san marzano genotypes respectively. while the 2.00±0.35 number of uninfected fruits recorded in the roma tomato was significantly lower than the red cherry large (9.63±0.35) and san marzano (6.63±0.35) respectively. then the weight of the fruits produced by the san marzano (20.13±0.93) and roma (18.28±0.93) was significantly larger than the 8.80±0.93 recorded in the red cherry large genotype (table 2). table 1. the height and number of leaves of three genotypes of tomato plants after 2 and 4 weeks of transplanting genotypes ph2 ph4 nol2 nol4 rcl 7.88a 15.60a 4.63a 24.63a roma 6.74b 14.95a 4.38a 22.75ab san marzano 5.86b 14.96a 4.38a 17.63b lsd(0.05) 0.98 3.09 0.51 5.53 se 0.33 0.17 1.04 1.86 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance, se: standard error, lsd: least significant differences, ph2 and ph4: plant height at 2 and 4 weeks after transplanting respectively, nol2 and nol4: number of leaves at 2 and 4 weeks after transplanting respectively. table 2. yield performance and occurrence of fungal rot in three genotypes of tomato genotypes dt50%f dtf nof noif nouf fw rcl 37.25c 52.13b 12.38a 0.00b 9.63a 8.80b roma 47.00a 62.13a 8.00b 6.25a 2.00c 18.28a san marzano 42.50b 61.38a 6.75b 0.00b 6.63b 20.13a lsd(0.05) 2.28 3.41 2.04 0.91 1.04 2.75 se 0.77 1.15 0.69 0.31 0.35 0.93 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance, se: standard error, lsd: least significant differences, dtf: days to fruiting, noif: number of infected fruits, nouf: number of uninfected fruits and fw: fruit weight dt50%f: days to 50 % flowering. table 3 showed that at 2 and 4 weeks after transplanting, the height of the plants and numbers of leaves produced were insignificant in terms of the substrate they were grown. also, the number of days taken by 50 % of the plants to produce flowers, to produce fruits, number of infected fruits and the average fruit weight were significantly same in both topsoil and cocopeat substrates respectively. however, the number of uninfected tomato fruits in the cocopeat https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 5 substrate (7.00±0.28) was significantly higher than the fruits produced in the soil (5.17±0.28) (table 4). table 3. effect of cocopeat and topsoil substrates on the plant height, number of leaves of different genotypes of tomato substrate ph2 ph4 nol2 nol4 soil 6.83a 15.83a 4.58a 21.42a cocopeat 6.82a 14.52a 4.33a 21.92a lsd(0.05) 0.8 2.52 0.42 4.52 se 0.27 0.14 0.85 1.52 source of variation genotypes 8.15* 1.11ns 0.17ns 105.04* substrates 0.02ns 10.27ns 0.38ns 0.82ns genotypes*substrates 0.02ns 1.31ns 0.50ns 0.15ns means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance, se: standard error, lsd: least significant differences, ph2 and ph4: plant height at 2 and 4 weeks after transplanting respectively, nol2 and nol4: number of leaves at 2 and 4 weeks after transplanting respectively, dt50%f: days to 50 % flowering, dt50%f: days to 50 % flowering, *: 5 % level of significance and **: 1 % level of significance. table 4. effect of cocopeat and topsoil substrates on the yield and occurrence of fungal rot in tomato plant substrate dt50%f dtf nof noif nouf fw soil 41.58a 58.25a 8.75a 1.75a 5.17b 14.94a cocopeat 42.92a 58.83a 9.33a 2.42a 7.00a 16.53a lsd(0.05) 1.86 2.78 1.66 0.74 0.85 2.25 se 0.63 0.94 0.56 0.25 0.28 0.76 source of variation genotypes 190.50** 248.17** 69.79** 104.17** 118.04** 295.27** substrates 10.67ns 2.04ns 2.04* 2.67ns 20.17** 15.05ns genotypes*substrates 0.17ns 2.17ns 1.79ns 2.67* 12.04** 38.76* means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance, se: standard error, lsd: least significant differences, dt50%f: days to 50 % flowering, dtf: days to fruiting, noif: number of infected fruits, nouf: number of uninfected fruits and fw: fruit weight, *: 5 % level of significance and **: 1 % level of significance. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 6 figure 1 a and b: roma tomato plants with infected fruits figure 2. (a): pour plate of serially diluted infected tomato (b): aspergillus flavus on pda plate (c, d and e ): mucor racemosus on spa plate. the growth of the three genotypes of tomato used in this study developed at same rate; irrespective of the substrate they were grown. this shows that growing tomato in a hydroponics a b a b d e c https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 7 system that is fertigated optimally is as effective as tomato soil farming and this supports the work of flávio et al. (2018) and ossai et al. (2020). the higher number of fruits produced by the red cherry large tomato could be the reason behind the small fruit weight comparable to roma and san marzano fruits which produced larger fruit sizes but with a small number of fruits per plant, either grown in a hydroponics system or in soil. however, the different tomato genotypes were developed for different purposes (baisden, 1994). despite the large fruit size produced by the roma tomato, about 78.1 % of the produced fruit developed block rots at the base, while only 21.9 % of the fruit were without rot. further investigation of the causal organism of the rots indicated that the tomato fruits were contaminated by fungal pathogens. fungi such as aspergillus flavus, mucor racemosus were isolated from the infected fruits. this is in agreement with the findings of kutama et al. (2007), who also reported numerous fungal pathogens linked with tomato. the results also showed that tomatoes can be contaminated by fungal pathogens such as aspergillus flavus and mucor racemosus even before harvesting. although mbajiuka and enya (2014) also isolated aspergillius spp, penicillum spp and saccharomyces cerevisiae from spoilt tomatoes. wogu and ofuase (2014) also isolated aspegillius spp, penicillum spp, fusarium spp and saccharomyces spp from spoilt tomato fruits. mbajiuka and enya (2014) also isolated aspergillius spp, penicillum spp and saccharomyces cerevisiae from spoilt tomato. fungal contamination of tomatoes is mainly as result of high water content, environmental surroundings, method of handling, type of storage facilities and the quality of the tomatoes (logendra et al., 2001). being that three genotypes were evaluated and only roma tomato was infected could point the infection to be genotypic prone. however, it was more prevalent in the soil farming system than the hydroponics system which means the prevalence can be reduced below economic damage level by proper sterilization protocols as beuchat (1996) reported that the fungal rots can be soil borne. conclusions and recommendations tomato fruits have high nutritional qualities, but their spoilage by fungi results in loss of economic resources as well as food poisoning. these fungi obtained in this study causes intoxication of mycotoxins which are harmful to human health. aspergillus spp. is a source of ochratoxin which is a potent carcinogen; as a result substandard tomatoes must not be eaten but disposed off, because consumption of spoilt tomatoes could be detrimental to human health. farmers are advised to ensure that the tomatoes seeds are healthy before planting and only tomatoes in good condition should be harvested and dispatched to the end users to reduce the danger of these toxins that are detrimental to health. however, proper soil sterilization techniques is essential in reducing the spread of the fungal rot in tomato to the lowest minimum, and it is also recommended that more evaluation should be carried out to ascertain a host-plant relationship between the fungal rots and roma tomato as other genotypes evaluated were not infected by the rots. references andrew, f. (1994). the tomato in america: early history, culture and cookery. columbia, s.c, usa: university of south carolina press. andriolo, j. l., duarte, t. s., ludke, l., & skrebsky, e. c. (1999). characterization and evaluation of substrates for tomato cultivationoff the ground. horticultura brasileira, 17(3), 215-219. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 8 baisden, g. (1994). frankenfood bioengineered bonanza of the future or your worst night more come true. the growing edge, 5(4), 34-42. besser, r. e., lett, s. m., weber, j. t., & doyle, m. (19930. an outbreak of diarrhea and uremic syndrome from escherichia coli o157:h7 in fresh pressed apple cider. journal of the american medical association, 269, 2217-2220. burnett, m. t. (1992). the arts of performance in elizabethan and early stuart drama: essays for gk hunter. edited by murray biggs, philip edwards, inga-stina ewbank and eugene m. waith. edinburgh: edinburgh university press, 1991. pp. 227.£ 30.00. theatre research international, 17(2), 160-161. beuchat, l. r. (1996). pathogenic organisms associated with fresh produce. journal of food protection, 59, 204-216. beuchat, l. r. (2006). vectors and conditions for pre-harvest contamination of fruits and vegetables with pathogens capable of causing enteric diseases. britain food journal. 108, 38-53. e, o. e., g, o. o., n, c. p., & h, a. n. (2018). agglomeration economies among animal and crop producers in nigeria: a panacea for diversification and sustainable economic growth in south eastern nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 1(1), 60-64. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v1i1.28 flávio, b. c., herminia, e. p. m., derly, j. h. d., carla, d. c. m., & josé, g. b. (2018). yield and quality of tomato grown in a hydroponic system, with different planting densities and number of bunches per plant. e-issn 1983-4063 www.agro.ufg.br/pat pesq. agropec. trop., goiânia, 48(4), 340-349 idah, p. a., ajisegiri, e. s. a., & yisa, m. o. (2007). fruits and vegetables handling and transportation in nigeria. australian journal of technology, 10(3), 175 -183 kutama, a. s., aliyu, b. s., & muhammed, i. (2007). fungal pathogens associated with tomato wicker storage baskets. science world journal, 2, 345-378 logendra, l. s., gianfagna, t. j., specca, d. r., & janes, h. w. (2001). greenhouse tomato limited cluster production systems: crop management practices affect yield. hort science, 36(5), 893-896. moneruzzaman, k. m., hossain, a., sani, w., & saifuddin, m. (2008). effect of stages of maturity and ripening conditions on the biochemical characteristics of tomato. american journal of biochemistry and biotechnology, 4, 336-344 mbajiuka, c., & enya, e. (2014). isolation of microorganisms associated with the deterioration of tomato, (lycopersicum esculentum) and pawpaw (carica papaya l.) fruits. international journal of current microbiology and applied sciences, 3(5), 501-512. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 4, no. 1; 2021 9 ossai, i. c., ahmed, a., hassan, a., & hamid, f. s. (2020). remediation of soil and water contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbon: a review. environmental technology & innovation, 17, 100526. rowe, r. c., miller, s. a., & riedel, r. m. (1995). late blight of potato and tomato. ohio state university extension. extension fact sheet hyg-3102-95 sanoubar, r., & barbanti, l. (2017). fungal disease on tomato plant under greenhouse condition. european journal of biological research, 7(4), 299-308. sharma, r. (2012). pathogenecity of aspergillus niger in plants. cibtech journal of microbiology, 1(1), 47-51. smith, a. f. (1994). the tomatoes in america. university of ilorin press, ilorin isbn 0-25207009-7. willey, m. j., sherwood, m. l., & woolverton, j. c. (2008). prescott, harley and klein’s microbiology (7th edition). wogu, m. d., & ofuase, o. (2014). microorganisms responsible for the spoilage of tomato fruits, lycopersicum esculentum, sold in markets in benin city, southern nigeria. scholar’s academic journal of bioscience, 2(7), 459-466. http://saspublisher.com/sajb27. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 39 vegetable production efficiency of smallholders’ farmer in west shewa zone of oromia national regional state, ethiopia aman rikitu dassa phd candidate haramaya university, ethiopia e-mail:aman.rikitu@gmail.com bezabih emana lemu general manager hedbez business & consultancy plc p.o.box 15805, addis ababa, ethiopia e-mail:emana_b@yahoo.com jema haji mohammad haramaya university college of agriculture and environmental science, ethiopia e-mail:jemmahaji@gmail.com ketema bekele dadi haramaya university college of agriculture and environmental science, ethiopia e-mail:ketmimi@yahoo.com abstract this study tried to identify factors affecting vegetable production efficiency using cross-sectional data obtained from 385 randomly and proportionally sampled households from three districts of west shewa zone, ethiopia. the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, chi-square and mathematical approach data envelopment analysis dea, econometrics model such as tobit. accordingly, dea identify the average te, ae and ee of farm households which encounter for 49.5%, 33.7% and 17.4% respectively. factors affecting the inefficiency of vegetable production were identified using tobit model. this model confirmed that age of households, education level, land size, access to irrigation, extension contact access to information and pesticide use were significantly affect te, while age of the household, land size, access to irrigation, extension contact, access to information and pesticide use were factors affect ae of the farm households. finally ee of the farm households was affected by age of the households, education level, land size, access to irrigation, access to information and pesticide use. the result suggested that improving the above problem can increase farmers’ economic efficiency in the study area. keywords: te, ae, ee, dea, tobit, west shewa, ethiopia. 1. introduction horticulture is a part of agricultural sciences that employs scientific understanding to supply vegetables, fruits and flowers and enrich human diet (christopher 2009; usid 2005). it’s used by each, individuals and industries to reinforce the organic process and economic standards (fanos 2015; welderufael 2016). this series of vegetation might support to fulfill basic requirements of human health and well-being. farming crops are the first supply of poverty reduction in most agriculture-based economies (fufa 2017). the enlargement of granger farming will cause a quicker rate of poverty alleviation, by raising the incomes of rural cultivators and reducing food expenditure, and so reduces financial gain difference. in ethiopia, farming crops as well as fruits, vegetables and root crops contribute 25 percent of the crop production (bv 2013). http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 40 vegetable production is an important economic activity in ethiopia, which ranging from gardening smallholder farming to commercial state and private farms (rahiel abraha and gebresilasie 2018; bezabih tesfaye and milkessa 2015). it is an efficient way to address poverty reduction, take care of the health and well-being of the consumers, and offers new market opportunities for farmers, consumers, and agro-industry (banjaw 2017; chala and chalchisa 2017). vegetable production is integrated into mixed farming system where different types of crops are produced on the same plot of land or in sequence with other crops in rotation (girma, n.d.; asfaw, 2015). depending on availability of land and crop suitability for intercropping, some vegetables are grown either as sole or intercropped with other vegetables or cereals (hailu 2015). vegetables such as tomato, potato, beetroot, carrot, cabbage, onion, sweet potato and hot pepper are dominantly grown in ethiopia. from these vegetable production tomato, potato and onion are the major vegetables production of west shewa zone (wsziao, 2017). integrating vegetable production in a farming system has contributed substantially to food and nutrition security as the vegetables complement stable foods for a balanced diet by providing vitamins and minerals (gani and adeoti 2011; afari-sefa and dinssa, 2015). vegetables crops are sources of vitamins, minerals and dietary fiber, however their cultivation isn't wide practiced in developing countries, like ethiopia because of small-scale farming systems and poor preand postharvest handling techniques (rahiel abraha and gebresilasie 2018). vegetables are high value crops, which require intensive cultural practices, financial, and labor inputs involved are therefore greater than those required for most staple crops. vegetable production is problem sensitive relative to other agricultural production. these problems cannot be easily solved if it is not managed at the right time and right way. even if a number of research works were done in ethiopia on problems of vegetable production as perceived by the farmers, however no significant impact of such research works had been observed. an understanding of problem perceived by the farmers in vegetable production efficiency will be helpful for planning and implementation of program. this study was undertaken to determine the problem faced by the farmers in vegetable production, compare the severity of the problems faced by the vegetable producers, determine some selected characteristics of the farmers and explore the relationship of the selected characteristics of the farmers with problem faced in vegetable production efficiency. from existing literature, research in this direction in west shewa still remains out of the attention, even though vegetables occupy a few positions in both domestic and foreign food trade of ethiopia. therefore, it is very essential to analyze vegetables (tomato and potato) farmers’ production efficiency in west shewa zone. along these lines, the investigation might produce on the concurrent communication of family choices of vegetable production efficiency and the most affecting elements of the efficiency of smallholder farmers in west shewa, ethiopia. 2. materials and methods three districts namely, abuna gindeberet, dire inchini and ejersa lafo were ecologically stratified and randomly selected from west shew zon, oromia national regional state, ethiopa for the purpose of this study. finally, 385 respondents were selected from nine kebekes which randomly and proportionally selected from three districts. economic efficiency may be estimated principally by two approaches. they embrace econometric and mathematical approach. in econometrics approach, random frontier production perform is used to work out economic efficiency and its determinants. alternative approaches involving econometric approaches are random profit frontier perform and value frontier function methods. mathematical approach involves data envelopment analysis (dea) approach. advantages and drawbacks of econometrics model and mathematical approaches are discussed by battese and coelli (1995). within the gift study, we've adopted random production frontier perform to seek out economic efficiency level in vegetable production. therefore, to determine the problem of economic efficiency of vegetables production technical efficiency and allocative efficiency must consider. to analyze technical efficiency and allocative efficiency dea was utilized as the following. 2.1 data envelopment analysis to analyze technical efficiency data envelopment analysis presented as the following. suppose the number of dmu is n. tj-th dmu is characterized as dmuj (j=l,2,…n). the input vector of dmuj is xj=(x1j, x2j…xmj)t, and the output vector is yj= (y1j, y2j…yrj) t. here, m is the number of input, r is the number of output. the corresponding weight coefficient is v=(v1, v2…vm) and u=(u1, u2…ur) respectively. also suppose xij is the i-th input value www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 41 of the j-th dmu, ykj is the k-th output value of the j-th dmu. vi, uk is the weight coefficient of the i-th and the kth index respectively. then the corresponding appraisal efficiency index of the j-th dmu is: )1( 1 1     m i iji s k kjk j t j t i xv yu xv yu h choosing the suitable weight coefficient v and u to let 1h i . high hj indicates that dmu can use relative less input to obtain relative more outputs. generally, to determine the relationship between socioeconomic and institutional factors and the computed indices of efficiencies, a tobit regression model will be utilized again. this model will be adopted because the efficiency scores are double truncated at 0 and 1 as the scores lie within the range of 0 to 1. the functional form of this tobit model is:  2 *  jjmxy mo  where yi* representing the non-observed efficiency latent variable scores of farm j, β = a vector of unknown parameters, x jm = a vector of explanatory variables m (m = 1, 2, ..., k) for farm j and  j = an error term that is independently and normally distributed with mean zero and variance σ2 denoting yi as the observed variables, )3( 0 1 1 * 0 0 1                y yy y y i j i i if i if if in the equation (21), the distribution of the dependent variable is not normally distributed rather its value varies between 0 and 1. therefore, the maximum likelihood estimation which can yield the consistent estimates for unknown parameters vector for it has been used than the ordinary least square (ols) estimation which gives biased estimates (maddala, 1999). 3. result and discussion this chapter presents the results of the study and discusses in comparison with the results of similar studies. it is organized under two sections; the first section deals with the description of demographic, socio-economic and resource allocation of the sample farmers using descriptive statistics. the second section identifies factors affecting vegetables technical, allocate and economic efficiency using data envelopment analysis and tobit model. 3.1 descriptive statistics results 3.1.1 demographic characteristics of households as showed in table 1, out of the total sampled household 7.79 percent of them are female-headed households while 92.21 percent are male-headed households. it indicates male-headed household’s dominance in vegetables farming in the study area. the average age of the sample households’ head is 46.89 with the standard deviation of 11.95. this indicates that more of the sampled households’ are in the range of productive age. the average family size of the farm household head was 7.15 persons, which is in comparable to west shewa zone average population of 5 persons and larger than the ethiopian average population which accounted to 4.6 persons perhousehold (csa, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 42 2016). in the study area most of the farm households used own family labor for specific activities. the study showed that the average family labor of the farm households is 4.48 person-day equivalents. this indicates that most of the farm households were used family labor than hired labor. as presented in table 1, the average education level of household head of farm households head is 5.07 (schooling years?) of formal education. this indicates that, on average the sample farm household attended the minimum (first cycle) education which was deemed enough to understand what development agents provide in agricultural production guide line for them in order to improve their productivity. table 1: demographic characteristics of sampled households note: the number in the [ ] shows frequency and percent and *** show less than or equal to 1 percent significant level source: own surveyed data of 2018 computed by author 3.1.2 farm characteristics and land allocation of sample households in the study area, most of the sampled farm, households produced potato depending on rainfall but all tomato producers used irrigation in vegetables production. this production seasonality and perishability of the vegetables farming caused farm households to earn less income from vegetable production. as indicated in table 2 below, the average potato yield during the survey season is 981.09 kg while tomato yield is 841.12 kg. from the three-selected districts on average ejersa lafo is the highest potato and tomato producer with the annual average production of 1741.356 kg and 1743.875 kg respectively. based on survey data as showed in table 2 the average total cultivated land of the sampled farm household is 0.922ha covered by different crops. out of this cultivated land, on average potato and tomato cover 0.115ha and 0.087 ha respectively. from the selected districts, households in ejersa lafo allocative more of their lands for potato and tomato production than households in other districts. as survey, data in table 2 indicate the average vegetable farm experience of the sampled farm households is 24.992 years, and abuna gindabarat has the highest vegetable farm experience than others districts. table 2: farm characteristics and land allocation of sample households variable mean a/g/beret d/inchini e/lafo f-test potato yield(kg) 981.09 886.462 739.583 1741.356 0.33 tomato yield (kg) 841.12 198.490 548.142 1743.875 0.00 cultivated land(ha) 0.922 1.413 1.630 2.205 7.46 * land for potato(ha) 0.115 0.076 0.185 0.114 2.20* land for tomato(ha) 0.087 0.061 0.019 0.092 0.64 farming experience (year) 24.992 26.934 23.125 20.566 7.73* not: * indicate the level of significance at less than or equal to 10 percent source: own surveyed data of 2018 variables total or f-test frequency mean percent std. female headed hhs [30] [7.79] -0.17 age of the household 46.89 11.94 1.19 family size 7.15 2.76 2.94*** family labour pde 4.48 3.10 0.80 education level of hhs 5.07 3.91 290.91*** www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 43 3.1.3 institutional service and availability of infrastructure availability of infrastructure usually plays a great role in the economic development of any country while, institutional service improve the production and productivity of the farmers. as indicated in table 3, only 84 (21.82 percent) of farm households obtained credit for their vegetable production while the remaining 78.18 percent are non-credit users. 117 (32.96 percent) of the farm households had extension contact five times per year and 92 (25.92 percent) of them gain only one time extension contact throughout a year. the average walking distance from farm household residence to development agent office is 0.69hr with standard deviation of 0.458 and the average distance of the farm households’ residence to that of nearest market is 0.74hr with standard deviation of 0.540. these show that extension service more close to the farmer than nearest market. moreover, extension contact, distance from major town and distance from all-weather condition (road) were found to be significantly different among the districts at less than or equal to five percent significance levels respectively (table 3). table 3 also showed that about 28.57 percent of the sampled farm households are cooperative members. being cooperative member helps the farm household to share more information about production as well as about market of the product. table 3: institutional service and availability of infrastructure variable [frequency]/ mean [percent]/stnd. a/g/beret d/inchini e/lafo f-test credit access [84] [21.82] 0.192 0.125 0.466 0.04 extension contact /year [5] [32.96] 2.873 3.593 2.500 5.98** cooperative membership [110] [28.57] 0.436 0.093 0.016 0.06 distance to development agent office (hr) 0.694 0.458 0.686 0.629 0.891 1.70 walking distance from the nearest market(hr) 0.741 0.540 0.791 0.634 1.013 0.02 walking distance from major town(hr) 1.872 0.987 1.524 2.793 1.724 4.24** walking distance to all weather condition road(hr) 0.609 0.602 0.602 0.494 0.879 5.92** not: numbers in [ ] indicate frequency and percent and ** stands for 5 percent significances source: own survey data of 2018 3.1.4 soil management and agronomic practice of vegetable production vegetable growers must specify the types of vegetable produced from their farms, identify the potential critical hazards and establish and monitor appropriate measures during all phases of farm production (gap--vf, 2005). in addition to using adaptation, improved agricultural technology, appropriate soil management lead to enhance potential vegetable production. sampled farm household in the study area were asked whether they used ‘good’ agricultural practice during the production season or not. these practices are farmyard manure, crop rotation, fallowing, using composite and inter-cropping system, weed and disease control mechanism. the results on farmers’ use of recommended soil management and agronomic practices of vegetable production in the study areas during 2017/2018 cropping season presented in table 4 below.  farmyard manure: farmyard manure is one of the good practices of soil fertility management, which improve the productivity of land. application of the farmyard manure contributes to sustainability of the farm (ranogajec, et al., 2015). as shown in table 4 above, 240 (67.04 percent) of sampled farm households applied farm yard manure while the remaining 110 (32.96 percent) of the respondents did not.  crop rotation: crop rotation shows producing different crops in different cropping season on the same land. it is the old traditional system, which was used to reduce damage from insect pests, to limit the development of vegetable diseases, and to manage soil fertility. as indicated in the table 4, 299 (86.17 percent) of sampled farm households practiced crop rotation during 2017/2018 production season.  fallowing: it is cultivating land that is not seeded for one or more growing season. it is the system in which, farmers can improve their soil fertility to increase the productivity of their land. as explained in www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 44 table 4, out of total number of the respondents 159 (44.79perecent) of them used fallowing in 2017/2018 cropping season.  compost: compost fertilizer is the main organic type of fertilizer which prepared from animal west (often from slaughterhouses) and from different plants. it is the means in which farmers can maintain their land fertility to increase the yield per hectare. as showed in table 4, 143 (39.83 percent) of the sampled farm households used compost in 2017/2018 cropping season.  intercropping: intercropping is the mixed planting method of growing one crop alongside another (mousavi and eskandari, 2014; smith and liburd, 2012). the purpose behind intercropping is to extend yields by doubling up on available growing area. intercropping creates multifariousness that attracts a range of useful and predatory insects that is uphill with monoculture horticulture. as showed in table 4, about 63 (17.75 percent) of sampled farm households applied intercropping farming system in 2017/2018 cropping season. table 4: soil management and agronomic practice of vegetable production agricultural practices frequency percent a/g/beret d/inchini e/lafo f-test farmyard manure 240 67.61 66.04 13.96 20.00 3.20* crop rotation 299 86.17 55.48 35.48 9.03 0.35 fallowing 159 44.79 71.43 12.57 16.00 0.81 compost 141 39.83 16.17 25.45 58.38 0.01 inter cropping 63 17.75 46.97 13.64 39.39 0.01 source: own survey data of 2018 3.1.5. weed management system appropriate weed control measure undertaken to improve quality and quantity of grain production. weeds infestation reduces yields of the crop (yield), deteriorate the quality of farm produce, and trim down the market value of production. effective weed control not achieved without appropriate control measure should be undertaken attain good grain harvest and quality grain production (sareta, 2016). as showed in table 5, 4.94 percent sampled farm households applied mulching, while 9.61 percent spread of wood ash and 100 percent of the respondents used hand weeding in 2017/2018 cropping season table 5: weed management system variable frequency percent a/g/beret d/inchini e/lafo f-test mulching 19 4.94 27.03 54.05 18.92 0.21 spread of wood ash 37 9.61 100.00 0 0 0.02 hand weeding 385 100 59.48 24.94 15.58 source: own survey data of 2018 3.1.6. technology adoption the contribution of technology to economic growth can only be realized when and if the technology is widely applied by the users (samy, 2016). the increasing rate of technological advancement in the agricultural sector, has resulted in increased efficiency and productivity (ugochukwu, 2018). as the result explained in table 6, about 315 (81.82 percent) of sampled farm households used chemical fertilizer in 2017/2018 cropping season. the result also showed that 96 (24.94 percent) of the sampled farm households applied improved seed of tomato while 243 (63.12 percent) of them applied improved potato seed in 2017/2018 cropping season. moreover, fertilizer application and improved seed use for tomato and potato production of the farm households were significantly different at less than or equal to one percent significance level among sampled districts in 2017/2018 cropping season. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 45 the result in table 6 showed that on average sampled household invest 571.12 birr with standard deviation of 240.75 to purchase npsb fertilizer and 600.08 birr with standard deviation of 270.35 for tomato and potato production in 2017/2018 cropping season. this implies that, the sampled farm households use 0.5quintal of fertilizer in the study area. as shown in table 6, sampled farm households invested on average 382 birr and 377 birr with standard deviation of 261.1 and 211.01 to purchase herbicide and pesticide for tomato and potato production in 2017/2018 cropping season, respectively. table 6: technology adoption variable [yes]/ mean [percent]/stn d. dev. a/g/beret d/inchini e/lafo f-test fertilizer [315] [81.82] 60.95 22.86 16.19 2.09*** improved seed (t) [96 ] [24.94] 1.45 15.98 23.15 2.93*** improved seed (p) [243] [63.12] 53.74 16.76 24.94 2.11*** npsb 571.12 240.75 59.38 25.00 15.63 1.42 urea 600.08 270.35 15.57 34.54 67.54 1.57 herbicide 377.48 211.01 59.48 24.94 15.58 0.01 pesticide 382.8 261.10 15.00 1.78 25.89 2.35 source: own survey data of 2018 3.1.7. reasons for not adopting agricultural technology in addition to technology adoption, the study report identifies sampled farm household who did not use improved seed for vegetable production and the reason behind depicted in figure 5. as shown in figure 5, 25.8 percent of the sampled households did refuse improved seed because of high price and 23.09percent did refuse because of lack of transportation. the other section of sampled households, 10.55 percent did not use improved seed because of credit arrangement while 40.7percent of them did not use because of lack of supply in improved seed of tomato and potato for production in 2017/2018 cropping season. 25.8% 10.55% 40.57% 23.09% high price lack of credit lack of supply lack of transportation figure 1: main reason of not using improved seed www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 46 3.2. efficiency analysis using data envelopment (dea) method this section assesses the efficiency of vegetables production by households in terms of te, ae, and ee. remembering the generally acknowledged method for doing dea in efficiency analysis, it was settled on executing different input and, output kept away from the likelihood of experiencing issues related with useful structure misspecifications. the output factors were vegetable production characterized as amount of potato and tomato harvested in kilograms. the inputs used were land, labor, oxen seed, fertilizer and agrochemicals. the dea technique used in the estimation of relative efficiency of dmus was checked for potential problems such as sample size and outliers that can seriously affect the efficiency scores. data envelopment analysis program (deap) version 2.1 was applied to compute the efficiency of vegetable (tomato and potato) production. even though, data collected had zero value it is difficult to use zero in the deap therefore, in order to solve such hardle we employed the method of substituting small no recommended by (george, 1997; battese, 1991). since dea is an intense factor technique, noise (even symmetrical noise with zero mean) such as measurement error can cause massive problems. the tests for the affectability of dea effectiveness scores to enter yield anomalies are, hence, urgent to check the heartiness of the productivity results. primarily, z score and box plot strategy were utilized and confirmed the information is generally appropriated. further, to confirm heartiness of effectiveness after effects of dea model to input-output anomalies, we utilized, among others, the strategy utilized by (yang et al., 2009). in the wake of tackling the dea issues utilizing each of the perceptions creating for example, all homestead farms that were completely productive were excluded and dea issues were addressed. using deap 2.1 version result, there is the existence of difference in efficiency score level among the three efficiencies te, ae and ee with score ranging the lowest from 3.8 %, 5.5% and 0.9% to 100%, respectively. from the total sampled households 20.5%, of them were technically efficient while, 0.78% of them were both allocative and economically efficient. this indicates that 79.5% of the respondents were technically vs in efficient while, 99.22% of the respondents were allocative and economically inefficient. therefore, as the result implies that there is a room to households to improve their vegetable production with the current level of technology. data envelopment analysis package result revealed that, the average te of the households’ were 49.5 percent indicating farm households are producing 50.5% much less of achievable output given their prevailing degree of technological know-how and input use. under the assumption of crs, the efficiency ratings continue to be identical in each input orientation (input minimization) and output orientation (output maximization). thus, if we had chosen to maintain inputs constant and measure efficiency in output growing path the efficiency rating is additionally indicating that outputs improved by 50.5% to come to be efficient. the mean allocative efficiency and economic efficiency showed that, there was a significant difference in the level of inefficiency in production process. as dea result indicated the mean ae of farm households was 33.7 percent, this indicate that ae of the farm households’ shown 66.3% growth in output by improving ae, with current technology. as identified in dea the average ee of farm households was 17.4 percent. this quit end result indicated that if the commonplace farm household in the pattern end up to advantage the ee degree of his/her most efficient complement, then the not unusual farm household might also moreover need to experience a 82.6% increase in output by using way of improving each ee, with the winning era. therefore, this stop surrender stop quit result suggests the life of big technical, allocative and economic inefficiency in vegetable production amongst smallholder farmers within the study area. as featured within the writing detail, the uses of dea approach had some negative aspects. the primary issue is that the dea approaches anticipate all dmus are homogenous and indistinguishable of their responsibilities. inside the event that the heterogeneous dmus are surveyed by using dea without an adjustment, the dea yields a one-sided act rankings and wrong investigations. therefore, to clear up such trouble we hired hierarchical cluster efficiency analysis, which is comprised of agglomerative techniques and divisive techniques that find clusters of observations within a data set. the divisive techniques begin with all of the observations in one cluster and then proceeds to split (partition) them into smaller clusters while, the agglomerative methods begin with every observation being considered as separate clusters and then proceeds to mix them till all observations belong to one cluster (cimiano et al., 2001). four of the highly acknowledged algorithms for hierarchical clustering are average linkage, whole linkage, single linkage and ward’s linkage. average linkage clustering makes use of the common similarity of observations between two groups as the measure between the two groups (yildirim and birant, 2017). complete linkage clustering makes use of the farthest pair of observations between two groups to decide the similarity of the two groups (camiz, 2007). single linkage clustering, on the other hand, computes the similarity between two groups as www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 47 the similarity of the closest pair of observations between the two groups (mohbey, 2016; stuetzle and nugent, 2007).ward's linkage is distinct from all the other methods due to the fact it uses an analysis of variance approach to evaluate the distances between clusters. in short, this method attempts to minimize the sum of squares (ss) of any two (hypothetical) clusters that can be formed at each step (murtagh, 2014; singh 2008). in general, this method was very efficient; however, it tends to create clusters of small size. at each clustering step, the cluster recognized for combination is the best that minimizes the sum of squared distance over all devices. the dendrogram is generally represented in squared distances as the following figure 2. 0 20 40 60 80 l2 sq ua re d dis sim ila rit y m ea su re g1 n=71 g2 n=34 g3 n=8 g4 n=31 g5 n=16 g6 n=22 g7 n=34 g8 n=123 g9 n=14 g10 n=32 dendrogram for wards_linkage cluster analysis figure 2: dendrograms for ward's linkage hierarchical cluster analysis of efficiency scores source: own computation from efficiency scores of the survey data (2018) reading the dendrogram from the bottom to the top, we see that clusters g5 to g8 are merged in quick succession while g2 to g3 and g9 to g10 were merged at about the same distance and g1 and g4 were initially separate. these five clusters remain stable until, at a much higher distance, g1 merges with the second cluster. this result clearly suggests a five-cluster solution. increasing the number of clusters appears unreasonable, as many mergers take place at about the same distance. looking at appendix (1), it is shown that the duda/hart (je(2)/je(1)) index yields the highest value for four clusters (0.6718), followed by a seven-cluster solution (0.5481). conversely, the lowest pseudo t-squared value (53.64) occurs for ten clusters. comparing the variable means across the five clusters, we find that respondents in the second cluster were very strong te (0.97), but ae (0.59) and ee (0.58) moderate. respondents in the fourth and fifth cluster have extremely high expectations regarding all five-performance features, as evidenced in average values below average. finally, respondents in the first cluster do not express high expectations in general, except te in terms of efficiency table 7. table 7: mean value of efficiency scores mean of efficiency level cluster households te ae ee 1 71(18.44%) 0.96 0.23 0.22 2 42 (10.91%) 0.97 0.59 0.58 3 31 (8.05%) 0 .58 0.54 0.32 4 195(50.65%) 0.28 0.24 0.06 5 46 (11.95%) 0.18 0.53 0.10 source: own surveyed data (2018) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 48 3.3 assessment of sources of inefficiency after identifying each efficiency level, finding out the source of inefficiency of farm household is the primary objective of the study. to see this, the technical, allocative and economic inefficiency of the household was analyzed using tobit model given in table 8. to illustrate this, socio-economic, demographic and institutional factors that affect vegetable production efficiency of the households were observed. before explaining the model, multicollinearity test was carried out and the mean vif was 1.26 and a maximum vif of 1.76. this shows that there is no problem of multicollinearity in the data set (appendix table 2).for interpretation purposes; the marginal effects of explanatory variables from tobit regression model were used. in other words, the derived values for the significant explanatory variables indicated that the effects of a unit change in those variables on the expected unconditional value of te, ae and ee conditional up on between 0 and 1, and probability of being between 0 and 1. tobit model result showed that, age of household head, education level of the household, land size, access to irrigation, extension contact, access to information and pesticide use significantly affected te of vegetable production, while age of the household, land size, access to irrigation, extension contact, access to information and pesticide use affect, allocative efficiency of the farm households. finally economic efficiency of the farm households were affected by age of the households, education level of household head, land size, access to irrigation, access to information and pesticide use. as tobit output in table 8 shows age of household head affect significantly and negatively ae and ee of vegetable production. this implies that, as household head get older and older his/her ae and ee decreases. this is because of young people can easily get familiar with different technology and allocates their resources effectively and efficiently. in other words, younger people were more efficient in vegetable production than older people. as the study by li and sicular (2015) indicated technical efficiency of farm labour decreased after the age of 45. the study by li and sicular (2015) and mutz et al.(2017) confirmed that as households get older their vegetable production efficiency level decreased. the tobit regression result revealed that, education level of household head affect technical efficiency and economic efficiency negatively vegetables production. this implied that when education level of household head increases the opportunity of off farm income increase, which in contrast decreases farm management of the households. this is why increasing the level of education lead to decrease in technical efficiency and economic efficiency of vegetable production of farm households. the study by thi and dao (2013) confirmed that the fact that an individual gets more education he/she perform less in vegetable production. land size had significant and positive relationship with te, ae and ee of vegetable production. this indicates that farmers with large land size had more opportunity to allocate his/her land for different production activities to improve the productivity of their land. the results of this work indicate the importance of crop diversification. farms favoring market-oriented products, such as vegetable production, have greater efficiency than farms focusing on staple crops such as teff, wheat and maize. this result was agreed with the study of (mokgalabone 2015). as the tobit output in table 8 details, access to irrigation affected ae and ee of vegetable production significantly and negatively. this variable hypothesized to influence vegetable production positively. nevertheless, in this result it influences vegetable production efficiency negatively. this is for the reason why farmers in the study area were used traditional irrigation system, which needs more of labor force, and difficult to use mechanized agricultural input. irrigated production regarded as either high input-low input or high input high output depending on the area and form of irrigation. irrigation costs are used as a proxy for the quantity of water used for production because the irrigation water has been chargeon each unit of the cultivated area, making it difficult to quantify the quantity of water entering the farm. the study was agree with the studies by (nwauwa et al., 2015 and puozaa, 2015). as table 8 identified extension contact affected te and ae of vegetable production positively and significantly. this implies that as frequency of extension contact to vegetable producer increases farm households te and ae were increased. the result revealed that, as frequency of extension contact increase farmers ability to apply input for their vegetable production as well as allocating cost of production during production process in good position because they gained necessary information from extension agents. this result is in line with the studies by (awotide, 2018; mokgalabone, 2015). the study also revealed that, access to information affected te, ae and ee of farm households’ vegetable production positively and significantly. this implies that farmers with better access to information were in better position in terms of te, ae and ee of vegetable production. this indicates that, farm www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 49 households having access to information were more efficient than others were. this result in lined with the study by (abdul-salam and phimister, 2015). table showed that pesticide use affected te, ae and ee of vegetable production of farm households positively and significantly. the positive marginal effect revealed that, as farmer increase the use of pesticide, vegetable production efficiency was also increased. this implies that farmers with pesticide use were more efficient in vegetable production than others were. this result is agreed with the studies by (jha and regmi, 2009; rahman, 2018). table 8: tobit model for sources of inefficiency analysis variable technical inefficiency allocative inefficiency economic inefficiency marginal effect std. err marginal effect std. err marginal effect std. err sex of hh -0.111 0.074 0.016 0.028 -0.027 0.031 age of hh 0.002 0.001 0.001*** 0.000 0.001* 0.000 education level of household head 0.019*** 0.006 -0.009 0.002 0.004* 0.002 land size -0.499*** 0.143 -0.457*** 0.053 -0.386*** 0.058 access to irrigation -0.010 0.058 0.104*** 0.022 0.073*** 0.024 extension contact -0.028** 0.012 -0.010** 0.004 0.003 0.005 fertilizer use -0.009 0.049 -0.009 0.019 -0.016 0.020 access to information -0.258*** 0.071 -0.075*** 0.027 -0.114*** 0.030 amount of credit used 0.005 0.009 0.006 0.003 0.003 0.004 off/non-farm income -0.003 0.004 0.001 0.001 -0.001 0.001 improved seed -0.027 0.047 -0.024 0.018 -0.020 0.019 pesticide use -0.091* 0.049 -0.097*** 0.018 -0.065*** 0.020 note: ***, *** and * showed 1%, 5% and 10% significant level source: survey data of 2018 4. conclusion and policy implications the study identifies the factors that determine vegetable production efficiency (tomato and potato) using dea and tobit model. dea estimation employed to identify the overall te, ae and ee of farm households’ vegetable production efficiency. accordingly, the overall te, ae and ee were 49.5%, 33.7% and 17.4%, respectively. the result showed that, even though, it is below average te is better than ae and ee. the result also indicated that if the households operate at full efficiency level, on average the farm household could reduce the cost of production by 82.6% while producing the same amount of output. the study also revealed the sources of technical, allocative and economic inefficiency using tobit regression model. accordingly, technical inefficiency of the farm households’ significantly affected by education level, land size, extension contact, access to information and pesticide use. furthermore, allocative efficiency significantly affected by age of the household, access to irrigation, land size, extension contact, access to market information and pesticide use. and economic efficiency significantly influenced by age of the household, education level, land size, access to irrigation, access to information and pesticide use. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 50 acknowledgements the authors gratefully acknowledge the ethiopian ministry of science and higher education and ambo university. references abdul-salam, yakubu, and euan phimister. 2015. “efficiency effects of access to information on small scale agriculture : empirical evidence from uganda.” andrew w., shepherd. 2007. “approaches to linking producers to markets,food and agriculture organization of the united nations rome, 2007.” antoci, angelo, pier luigi sacco, and paolo vanin. 2009. “social capital in a homogeneous society,” no. 13661. asfaw zeleke. 2015. production and management of major vegetable crops in ethiopia volume i. vol. i. awotide, diran olawale. 2018. “analysis of production efficiency of food crop farmers in ogun analysis of production efficiency of food crop,” no. september 2012. banjaw td. 2017. “imedpub journals review of post-harvest loss of horticultural crops in ethiopia , its causes and mitigation strategies of post-harvest loss horticultural crops in ethiopia in,” 1–4. barrett, christopher b, maren e bachke, f marc, and thomas f walker. 2011. “smallholder participation in agricultural value chains: comparative evidence from three continents,” no. 27829. battese, george e. 1991. “frontier production functions and technical efficiency: a survey of empirical applications in agricultural economics,” no. 50. brook, keith. 2005. “labour market participation : the influence of social capital,” no. march: 113–23. bv, triodos facet. 2013. “country report ethiopia.” byron. 2014. “determinants of soybean market participation by smallholder farmers in zimbabwe.” journal of development and agricultural economics 6 (2): 49–58. https://doi.org/10.5897/jdae2013.0446. camiz, sergio. 2007. “comparison of single and complete linkage clustering with the hierarchical factor classification of variables comparison of single and complete linkage clustering with the hierarchical factor classification of variables,” no. june. https://doi.org/10.1556/comec.8.2007.1.4. chala, hailu, and chalchisa fana. 2017. “determinants of market outlet choice for major vegetables crop : evidence from smallholder farmers ’ of ambo and toke-kutaye districts , west shewa ,” 4 (2): 161–69. christopher, e p. 2009. introductory horticulture. cimiano, philipp, andreas hotho, and steffen staab. 2001. “comparing conceptual , divisive and agglomerative clustering for learning taxonomies from text.” damalas, christos a. 2017. “farmers ’ training on pesticide use is associated with elevated safety behavior.” https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics5030019. fanos, tadele. 2015. “a review on production status and consumption pattern of vegetable in ethiopia” 5 (21): 82–93. fufa, nimona. 2017. “opportunity , problems and production status of vegetables in ethiopia : a review” 4 (2): 1– 13. gani, b s, and a i adeoti. 2011. “analysis of market participation and rural poverty among farmers in northern part of taraba state , nigeria” 2 (1): 23–36. george e. bathe. 1997. “a note on the estimation of cobb-douglas production functions when some explanatory variables have zero values” 48 (2): 250–52. girma kebbede. n.d. “farmers in the city : the case of addis abeba,” 1–15. hailu gebru, kebede w/tsadik2, and tamado tana. 2015. “evaluation of tomato ( lycopersicon esculentum mill ) and maize ( zea mays l .) intercropping system for profitability of the crops in wolaita zone , southern ethiopia” 5 (1): 132–41. jha, ratna kumar, and adhrit prasad regmi. 2009. “productivity of pesticides in vegetable farming in nepal,” no. 43. li, min, and terry sicular. 2015. “aging of the labor force and technical efficiency in crop production evidence from liaoning province , china,” no. august 2013. https://doi.org/10.1108/caer-01-2012-0001. maponya p, venter sl, du plooy cp, modise sd, and van den heever. 2016. “an evaluation of market participation challenges of small holder farmers in zululand district, kwazulu natal, south africa.” african journal of business and economic research 11 (1): 117–42. mohamedl, abdi. 2014. “determinants of participation in milk marketing of small holders in jijiga woreda, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 2, no. 1; 2019 51 ethiopia.” mohbey, krishna k. 2016. “an experimental survey on single linkage clustering an experimental survey on single linkage clustering,” no. november. https://doi.org/10.5120/13337-0327. mokgalabone, maria sylvia. 2015. “analyzing the technical and allocative efficiency of small-scale maize farmers in tzaneen municipality of mopani district.” murtagh, fionn. 2014. “ward’s hierarchical clustering method: clustering criterion and agglomerative algorithm,” no. may. musah, abu benjamin, osei-asare yaw bonsu, and wayo seini. 2014. “market participation of smallholder maize farmers in the upper west region of ghana” 9 (31): 2427–35. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajar2014.8545. mutz, rüdiger, lutz bornmann, and hans-dieter daniel. 2017. “are there any frontiers of research performance ? efficiency measurement of funded research projects with the bayesian stochastic frontier analysis for count data.” journal of informetrics 11 (3): 613–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2017.04.009. nwauwa, linus onyeka ezealaji and omonona, bola t . *. 2015. “efficiency of vegetable production under irrigation system in ilorin metropolis : a case study of fluted pumpkin ( telferia occidentalis ),” no. september. omiti, john m, and ellen mccullough. 2009. “factors influencing the intensity of market participation by smallholder farmers : a case study of rural and peri-urban areas of kenya” 3 (1): 57–82. osmani, ataul gani, and elias hossain. 2015. “market participation decision of smallholder farmers and its determinants in bangladesh” 3 (62). po, rung-wei, yuh-yuan guh, and miin-shen yang. 2009. “a new clustering approach using data envelopment analysis.” european journal of operational research 199 (1): 276–84. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2008.10.022. puozaa, frederick z. 2015. “allocative efficiency of irrigated tomato production in the upper east region , ghana .” rahiel, hagos abraha, abraha kahsay zenebe, and gebreslassie woldegiorgis leake. 2018. “assessment of production potential and post ‑ harvest losses of fruits and vegetables in northern region of ethiopia.” agriculture & food security, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40066-018-0181-5. rahman, sanzidur. 2018. “determinants of pesticide use in food crop production in southeastern nigeria,” 1–14. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture8030035. singh, warsha. 2008. “robustness of three hierarchical agglomerative clustering techniques for ecological data,” no. october. stuetzle, werner, and rebecca nugent. 2007. “a generalized single linkage method for estimating the cluster tree of a density.” thi, giang, and ngan dao. 2013. “an analysis of technical efficiency of crop farms in the northern region of vietnam by,” no. september. usid. 2005. “global horticulture assessment.” welderufael, alemayehu hailu. 2016. “assessment of horticultural crops ( vegetables , tubers & fruits ) production constraints and opportunities in west and southwest shewa zones of oromia region , ethiopia” 1 (3): 84–90. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijae.20160103.16. yildirim, pelin, and derya birant. 2017. “k-linkage : a new agglomerative approach for hierarchical clustering” 17 (4): 77–88. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 66 level of sensitization on the gains of inclusion dairy cattle in paddy grazing and formulated feeds to end herders-farmers conflict in northern nigeria oyediran wasiu oyeleke phd department of agricultural extension and rural development federal university of agriculture, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria e-mail: oyediran_wasiu@yahoo.com omoare ayodeji motunrayo phd department of agricultural education federal college of education, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria e-mail: ayodejiomoare@gmail.com osinowo oluremi adebisi department of agricultural education federal college of education, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria e-mail: remyportable@yahoo.com ogbonna chinna claver department of agricultural education federal college of education, abeokuta, ogun state, nigeria e-mail: ogbonnafce@gmail.com onabajo adebisi olufemi department of animal production olabisi onabanjo university, ayetoro campus, ogun state, nigeria e-mail: onabajoadebisi123@yahoo.com elabor abdulrasheed a. department of animal husbandry services federal ministry of agriculture and rural development, benin city, edo state, nigeria e-mail: razolab16@gmail.com ameh godwin department of animal husbandry services federal ministry of agriculture and rural development, kotangora, niger state, nigeria e-mail: amehgodwin92@gmail.com http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:oyediran_wasiu@yahoo.com mailto:ayodejiomoare@gmail.com mailto:remyportable@yahoo.com mailto:ogbonnafce@gmail.com mailto:onabajoadebisi123@yahoo.com mailto:razolab16@gmail.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 67 abstract this study was borne out of the fact that rice farming and cattle rearing are predominant in the northern parts of nigeria. but there have been increasing conflicts between farmers and herdsmen particularly in north-central. to address this problem, this study empirically looked at the nexus between sensitization on gains from paddy grazing and farming practices in rice production. data were collected from three hundred and twenty respondents with the aid of a structured interview guide and field survey. it was found that instead of using organic manure, urea (55%) and npk (36.9%) fertilizers were applied on the rice farms. most (89.4%) of the respondents were not sensitized on the benefits of paddy grazing to the dairy cattle, environment, and soil. results of the t-test indicated that no significant difference existed in the farming practices for rice production in niger and benue states (t = 8.9). the level of sensitization on paddy grazing correlates with the farm practices of the respondents (r = 0.69). this study concluded that respondents did not aware that paddy grazing could lead to increased rice and milk production. keywords: benefits, herdsmen, dairy cattle, problems, rice paddy, nigeria. 1.introduction nigeria has good vegetation that supports the production of lowland and upland rice farming. production of rice is however dominated by smallholder farmers who use traditional methods to produce over 80% of rice (osabuohien et al., 2018). nigeria has fertile soil that makes rice thrives in the six geo-political zones in nigeria (omoare, 2016). out of 1.6 million hectares of land suitable for irrigated rice production, an estimated of 47,798ha are cultivated. farmers cultivate three major varieties of rice ofada, nerica 8, and faro 44. rice yield is declining while farmers use different farming practices to overcome this problem. several reports on rice production have shown an average increase of 300,000 tonnes in the 1990s to over 4 million tonnes in the year 2019 (roy-macauley, 2019). according to goronyo (2019), nigeria currently produces about 8million tonnes yearly but can produce 14 million tonnes per year if appropriate farming practices are put in place. the chunk of rice produced is from the northern part of nigeria; it is also the region where the rearing of cattle is predominant business. in recent times however there have been increasing conflicts between fulani herdsmen and farmers across the country which has resulted in losses of thousands of lives and properties. for sustainable agriculture and economic development, there should be a paradigm shift from the indiscriminate open grazing of cattle on any arable farms which has been at the detriment of crop farmers to environmental-friendly grazing methods. subjecting cattle to formulated feeds and grazing on rice forage is an alternative measure and could help to overcome these continuous killings and maiming of rural dwellers in the northern part of the country. surplus forage could be achieved through better farming practices and as well increase the quality of rice produced. paddy fields are very common in the north and are good sources of forage for dairy cattle. the conventional practice in the region has been burning of paddy fields after the harvest of the rice grains. rice-straws and rice chaff can be obtained from rice farms to feed dairy cattle. these by-products are suitable for feed materials. rice-straw can be fed to the cow without any deleterious effect on their health (bakshi & wadhwa, 2017). apart from the fact that grazing cattle on rice forage would reduce farmers-herders conflicts, it has a lot of economic (high milk) and environmental benefits (recycle of animal droppings on the paddy fields for optimal plant growth). hanson et al. (1998) reported that grazing on paddy improves herd health and the environment, and increases the economic rewards of fulani agropastoralists. tilman et al. (2002) state that the grazing of paddy fields conserve ecosystems and eliminate problems attached to animal confinement. this system takes advantage of the high efficiency of ruminant guts for converting low-quality forage into high-protein human foods and dairy products. the report has shown that indoor feeding systems cause stress to the dairy cattle, consequently led to a reduction in milk production and health damage (collier et al., 2006). however, there is an information gap on the benefits of paddy grazing and supplements to dairy cattle in the northern region. since the adoption of feeding cattle on concentrates and grazing on paddy fields is dependent on the level of awareness and conviction, the sensitization of fulani herdsmen on the benefits of forage grazing should be given the necessary attention. sensitization led to awareness which considered the first phase in behavioural change (van stralen et al., 2010). by implication, the purpose is to promote healthy dairy cattle and www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 68 milk production through grazing of the cattle on quality rice forage and formulated feeds; and to foster peaceful coexistence of fulani herders and farmers in the northern region and nation at large. it is given because of this background that this study looked at sensitization on the benefits of paddy grazing in the rice paddy in northern nigeria. the study hypothesized that there is no significant difference in farm practices of fulani agro-pastoralists in niger and benue states; and that there is no significant correlation between the level of sensitization on paddy grazing and farming practices in the sampled states. 1.1 theoretical concept 1.1.1 diffusion of innovations theory rogers (2003) defined diffusion as the process by which an innovation is disseminated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system. the diffusion of innovation theory could, therefore, be used to explain the relationship between sensitization, improved farming practices, and paddy grazing. theory on innovation diffusion emphasizes how new concepts, notions, ideas or practices can circulate within a community, or society. though, the concept of forage grazing is not a new thing since evidence suggests its practices in advanced countries from time immemorial, the pattern at which it is been practiced have however changed considerably. thus, it can be regarded as an innovation in nigeria. the theory posits that diffusion of innovation is a gradual process involving key participants whose adoption tendency is hierarchical. the innovation-decision process has five steps which are knowledge, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. based on time, the innovativeness of individuals varies and specifically, the theory identifies and defines five (5) subgroups of individuals in the adoption continuum (rogers, 2003). the order of innovativeness is innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. diffusion of innovation theory in relation to dairy production is that fulani agro-pastoralists are most likely to adopt paddy grazing for higher productivity if they are enlightened of the benefits therein. 2. research methodology 2.1 sampling technique this study used multistage sampling procedures to select three hundred and twenty fulani agro-pastoralists for this study. two local government areas (lgas) were purposively selected in benue and niger states based on the a priori information that they are rice producing communities, and this gave rise to four local government areas. secondly, two rice farming villages were purposively selected from each of the four selected rice-producing lgas in the two states and this gave rise to eight communities. in the third stage, a simple random sampling technique was used to select forty fulani agro-pastoralists from each of these eight villages. this gave rise to a total of three hundred and twenty fulani agro-pastoralists selected. 2.2 data collection method data for this study were collected through the use of a well-structured interview guide in addition to focus group discussions (fgd) with fulani agro-pastoralists in the study areas. the exercise was carried out with the assistance of the state agricultural development programme field officers and also the seriki fulani, who helped to locate agro-pastoralists in their various settlements (gaas). the instrument used for the data collection was subjected to face and content validity involving experts in agricultural extension and rural development, their criticisms and suggestions were positively utilized for a more valid instrument. content validity was carried out to ensure that the instrument covers all the objectives highlighted in this study. also, the reliability test for the instrument was conducted using the test re-test method. administration of the instrument was done for 40 fulani agro-pastoralists who were not included in the actual study sample at two weeks interval. data from the selected respondents were collated. total scores for each period were computed and pearson product moment correlation (ppmc) was used to determine the relationship coefficient between the two sets of scores. the instrument was considered reliable with a reliability coefficient of 0.75. 2.3 measurement of variables and method of data analysis sensitization was conceptualized as well informed (3), partially informed (2), and not informed (1). weed and birds control was measured at the nominal level as used (1), not used (0). data obtained were analyzed with t-test and ppmc. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 69 the formula for the t-test: where: = mean of the first set of values = mean of the second set of values s1 = standard deviation of the first set of values s2 = standard deviation of the second set of values n1 = total number of values in the first set n2 = total number of values in the second set. the formula for the ppmc: n = number of pair of scores ∑x = sum of x scores ∑y = sum of y scores ∑xy = summation of the x and y product 3. results and discussion 3.1 farm practices in the paddy rice by the fulani agro-pastoralists in benue and niger states results presented in table 1 showed that 58.4% of the respondents used hand weeding for weed control but 90.9% used herbicides on their rice farms. since the introduction of herbicides about two decades rural farmers have adopted the use of agro-chemicals for weed control. the herbicides are made available by input suppliers and agrodealers at affordable prices and it is convenient and effective when it compares to the use of hired labour for weed control. meanwhile, 65.6% of respondents in benue state used hand weeding while 51.3% did hand weeding in niger state. moreover, 93.1% and 85% of respondents applied insecticides in benue state and niger state respectively. the use of insecticides by the respondents is attributed to the high population of insects in nigeria. also, 52.5% applied urea fertilizer to rice farms in benue state while 85.6% applied urea in niger state. also, 60.6% and 89.4% used npk in benue state and niger state respectively. fertilizer application was high for both urea (69.1%) and npk (75%) in the two states. but, niger state has a relative high fertilization application compared to benue state. the fact is that soil fertility of the two states varies and as such this determines the quantity of fertilizer applied on the rice farms. for instance, the soil in northern nigeria is loose compared to the loamy soil in the southern part of the country. use of trap for birds and rodents control is not popular in benue (38.7%) and niger (27.5%) states but 98.7% and 85% used nets for bird control in benue state and niger state respectively. overall, 91.9% used net while 33.1% used to trap birds in the two sampled states. in benue and niger states, most (89.7%) of the respondents used drill irrigation while 18.8% used watering-can. niger state had a higher proportion (97.5%) of respondents that used drill irrigation compared to 81.9% in benue state. the use of watery-can was very lower in niger state (14.4%) than benue state (23.1%). it can be said that the drill irrigation system is predominant practice for rice farming in the two states. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 70 table 1. farm practices in paddy by fulani agro-pastoralists farm practices in paddy benue (%) niger (%) total (%) weed and diseases control hand weeding 65.6 51.3 58.4 use of herbicides 94.4 87.5 90.9 use of insecticides 93.1 85.0 89.1 use of fertilizer (kg/ha) urea 52.5 85.6 69.1 npk 60.6 89.4 75.0 birds and rodents control use of trap 38.7 27.5 33.1 nets 98.7 85.0 91.9 irrigation system drill 81.9 97.5 89.7 watery-can 23.1 14.4 18.8 source: field survey, 2019. *multiple responses recorded 3.2 sensitization on the benefits of forage grazing to dairy cattle and paddy fields results in table 2 showed that most (89.4%) of the respondents were not informed that forage grazing reduces trekking of the dairy cattle for long-distance which often resulted to the stress of the animals and herders; 90.6% were not informed that rice forage is available as free feed materials for the dairy cattle, and 91.9% were not informed that forage grazing will put an end to fulani herdsmen clashes with arable crop farmers. also, 74.1% and 77.8% were not informed that it reduces the use of chemical fertilizers on the paddy farms and nitrogen leaching from the paddy fields during the raining season respectively. in a similar vein, more than seventy percent (85.9%) indicated that they were not informed that forage grazing is a sustainable method of producing high quality-protein for the dairy cattle with minimal environmental impacts; 88.1% not informed that it facilitates nutrient cycling between paddy fields and dairy cattle; 91.3% not informed that it promotes organic rice production; and 79.4% not informed that it reduces the cost of tillage for the fulani agro-pastoralists. the implication of these findings is that majority of the respondents did not aware or know that there are benefits on forage grazing in the paddy fields, and this calls for sensitization in the study areas. table 2. sensitization on the benefits of forage grazing to dairy cattle and paddy fields sensitization on forage grazing well informed (%) partially informed (%) not informed (%) it reduces trekking of the dairy cattle for long-distance which often resulted in stress of the animals and herders 4.7 5.9 89.4 rice forage is available as free feed materials for the dairy cattle 3.7 5.6 90.6 it will put an end to fulani herdsmen clashes with arable crop farmers 3.1 5.0 91.9 it reduces the use of chemical fertilizers on the paddy farms 6.2 19.7 74.1 it reduces nitrogen leaching from the paddy fields during raining season 4.1 18.1 77.8 it is a sustainable method of producing high qualityprotein for the dairy cattle with minimal environmental impacts 2.8 11.3 85.9 it facilitates nutrient cycling between paddy fields and dairy cattle 3.1 8.8 88.1 it promotes organic farming (organic rice production) 3.7 5.0 91.3 for the fulani agro-pastoralists, it reduces the cost of tillage 6.6 14.1 79.4 source: field survey, 2019. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 71 3.3 hypotheses testing results of the t-test in table 3 showed that there was no significant difference in the farm practices of fulani agropastoralists in niger and benue states (t = 8.9, p = 0.14). it implies that farm practices in niger and benue states are similar. this could be connected to the fact that traditional methods of farming are still prevailing in rice production in the rural areas of nigeria. table 3. t-test result of significant difference between farming practices in niger and benue states farming practices sample size mean std. dev. std. mean error mean diff. t p-value decision benue state 160 0.64 0.20 0.20 0.33 8.9 0.14 ns niger state 160 0.31 0.01 0.00 source: field survey, 2019. ns not significant 3.4 correlation between sensitization on paddy grazing and farming practices results of correlation in table 4 showed that a significant relationship existed between sensitization on paddy grazing and farming practices (r = 0.69) across the sampled states. this sign is an indication that the farming practices of the respondents are influenced by the level of sensitization on paddy grazing. it implies that the more the fulani agro-pastoralists are aware of the advantages of paddy grazing the more they adopt better farming practices. table 4. correlation between sensitization on paddy grazing and farming practices variables r p-value decision farming practices 0.69 0.03 significant source: field survey, 2019. 4. conclusion based on the findings of this study, it was found that sensitization on the benefits of paddy grazing was at a very low ebb. respondents did not aware that paddy grazing could facilitate the rapid growth of the dairy cattle and led to increasing milk production; and it could checkmate incessant conflicts between fulani herdsmen and arable crop farmers. farming practices of respondents in the sampled states were similar. the prevailing traditional farming practices are products of poor sensitization. 5. recommendations the study recommends that:  fulani agro-pastoralists should be encouraged to intensify on rice farming rather than grazing their animals on other peoples’ farms;  feeding dairy cattle on formulated feeds and hygienic practices should be continuously disseminated to the fulani agro-pastoralists and ensured compliance;  putting fulani herdsmen in a bigger cluster would help them to pull their resources together and grow rice on large scale and make forage available for the dairy cattle all the year-round;  agricultural extension services should expedite action by creating awareness and organizing training for the fulani herdsmen on the benefits of paddy grazing, this will encourage them to cultivate large hectares of rice and adopt best farming practices;  instead of the use of inorganic fertilizers, the respondents should be made to know that cow dung is good manure to replenish the soil nutrient and prevent leaching of nitrogen;  government, international donors and non-governmental organizations should support fulani herdsmen by providing basic rural facilities (water supply, good roads, and electricity) and agro-inputs that can support both rice production and cattle rearing in the study areas. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 72 references bakshi, m. p. s. & wadhwa, m. (2017). utilization of rice-straw. indian farming, 67(7), 27 – 29. collier, r.., dahl. g., & vanbaale, m. (2006). major advances associated with environmental effects on dairy cattle. journal dairy science, 89, 1244–1253. goronyo, a. (2019). nigeria now produces 8m metric tonnes of rice yearly, as central bank of nigeria (cbn) disburses n40bn to rice farmers association of nigeria (rifan). 21 may 2019. pulse nigeria. www.pulse.ng. hanson, r. d., cunningham, l. c., mitchell, m. j., & parsons, r. l. (1998). the profitability of moderate intensive grazing of dairy cows in the northeast. journal dairy science, 81, 821–829. omoare, a. m. (2016). production of ofada rice (oryza spp.) for sustenance in obafemi owode local government area of ogun state, nigeria. in multidisciplinary journal of research and methods in tertiary education. 2(2), 301-314. osabuohien, e., okorie, u., & osabohien, r. (2018). rice production and processing in ogun state, nigeria: qualitative insights from farmers’ association. in: obayelu, e. (eds). food systems sustainability and environmental policies in modern economics. pp.188-215. hershey, pa: igi global.doi:10.4018/978-15225-3631-4.ch009. rogers, e. m. (2003). diffusion of innovations (5th edition). new york. free press. roy-macauley, h. (2019). is nigeria the highest rice producer in africa? thisday newspaper. march 12, 2019. tilman, d., cassman, k. g., matson, p. a., naylor, r., & polasky, s. (2002). agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices. nature, 418, 671–677. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). http://www.pulse.ng/ american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 22 enhancement of youth involvement in agricultural extension advisory services through capacity building: a solution to unemployment in nigeria sharon damilola samuel department of agricultural economics and extension federal university, oye-ekiti, nigeria e-mail: sharon.samuel@fuoye.edu.ng received: july 31, 2021 accepted: august 29, 2021 online published: september 15, 2021 doi: 10.46545/aijas.v5i1.201 url: https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v5i1.201 abstract the unemployment rate in nigeria and other sub saharan african countries keep surging year after year despite the need for human resources in several sectors. nigeria records a large number of young graduates from tertiary institutions most of whom find it difficult to get white collar jobs. despite this ongoing, human resource which is needed for economic development remains under exploited. young people have a sense of responsibility which makes it easy for them to take up opportunities that will lead to individual and societal development. unemployed youths who have interest in agriculture and the extension system can be recruited into this sector to achieve sustainable agricultural and rural development in these areas. capacity development is essential in this scenario to absorb these group of people into the agricultural sector, thus, reducing employment rate. unqualified young persons can carry out the functions or duties of agricultural extension advisory services if their technical and knowledge skills in line with the subject matter is developed. keywords: youth, unemployment, agriculture, extension advisory services, capacity development. introduction youth unemployment is a serious economic challenge (ogundele & akingbade, akinlabi, 2012; akande, 2014; chidiebere et al., 2014; muogbo & john-akamelu, 2018, 2021) and its consistent high rates over the last two to three decades has indicated the need for urgent policy programmelevel interventions (adeyanju et al., 2021). there have been endless calls on youths by the government requesting they venture into agriculture as a means of livelihood. regardless of this great potential for youths, access to land, finance, education and adequate skills are few of the problems halting initiation of this step. one of the initiatives taken by the federal government of http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 23 nigeria to curb youth unemployment and its accordant undesirable outcomes is the inclusion of entrepreneurship studies in the curriculum of tertiary institutions (olorundare & kayode, 2014; ogunmodede et al., 2020) a strategy which aims to promote a shift from the conventional formal government provision of employment towards entrepreneurship (adeyanju et al., 2021). one of many innovations by the federal government is the introduction of youwin in 2013. the aim of this innovation is to curb the effect of youth unemployment by creating job opportunities for the unemployed youths. additionally, climate change, rural to urban migration trends and increasing population pressures on land will make agriculture even more challenging in the future (djamen, 2019). furthermore, in addition to government interventions and innovations to curb unemployment and its effects on the society, creating opportunities for youths in agricultural extension and advisory services (eas) through capacity development will bring sustainable solution to youth unemployment. djamen (2019) reiterated that agricultural extension and advisory services offer a sustainable opportunities for youths to serve as both recipients and providers of these services. youths can be trained as community extension workers who will always be responsible for providing solutions to agricultural challenges in their immediate environment. this can be achieved by adopting the “training the trainer” approach of extension training whereby extension knowledge and ideas are introduced to interested, passionate and committed youth in order to bring about desirable change in their livelihoods and immediate environment. training youths to do the job of agricultural extension advisory services will lead to independence of rural farm communities and expertise of youths over time. unemployed youths are potential change agents. graduates and non-literates have capacity to be developed in knowledge and technical skills. in order to cope with declining per capital of agriculture and related resources as well as population growth of youths; human capital development including literacy and skill upgrade is unavoidable. despite the vast area of land available for agricultural activities in nigeria, most of the gdp is generated from crude oil export. most youths today take up different kind of jobs just to earn a living. the nature of subsistence agriculture mostly carried out by rural farmers limit the wealth that can be generated from this under-exploited sector. it is also projected that crude oil will become non-existent for exploitation and export in the nearest future. this calls for an attention shift from crude oil and other natural resources to agriculture. therefore, the generation and diffusion of technology and management capabilities for more intensive and modernized agriculture and supporting services become imperative. this can only be achieved by upgrading the quality of human resources employed in agriculture (chikaire et al., 2015). therefore, the purpose of this review is to incorporate youths in agricultural extension advisory services so as to stimulate their interest to participate in agriculture. this way, sustainable rural development is achieved and unemployment rate is reduced. secondary data collected from journals, internet and books, were collated and repeatedly reviewed for the purpose of this study. data is often generated as a result of conducting projects in the form of reports or publications and used by researchers and extension workers in government and ngo organisations (photakoun, 2010). background young people in africa are faced with a major socioeconomic problem of unemployment (ogunmodede et al., 2020), despite being home to the youngest and most quickly growing population in the world (usman, 2016). there are over 330 million people aged between 15 and 30 years, with about 195 million currently living in the rural areas (brooks et al., 2013), and https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 24 60%–70% of the population below 30 years (undp, 2017). according to the united nations, the youth are individuals within the age group of 15 to 24 years (awogbenle & iwuamadi, 2010). in sub saharan africa the rate of youth unemployment is a major problem yet to be overcome (world bank, 2020). dimelu et al. (2020) observed that as the youth population grows, so does the unemployment rate. the unemployment rate of adults in developing countries is less when compared to that of youth (ilo, 2020). nevertheless, they have unexploited potentials to transform the agricultural sector through their youthfulness, innovation, and entrepreneurship (betcherman & khan, 2015). nigeria is largely a youthful country with over 60 percent of the 200 million population between 18 and 35 years old (ogunmodede et al., 2020). national bureau of statistics for nigeria, (2018), put unemployment rate at 23.10% in third quarter of 2018, with youth unemployment at 36.5%. it is somewhat difficult to absorb the youth population into the formal employment sector (abimbola, 2008; bakare, 2011; ilo, 2020), not because they lack education/skills to work or idleness by choice but by lack of opportunities (institute of development studies, 2019). while this could be an economic asset (omoju & abraham, 2014), majority of people (70 percent) in this age category live in the rural areas, where they are faced with high poverty levels, food insecurity, critical cases of unemployment, and underemployment (fao, 2107). these constant occurrence have placed young people at the centre of a critical economic crisis which limits them in changing their social and economic status as well as their future prospect (allen et al., 2016). meaning of capacity development and the need for youth capacity development capacity development refers to the skills of staff and strength of specific organizations; thus, training staff and creating or strengthening single organizations is equated with capacity development (chikaire et al., 2015). capacity development means strengthening of new and former skills of individuals, communities and organizations, some of which are inherent and unknown to the carrier. exposing and strengthening such skills will increase the likelihood of a person or organization to achieve their goals/objectives and to perform more effectively. unesco, (2006) reports that capacity building focuses on increasing an individual and organization’s abilities to perform core functions, solve problems, and objectively deal with developmental needs. despite the fast growing rate of civilization, many countries and communities remain poor and underdeveloped. many rural communities remain dependent on private donors and government sectors for support. sadly, most development projects have little to do with building or developing capacities of the poor beneficiaries to develop their immediate communities. young people have the ability to contribute to national economic growth if they have access to the necessary opportunities. developing the capacity building of individuals, groups, organizations and communities is sacrosanct for rural development and poverty alleviation. dependence on donors alone cannot yield the desired result of sustainable development. therefore, investment and donation to rural communities need to be reduced and more focus placed on building the capacity of local people, groups and organizations. building the capacity of youths is the role that all organisations should consider. an attempt to employ younger people in extension advisory services who have the strength and energy instead of older people who lack drive will propel fast and lasting solution to unemployment. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 25 the need for youth capacity building in the field of agricultural extension rural youth need to be considered as potential agricultural extension staff because they have the ability and need to resolve problems and develop their communities. however, the ability to function as an agricultural extension advisory service provider depends on existing knowledge and experience of extension work which an average youth may lack, thus, the need for capacity building in the field of extension. building the capacity of youths to serve as rural extension staff is vital to making extension services effective in helping poor farmers. public and private agricultural extension are responsible for this development task. they instil change in farmers’ attitude such as their learning and decision making process. younger people have a sense of responsibility and passion for solving problems and correcting all wrongs in their communities. extension specialists should leverage on these strength to assist them to develop their capacity to stand as extension agents when the need arises. this approach should be extended to passionate and committed young graduates of agricultural extension and related courses. although diffusion of information about a new innovation is important in extension, people prefer to be equipped and independent enough to provide solution to their issues. basically, agricultural extension help farmers solve agricultural problems by linking farmers to research institutes. further, extension is concerned with developing capacity for change through improved communication and information flow between industry, agency and community stakeholders, (chikaire et al., 2015). in agriculture, extension staff work closely with farmers in the fields to strengthen farmers’ abilities and empower them to solve their problems. the extension workers are not just meant to introduce relevant technologies to farmers but to understand farmers’ problems and available opportunities to help them find the most efficient way to make decisions for their future and lasting solutions to their problems. dwarakinath (2006) explained that extension is a major vehicle for rural development because it transfers new technical knowledge to farmers and then farmers can feedback problems from the field to extension staff and researchers to consider. there is a need for a capacity building role for extension that includes farmer training but that also includes strengthening the innovation process and building linkages between farmers and other agencies to support the bargaining position of farmers (sulaiman & hall, 2006). for effective training of youth participants/clientele, the change agent must possess sufficient skills in the following areas:  communication skills sufficient to persuade participants to adopt technologies.  ability to demonstrate new technologies as farmers are moved to change based on what they see  sufficient knowledge of economics to analyse cost-benefit ratios, interest, understand prevailing market situations etc.  norms, values and customs of the host community to facilitate a smooth learning experience and avoid socio-cultural conflict.  credible and relevant knowledge of the subject matter.  proper decision making regarding the choice of extension teaching methods relevant to the audience and subject matter, as well as available communication aids. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 26 process of youth capacity building to conduct capacity building and training some few steps need to be taken as described below:  application: adverts need to be placed at target local governments and communities. requirements for eligibility should be centred on age of which should be between 16-39 years with at least secondary school leaving certificate.  recruitment: after application both written tests and oral interviews should be conducted to select eligible candidates who are passionate about agricultural extension.  residency: at this stage, provision of accommodation should be ensured for all admitted participants and trainees. both parties will need to reside on the farm for the duration of the training. also, recreation facilities should be provided for leisure and to make the experience less monotonous.  election of officials: participants will need to conduct elections within themselves to appoint their officials or leaders to fill in posts of president, secretary general, welfare secretary and any other needed positions. this process will be supervised by the facilitators.  training: the duration of training of youths for capacity development as extension workers will take as long as necessary for the goal to be met. subject matter should be formulated in ways that will bring about desired change of the trainees and community at large. the best teaching method should be selected based on prevailing factors. most importantly, constant evaluation should be carried out to ensure youth participating are still motivated and passionate enough to continue with the programme. levels of capacity development, methods/resources and outcomes table 1. types and levels of capacity development. adapted from enemark (2003); vichealth (n.d); phatokoun (2010) level methods and resources outcomes individual formal workshops, educational training, personal skills and qualified staff. changed awareness and perceptions, increased motivation, increased solidarity, cohesion and beliefs. community function, infrastructure and resources (human, financial and information). demands of material, cultural or social nature, organisation mission and strategy, function, competencies, processes, structure, infrastructure and resources (human, financial and information). ability to collaborate, ability to manage change, innovation and learning. systems policies legal/regulatory framework, management and accountability, perspective and resources. ability to collaborate, ability to manage change, innovation and learning. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 27 capacity development methods and tools used for staff involved in rural development and extension table 2. methods and tools used for capacity development in rural extension. adapted from crowder (1996); stephen et al., (2006); phatokoun, (2006). methods tools mentoring/coaching meeting and field visits. training programs on-the-job training, in-service-training, in-site-training. cross visits/study tours local, regional, national and international, with individuals, groups, teams. workshops /meetings/conferences group discussion, presentation of results, sharing ideas and exchanging experiences. networking e-mails, telephone and face to face. participatory approach participatory research and extension. partnerships exchanging of know-how between stakeholders, ngos, private and government sectors. research demonstration plots, experiential learning, village learning activities. equipment, infrastructure, connectivity, benchmarking and new technologies computers, using internet, telephone/mobile phone. publications journals, newsletters, fact sheets, online publications, pamphlet/leaflets, books and manuals. monitoring/evaluation middle and the end of the project: own work and partners‟ activities. conclusion rural extension and advisory services refer to various actions and actors that provide the information, services as well capacity development (management, organizational and technical) needed by farmers with the aim to their livelihood. human resource development is essential for the development of any economy. in nigeria and other developing countries, unemployed youths with passion and interest in agriculture and extension advisory roles should be absorbed into the extension system and trained to develop capacity to discharge the duties of an extension worker. youths in the extension profession will ensure sustainability in the system and reduce overall unemployment rate. cognisance of the processes involved in capacity development, its levels as well as methods and tools needed should be taken to achieve a desirable success rate. references african economic outlook. (2017). african development bank organization for economic cooperation and development (oecd)/united nations development program (undp) entrepreneurship and industrialization; oecd publishing: paris, france. awogbenle, a. c., & iwuamadi, k. c. (2010). youth unemployment: entrepreneurship development programme as an intervention mechanism. afr. j. bus. manag, 4, 831– 835. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 28 abimbola, o. (2008). the menace of street trading in lagos metropolis. yaba journal of environmental studies, 2(1), 38-51. allen, a., howard, j., kondo, m., jamison, a., jayne, t., snyder, j., tschirley, d., & yeboah, k. f. (2016). agrifood youth employment and engagement study; michigan state university: east lansing, mi, usa. akande, t. (2014). youth unemployment in nigeria: a situation analysis; brookings institution press: washington, dc, usa. retrieved from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-infocus/2014/09/23/youthunemployment-innigeria-a-situation-analysis adeyanju, d., mburu, j., & mignouna, d. (2021). youth agricultural entrepreneurship: assessing the impact of agricultural training programmes on performance. sustainability 2021, 13, 1697. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13041697. pp1-11 bakare, a. s. (2011). the determinant of urban unemployment crises in nigeria: an econometric analysis. journal of emerging trends in economics and management sciences, 2(3), 184-192. brooks, k., zorya, s., gautam, a., & goyal, a. (2013). agriculture as a sector of opportunity for young people in africa; the world bank: washington, dc, usa. betcherman, g., & khan, t. (2015). youth employment in sub-saharan africa taking stock of the evidence and knowledge gaps; international development research centre, mastercard foundation: toronto, on, canada, 2015. retrieved from https://www.africaportal.org/publications/youth-employment-in-sub-saharan-africataking-stock of-the-evidence-and-knowledge-gaps chikaire, j. u., ani, a. o., atoma, c. n., & tijjani, a. r. (2015). capacity building: key to agricultural extension survival. sch j agric vet sci, 2(1a), 13-21. chidiebere, o. n., iloanya, k., & udunze, u. (2014). youth unemployment and entrepreneurship development: challenges and prospects in nigeria. kuwait chapter arab. j. bus. manag. rev, 4, 20–35. crowder, l. v. (1996). human resource and institutional capacity building through agricultural education. retrieved from http://www.fao.org./sd/exdirect/exan0015.htm dimelu, m. u., umoren, a. m., & jane, m. chah. (2020). determinants of youth farmers’ participation in agricultural activities in akwa ibom state, nigeria. journal of agricultural science, 12(12), 201-212. djamen. p. (2019). youth in extension and advisory services: niger. https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-infocus/2014/09/23/youthhttps://doi.org/10.3390/su13041697.%20pp1-11 https://www.africaportal.org/publications/youth-employment-in-sub-saharan-africahttps://www.africaportal.org/publications/youth-employment-in-sub-saharan-africahttps://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 29 dwarakinath, r. (2006). changing tasks of extension education in indian agriculture. in a. w. van den ban, and r. k. samanta, (eds.). changing roles of agricultural extension in asian nations, (pp. 56-79). delhi: b.r. publishing, 2006. enemark, s. (2003). understanding the concept of capacity building and the nature of land administration systems. paris, france: 1-10. 173. retrieved from https://www.fiq.net/pub/fiq_2003/ts_2/ts2_2_enemark.pdf food and administration organization. (2017). the future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges; fao: rome, italy, 2017. ilo (international labour organisation). (2020). global employment trends for youth. institute of development studies. (2019). youth employment needs in nigeria. knowledge, evidence and learning for development. retrieved from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ddfdabbed915d015c5482ee/691youte mployment_in_nigeria.pdf muogbo, u. s., & john-akamelu, c. r. (2018). impact of entrepreneurial skills in reducing youth unemployment in nigeria. eur. j. bus. econ. account, 2018, 6, 1–12. nbs (national bureau of statistics). (2018). unemployment and underemployment report (q4 2017-q3 2018) nigeria (volume i). retrieved from http://www.q4_2017_ _q3_2018_unemployment_report%20(1).pdf ogunmodede, a. m., ogunsanwo, m. o., & manyong, v. (2020). unlocking the potential of agribusiness in africa through youth participation: an impact evaluation of n-power agro empowerment program in nigeria. sustainability, 12, 5737. omoju, o. e., & abraham, t. w. (2014). youth bulge and demographic dividend in nigeria. afr. popul. stud, 27, 352–360. ogundele, o. j. k., akingbade, w. a., & akinlabi, h. b. (2012). entrepreneurship training and education as strategic tools for poverty alleviation in nigeria. am. int. j. contemp. res, 2, 148–156. olorundare, a. s., & kayode, d. j. (2014). entrepreneurship education in nigerian universities: a tool for national transformation. asia pac. j. educ. educ, 29, 155–175. photakoun, v. (2010). the role of capacity building for livestock extension and development in lao. thesis submitted to charles sturt university for the degree of master of philosophy. sulaiman, v. r., & hall, a. (2006). extension policy analysis in asian nations. in van den ban, a. w. and samanta, r. k. (eds) changing roles of agricultural extension in asian nations, b.r. publishing corporation, india, 2006. https://www.fiq.net/pub/fiq_2003/ts_2/ts2_2_enemark.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ddfdabbed915d015c5482ee/691youtemployment_in_nigeria.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5ddfdabbed915d015c5482ee/691youtemployment_in_nigeria.pdf https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 30 stephen, p., brien, n., & triraganon, r. (2006). capacity building for cbnrm in asia: a regional review. retrieved from https://www.recoftc.org/site/fileadmin/docs/cabs/idrc_review.pdf usman, s. a., & ayegba, u. s. (2015). unemployment and poverty as sources and consequence of insecurity in nigeria: the boko haram insurgency revisited. afr. j. political sci. int. relat, 9, 90–99. retrieved from http://www.academicjournals.org/ajpsir unesco. (2006). guidebook for planning education in emergencies and reconstruction (chapter 3) capacity building. retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/focus/emergency/guidebook.htm vichealth (n.d). capacity building for whom, in what circumstances and how. hpi paper on capacity building, melbourne: state government of victoria world bank. (2020). youth unemployment rate for developing countries in sub-saharan africa. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). https://www.recoftc.org/site/fileadmin/docs/cabs/idrc_review.pdf http://www.unesco.org/iiep/eng/focus/emergency/guidebook.htm american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 8-11 8 agricultural studies aijas vol 6 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa hydroponics production of cucumber as soil farming alternative in nigeria chukwunalu okolie ossai (a)1 stephanie clara akpeji (b) ifeakachukwu sunday alama (c ) fidelis nduka emuh (d) (a) research associate, international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria; e-mail: ossaichukwunalu1@gmail.com (b) lecturer, microbiology department, novena university, ogume, delta state, nigeria; email: akpejistephanie@gmail.com (c) lecturer, soil/crop department, dennis osadebe university, asaba, nigeria; e-mail: ask.ifeakachukwu@gmail.com (d) professor, delta state university, abraka, delta state, nigeria; email: fnemuh@yahoo.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 26 march 2022 accepted: 12 june 2022 online publication: 15 june 2022 keywords: cucumis sativa, cocopeat substrate, soil farming, genotype jel classification codes: q15 a b s t r a c t the constant farmers-herders clash has predisposed farmers to insecurity in nigeria thereby making farming in open field difficult. the hydroponics system has gained popularity in the cultivation of vegetable crops around the world. however, in nigeria, there is dearth of information on hydroponics usage as an alternative to soil farming. hence, the need to investigate the suitability of producing cucumber in nigeria using the hydroponics system compared to soil. seeds of three cucumber varieties were grown in cocopeat substrate and topsoil in a 3 (genotypes) by 2 (substrate) factorial experiment laid in a completely randomized design with 3 replicates. each plant was fertigated with 100 ml of liquefied poultry manure weekly and was watered every 3 days till harvest. data were taken on the number of leaves, plant height, leaf area, days to flowering and fruiting, number of fruits and average fruit weight. data collected were analyzed using anova and differences in the treatment means were separated using least significant differences at 5% level of significance. result obtained showed significant differences among genotypes in the growth and yield parameters with poinset having the highest number of fruits (6.88±0.57) and fruit weight (275.00±17.03), while the substrate effect was not significant. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction nigerian farmers predominantly practices shifting cultivation (lawal, 2014) to ensure the basic nutrients in the soil are adequate enough to support the growth of the crops cultivated. however, the sole use of soil for agricultural purposes comes with its constraints ranging from pests and diseases, weed versus crops competition for space and nutrients, environmental pollution and the increasing rate of insecurity in the country due to farmers and herders clashes (muhammed & baba, 2019). the above mentioned farming constraints have led to the increasing advocacy for an alternative means of crop production. the above mentioned constraints can be circumvented by the adoption and practice of soilless farming system (hydroponics). the hydroponics system is much adapted to different environmental conditions as the green house condition can be adjusted at will, and has the ability to increase yield and quality of produce (verdonck et al., 1983) and ensures the optimum use of nutrient and water (savvas & lenz, 2000). the cucumber (cucumis sativa l.) is an important vegetable in the diet of nigerians, however, the production requires extreme soil fertility management to obtain high yield. this requires intensive soil management to achieve, but with the hydroponics system, the nutrient and water regimes can be controlled with ease (paul, 2000). the term hydroponics being defined as the cultivation of crops in any substrate other than soil. the availability of these substrates in an area is essential in choosing the one suitable for production in the locality. although, different substrates have been successfully utilized in crop production, there is dearth of information on the use of cocopeat substrate in producing cucumber using the hydroponics system in nigeria. hence, this study aims at investigating the effectiveness of the use of cocopeat substrate in cucumber production in nigeria while comparing it with nigerian topsoil. 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-1924-5855 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.253 to cite this article: ossai, c. o., akpeji, s. c., alama, i. s., & emuh, f. n. (2022). hydroponics production of cucumber as soil farming alternative in nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 6(1), 8–11. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.253 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.253 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1924-5855 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2191-8032 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4968-686x https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7664-0213 ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 8-11 9 methods experimental set up three varieties of cucumber (poinset, calypso and murano) seeds and twenty-four troughs of drip system hydroponics troughs were purchased from the soilless farmlab seed company, abeokuta. cocopeat in block form was purchased from afri-agri company, lagos. the buffered cocopeat blocks were dissolved in water. the cocopeat was used to fill in 12 hydroponics troughs with perforations beneath for drainage purposes, while the remaining 12 troughs were filled with sterilized topsoil. the hydroponics troughs comprises of 8 litres capacity with 4 segments of 2 litres capacity each. poultry droppings were sourced from ajayi farm, ibadan. the poultry manure was allowed to dry for one week, 1 g of the poultry manure was ground into fine particles and liquefied by soaking them in 1 litre of water for two days. for the plants fertigation, 100 ml of the nutrient was used to fertigate each plant once per week and watering was done every 3 days till harvest. 2 litre capacity buckets were filled with the cocopeat and the cucumber seeds were sown directly, it was watered at 3 days’ interval and inspected daily for the germination of the seeds. at one week interval, the germinated seedlings were transferred to the hydroponics set up. experimental design the experiment was a 2 (substrates) by 3 (varieties) factorial laid in a completely randomized design (crd) with 3 replicates. data collection and statistical analysis at bi-weekly intervals, data were taken on the plant height, number of leaves and leave area, while the number of days to 50 % flowering, days to fruiting, number of fruits harvested and the fruit weights were collected. data collected were analysed using anova (sas 9.0 version) and differences in treatment means were separated using least significance differences at 5 % level of significance. results the results obtained from this study on the agronomic performances of the three genotypes evaluated shows that there were significant differences among the genotypes on the plant height, number of leaves and leaf area at both 2 and 4 weeks after planting (table 1). the height of the calypso genotype at two weeks (15.55±0.85) and four weeks (25.09±1.07) respectively were significantly higher than the rest genotypes. the number of leaves of calypso genotype at 2 weeks old (4.75±0.21) was not significantly higher than poinset (4.38±0.21), but they were both significantly higher than the murano (3.25±0.21), while at 4 weeks old, the number of leaves of the calypso (9.50±0.38) was significantly higher than both murano and poinset genotypes. also, the leaf area of the calypso genotype (19.43±0.68) at 2 weeks old was significantly higher than both murano and poinset, however, at 4 weeks old, there were no significant differences between the leaf area of the calypso genotype (23.53±0.83) and the poinset genotype (21.60±0.83), but they were both statistically higher than the murano genotype (13.60±0.83). table 1. agronomic performance of three genotypes of cucumber in hydroponics system genotypes plant height (cm) number of leaves leaf area (cm2) week 2 week 4 week 2 week 4 week 2 week 4 calypso 15.55a 25.09a 4.75a 9.50a 19.43a 23.53a murano 10.88b 13.89c 3.25b 6.75b 5.10c 13.60b poinset 8.00c 20.83b 4.38a 7.75b 15.48b 21.60a lsd(0.05) 2.53 3.18 0.62 1.13 2.02 2.47 se 0.85 1.07 0.21 0.38 0.68 0.83 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error there were no significant differences among the genotypes on the number of days taken by the three genotypes of calypso, murano and poinset to reach 50% flowering (table 2). however, it took the murano genotype an average of 57.13±1.02 days to produce its first fruit, which was significantly higher than both calypso (50.13±1.02) and poinset (52.13±1.02) to produce their first fruits respectively. the number of fruits produced per plant by the poinset genotype (6.88±0.57) was significantly higher than both calypso (1.50±0.57) and murano (2.13±0.57) respectively. also, the weight of the cucumber fruits produced by poinset (275.00±17.03) was significantly higher than both calypso (171.25±17.03) and murano (140.00±17.03) respectively. table 2. yield parameters of three genotypes of cucumber in hydroponics system genotypes days to 50% flowering days to fruiting number of fruits fruit weight (g) calypso 36.00a 50.13b 1.50b 171.25b murano 38.38a 57.13a 2.13b 140.00b poinset 35.25a 52.13b 6.88a 275.00a lsd(0.05) 4.2 3.03 1.69 50.59 se 1.41 1.02 0.57 17.03 means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error. ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 8-11 10 the results obtained on the effect of the substrates used on the growth parameters of cucumber plants shows that the height of the plants at 2 weeks after planting was significant, and the topsoil (12.87±0.69) was significantly higher than the cocopeat (10.08±0.69) (table 3). however, the plant height at 4 weeks after planting, number of leaves at 2 and 4 weeks after planting and leaf area at 2 and 4 weeks after planting respectively were not significant between topsoil and the cocopeat. also, the two substrates were not significantly different from each other in the yield parameters evaluated (table 4). table 3. effect of substrates and substrate by genotype interactions on the growth parameters of cucumber substrates plant height (cm) number of leaves leaf area (cm2) week 2 week 4 week 2 week 4 week 2 week 4 topsoil 12.87a 4.08a 14.07a 21.18a 7.83a 20.38a cocopeat 10.08b 4.17a 12.60a 18.68a 8.17a 18.77a lsd(0.05) 2.07 0.51 1.65 2.6 0.93 2.02 se 0.69 0.17 0.56 0.88 0.31 0.68 genotype*substrate ns ns ns ns * * means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error table 4. effect of substrates and substrate by genotype interactions on the yield parameters of cucumber substrate days to 50% flowering days to fruiting number of fruits fruit weight (g) topsoil 36.92a 54.08a 3.75a 176.25a cocopeat 36.17a 52.17a 3.25a 214.58a lsd(0.05) 3.43 2.48 1.38 41.31 se 1.16 0.83 0.46 13.9 genotype*substrate ns * * ns means with the same alphabet down the group are not significantly different from each other at 5 % level of significance. lsd: least significant differences, se: standard error. discussions the calypso genotype showed superior performance to other genotypes in the agronomic parameters evaluated at the early growth stages. however, as the plants age, the poinset genotype developed up to the calypso. the differences in the agronomic growth rate are as a result of the differences in their genotypic make up, and this agrees with the findings of saheb et al. (2017). despite, the superior agronomic characters shown by the calypso genotype, the flower and fruit development was faster in poinset, and this reflected in the highest number of fruit produced and their weight obtained from the poinset genotype as the fruits had more time to develop physiologically. however, the fruit weight obtained from the three genotypes is within the value recorded by saheb et al. (2017) who worked with more genotypes. according to colle et al. (2017), the size and shape of cucumber fruit is an important trait for its marketability, and these traits are determined by physiological processes during ovary and fruit growth (tanksley, 2004) and studies have shown a correlation between the two by localizing their quantitative trait loci (qtl) (weng et al., 2015). this account for the differences in fruit sizes observes in the three genotypes studied. different substrate types have been reportedly used in cucumber production through the hydroponics system (sarwar et al., 2018) and growing media affects plants morphology and productivity significantly (ghazvini et al., 2007). in this study, both the cocopeat and topsoil substrates used performed equally in terms of the agronomic and yield parameters of the genotypes studied, and this strongly supports the findings of sarwar et al. (2018) who reported a non-significant yield between topsoil and cocopeat substrate. conclusion this study seeks to investigate the effectiveness of cocopeat substrate use in the hydroponics production of cucumber in nigeria as a means of establishing an alternative to soil farming system. the findings so far showed that the cocopeat can be effectively used in the hydroponics production of cucumber in nigeria with poinset producing biggest fruit among the genotypes and showing high adaptability to hydroponics farming. this opens up an alternative means of vegetable farming in nigeria within ones home confinement with maximum security to circumvent the continued farm land disagreement with the herders. however, with cocopeat substrate being imported into the country as it’s not being produced locally, it is important to investigate other locally sourced substrates as an alternative to hydroponics production of different vegetables in nigeria. author contributions: conceptualization, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; data curation, s.c.a.; methodology, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; validation, c.o.o., s.c.a., i.s.a. and f.n.e.; visualization, c.o.o., s.c.a., i.s.a. and f.n.e.; formal analysis, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; investigation, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; resources, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; writing – original draft, c.o.o., s.c.a., i.s.a. and f.n.e.; writing – review & editing, c.o.o. and f.n.e.; supervision, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; project administration, c.o.o. and s.c.a.; authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 8-11 11 references colle, m., weng, y., kang, y., ophir, r., sherman, a., & grumet, r. (2017). variation in cucumber (cucumis sativus l.) fruit size and shape results from multiple components acting pre-anthesis and post-pollination. planta, 246. ghazvini, r., payvast, g. f., & azarian, h. (2007). efect of clinoptiloliticzeolite and perlite mixtures on the yield and quality of strawberry in soil-less culture. int j agric biol, 9, 885–888 lawal, m. (2014). shifting cultivation farming and its impacts on wildlife species in oyan community, odo-otin, osun state, nigeria. paul, c. (2000). health and hydroponic. practical hydroponics & greenhouses, 53, 28–37. pal, s., sharma, h. r., & yadav, n. (2017). evaluation of cucumber genotypes for yield and quality traits. journal of hill agriculture, 8(2), 144-150. sarwar, m., anjum, s., khan, m. a., haider, m. s., ali, s., & naseem, m. k. (2018). assessment of sustainable and biodegradable agricultural substrates for eminence production of cucumber for kitchen gardening. international journal of recycling of organic waste in agriculture, 7(4), 365-374 savvas, d., & lenz, f. (2000). effects of nacl or nutrient-induced salinity on growth, yield and composition of eggplants grown in rockwool. sci. hort., 84, 37-47. tanksley, s. d. (2004). the genetic, developmental, and molecular bases of fruit size and shape variation in tomato. plant cell, 16, 181-189 verdonck, o., penninck, r., & de boodt, m. (1983). the physical properties of horticultural substrates. acta hort. 150, 155-160. weng, y., colle, m., wang, y., yang, i., rubenstein, m., sherman, a., ophir, r., & grumet, r. (2015). qtl mapping in multiple populations and development stages reveals dynamic quantitative trait loci for fruit size in cucumbers of different market classes. theor. appl genet 128, 1747-1763. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 51 the role of extension officers in delivering agricultural services to the small-scale farmers, gezira state, sudan adam elradi m. ali department of agricultural extension and training university of gezira, sudan mohammed adam. a. hamad department of rural extension and training university of kordofan, elobeid, sudan e-mail: abugitaf2013@gmail.com mohamed atta ali abdallh ministry of agriculture private extension, gezira state, sudan mutasim ali m. elagab department of agricultural extension and training university of gezira, sudan abstract this research was carried out in gezira state, sudan. the objective of this research is to assess the role of extension officers in transferring agricultural services and innovations to the farmers. field survey was used to collect the data by using structured questionnaire which designed and pre-tested. secondary data was collected from books, scientific journals and relevant documents. based on steven samson equation the sample size were 36 extension officers selected by using quota sample technique. statistical package for social sciences (spss) was used for data analysis depends on descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis. the findings indicated that the high percentages (47%) of extension officers their experiences between 11 to 15 years and 33% had no training courses. 81% of the respondents had strong-direct links with the farmers, and their source of information of inputs and technical packages was the research centres (75%). the extension officers explained that they had high cost in transferring information to the farmers, required information and more interested partners on the feedback was research institution (83%). correlation test shown personal characters, business career had significant correlation with the link with the research (.031) the value (r=.359), high significantly correlated between the nature of the relationship with farmers and link with research sig (.001) value of correlation (.534). the results of regression test indicated that the link with research had impact with significant value (.427beat) sig (.049) other partners had no significant. recommendations: based on the findings the research recommends: clear direct link for the extension officers with all agricultural partners in order to facilitate the delivery of information to the farmers. private sector should involve in designing the extension policy and continuing training sessions have to be held to all extension officers. keywords: agricultural services, extension officers, small scale farmers, sudan. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 52 1. introduction agricultural extension and advisory services are defined as systems that should facilitate the access of farmers, their organizations and other market actors to knowledge, information and technologies (chipeta et al, 2008). public extension systems were established in most developing countries during the twentieth century and organized under ministries of agriculture (ameur, 1994). as a result, the majority of these agencies became top-down, multifunctional, resource-constrained systems that lacked adequate operational resources as well as competent technical specialists (khatam et al, 2013). in addition, these public extension systems lack the necessary resources (especially training and program funds as well as information and communication technologies, or icts) to keep their staff up to date and able to actually carry out more innovative extension program activities in the field (swanson & rajalahti, 2010).to achieve the goal of extension, hold regular information-sharing meetings at the district level to discuss production problems, research findings, and recommended practices before and during each growing season (riaz, 2010). in sudan at national level, the technology transfer and extension administration are responsible for agricultural extension services (el hadi omer, 2013). wad medani office was the first extension office established in gezira state in 1974. in 1983 the adoption of regional governance reflected in agricultural sector by restructuring the agricultural administration which is headed by director general and includes many administrations one of them agricultural extension administration in region as the first level at region, and the second level is agricultural extension specialist in province level, and the third level is agricultural extension unit in rural area council, and the lowest level is extension workers in different sites of rural council (hassan & khalil, 2008). main responsibilities are pursuing the general agricultural extension policy which set by the technology transfer and extension administration (ttea) (alla & yass, 2009). until 1992, the government largely controlled the marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs. however, as part of the economic reforms in the 1990s, it removed most of the controls in favor of private traders. many obstacles facing public extension systems today are not capable to increase farm income and to improve farmer’s technical knowledge; this may be due to their top-down organizational structure and their lack of adequate financial resources. agricultural services centers (ascs) are well financed and they have facilities to contact farmers, but their capability to make extension advice to the farmers is low due to their commercial view, lack of technical recommended information and lack of qualified agents than that of the extension system. 2. materials and methods 2.1 area of the study this study is carried out in gezira statewad medani greater locality, lies in the center of the sudan and represents one of the largest states with higher population density, and contributes much to agriculture of sudan. gezira state is located between latitude 13⁰.32` south 15⁰.30` north, and longitude 32⁰.22` west 34⁰.20` east (annual report, 2016) it is bordered by khartoum state from the north, sinnar state from the south, gadarif state from the east and the white nile state from the western side. the area of gezira state is estimated by 275,492 square kilometers, which is equivalent to less than 20% of the total area of the sudan. the total number of the population in the gezira state is about 4.244.000 (in year 2009). the state comes second to khartoum state of the population number. wad medani is the capital of the state, population of wad medani is 386.000 (in year 2009). wad medani greater locality is one of the eight localities constituted gezira state namely: (wad medani greater locality, south of gezira locality, east of gezira locality, um elgura locality, elkamileen locality, alhasahisa locality, almanaqil locality and al qurashi locality). it is well-populated area suitable for agriculture and considered as very important agricultural area in the state and most of the population are working directly or indirectly in agricultural sector. in wad medani greater locality there are four extension offices in the sub administrative units (wad medani east complex, hantoob complex, alshabarga complex and fadasi complex). 2.2 population and sampling procedures according to agricultural managements in the locality in season 2016-2017 the number of the extension officers was estimated to be 40 extension officers in the records of the ministry of agriculture. population of the study was the extension officers in wad medani greater locality; those were 40 extensionests in season 2015-2016. based on steven samson equation a general formula for sample size selection was used as follows: source; (altae, 2012)        ppzdn ppn n    11 1 22 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 53 where: n = total population n= sample size d= proportion of error (.05) p = proportion of availability of particularity and neutralization (.50) z = degree of normative meeting to level of mark 0.95 (1.96) so according to the previous mentioned equation samples size was 36 extension officers selected by quota sample technique. 2.3 data collection and analysis field survey was used to collect the data by using a questionnaire constructed for this purpose through personal interview techniques. while secondary data collected from different sources as references, previous studies, reports, internet and relevant sources. the collected data was fed in to the computer and statistically analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences (spss). descriptive analysis used such as percentage and frequencies distribution, more over correlation and regression analysis were used to get out the relationship and the effect between different variables. 3. results and discussions 3.1 results of descriptive analysis table 1. distribution of the respondent's according to social characteristics indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research results in table (1) shows that the majority of the extension officers were females (72%) while only (28%) were males, majority of the extension officers (97%) their age group between 25 to 45, and (69%) of them their educational level was bachelors. from the above results we comment that females were dominant in the agricultural work in the extension, the age is high effective factor in work, and most of them considered as in youth age and ready for work especially the agricultural work that need more physical effort. social characteristics frequency percentages (%) sex male female 10 28 28 72 age group 2545 years 4665 35 1 97 3 education diploma bachelor master 1 25 10 3 69 28 total 36 100 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 54 the above figure (1) shows the academic specialization: 25% of the extension officers their specialization was horticulture, 25% their specialization was agricultural economics, 5% of the extension officers had the same specialization, 22% of them their specialization was crop production, 17% of the extension officers their specialization was extension and only 5% of the extension officers, also only 3% of the extension officers their specialization was crop protection and diploma degree without specialization. the result indicated that the extension specialization that the not the extension officers had, most of the extension officers diverted their specialization. in conclusion the majority of extension staff their educational level was bachelors and this indicate workers were qualified to do their jobs. figure (2) showed that the high percentages (47%) of extension officers their experiences was between 11 to 15 years, 42% of the extension officers their experiences years between 5-10 years, only (5%) of the extension officers their experiences 5 years and less. and 6% of the extension officers their experiences years 16 years and more. it revealed that the majority of the extension officers (89%) their experiences between 5 to 15 years, these results indicated that the extension officers were more stable in their jobs, and then acquired more experiences in their work. table 2. training courses accessed, organizer, and approaches training courses frequency percentages (%) number of training courses no training 12 33 1-2 9 25 3-4 11 31 5 and more 4 11 organizer none 12 33 ministry of agriculture 24 67 approaches of training no training 12 33 lectures and seminars 18 50 demonstration fields /and field days 6 17 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research table (2) shows training courses that the respondents had: number of training courses: high percentages (33%) of extension officers had not trained, the second percentages 31% for the extension officers had 3-4 training courses, 25% of the extension officers and (12%) had only 1-2 training courses, and only (11%) of them had 5 and more training courses. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 55 the result indicated that the high percentage of the respondents had no training courses, the majority of the extension officers which had training their training organized by ministry of agriculture, the methods of training as mentioned were lectures and seminars. in fact, the results indicated that high percentage of the extension officers out of training, but the training is highly important for them and must by organized from the source of the recommended information and by the specializing personal and by the appropriate methods. table 3. links between extension officers and farmers and type of inputs distributed relationship with farmer frequency percentages (%) nature of the link with farmers direct 29 81 indirect 7 19 type of the relation with farmers personal 7 19 formal 6 17 social 2 6 functional 21 58 visit as between service delivers and farmers reciprocal visits 20 56 from components to the farmer 16 44 from farmer to the components 0 0 communication through repeated visits very strong (repeated) 12 33 strong (spaced) 15 42 weak (rare) 9 25 following up farmers in their work continuing follow up 10 28 medium follow up 16 44 weak follow up 8 22 no following up 2 6 receiving opinion of farmers and feedback continuously collected 19 53 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research table (3) showed the links with farmers and nature of the link: the majority of both 81% of the extension officers were explained that the nature of the link with farmers was direct link and 19% of the extension officers explained the link was indirect. type of the link: the majority of extension officers 58% had functional link with farmers, 19% of the extension officers and (20%) sited that they had personal link with the farmers, 17% of the extension officers and only (5%) agreed that there had formal link with farmers and 6% of the extension officers their link with farmers was social link. visits with farmers: the majority (56%) of the extension officers explained that the visits between them and the farmers was reciprocal visits, 44% of the extension officers explained the visits from them to the farmers, and no one of the extension officers explained that the visits from the farmers to them. communication through repeated visits: high percentages (42%) of the respondents explained that the communication strong, 33% of the extension officers explained that the communication is very strong, 25% of the extension officers explained that the communication was weak. the following up: the majority (72%) of the extension officers explained that the following up to the farmers continuing and medium following, 22% of the extension officers explained that their following up was weak and only 6% of the extension officers explained they did not follow up the farmers. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 56 receiving the opinion and feedback from the farmers: the majority (53%) of the extension officers explained that they continuingly collected the opinion and the feedback of the farmers, 30% of the extension officers explained that they poorly collecting the opinion and the feedback from the farmers and only 17% of the extension officers explained that they did not collecting the opinion and the feedback of the farmers. table 4. distribution of the respondents by their sources of inputs and innovations: frequency percentages (%) sources of inputs no thing 1 3 research center 16 44 imported companies 2 6 center services 17 47 sources of inputs information no thing 2 6 research center 27 75 university 3 8 imported companies 1 3 center services 3 8 sources of innovations information no thing 5 14 research center 14 39 imported companies 14 39 center services 3 8 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research table (4) shows the source of inputs, information and innovations: source of inputs that provided to the farmers: 6% of the extension officers explained that their inputs source was imported companies, 44% of the extension officers explained that research centre their source of inputs, 3% of the extension officers explained that they had no source of inputs, the majority (75%) of the extension officers explained that research centre was their source of inputs information that provided to the farmers also (8%) of the extension officers explained that their source of inputs information was university, 6% of the extension officers explained that they had no source of inputs information, 3% of extension officers explained that their source of inputs information was imported components. source of innovations and information of the innovations: 39% of the extension officers explained that research centre was their source, also 39% of the extension officers explained that the imported components was there, 14% of extension officers explained that they had no source of information, 8% of the extension officers explained that centres services was their source of innovations and information that provided to the farmers. from the above result the high percentages of the extension officers their source of input that provided to the farmers was service centres, the majority of extension officers their source of input information was research centers, about the source of innovation information the research centre and the imported companies had the same percentage as the source of innovation information to the extension. this result indicated there were other partners in agricultural works like imported companies and the services centres that aid in delivering information to the farmers via extension officers. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 57 figure (3) showed the source of technical package information: the majority (89%) of the extension officers explained that they provided application information to the farmers, 11% of the extension officers explained that they did not provided any application information to the farmers. source of information about sowing date: the majority of the (89%) of the extension officers explained that their source about sowing date was the research. (88%) of the extension officers explained that their source of information about preparing land was the research. (89%) of the extension officers explained that their source of information about seed rate was the research institution, 11% of the extension officers explained that they did not provided any information about seed rate or information about irrigation: the majority (89%) of the extension officers explained that their source of information about irrigation was the research. 75% of the extension officers explained that their source of information about fertilization was the research centre. also 75% of the extension officers explained that their source of information about pesticides used was the research institution. source of information about harvesting practices and time: the majority (81%) of the extension officers explained that their source of information about harvest practices and time was research institution figure (4) shows the method of conducting information to the farmers: the majority (64%) of the extension officers explained that their method to present the information to the farmers was demonstration field, 19% of the extension officers explained that their method to present the information was personal explanation, 14% of the extension officers explained that they used all the available methods (personal explanation, demonstration field, media bulletins, lectures and seminars), 3% of the extension officers explained that they used lectures and seminars as presenting methods. from these results the majority of the extension officers used demonstration fields as a method of presentation of information to the farmers. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 58 figure (5) showed the assessment of the cost of transferring information: the majority (64%) of the extension officers explained that the cost was medium, 28% of the extension officers explained that they was no cost for transferring information to the farmers, 5% of the extension officers explained that the cost was weak while and 3% of the extension officers explained that the cost for transferring information to the farmers was. from these results the majority of the extension officer explained that there was a medium cost for transferring information to the farmers, therefore the costs for transferring information can be reduced by involving other partners in the extension work, that will reduce the cost of transferring information. table 5. distribution of the respondents by the types of the links with the agricultural partners: type of link with the agricultural partners frequency percentages (%) type of the link with research no relationship 1 3 direct 27 75 indirect 8 22 type of the link with university no relationship 1 3 direct 3 8 indirect 32 89 type of the link with imported companies no relationship 1 3 direct 3 8 indirect 32 89 type of the link with services centers no relationship 1 3 indirect 35 97 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research table (5) shows the link with agricultural partners: type of the link with research institution: the majority (75%) of extension officers explained that there had direct link with the research institution, 22% of the extension officers explained that their link with the research institution was indirect, only 3% of the extension officers explained that they had no any relation with the research institution. type of the link with university: the majority (63%) of the respondents consecutive that their link with university was indirect, 8% of the extension officers explained that their link with the university was direct and 3% of the extension officers explained that they had no link with the university. type of the link with imported companies: the majority (89%) of the extension officers explained that their link with the imported companies was indirect, only 8% of the extension officers explained that their link with imported companies was direct. type of the link with services centres: the majority (97%) of the extension officers explained that their link with services centres was indirect while only 3% of the extension officers explained that they had no link with the services centres. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 59 table 6. distribution of the respondents by their communication with agricultural partners: degree of communication frequency percentages (%) research institutions strong (3-5 visits in the season) 22 61 weak (less than 3 visits in the season) 13 36 none (no visits) 1 3 communication with university very strong (more than 5 visits in the season) 1 3 strong (3-5 visits in the season) 15 42 weak (less than 3 visits in the season) 18 49 none (no visits) 2 6 communication with imported companies strong (3-5 visits in the season) 14 39 weak (less than 3 visits in the season) 21 58 none (no visits) 1 3 communication with services centres. strong (3-5 visits in the season) 14 39 weak (less than 3 visits in the season) 20 56 none (no visits) 2 5 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research table (6) showed the communication with the other agricultural partners: communication with research institution: the majority (61%) of extension officers explained that the communication with research institution was strong, 36% of the extension officers explained that the communication with research institution was weak, only 3% of the extension officers explained that they was no communication with research. the high parentage (49%) of the extension officers explained that the communication with university was weak, 42% of the extension officers explained that the communication with university was strong, 6% of the extension officers explained that they was no communication with university and only 3% of the extension officers explained that the communication with university was very strong. (58%) of the extension officers explained that the communication with imported companies was weak, 39% of the extension officers explained that the communication with imported companies was strong only 3% of the extension officers explained that there was no communication with the imported companies. communication with the services centres: the majority (56%) of the extension officers explained that they had weak communication with the services centres, 39% of the extension officers explained that the communication with services centres was strong and only 5% of the extension officers explained that there was no communication with the services centres. from these results the majority of the extension officers explained that their communication was strong with the research and with other partners (university, imported companies and services centres) was weak. that indicted the clear relation with clear linked between the entire partners will active the extension process. table 7. distribution of the respondents by their opinion of the effective agricultural partners: frequency percentages (%) cost-effective partners for access information researcher 21 58 university 3 8 imports companies 5 14 services centers 7 19 availability of partners in case of emergency researcher 22 61 imports companies 6 17 services centers 8 22 the interested partners in the feedback of the farmers researches 30 83 imports companies 5 14 service centers 1 3 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 60 table (7) showed the effective agricultural partners: the less cost partners: the majority (58%) of the extension officers explained that the partners had less cost was the research institution, 19% of the extension officers explained that service centres was the less cost partners, 14% of the extension officers explained that imported companies was the less cost, and 8% of the extension officers explained that university was the less. the more available partners: the majority (61%) of the extension officers explained that the research was the more available partners while, 22% of the extension officers explained that services centres was the more available partners and 17% of the extension officers explained that the imported companies was the more available. the interested partners on the feedback: the majority (83%) of the extension officers explained that the research institution was the more interested partners on the feedback, 14% of the extension officers explained that the imported companies was the more interested on feedback and 3% of the extension officers explained that the more interested on feedback was services centres. from these results the opinion of the extension officers explained that the research centres had some of the effective partners characters like the less cost and efforts to get information, the more available partners in case of problem, the partners had the required information, the faster response partners and the interested partners in the feedback of the farmers, while service centres had some effective partners characters as the opinion of the extension officers like the partners had the required information and the more relevant partners. table 8. reasons to include the services centres in the extension activities: frequency percentages (%) reasons facilitate transferring the information to the farmers 6 17 integral of the agricultural operation and necessity of coordination 30 83 total 36 100 indicating by spss; descriptive statistic, source; field research table (8) showed the agree of the responders with the reasons for including services centres in extension activities as the following: the majority of the extension officers (83%) and consecutively explained that the integration of the agricultural operations and necessity of coordination between the partners of highly important, 17% of the extension officers explained that cooperation ease the transferring of information to the farmers. from theses result services centres had been very effective partners in the extension work, so it should be involved in the extension activities. table 9. correlation test to measure the relationship between the extension officers and ascs links with partners and personal characters of extension officers and ascs: extension officers personal characters of the respondents link with research link with university link with imported companies link with center services gender correlation .111 -.187 . a -.150 sig .519 .275 . .381 n 36 36 36 36 age correlation -.076 .051 . a .041 sig. .661 .768 . .812 n 36 36 36 36 education level correlation -.171 .115 . a .092 sig. .320 .504 . .592 n 36 36 36 36 type of education correlation . a . a . a . a www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 61 sig. . . . . n 36 36 36 36 specialization correlation .019 -.170 . a .200 sig. .911 .321 . .242 n 36 36 36 36 experience correlation -.326 .220 . a .177 sig. .052 .198 . .302 n 36 36 36 36 occupation correlation . a . a . a . a sig. . . . . n 36 36 36 36 satisfaction of business career correlation .359* .170 . a .253 sig. .031 .323 . .136 n 36 36 36 36 the constant evaluation correlation -.022 -.074 . a .083 sig. .899 .669 . .631 n 36 36 36 36 the follow up and evaluation correlation .090 -.134 . a .010 sig. .600 .435 . .955 n 36 36 36 36 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). c. cannot be computed because at least one of the variables is constant. table (9) shows that there was some significantly correlated between the links with the others partners and the personal character of the extension officers and the center services workers. the extension officers' personal characters, business career had significant correlation with the link with research (.031) the value (r=.359) and other personal characters had no significant correlation. table 10. distribution of correlation test to measure the relationship between extension officers and ascs links with the partners and the link with farmers: the relationship with farmers extension officers link with research link with university link with imported companies link with center services nature of the relationship with farmers correlation .534** -.106 . a -.494** sig. .001 .539 . .002 n 36 36 36 36 type of the relationship with farmers correlation .352* -.237 . a -.191 sig. .035 .164 . .265 n 36 36 36 36 vistas between extension and farmers correlation .200 .217 . a -.337* sig. .242 .204 . .044 n 36 36 36 36 communication through repeated visits correlation .049 .099 . a -.027 sig. .776 .565 . .878 n 36 36 36 36 method of presenting information to farmers correlation -.164 .144 . a .062 sig. .339 .403 . .718 n 36 36 36 36 the cost of transforming information to correlation -.016 .138 . a -.197 sig. .927 .421 . .250 n 36 36 36 36 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 62 farmers following up farmers in his works correlation .059 -.099 . a .016 sig. .734 .567 . .927 n 36 36 36 36 collected opinions of farmers and feedback correlation -.083 .123 . a -.117 sig. .632 .476 . .498 n 36 36 36 36 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). c. cannot be computed because at least one of the variables is constant. table (10) shows that the extension officers had high significantly correlated between the nature of the relationship with farmers and link with research sig (.001) value of correlation (.534) and the link with center services sig (.002) value of correlation (-.494) and was opposed direction. also, there was low significantly correlated between the vistas between extension and farmers and the link with center services sig (.044) value of correlation (-.337) and was opposed direction. while the service centers worker only had low significant correlation between the cost of transforming information to farmers and the link with centers service sig (011) value of correlation (.335) table 11. correlation test to measure the relationship between the extension officers and ascs links with the partners and the source of technical packages information: extension officers source of agricultural application information link with research link with university link with imported companies link with center services source of information about sowing dates correlation .158 -.107 . a -.086 sig .357 .536 . .619 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about preparing land correlation .158 -.107 . a -.086 sig. .357 .536 . .619 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about seeds rate correlation .158 -.107 . a -.086 sig. .357 .536 . .619 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about irrigation correlation .158 -.107 . a -.086 sig. .357 .536 . .619 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about fertilization correlation .131 .071 . a .057 sig. .445 .681 . .741 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about pesticides used correlation .131 .071 . a .057 sig. .445 .681 . .741 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about grossing operation correlation .158 -.107 . a -.086 sig. .357 .536 . .619 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about harvest dates correlation -.037 .025 . a .020 sig. .829 .884 . .907 n 36 36 36 36 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 63 source of information about harvest methods correlation -.037 .025 . a .020 sig .829 .884 . .907 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about postharvest correlation -.037 .025 . a .020 sig. .829 .884 . .907 n 36 36 36 36 source of information about marketing correlation . a . a .a .a sig. . . . . n 36 36 36 36 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). c. cannot be computed because at least one of the variables is constant. table (11) shows that the extension officers had not significantly correlated between the source of technical package and other partner’s links while the service centers worker had low significant correlation between the link with imported companies and some technical package (source of information about sowing dates, source of information about preparing land, source of information about irrigation and source of information about clearing operation table 12. correlation test to measure the relationship between extension officers and ascs links with the partners and the opinion of the on the other partners: the opinion of the extension officers and center services workers extension officers link with research link with university link with imported companies link with center services costs of transferring information correlation -.277 .187 .a .150 sig. .101 .275 . .381 n 36 36 36 36 components that you consider more useful in giving information correlation -.040 .299 .a -.284 sig. .815 .076 . .093 n 36 36 36 36 the available components in case of problem correlation .085 .228 . a -.367* sig. .624 .181 . .028 n 36 36 36 36 the components had the required information correlation .164 .102 . a -.260 sig. .339 .555 . .126 n 36 36 36 36 the faster response components correlation .260 -.231 . a -.186 sig. .125 .176 . .278 n 36 36 36 36 the more relevant components correlation .171 -.185 . a -.149 sig. .317 .280 . .386 n 36 36 36 36 the interested components in get and register the comment and feedback correlation .247 -.225 . a -.181 sig. .146 .186 . .290 n 36 36 36 36 need to establish correlation . b .a . a . a www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 64 relationship between center series and other components sig. . . . . n 36 36 36 36 **. correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). *. correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed). c. cannot be computed because at least one of the variables is constant. table (12) shows that the extension officers had not significantly correlated between the links with the others partners and the opinion on the other partners. while the service centers worker had low significant correlation between the link with extension and the assets of costs of transferring information sig (.012) value (.331) and high significant correlation also with the link with extension and components that you consider more useful in giving information sig (.000) value (.772) and the available components in case of problem sig (.000) value (.774). table 13. regression test to measure the effective of the link between the extension officers and other partners on information exchanging: model un standardized coefficients standardized coefficients t sig. b std. error beta (constant) -4.667 10.107 -.462 .647 the link with research 2.167 1.926 .427 1.125 .049 the link with university 2.667 2.187 .389 1.219 .232 the link with center services 2.613e-15 2.320 .000 .000 1.000 a. dependent variable: the components had the required information b. predictors: (constant), the relationship with center services, the relationship with university, the relationship with research table (13) showed that the regression test measure the effective of the relationship between the partners and the extension officers on the information exchanging, the relationship with research had impact with significant regression (.049) low value (.427 beta) but was moor effect than the impact of the relationship with university which was no significant regression (.232) low value (.389 beta) and the relationship with the service centers had not impact with no significant regression (1.00269) and no value the value was (.000 beta). 4. conclusion and recommendations extension system has been established to develop and/or adapt technologies that would help agricultural development to improve production and bridge the gap of food security. since 1992 a lot of partners had talked their place in the agricultural work like the import’s companies and the services centers with public extension. to give effective delivery of information to farmers i.e. (adequate, updated recommended information, in the right time, by the best methods, with less cost to increase the best profit of all) the extension officers should be coordinate with other partners in delivering of agricultural services to the farmers. the study recommends that clear direct link to all agricultural components, private sector should involve in designing the extension policy and continuing training sessions have to be held to all extension officers. put a clear direct linkage to agricultural partners. private sector should be involving in the designing of the extension policy. sufficient information should be transferred to extension officers. in-service training has to be held for extension officers. a clear linkage with other partners especially the (ascs) has to be established. references ameur, c. (1994). agricultural extension in the developming countries’ international institute for land reclamation and improvement wageningen / the netherlands / 1968. https://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-2843-3. altae, i. h. (2012). how to determine the sample size, faculty of physical education, bagdad university, iraq. alla, e. & yass, e. k. e. (2009). the reality of execution of some agricultural extension policies: case study gezira state, sudan a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of master of science in agricultural extension faculty of agricultural sciences university of gezira. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 65 chipeta, s., christoplos, i., & katz, e. (2008). common framework on market-oriented agricultural advisory services. lindau, switzerland: neuchâtel group. (www. neuchatelinitiative.net / english/ documents/ cf on market oriented agricultural advisory servicessmall.pdf) el hadi omer, t. (2013). knowledge networking among actors of the rahad agricultural scheme, sudan a thesis submitted for the requirement of doctoral degree in agriculture from faculty of agriculture and nutritional sciences, home economics and environmental management justus liebig university giessen, germany. hassan, a., & khalil, o. (2008). commitment on extension workers’ performance. social research volume 1/4 ( 3), 68–87. khatam, a., muhammad, s., & ashraf, i. (2013). role of individual contact methods in dissemination of agricultural technologies. pakistan journal of agricultural research, 26(1). riaz, m. (2010). the role of the private sector in agricultural extension in pakistan. rural development news, 1(2010), 15-22. swanson, b. e., & rajalahti, r. (2010). strengthening agricultural extension and advisory systems: procedures for assessing, transforming, and evaluating extension systems agriculture & rural development department world bank – washington copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 published by american center of science and education, usa 38 effectiveness analysis of agricultural protection policy on food supply, export and farmer-welfare in nigeria: generalized method of moment approach mr. emmanuel ejiofor omeje university of nigeria nsukka, faculty of agriculture, department of agricultural economics, nsukka, enugu state, nigeria. ejiofor.omeje@unn.edu.ng, phone 08038090907 prof. chukwuemeka john arene university of nigeria nsukka, faculty of agriculture, department of agricultural economics, nsukka, enugu state, nigeria. cjarene@yahoo.com dr. benjamin chiedozie okpukpara university of nigeria nsukka, faculty of agriculture, department of agricultural economics, nsukka, enugu state, nigeria. benjamin.okpukpara@unn.edu.ng received: november 9, 2018 accepted: november 13, 2018 online published: november 17, 2018 abstract this study examined the effectiveness of agricultural protection policy and other macroeconomic variables on food supply, agricultural export, and farmers welfare in nigeria, from 1980-2016 with a special interest in their relationship with the political economy. the specific objectives were to (i) estimate the degrees of agricultural protection, domestic agricultural food supply and economic welfare to farmers in nigeria, (ii) determine the effectiveness of agricultural protection on food self-supply, agricultural export; and farmer-welfare. data were obtained from secondary sources. descriptive statistics and generalized method of moment (gmm) were used. nigeria’s self-food supply was slightly above 50% while the rest of the consumption depended on importation. the welfare measure to farmers was relatively poor and not good enough to motivate them. there was a positive and significant relationship between export and agricultural protection. a significant and positive relationship also exists between farmer-welfare and protection in the sector. keywords: agricultural protection, effectiveness, self-food supply, agricultural export, farmer-welfare, generalized method of moment. 1. introduction agriculture has been a major source of income for many nigerian people, source of export earnings by the government and source of own food for its growing population. according to okumadewa, (1997), agriculture contributes immensely to nigeria’s economy in various ways including provision of food for the increasing population, supply of adequate raw materials (and labour input) to the growing industrial sector, a major source of employment; generation of foreign exchange earnings, and, provision of market for the products of the agrarian sector. asirvatham (2016) opined that agricultural protection represents an effort by the political class to increase agricultural growth by improving national food security and minimizing food dependence on foreign countries. this means that the agricultural sector has a strong relationship with the economy and hence, the concern for agricultural policies. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:ejiofor.omeje@unn.edu.ng mailto:cjarene@yahoo.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 39 in economic and political terms, agricultural protection policies are not new in africa. according to the organisation for economic co-operation and development [oecd] (2018), agricultural protection could be defined as the ratio between the average price received by producers (measured at the farm gate), including net payments per unit of current output, and the border price (measured at the farm gate). for instance, a coefficient of 1.10 suggests that farmers, overall, received prices that were 10% above international market levels. this indicator reflects the level of price distortions and is measured by the producer nominal protection coefficient expressed as the ratio of farm price to border reference price. also, any policy that puts up tariffs or other trade barriers on agricultural products so as to prevent or discourage imports or any policy that seeks to promote agriculture in a given area is termed agricultural protection policy. the patterns of agricultural protection policies in africa suggest that developing nations strongly subsidize agriculture (olper, 1998). other scholars like inhwam (2008) and barrette (1999) had argued that agricultural protection is capable of creating negative externalities to developing countries because agricultural protection distorts trades of agricultural products which some developing countries have a comparative advantage in producing. goldin and knudsen (1990) opined that since agriculture is a sector of comparative advantage for many developing countries now and for some time in future, agricultural protection does not materially impair their potentials for economic growth. swinnem (1996), inhwam, (2008) and barrett (1999) noted that some political environment surrounding food price policy differs markedly across time in a given country and cross-sectional among countries at any given time. the political economy of financing and or supporting agricultural policy by the government is determined by the government’s interests. to determine where, when or how much resources any rational government would commit into agricultural protection, some important political economy factors or indicators are expected to guide the decision. bratton and van de walle (1994) viewed political economy variables as those factors taken into consideration as economic and political exigencies when analyzing determinants of protectionism. such political economy variables may include the state of food security or food self-sufficiency status; the contribution of foreign exchange earnings from the sector’s export; general economic welfare to farm producers; gdp of the sector; policy changes; budgetary allocation to the sector; and political or structural changes in the economy. in the same line of thought, amin (1972) explained that the different regimes reflected varying economic and political interests and similar commodity biases. it is expected that a nation whose food supply is grossly dependent on import would be politically vulnerable. food production during the world wars generated the revenues necessary for administrative independence for some countries (cooper, 2002). pejout opined that food riots and violence became more prevalent in african cities following the rapid escalation of food prices in 2008 (pejout, 2010) and this resulted in political instability and drove governments to re-analyze their agricultural policy. general economic welfare to farmers is also a political indicator that determines the demand push for protection from voters/farmers. it is expected that when the farmers are not making much of profit, their demand for protection may likely increase. sometimes, it is suspected that political class purposively increases the budget for protection or subsidies in order to gain political support during elections. in line with this, bratton and van de walle (1994), opined that political class or elite mobilize political support by using their public position to distribute rent-seeking opportunities such as subsidies, interest free-loan, or grants. nations’ gdp or gnp appears to be a quick tool in the hands of politicians for measuring the progress of policies. the gdp situation during a specific period or policy regime may guide the political class on whether more funds should be pushed into the sector or not. also, the government usually would like to increase revenue through agricultural export since financial constraints can weaken administrative capacity and threaten political stability (gardner, 2012). governments’ decision to intervene and finance agricultural sector is usually spurred by a number of factors but common among them is to protect the farmers’ commodity price from domestic and international market forces; to improve farmers’ income and standard of living; and to protect the consumers from excessive prices (inhwam, 2008). therefore, agricultural projects and policy reforms are expected to be subjected to analyses to examine its effectiveness in ensuring production of own food, increasing export and improving the wellbeing of the producers. problem statement www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 40 it is notable that between 1980 and 2016, the federal government of nigeria has promulgated various agricultural policies and implemented many projects and programmes with the views to improving the standard of livelihood of producers, increase food supply and agricultural export. for example, in 1981, nigeria pursued import substitution industrialization strategy of which import prohibition policy was pronounced; from 1981, the policy shifted towards export promotion policy. at this point, the government was made to embark on the economic stabilization policy (temporal provisions) act in april 1982. to consolidate the policy, nigeria further protected agriculture sector when the policy brought about the prohibition of frozen poultry while tariff on 49 agricultural commodities was raised. between 1983 1985, 152 items were brought specific import license and foreign exchange policy regulations became more stringent (briggs, 2007). in 1986, a noticeable shift in policy was directly attributed to greater liberalization policy and the adoption of structural adjustment programme (sap). between 1988 and 1994, protection policy became more evident when the government provided a seven-year import tariff where imports attracted ad valorem rates applied in most favoured nation (mfn) basis. also, between 1995 and 2001, another tariff regime succeeded in the previous regime. the restructuring and recapitalization of the nigeria agricultural bank to provide loans to peasant farmers at single digit interest rates. the launching of the growth enhancement scheme to cater for farmers using the e-wallet system. the substitution of 20% of wheat bread flour with cassava flour. agricultural commodity marketing and pricing policy in 1977, six national commodity boards were established which include; commodity boards for cocoa, groundnuts, palm produce, cotton, rubber and food grains. land use policy was promulgated by the federal government in 1978 vesting the ownership of all lands on the government as to giving genuine farmers access to farmlands. agricultural extension and technology transfer policy aimed at improving the adoption of improved agricultural technology by farmers with the national accelerated food production project (nafpp) and agricultural development projects (adps) as implementing agencies. input supply and distribution policy were promulgated to ensure adequate and orderly supply of agricultural inputs notably fertilizers, agrochemicals, seeds, machinery and equipment such that agricultural input subsidy policy on fertilizer was 50%, agro-chemicals (50%) and tractor hiring services (50%). also, agricultural research policy was established in 1971, followed by agricultural co-operatives policy in 1979 and water resources and irrigation policy which brought about the establishment of eleven river basin development authorities in 1977 charged with the responsibility of developing nigeria’s lands and water resources and agricultural mechanization policy which was instrumental to the creation of the ministry of science and technology and the establishment of some universities of science and technology, the operation of tractor hiring units in all the states of nigeria, reduced import duty on tractors and agricultural equipment and implements, generalized and liberalized subsidies on farm clearing and establishment of a centre for agricultural mechanization. despite all these efforts, poverty has persisted in the sector where over 70% of its rural population is engaged in agricultural activities (international food and agricultural development [ifad] 2016, national bureau of statistics, [nbs], 2017). according to olawepo (2010), income has generally remained low from agricultural production in nigeria. also, international fund for agricultural development (ifad, 2016; nbs, 2017) reported that despite all these many efforts, poverty is still widespread in the country and has been on increase since the 1990s. also, past studies have shown that most of these poorest households are found working in agriculture (ikpi, 1989; ayoola, aina, mamma, nweze, odebiyi, okumadewa, shehu, williams & zasha, 2000; alayande & alayande, 2004; poulton, doward & kydd, 2005). prices are also not stable as agricultural commodities were hit with inflation of about 18.72% in january 2017, one of the highest in the history of nigeria (national bureau of statistics (nbs, 2017). for this suspected paradox of multiple protection policies with stagnated policy outcomes, there is an urgent need for a proper assessment of the effectiveness of agricultural protection policy since all these protectionist interventions may have not yielded the much-expected results in nigeria. the objective of this research was to empirically evaluate the effectiveness of agricultural protection policies, programmes and projects on the general economy with a special interest in domestic food supply, export and producer welfare. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 41 2. literature review 2.1 effects of agricultural protection in the economy in olatomide and omowumi (2013), the assessment of the effects of the agricultural support reforms and policies on the agricultural sector is with respect to the fundamental roles of agriculture which include provision of adequate food for a growing population and raw materials for industries, provision of an expanding market for nonagricultural products, generation of savings for investment in agriculture as well as other sectors and release of surplus or underutilized resources to other sectors, and generation of foreign exchange. joachim and valdes (1993) are of the view that agricultural protectionism in industrialized countries is well known to heavily burden consumers and/or taxpayers but it also reaches far beyond a country’s borders. it negatively affects actual or potential agricultural exporters. on the contrary, abou and takor in 2003 conducted a study on “the relevance of tax incentives in export-oriented enterprises in lebanon”. 117 managers of export businesses in lebanon were considered for the study to indicate whether tax incentives significantly promote their investment. the data generated from the study, which were analyzed using simple percentages, revealed that a tax incentive is a strong tool for investment promotion in export-oriented businesses like agriculture. similarly, gomes (1999) conducted a pilot study of twenty-five (25) business executives and his findings indicated several forms of tax incentives applicable to businesses in brazil. holland (1996) conducted a study on “income tax incentives for investment in agro-allied business” and the researcher operationalized tax incentive into investment allowance and loss relief. the main objective of that study was to examine the extent to which tax incentives influence the investment of agro-allied business in free-trade zone areas. in order to collect the necessary data for the study, holland considered eighty-three business executives whose businesses are located in the nine free-trade zones in uruguay. part of her findings showed that investment allowance and loss relief has a positive significant impact on corporate investment of agro-allied businesses. according to philip (1995), the tax incentive is a deliberate reduction in or total elimination of tax liability granted by the government in order to encourage particular economic units to act in some desirable ways-invest more, produce more, employ more, save more, consume less, import less, pollute less and so on. from the political point of view, agricultural protection could be a tool for gathering voters’ support. public choice and collective action theories hypothesize that the interests of politicians, bureaucrats, and farm organizations are the driving forces increasing government protection (swinnen & van der zee, 1993; josling et al, 2010). supporting this view, gardner (1994) suggests that the nature of agricultural protectionism has shifted from problem-solving to interest-group politics. gardner (1987) had earlier examined why the extent of government intervention differs from commodities in the us. the study showed that self-sufficiency rates in agricultural products were negatively related to the protection rates: i.e. if the commodity faces import competition, it is likely to receive greater protection. low elasticity of demand and supply was positively associated with it. the share of the commodity in aggregate agricultural output had a positive effect on the protection. in addition, swinnen (1994) highlighted the role of relative farm incomes and the countercyclical nature of agricultural protection. after controlling for the effects of economic development, terms of trade, comparative advantages, and constraints on tax collection feasibility, beghin and kherallah (1993) showed that agricultural protection level increases as the political system moves to a more pluralistic form. yet, the study showed that further transition to democratization causes partial dissipation of protection and agricultural protection may persist if transactions costs in connection with eliminating/reducing farm programs/policies are substantial. in line with this importance of the political system, thies and porche (2005) examined political institutional factors on a more detailed level and showed that veto players, federalism, party fragmentation and the timing of elections are as important as other economic factors. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 42 2.2 the system of protectionism in agriculture according to akanegbu (2015), protection can be given through tariffs taxing particular imports but not locally produced versions of the same product or through quantitative restrictions on imports, such as quotas or outright embargoes, limiting the imported supply, or through both together. however, a major disadvantage of the widespread use of protection is that it discourages and decreases trade, thereby, destroying or giving up many of the advantages from trade. there is overwhelming empirical evidence that suggests a strong link between price distortions and economic growth, especially in developing countries; harberger (1959) attempted to explore the possible results of eliminating misallocations of resources in economies like chile, brazil, and argentina. it was concluded that policies aimed at eliminating distortions in the price mechanism can raise the long-term rate of growth of national income. also, results from global and single country studies of subsidy reform suggest that on an aggregate level, changes to gdp are likely to be positive due to the incentives resulting from price changes leading to more efficient resource allocation (von moltke, mckee, & morgan, 2004). also, there is evidence that tax policy has influenced the pattern of investment with consequent effects on overall efficiency. lower taxes have resulted in higher real returns to savings and then investments. higher returns have stimulated a larger aggregate supply of these factors of production and thus raised total output. also, in low-tax countries, different types of financial incentives that were provided appear to have shifted resources from less productive to more productive sectors and activities, thus increasing the overall efficiency of resources utilization. some analysts have attempted to estimate the costs of protection in models using general equilibrium methods to examine the general effects of trade liberalization. for example, de melo (1978), in his study, divided the loss of real income due to protection into two elements: (a) the consumption costs resulting from the distorted prices facing consumers as domestic prices differ from world prices, and (b) the production costs resulting from distortions of prices facing producers. therefore, the total cost of protection is measured by the total reduction in utility from the above effects. however, a general equilibrium approach was used which is not restricted to small departures from free trade. the analysis is based on a walrasian approach, which emphasizes the importance of substitution effects in both product and factor markets on the grounds that a removal of trade barriers entails a large change in relative prices that is likely to affect both producer’s and consumer’s choices. more so, protection has a joint effect of being a consumption tax and a production subsidy, and it reduces the utility enjoyed by the community both by reducing real output below the maximum attainable from the expenditure of the real output below the potential maximum. it was noted that removing quota alone in turkey in 1978 would have increased its gdp by as much as 5.4% (grais, de melo & urata, 1986). also, ubogu (1988) conclude that a liberal trade regime with low tariffs and without quotas up to 1973 led to export-led growth in the world economy and relative stability in nigeria’s export earnings and inflow of foreign capital. also, further study by the world bank monitored agricultural support policies in transition economies (world bank, 2000). this study covers six transition economies during the period 1994-97. using a direct price comparison approach, the study presents various estimates of agricultural support policies including trade and price policy interventions and government non-price related subsidies on production incentives and on net farm income. the study examined to what extent the economic environment prevailing in 1994-97 provided an appropriate and sound basis for adjustment towards a more internationally competitive agricultural sector. based on a common methodology for all countries, the study reports estimates of npr, erp, and era for the major agricultural importcompeting and export activities. the report presents a synthesis of the various indicators for all the countries included, which is followed by individual country agricultural policy notes describing the salient features of agricultural policies at the time. this study does not adjust for a possible misalignment of the exchange rate, though it does present a “decomposition analysis” to examine the relative effect of fluctuations in the real exchange rate, border prices and domestic trade policy on the evolution of domestic real farm prices. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 43 in addition to those studies mentioned above, josling and valdes (2004) noted that the on-going fao study on the roles of agriculture includes a component on agricultural support measures. the study includes a total of 11 countries in asia, sub-saharan africa, north africa and latin america. the analysis presents estimates of nominal and effective rates of protection for the late 1990s, for the major agricultural import-competing and export activities (approximately six activities in total). in summary, the patterns of agricultural protection vary among countries. the political market framework of protection provides factual evidence to show that producers in industrialized countries such as australia, canada, japan, united states, etc. are subsidized while the low-income countries such as china, pakistan, india, turkey, bangladesh, argentina, etc. tax the farmers. also, an analysis of the evolution of producer prices shows that between 1986 and 1995, in seven out of eight countries, all major agricultural producer prices declined in real terms in which most countries, the decline for both import and export was larger during the reform period than in the previous years. at the root of everything in an economy is the force of demand and supply. it is not farfetched to think of these as basically human characteristics. in this context, the government or the ruling class represents the supply side while the consumers or farmers represent the demand side of agricultural protectionism (zietz & valdes, 1993). downs’s (1957) neoclassical economic theory of politics provides a simple starting point. the model allows one to think of protection as the result of demand and supply forces. downs’s model assumes that politicians adopt policies that maximize their chances of staying in office. the beneficiaries of a particular policy, such as government assistance, invest in lobbying effort up to the point where an additional investment of resources is expected to have no net benefits (baldwin 1982). baldwin added that the expected losers of a particular policy also invest in lobbying effort, similarly balancing marginal cost and expected marginal benefit. since one can think of the beneficiaries of government assistance as on the demand side for protection, whereas politicians are on the supply side. politicians supply protection up to the point where the marginal cost of lost support from those opposing government assistance or protection is just equal to the marginal gain in support from those groups demanding assistance or protection. zietz and valdes (1993) explain that the emphasis of downs’s model on marginal changes clearly entails one problem: it is ill-equipped to deal with large changes, such as major structural shifts or regime switches. in those instances, political coalitions tend to break down or are realigned, and formal models based on marginal changes can, therefore, predict little. however, the loss of comparative advantage in agriculture tends to occur gradually rather than at distinct points in time. hence, sufficient political stability may be maintained, at least in principle, even though not in each case, for downs’s model to remain a useful framework for thinking about the growth of agricultural protection. from the earlier discussion, it followed that the basic demand of farmers for protection or, more generally, government intervention results from the high cost, relative to investing in political lobbying, of avoiding income losses through raising productivity growth; diversifying into products with high-income elasticity; or more off-farm employment. according to downs’s theory and olson’s (1965) work, the demand for protection gains political clout with a decline in group size and the consequent cost of the organization. the empirical work by honma and hayami (1986) has provided support for this hypothesis for agriculture that as agriculture shrinks in the development process, the demand for protection becomes more effective ceteris paribus, reaches a maximum, and eventually declines again as the size of the agricultural sector shrinks under a critical level. in addition to smaller group size, there are other changes taking place as employment shrinks in agriculture that help organize a farming lobby and that raises the demand for government support. education levels rise and as information and transportation become more easily accessible, better and lower-cost communication links are established with the city centers. according to zietz and valdes (1993), the lower cost of information, in turn, allows the rural sector to identify more quickly and more reliably any emerging income disparity in relation to other groups in the country. it also reduces the cost of becoming informed and taking part in and organizing political www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 44 activity. in addition, as agriculture becomes more commercialized, agricultural support services establish themselves in the rural sector. in general, arene (2008) notes that supply could be affected by changes in input prices, changes in profitability of substitute commodities, changes in technology, and prices of joint products. zietz and valdes (1993), specify that the supply of protection depends on the perceived costs of protection to individuals or groups inside or outside the sector and; the power of the bureaucracy that is charged with overseeing the particular sector demanding protection. zietz and valdes (1993) opine that high perceived costs of protection are likely to generate resistance or countervailing power. for politicians, this is equivalent to a rise in their supply curve of protection. higher bribes are required from the sector seeking protection, while less protection is provided at the same time. zietz and valdes further identify a number of factors that tend to shift the supply curve for agricultural protection or support. i. an agricultural sector that is large relative to other sectors tends to raise the supply curve for agricultural support measures, in particular, income transfers. to provide support to agriculture under this scenario, politicians would have to impose heavy costs on the sectors outside of agriculture. this has been done, for example, in indonesia starting in the 1970s (barichello, 1989). ii. as income increases, food items take up an increasingly smaller budget much of an incentive to get informed or organized to oppose agricultural protection. the costs associated with becoming active are simply much higher than the expected benefits. iii. industry resistance to agricultural protection has the potential to shift up the supply curve for protection. iv. in the long run, as income levels reach a certain critical level, resistance to agricultural protection may also arise out of environmental concerns of the public. v.resistance against agricultural protection may also arise from within agriculture itself. two factors that have already been mentioned separately combine to bring this about. first, agricultural protection raises land prices, that is, the return to the fixed factor. second, more land is needed by farmers to achieve economies of scale for such land-intensive products as cereals. in sum, agricultural protection actually makes it more difficult for farmers to halt the decline in comparative advantage. vi.a tight government budget is likely to shift upward the supply curve of protection. this is particularly true if agricultural protection is provided in the form of support prices, as for many commodities in the ec, or when government support of the agricultural sector is provided mainly through budgetary expenses, as in the united states. its importance can be measured by the fact that it is generally credited with being one of the driving forces behind the uruguay round and its focus on agriculture (zietz & valdes 1988). vii.protection can be contained by credible pressure from outside the country. this point has already been touched on in the context of industry resistance to agricultural protection. outside pressure can take the form of bilateral pressure applied by a powerful trading partner that is negatively affected by agricultural support programs or legal obligations such as those driven from general agreement on tariff and trade (gatt). in summary, the relationship between agricultural protection and demand and supply first, characterized the subject into two basic concepts. the demand side (farmers or consumers) and the supply side (government in power). to supply protection, it has economic consequences – forgone alternative. despite this, those in power or politicians supply protection up to the point where the marginal loss in support from those opposing government assistance or protection is just equal to the marginal gain in support from those groups demanding assistance or protection. the supply of protection depends on input price, profitability in the sector, change in technology, perceived cost of the protection, groups within and outside the economy. 3. methodology 3.1 the study area the study area is officially known as the federal republic of nigeria, but here often referred to as nigeria. the major exports of the country are: crude oil (petroleum), natural gas, cashew nuts, skin and fur, tobacco, cocoa, www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 45 cassava, rubber, food, live animals, aluminium alloys and other solid minerals, (cia world factbook 2018) while major imports are refined petroleum products, wheat, rice, sugar, herbicides, fertilizers, chemicals, vehicles, aircraft parts, vessels, vegetable products, processed food, beverages, spirits and vinegar, equipment, machines, and tools (nbs 2015). despite its considerable agricultural resources, nigeria is still a net importer of food and agricultural products in general (usaid 2009) and as such the agricultural sector has been one of the least attractive sectors (owutuamor and arene, 2018) and has lost its leading contribution to nigeria's gdp (cbn 2018; fao 2012). 3.2 data specification this work made use of secondary data. the annual time series data of agricultural output, measured by the share of agriculture to gdp, and fdi inflows into the sector were collected from cbn, spanning from 1980-2015 while 2016 was extrapolated. also, npc was calculated from annual data of domestic price collected from faostat and world price collected from the world bank. this study covering a 37-year period, spanning from 1980 to 2016 employed descriptive statistics aided by the use of microsoft excel and inferential statistics in the form of the econometric regression methods of the multiple linear regression and granger causality test were applied as the estimation technique in evaluating the relationships and causality between the dependent variable (agricultural growth) and the political economy variables (agricultural protection level, foreign direct investment inflows to agriculture, gross domestic product (gdp) inflows from the agricultural sector into the economy, political structure changes in national policy reforms and form of government in power). the regression equation was estimated after carrying out pre-estimation tests for stationarity in order to avoid multicollinearity of explanatory variables. to eliminate the presence of autocorrelation in the model, this study applied the augmented dickey-fuller (adf) test to detect the stationarity of the variables at the 5% level of significance and also identify the order of integration of the variables in the model. the study was initially designed to be approached with ordinary least square method but due to endogeneity found in the model, instrument variable (iv) generalised method of moment (gmm) was adopted to take care of the endogeneity. the level of protection in agriculture was estimated using the nominal protection coefficient (npc) model, level of economic welfare was measured using trade measure (tm), and domestic own food production was estimated using food self-sufficiency ratio (srr). the effectiveness model was analysed using the generalised method of moment (gmm) with eviews 9.0 software. 3.3 model specification the coefficients of the protection level in the agricultural sector are widely estimated using the nominal protection coefficient (npc). according to de gorter and tsur, (1991), krueger, schiff, and valdés, (1991), the most simple and widely used measurement of the price wedge is the nominal rate of protection (nrp) and the nominal protection coefficient (npc) (krueger, schiff and valdés, 1991; miller & anderson, 1992 and arene, 2008). the level of protection estimation equation is given as: npc = pd/pw eq1. where: pd = domestic producer price (naira); pw = world price (naira). the coefficient of estimation of nigeria’s own food production was estimated using trade measure (tm) tools. trade measure is a tool used to evaluate the economic welfare accrued to producers in relation to international prices in a given sector like agriculture. this measurement standard was also adopted as standard procedure on national policies’ evaluation and agricultural trade (oecd, 1987). this measurement concept was based on the general phenomenon that a fall in price will lead to fall in farmers’ economic welfare. this fall in real farm prices is expected to lead to increased political pressure by farmers as their demand for protection of import-competing subsectors increases (josling & valdes, 2004). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 46 the trade measure model for producers adopted in this study is given as: tm = (pd pw) x dp. eq2. where: tm = trade measure in agriculture pd = domestic price pw = world price and dp = domestic production. the effectiveness of agricultural protection on some growth indicators such as own food production (ssr), agricultural export and farmers welfare (tm) was analyzed in the standard growth accounting framework. the relationship between growth and other macroeconomic variables such as agricultural growth is often analyzed using the standard models of economic growth (owutuamor and arene, 2018), we apply the solow (1956) growth model in which the growth of economies is broken down into basics in the production function: 𝑌 = 𝑓 (𝐾, l) eq3. to account for time factor in the model and adopt equation 1 to the study according to mankiw, romer and weil (1992), adopting the cobb douglas model, we make the indicators of effectiveness i.e., domestic agricultural food supply (ssr), agricultural export (ae) and farmer-welfare (fm) functions of npc and related independent variables at time (𝑡). that is: eq4. where: y = output indicators or measures of effectiveness and = npc and other factors that determine the rate of output. to account for time factor in the model, according to mankiw, romer and weil (1992), the model is estimated at time (𝑡). eq5. assuming there is a steady state, say a linear relationship, as seen in standard output models; output is estimated by multiple linear equations in the linear form in eq. 3, which formed the basis for the estimation of the model in this study. this study is also based on the assumption that there may be other influential factors affecting growth but this study is only restricted to political economy variables as indicators for quick and easy policy considerations. in order to establish the mathematical function of this model, the intercept , measure of error term and parameters of estimations β1,2,3…n are added in equation 5. eq5. following this, the gmm model used here followed the same econometric derivatives from equations 3 to 5 thereby giving the gmm econometric models as equations 6,7 and 8. 𝑙𝑛ssrfoodr(t)= β0+β1𝑙𝑛fdiagr(t)+β2𝑙𝑛tmgrt)+β3𝑙𝑛poch(t)+β4𝑙𝑛budagr(t)+β5 𝑙𝑛cpi(t)+β6 𝑙𝑛npc(t)+β7𝑙𝑛intrate(t) + ε eq6. 𝑙𝑛agrexp(t)=β0+β1𝑙𝑛fdiagr(t)+β2𝑙𝑛intrate(t)+β3𝑙𝑛poch(t)+β4𝑙𝑛budagr(t)+β5 +𝑙𝑛cpi(t)+β6𝑙𝑛npc(t)+β7𝑙𝑛tmgr(t)+β8𝑙𝑛exrate(t) +ε eq7. 𝑙𝑛tmgr(t)=β0+β1𝑙𝑛exrate(t)+β2𝑙𝑛+β3𝑙𝑛budagr(t)+β4𝑙𝑛npr(t)+β5𝑙𝑛gotype(t)+β6𝑙𝑛c pi(t)+β7𝑙𝑛poch(t)+𝑙𝑛β7agrexp(t)+ε eq8. where: gdp = agricultural gdp (gdp percentage share to agricultural sector is an indicator tool for making quick adjustments in the economy), exr = exchange rate in percentage, npc = nominal protection coefficient (used as proxy for measuring the degree of agricultural protection), ssr = national food situation of political economy (ssr was modeled to capture the dependency ratio of nigeria’s own food production), fdiagr = foreign direct investment (fdi percentage share to agricultural sectors represents the economic and political will of individuals to invest in the sector), intrate = interest rate in percentage, extdebt = external debt in percentage and cpi = consumer price index as a general measure of effect of price on protection dynamics. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 47 4. results and discussion 4.1 pre-estimation techniques some form of data modification and pre-estimation processes were carried out before the main analyses were conducted. the set of data was tested for a unit root in the study. adf was used to carry out the test under its traditional conditions, hypotheses and decision rules as adopted by nwosu and okafor (2014). in a related study, njoku, chigbu and akujobi (2015) also adopted the use of unit root test on some residuals using the adf test. the variables were further tested for endogeneity and corrections made. also, the variables were further subjected to cointegration test to check for a long-term association. the decision rule showed that the prob (t-stat) > 0.05 which implied that the null hypothesis of no integration be rejected and we, therefore, concluded that the variables in the model have a long-term relationship. the results of the adf and co-integration tests are shown in tables 1 and 2. the result shows that all the variables were stationary at their first difference (i.e. 1(1)). the result of the table also confirms that the variables were co-integrated in the longrun at the same rate by the normalized co-integration coefficient with the highest log likelihood in absolute term. table 1: adf unit root test result variables adf sats critical value 1% critical value 5% critical value 10% order of integratio n remark export -5.308594 -3.632900 -2.948404 -2.612874 1(1) stationary budget -5.550498 -3.639407 -2.951125 -2.614300 1(1) stationary gdpagric -6.192236 -3.639407 -2.951125 -2.614300 1(1) stationary npc -5.890904 -3.639407 -2.951125 -2.614300 1(1) stationary ssr -3.657007 -3.657007 -2.967767 -2.622989 1(1) stationary tm -6.692878 -3.632900 -2.948404 -2.612874 1(1) stationary fdi -11.91513 -3.639407 -2.951125 -2.614300 1(1) stationary source: computed output with e-view table 2: johansen cointegration test result eigen value likelihood ratio (lr) critical value 5% hypothesize d no of c.e 0.734822 46.23142 none** 0.673258 1464.734 40.07757 at most 1 0.581074 1446.277 33.87687 at most 2 0.5410732 1431.921 25.58434 at most 3** 0.458023 1419.082 21.13162 at most 4** 0.363664 1408.976 14.26460 at most 5* 0.090478 1401.517 3.841466 at most 6** *(**) denotes rejection of the hypothesis at 5 percent (1 percent) significance levels. l.r. test indicates 5 cointegration equations (s) at 5 percent level. c.e represents co-integrating equations source: computed output with e-view 4.2 estimates of agricultural protection coefficient in nigeria the level of protection in the agricultural sector in nigeria (table 3) shows an unsteady trend with mean value of 1.4%, minimum of -7.1% and maximum of 9.8%. this suggests that nigeria protects agricultural sector. this result is in line with previous studies (olper, 1998) which states that the patterns of agricultural policies in africa suggest that developing nations strongly subsidize or protect agriculture. this concept aimed at measuring the level of price www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 48 protection or intervention using the nominal rate of protection (nrp) or the nominal protection coefficient (npc). a coefficient of 1.10 implies that farmers, overall, received prices that were 10% above international market levels. this indicators as contained in figures 1and 2 reflect the level of price distortions across selected commodities which were measured using the producer nominal protection coefficient (npc) and nominal protection rate (npr) expressed as the ratio of farm price to border reference price. table3: computations showing nominal protection coefficient of agricultural protection in nigeria from, 1980 – 2016 year npc maize npc p-oil npc rice npc rubber npc wheat average npc npr (%) 1980 0.6 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.93 -7.1 1981 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.95 -5.3 1982 0.7 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.98 -2.3 1983 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.94 -5.5 1984 0.6 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.95 -5.5 1985 0.8 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.0 0.96 -3.5 1986 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.01 0.7 1987 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.02 2.3 1988 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.02 1.8 1989 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.01 0.7 1990 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.02 1.6 1991 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.03 2.7 1992 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.03 2.9 1993 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.1 1.0 1.05 4.9 1994 1.0 1.0 1.3 1.1 1.0 1.10 9.8 1995 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.01 1.4 1996 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.00 -0.2 1997 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.02 1.9 1998 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.02 2.3 1999 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.04 3.6 2000 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.03 3.1 2001 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.02 2.1 2002 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.03 3.1 2003 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.02 1.8 2004 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.02 2.3 2005 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.02 1.5 2006 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.01 1.2 2007 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.03 2.7 2008 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.04 4.0 2009 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.04 3.5 2010 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 1.04 3.6 2011 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.01 1.1 2012 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.02 2.0 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 49 2013 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.01 1.2 2014 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.03 2.8 2015 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 1.04 3.6 2016 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.2 1.01 3.4 min max mean 0.93 1.10 1.01 -7.1% 9.8% 1.4% nominal rate of protection (nrp) is also given as (npc-1) x100 in percentages. source: author’s computation, 2018. figure 1: graphical representation of nominal protection coefficient (agricultural protection) of selected agricultural commodities in nigeria from 1980 – 2016 source: author’s computation, 2018. figure 2: graphical representation of nominal protection rate in nigeria from 1980 – 2016 source: author’s computation, 2018 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 50 4.2 estimates domestic food supply in nigeria the ability to produce own food and reduce dependency on importation has been one of the major policy objectives among many african countries. nigeria’s food self-sufficiency ratio on major staple foods in nigeria from 1980 to 2016 was calculated and the average presented in table 4 and figure 3. the results show that apart from the period between 1987 and 1991 when the ssr was highest, ranging from 70.8 to 84.8 percent, the rest of the period was characterized by huge dependency on food importation and lesser food sufficiency ratio. the result also shows that from 1999 to 2016, which represents the period under nigeria’s democratic rule, the npc has stayed steadily between 54.5% 62.2% showing that no meaningful increase has taken place since this democratic regime. table 4: table presentation of average estimate of food self sufficiency ratio (ssr) in nigeria between 1980 and 2016 year ssr year ssr year ssr year ssr 1980 50.5 1990 84.8 2000 61.5 2010 57.7 1981 47.2 1991 70.8 2001 54.5 2011 57.2 1982 46.9 1992 67.4 2002 57.7 2012 57.1 1983 56.2 1993 64.2 2003 56.3 2013 56.9 1984 58.5 1994 64.2 2004 57.6 2014 57.0 1985 61.1 1995 65.9 2005 58.9 2015 57.1 1986 64.3 1996 65.2 2006 60.9 2016 56.8 1987 78.4 1997 62.8 2007 58.0 1988 71.5 1998 63.8 2008 61.0 1989 73.0 1999 62.2 2009 59.1 this average estimate of food self sufficiency ratio (ssr) was calculated using the ssr of major staple foods in nigeria. source: author’s computation, 2018 figure 3: graphical area representation of food ssr from 1980 – 2016. source: author’s computation, 2018. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 51 4.3 estimates of farmer welfare in nigeria the proxy for measuring the price distortion advantage in financial values as accrued to nigerian farmers in table 5 and figure 4 shows that the most favourable period for farmers was between 2010 and 2012 when growth-based agricultural policy, agricultural transformation agenda and growth enhancement support (ges) schemes were executed. from the table 5 and figure 4, the results show that the welfare package to farmers were merely staggering between 1980 and 2009. this suggests that the policies have not been very favourable to farmers when compared to international prices. in line with expectations, harberger (1959) had opined that there is overwhelming empirical evidence suggesting a strong link between price distortions and economic growth, especially in developing countries. during this period too, average gdp share to the sector was 25.3 percent and above the mean value of 21percent. also, in line with results from global and single country studies of subsidy reform suggest that on an aggregate level, changes to gdp are likely to be positive due to the incentives resulting from price changes leading to more efficient resource allocation (von moltke, mckee, & morgan, 2004). therefore, gdp share from agriculture could be used to check if efficient resources were allocated to appropriate policies in a particular place and time. table 5: table presentation of farmers’ economic welfare in naira between 1980 and 2016 year av tm year av tm year av tm year av tm 1980 60686281 1990 145833703 2000 161373522 2010 242727700 1981 75046349 1991 163540719 2001 114436819 2011 344972298 1982 57469514 1992 134441975 2002 64915892 2012 174308887 1983 46761825 1993 118367860 2003 150367319 2013 148967140 1984 35386468 1994 180348350 2004 146206977 2014 110192896 1985 24983884 1995 156189188 2005 140515254 2015 18721698 1986 23813465 1996 178140863 2006 156739490 2016 31910376 1987 57217767 1997 155126058 2007 122805774 1988 93590225 1998 153492256 2008 150913174 1989 123421022 1999 94136451 2009 82122932 avtm is the average trade measures in naira accrued to farmers in nigeria. source: author’s computation, 2018 figure 4: graphical charts of farmer-welfare in nigeria from 1980 – 2016. note: 1to 37 represent 1980 to 2016; avtm represents average trade measures. source: author’s computation, 2018 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 52 4.4 effectiveness of agricultural protection on agricultural food self supply, agricultural export, and farmerwelfare. the result of the regression analysis of the effects of agricultural protection and other political economy variables on growth outputs i.e, y1, y2, and y3 in the model are shown in table 6. the variables were first tested of endogeneity. knowing that if the p < 0.5, accept the null hypothesis that the model contains endogenous variables or reject it if otherwise. from the result, the probability was lesser than 0.05 (0.0003). therefore, the variables are endogenous and fit for instrumental variable gmm regression. the regression output as analysed with gmm is presented in table 6 and each dependent variable is discussed under the following sub-headings: 4.4.1 domestic food supply (ssr) from the table, about 83% variations in agricultural exports were explained by variations in the political economy variables which was statistically significant (p<0.01). this means that at least, one or more variables specified in the model significantly affected the export growth from agricultural sector. from this result in table 4.7, the null hypothesis which states that agricultural protection policy does not have significant effect on agricultural export in nigeria be rejected. the effect of agricultural protection on agricultural export was negative and significant (p<0.001). therefore, a unit increase in the predictor variable showed that the outcome of agricultural export decreased by 0.07 %. this means that in the long run, as protection increased, export from the sector declined significantly. the effect of structural changes in policy outlook was negative and significant (p<0.001) on agricultural export level. statistically, when the political/policy structure outlook appeared to favour liberalization, the outcome of export decreased by 0.48%. the structural outlook content is another determinant in decision making processes. on one part, it forms a basis for level of demand or pressure from the farmers and on the second hand, the level of response or supply of protection instruments by the government. according to virender (1993), the structural changes that occur during the course of economic development have been shown as instrumental in bringing about a switch in export considerations. this means that negative coefficient of poch i.e., liberalization favours export more than protection. the effect of cpi on gdp share from agricultural sector was positive and significant (p<0.001). in other words, a unit increase in predictor variable showed that the outcome of export increased by 0.01%. this is in line with the apriori expectation that increase in price would lead to increase in production thereby increasing the export from the sector. 4.4.2 agricultural export the result shows that about 83% variations in agricultural exports were explained by variations in the political economy variables which was statistically significant (p<0.01). this means that at least, one or more variables specified in the model significantly affected the export growth from agricultural sector. from this result in table 6, the null hypothesis which states that agricultural protection policy does not have significant effect on agricultural export in nigeria be rejected. this is because npr is significant in the regression. the effect of agricultural protection on agricultural export was negative and significant (p<0.001). therefore, a unit increase in the predictor variable showed that the outcome of agricultural export decreased by 0.07 %. table 6: parameter estimates of gmm regression on effectiveness of agricultural protection and other political economy variables on nigeria’s self-sufficiency ratio, agricultural export and farmer-welfare. variables parameters standard error t-ratio y1=self sufficiency ratio constant 57.13534 9.407739 6.073227*** lnnpr 0.695291 0.452162 1.537702 lnfdiagr -0.910298 2.203268 -0.413158 lntm 2.164594 1.917257 1.129006 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 53 key: ***, * *, * represent 1%, 5% and 10% levels of significance respectively y1 : r 2 31%, instrument specification: lncpi2, lngdpagr, lnnpr, lnfdiagr, lnbudagr, lntm, lnagrexp, ln poch. constant added to instrument y2: r 2 83%. iv specification: lngdpagr, lnnpr, lnfdiag, lnbudagr, lntm, lnagrexp, ln poch,constant added to instrument y3: r 2 54%. instrument specification: lntm, lngotype, lnbudsgr, lncpi(2), lnexr, lnagrexp, lnnpr, constant added to instrument source: author’s computation from eviews 9.0, 2018. this means that in the long run, as protection increased, export from the sector declined significantly. the effect of structural changes in policy outlook was negative and significant (p<0.001) on agricultural export level. statistically, when the political/policy structure outlook appeared to favour liberalization, the outcome of export decreased by 0.48%. the structural outlook content is another determinant in decision making processes. on one part, it forms a basis for level of demand or pressure from the farmers and on the second hand, the level of response or supply of protection instruments by the government. according to virender (1993), the structural changes that occur during the course of economic development have been shown as instrumental in bringing about a switch in export considerations. this means that negative coefficient of poch i.e., liberalization favours export more than protection. the effect of cpi on gdp share from agricultural sector was positive and significant (p<0.001). in other words, a unit increase in predictor variable showed that the outcome of export increased by 0.01%. this is in line with the apriori expectation that increase in price would lead to increase in production thereby increasing the export from the sector. 4.4.3 farmer-welfare the result shows that about 54% variations of the economic welfare accrued to agricultural producers were explained by variations in npr and other political economy variables in the model. from this result in table 4.8, lnpoch -6.232640 4.787480 -1.301862 lncpi 0.049667 0.028094 1.767856* y2= agric export constant 6.869506 0.374818 18.32759*** ln npr -0.059485 0.015828 -3.758097*** ln fdiagr -0.066068 0.032830 -2.012452 ln budagr 0.004435 0.016790 0.264168 lntm -0.032595 0.082989 -0.392769 ln poch -0.489985 0.071195 -6.882311*** ln cpi 0.008697 0.001220 7.127612*** ln gdpagr -0.006024 0.006732 -0.894832 y3=farmer-welfare constant 5.816706 3.002052 1.937577*** lngotype -0.297168 0.284175 -1.045722 lnpoch 0.669714 0.247875 2.701821** lnbudagr -0.015157 0.038023 -0.398618 lncpi 0.005888 0.008609 0.683886 lnexr -0.000457 0.004718 -0.096883 lnagrexp -0.265387 0.461839 -0.574631 lnnpr 0.066129 0.032906 2.009644* www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 54 the null hypothesis which states that agricultural protection does not have significant effect on farmers’ economic welfare in nigeria was rejected. the specified political economy variables that had significant effects on their economic welfare in nigeria were policy structural changes (poch) and level of agricultural protection (npr). the policy structure outlook in the sector was vectorized into protection (+) and non-protection (-) eras. the effect of poch on farmers’ economic welfare was negative and significant (p<0.05). in other words, a change from protection structure to liberalisation showed that the farmers’ economic welfare also increased by 0.69%. this is often the situation because many of the investors in the sector consider the nature and structure of the policy on ground before increasing or reducing their capital shares. the effect of agricultural protection on farmerwelfare was positive and significant (p<0.05). therefore, a unit increase in the predictor variable showed that the outcome of famer welfare increased by 0.07 %. this means that in the long run, as protection increased, gains made by farmers increased significantly. 5. conclusions/recommendations the average level of agricultural protection in nigeria was poor between 1980 and 1985 but became significantly pronounced afterward and varies across food commodities and time. protection is not without cost implications on the supply side (government) but these expenditures seem not to be commensurate with the results of the expected outcomes of the protection policy especially on domestic food production, and agricultural export. this study showed that the level of protection policy promulgated in the country during these periods under study only affected level of export and economic advantage received by the local farmers. however, the policy did not affect the measure of domestic food supply significantly. this study, therefore, recommends among others that these forms of agricultural protection policies be reformed to ensure that policies motivate the production of staple food for the domestic consumption. this will reduce the nation’s dependence on importation. to do this, stakeholders are expected to hold conferences on how a new and all-inclusive protection policy could be promulgated to motivate the sector out of stagnation and subsistence farming. 6. references abou, n., & takor, w. (1999). tax incentives in lebanon. a paper presented at the united nations conference on trade and development (unctad) at the expert meeting on tax incentives; 7-8. akanegbu, b.n. (2015). agricultural price distortions and their effects on the nigerian economy: an empirical analysis. european journal of research in social sciences. 3 (1). issn 2056-5429 amin, s. (1972). underdevelopment and dependence in black africa: origins and contemporary forms. journal of modern african studies, 10(4), 503-24. arene c.j. (2008 b ). agricultural economics: a functional approach. prize publishers, enugu nigeria. ayoola, g.b., aina, b.m., nweze, n., odebiyi, t., okunmadewa, f., shehu d., william o. & zasha, j. (2000). nigeria: voice of the poor, country synthesis report, world bank. baldwin, robert, (1982). the political economy of protectionism: in import competition and response, ed. jagdish n. bhagwati. chicago: university of chicago press. barette, c.b. (1999). micro-economics of the development paradox on the political economy of food price policy. agricultural economics 20(1999) 159-172. beghin, j.c & m. kherallah (1994), “political institutions and international patterns of agricultural protection”, review of economics and statistics 76(3): 482-489. beghin, j.c & m. kherallah (1994), “political institutions and international patterns of agricultural protection”, review of economics and statistics 76(3): 482-489. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 55 briggs, i.n. (2005). nigeria: protecting domestic production in terms of liberalization and the short, medium and long term implication for regional integration. a paper presented at the ecowas regional workshop on multilateral trade agreements, parliament of ghana and friedrich-ebert-stiftung, accra, ghana, november 27, 2005. cia world factbook (2015). the world factbook. retrieved november 26, 2015, from www.cia.gov cooper, f. (2002). africa since 1940: the past of the present. cambridge. de gorter, h. & tsur, y. (1991). explaining price bias in world agriculture: the calculus of support maximizing politicians. american journal of agricultural economics, 73,1244-54. de melo, j.a.p. (1978). protection and resources allocation in walrasian trade model. international economic review, 19, 25-43. fao. (2012). foreign agriculture investment profile nigeria. food and agriculture organization (fao) investment policy support. retrieved february 16, 2016, from http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/user_upload/tcsp/docs/nigeria_country_profile_final.pdf gardner, b.l. (1987), “causes of u.s. farm commodity programs”, journal of political economy 95(2), 290310. gardner, l. (2012). taxing colonial africa: the political economy of british imperialism. (oxford u. press, 2012), ch. 1, an introduction to the problem of colonial taxation. pp. 1-13. goldin, i. & knudsen, o. (ed). (1990). agricultural trade liberalization: implication for developing countries. paris oecd and world bank. gomes, g.m. (1999). state level tax incentives in brazil. a paper presented at the expert meeting on tax incentives; pp 8-9. grais, w., de melo, j., & urata, s. (1986). a general equilibrium estimation of the reduction of tariffs and quantitative restrictions in turkey in 1978. in thirukodikaval srinivasan, john whalley, (eds.), general equilibrium trade policy modeling. cambridge, ma. harberger, a.c. (1959). the fundamentals of economic progress in underdeveloped countries: using the resources at hand more efficiently. american economic review, 49, 134-146. holland, m. (1996). income tax incentives for investment. a ph.d dissertation submitted to the department of economics and finance, national university of singapore. honma, m. & hayami, y. (1986). structure of agricultural protection in industrial countries. journal of international economics, 20, 115-129. ikpi, a.e (1989). understanding the rural farmers for effective adoption of improved agricultural technology and impact modelling, iita, research monograph no4, ibadan, nigeria. inhwam, j. (2008). determinants of agricultural protection in industrial countries. an empirical bulletin, 17 (1), 1-11. international food and agricultural development (ifad). (2016). poverty in rural nigeria. www.ruralpovertyportal.org/country/home/tags/nigeria/ifad joachim, z. & valdes, a. (1993). growth of agricultural protection. trade and protectionism, nber-ease volume 2, university of chicago press isbn: 0-226-38668-6. accessed from url: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8073 josling, t. (1975). the world food problem. food policy, 1 (1), 3–14. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 56 josling, t. e. & valdes, a. (2004). agricultural policy indicators. esa working paper no. 04-04. agricultural and development economics division. the food and agriculture organization (fao) of the united nations. kiabel, b.d. & nwikpasi, n.n. (2001). selected aspect of nigerian taxes. owerri; springfield publishers krueger, a. o. (1992). the political economy of agricultural pricing policies: volume 5: a synthesis of the political economy in developing countries. a world bank comparative study, baltimore, md: john hopkins university press for the world bank. krueger, a.o. (1978). liberalization attempts and consequences. new york: national european journal of research in social sciences vol. 3 no. 1, 2015 issn 2056-5429 progressive academic publishing, uk page 98 www.idpublications.org bureau for economic research. krueger, a.o., m. schiff & valdes, a. (1988). agricultural incentives in developing countries: measuring the effects of sectoral and economy-wide policies, world bank economic review 2(3), 255-72, september. national bureau of statistics [nbs], (2017). national population figures. retrieved november 22, 2017, from http://www.nigerianstat.gov.ng njoku,c.o., chigbu, e.e. & akujuobi, a.b.c. (2015). public expenditure and economic growth in nigeria (a granger causality approach) 1983-2012. management studies and economic systems (mses), 1 (3), 147-160, winter 2015. oecd (2018). producer protection (indicator). doi: 10.1787/f99067c0-en (accessed on 04 october 2018). oghoghomeh, t. (2014). an assessment of agribusiness tax incentives in nigeria. international journal of business and economic development vol. 2 number 1 march 2014. www.ijbed.org okumadewa, f. (1997). poverty and income in nigeria: measurements and strategies for reform: a paper presented at the vision 2010 workshop, abuja. olatomide w.o. & omowumi a.o. (2013). policy interventions and public expenditure reform for pro-poor agricultural development in nigeria. african journal of agricultural research. vol. 9(4), pp. 487-500, (http://www.academicjournals.org/ajar). olawepo r. a. (2010). determining rural farmers’ income: a rural nigeria experience. journal of african studies and development, 2(4), 99-108. olper, a. (1998). political economy determinants of agricultural protection levels in eu member states: an empirical investigation. eoropean review of agricultural economics, 25,463-487. owutuamor, z.b. and arene, c.j. (2018). the impact of foreign direct investment on agricultural growth in nigeria (1979-2014). review of agricultural and applied economics. the successor of the acta oeconomica et informatica, issn 1336-9261, xxi (number 1, 2018): 40-54 doi: 10.15414/raae/2018.21.01.40-54. pejout, n. (2010). agriculture policy in africa-renewal or status quo? a spotlight on kenya and senegal. the political economy of africa. v. padayachee, london, abingdon: 247-265. philip, d. (1995). corporate tax incentives and economic growth in nigeria. nigeria tax news; 2(1) april; pp 163. poulton, c., edward, a. & kydd, j. (2005). the future of small farmers: new direction for services, institutions and intermediations. in proceedings of research workshop on the future of small farms, wye, uk. organized by international food policy research institute (odi), imperial college, london. swinnen, j. (1996). endogenous price and trade policy developments in central european agriculture. euro rev. agric. econ. 23(2), 133-166. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 57 swinnen, j. f. m. &. van der zee, f. a. (1993). the political economy of agricultural policies: a survey. european review of agricultural economics, 20, 261-290. thies, c.g., & porche s. (2007), “the political economy of agricultural protection”, journal of politics 69(1),116-127. timmer, c.p. (1980). food prices and food policy analysis in ldcs. food policy, 5, 188-199. van de walle, n. (1999). african economies and the politics of permanent crisis, 1979 cambridge: cambridge university press, 2001. virender, g. (1993). the political economy of international agricultural protection. retrospective theses and dissertations, iowa state university. von moltke, a., mckee, c. & morgan, t. (2004). energy subsidies: lessons learned in assessing their impact and designing policy reforms. sheffield: greenleaf publishing. zietz, j. & valdes, a. (1993). growth of agricultural protection, trade and protectionism. nber-ease volume 2, university of chicago pres isbn: 0-226-38668-6. accessed 25/03/2017 from url: http://www.nber.org/chapters/c8073. appendixes budgetary allocation for agriculture in nigeria, 1980-2016 years all sectors agric total % agric % 1980 na na 100 na 1981 7965.9 141.9 100 1.8 1982 10277.9 127.3 100 1.2 1983 10684.3 166.2 100 1.6 1984 11827.8 167.0 100 1.4 1985 12628.6 166.1 100 1.3 1986 12628.6 150.8 100 1.2 1987 14318.7 139.9 100 1.0 1988 15751.1 221.1 100 1.4 1989 20080.9 263.5 100 1.3 1990 22070.7 443.7 100 2.0 1991 35282.7 494.0 100 1.4 1992 54109.7 698.9 100 1.3 1993 119460.3 1824.0 100 1.5 1994 135824.4 1805.4 100 1.3 1995 333019.2 1807.7 100 0.5 1996 403947.7 1807.7 100 0.4 1997 419864.7 1819.9 100 0.4 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 58 source: cbn, 2018. years with na were extrapolated. nigeria’s gross domestic product (gdp) 1980-2016 year agric (total) agric % construction total gdp % total 1981 17052 11.8 11038 144831 100 1982 20126 13.0 9904 154978 100 1983 23798 14.6 8980 163000 100 1984 30365 17.8 7587 170378 100 1985 34237 17.8 6098 192273 100 1986 35703 17.6 7643 202436 100 1987 50287 20.2 8658 249439 100 1988 73765 23.0 9820 320329 100 1989 88264 21.1 15343 419196 100 1990 106627 21.3 17318 499677 100 1991 123236 20.7 19506 596045 100 1992 184116 20.2 24320 909803 100 1993 295325 23.5 31920 1259070 100 1994 445273 25.3 41097 1762813 100 1995 790142 27.3 54869 2895201 100 1998 445238.1 1904.0 100 0.4 1999 444956.4 1904.0 100 0.4 2000 416237.0 1907.8 100 0.5 2001 461083.5 1910.8 100 0.4 2002 469958.6 1913.9 100 0.4 2003 499839.9 1913.9 100 0.4 2004 636865.4 1913.9 100 0.3 2005 698089.1 1913.9 100 0.3 2006 896847.8 2553.5 100 0.3 2007 1077318.4 33824.4 100 3.1 2008 1400333.6 3171.8 100 0.2 2009 878103.1 11217.9 100 1.3 2010 891142.2 1588.9 100 0.2 2011 1470098.4 6815.5 100 0.5 2012 2616996.6 14219.7 100 0.5 2013 3520246.8 13756.8 100 0.4 2014 6461139.1 3943.5 100 0.1 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 1, no. 1; 2018 59 1996 1070515 28.3 63856 3779133 100 1997 1211462 29.5 74737 4111641 100 1998 1341041 29.2 99027 4588990 100 1999 1426974 26.9 109574 5307362 100 2000 1508409 21.9 121819 6897482 100 2001 2015422 24.8 162183 8134142 100 2002 4251521 37.5 191007 11332253 100 2003 4585926 34.5 234474 13301559 100 2004 4935264 28.5 311850 17321295 100 2005 6032332 27.1 414761 22269978 100 2006 7513298 26.2 551632 28662469 100 2007 8551981 25.9 733670 32995384 100 2008 10100325 25.8 975781 39157884 100 2009 11625442 26.3 1297789 44285561 100 2010 13048893 23.9 1570973 54612264 100 2011 14037826 22.3 1905575 62980397 100 2012 15815998 22.1 2188719 71713935 100 2013 16816553 21.0 2676284 80092563 100 2014 18018613 20.2 3188823 89043615 100 2015* 19636969 20.9 3472255 94144960 100 2016* 21523513 21.2 3606560 101489492 100 source: cbn, 2018 years with asterisks were extrapolated acknowledgement the authors acknowledge the useful comments from members of the department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka during the seminar sessions. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 17 1 agricultural studies aijas vol 6 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa comparative nutritional study of four most consumed vegetables in akwa ibom state, nigeria josephine udunma agogbua (a) kalu okonwu (b)1 daniel akaninyene archibong (c) festus austine ikpowosa (d) (a) department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: josephine.agogbua@uniport.edu.ng (b) department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: kalu.okonwu@uniport.edu.ng (c) department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: danielarchibong642@gmail.com (d) department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: austinefestus4@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 25 march 2022 accepted: 2 june 2022 online publication: 7 june 2022 keywords: comparative, consumption nutrition, vegetable jel classification codes: o13 a b s t r a c t the study compared nutritional content of four most consumed vegetables [gnetum africanum welw, hensia crinita (afzel) g.taylor, lasianthera africana p.beauv and pterocarpus mildbraedii harms] in akwa ibom state, nigeria. standard procedures were followed in these assessments: proximate composition (carbohydrate, protein, fibre, lipid, ash and moisture), mineral elements (magnesium – mg, calcium – ca, iron – fe, potassium – k and sodium – na), vitamin c and chlorophyll (a and b). the study showed varied proximate composition, mineral elements, vitamin c and chlorophyll contents across the vegetables assessed. for proximate composition, the following ranges were recorded: 2.78 – 8.99%, 9.63 – 14.00%, 5.43 – 12.15%, 0.001 – 0.013%, 1.91 – 3.14% and 63.38 – 78.01% for carbohydrate, protein, fibre, lipid, ash and moisture contents, respectively. among the vegetables, g. africanum recorded the highest value for carbohydrate, fibre, lipid, fe, vitamin c and chlorophyll b. however, recorded the least value for moisture, ash, mg and k contents. secondly, l. africana had highest value for moisture, ca, k, and na contents and least value for protein, fibre, lipid, vitamin c, chlorophyll a and b contents. the k content in l. africana was statistically different at p≤0.05 with other vegetables. the study recommends the consumption of these nutritious vegetables based on dietary requirement of individuals. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction vegetables are the edible parts of herbaceous plants that are consumed wholly or in parts, raw or processed, as portion of main dish or salad. they may be bitter, sweet, or tasteless (dhellot et al., 2006). they are identified to be vital sources of protective foods (sheela et al., 2004). fresh vegetables are tender plant parts cultivated in gardens and eaten as a side dish or soup with starchy staples among the communities in nigeria (nnamani et al., 2009). the leafy vegetables are largely rich in fibre, whereas cereals, root vegetables and other foods are comparatively poor sources of nutrients and this accounts for the role of leafy vegetables as major dietary components in african population (akindahusi & salawu, 2005; fasuyi, 2006). nigeria is home to many vegetable species that are used as flavor in human foods or as additional feeds to livestock (taiwo et al., 2007). vegetables have also been described to be good sources of nutrients such as carotene, protein, vitamins, calcium, iron, ascorbic acid and tangible concentration of trace minerals (adenipekun & oyetunji, 2010). according to george (2003), the potassium content of leaf vegetable plays an important role in the management of diuretic and hypertensive difficulties. he also reported the available proteins in vegetables are greater than those in fruits but lower than those in grains. vegetable fats and oils are known to lower blood lipids thereby reducing the occurrences of diseases with the damage of the coronary artery (adenipekun & oyetunji, 2010). leafy vegetables are extremely useful in the preservation of good health conditions and prevention of diseases. they serve as valuable sources of food components that can be used to build-up and improve the body positively (hanif et al., 2006). they are also sources of essential and trace elements which play essential part in the normal functioning of the body system, maintaining regular metabolic processes and repair of worn out cells and tissues in man (bruijnzeel et al., 2010). for years, there has been increasing 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0003-4140-5250 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.252 to cite this article: agogbua , j. u. ., okonwu , k. ., archibong , d. a. ., & ikpowosa , f. a. . (2022). comparative nutritional study of four most consumed vegetables in akwa ibom state, nigeria . american international journal of agricultural studies, 6(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.252 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.252 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-1227 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4140-5250 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0407-1335 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2826-8629 agogbua et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 1-7 2 demand for fresh vegetables mainly for their convenience as ready-to-eat products in addition to health benefits associated with their consumption (odedeji & rasheed, 2007; ajayi et al., 2018). in nigeria, and in most other tropical african countries, where the daily meals are mostly carbohydrate foods, vegetables are the inexpensive and most readily available source of vital nutrients such as proteins, vitamins, minerals and essential amino acid (akubugwo et al., 2007). in many nigerian’s diet, leafy vegetables are crucial components besides spicing-up meals. (sobukola et al., 2007), they are important sources of nutrients particularly in rural areas where they add substantially to protein, minerals, vitamins, fibres and other nutrients which are usually in short supply in daily diets (mohammed & sharif, 2011). the numerous vitamins present in vegetables provide health-promoting effects for its consumers (fayemi, 2000). the levels of these vitamins in the leaves however vary from one plant to another and one location to another. in africa, two different species of gnetum (gnetum africanum and gnetum buchholzianum) belonging to the family gnetaceae are found and distributed in the tropical rainforests from nigeria through cameroon, the central african republic, gabon and the democratic republic of congo to angola (lowe, 1984). gnetum africanum welw, also known as wild spinach and commonly known as “afang” by the efik people of nigeria, is dioecious (letouzey, 1986). also, heinsia crinita (afzel.) g. taylor, known as ‘bush apple’ and called “atama” by efik ethnic group in nigeria, is indigenous to west africa especially the eastern-part of nigeria, but it is now cultivated well in central africa (babady-billa et al., 1994) and it belongs to the family rubiaceae. it is found across the tropical region from guinea to western-cameroon, fernando po and across the congo basin to east and south central-africa (ajibesin et al., 2008). lasianthera africana p. beauv belonging to stemonuraceae family, commonly known as “editan” by efik and ibibio ethnic groups of nigeria, is one of the sixth most consumed green leafy vegetables by the efik and ibibio ethnic groups in nigeria (williams et al., 2009). again, pterocarpus mildbraedii harms of the papilionoidaea, commonly known as “mkpafere” in efik ethnic group of nigeria, occurs in lowland rainforest, dry evergreen and riverine forests, up to 1250 m altitude, in sierra leone, nigeria, liberia, ghana, cameroon, equatorial guinea and tanzania (keay, 1989; bosch, 2004). people in different parts of the world depend on plant resources for their basic needs and many of these plants in the ecosystem are being harness for various purposes. hence, the need for comparative investigation of the proximate composition, minerals, vitamins and pigment composition in leafy vegetables remains crucial. this study thus compares the proximate, mineral, vitamin c and chlorophyll content of four leafy vegetables (g. africanum, h. crinita, l. africana and p. mildbraedii) consumed in akwa ibom state, nigeria. materials and methods source of materials and identification the leaves of g. africanum, h. crinita, l. africana and p. mildbraedii were collected from college of agriculture, obioakpa teaching and research farms oruk-anam local government area, akwa ibom state. the plants were wrapped with paper, bagged in polyethene bags and transported to the herbarium unit of plant science and biotechnology department university of port harcourt for proper identification by the curator. analyses of plant materials proximate analysis (moisture, ash, protein, carbohydrate, lipid content and crude fibre) of the plants was determined following the standard method of association of analytical chemists (aoac, 1990) while the extraction and determination of vitamin c was evaluated through titrimetric method (okwu, 2004). also, the chlorophyll content of the leaves was determined using the method of comar and zscheile (1942). mineral analysis the leaf samples were digested using hydrochloric acid (okalebo et al., 2002). the mineral contents (mg, k, ca, na, and fe) of the plants were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (aas). results proximate analysis, vitamin c and chlorophyll content the nutritional content of g. africanum, h. crinita, l. africana and p. mildbraedii are presented in figure 1. the following ranges were recorded: 2.78 – 8.99%, 9.63 – 14.00%, 5.43 – 12.15%, 0.001 – 0.013%, 1.91 – 3.14% and 63.38 – 78.01% for carbohydrate, protein, fibre, lipid, ash and moisture contents, respectively. the lipid content of g. africanum, h. crinita, l. africana and p. mildbraedii were less than 0.015%. gnetum africanum had the highest lipid content (0.013%) followed by p. mildbraedii (0.009%), h. crinita (0.007%) while l. africana recorded the least lipid content at 0.001%. the leaves had higher protein content than carbohydrate. lasiathera africana leaf had the least fibre content in relation to other leaves, while the reverse was the case for moisture content. across the plants, the protein and fibre contents had the same trend. the vitamin c and chlorophyll contents of g. africanum, h. crinita, l. africana and p. mildbraedii are presented in figure 2. vitamin c across the plants ranged from 2.2 – 3.0%. among the leafy vegetables, l. africana and p. mildbraedii had the lowest vitamin c content while g. africanum and h. crinita recorded 3.0% and 2.4%, respectively. also, the chlorophyll content varied across plants but chlorophyll a was lower than chlorophyll b in all cases. gnetum africanum and p. mildbraedii had the highest value for chlorophyll a and b, respectively, while l. africana had the least value for chlorophyll a and b. agogbua et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 1-7 3 mineral analysis the mineral content of the leaves showed that potassium content had the highest value, followed by magnesium, calcium, sodium and iron (figure 3). among the plants, potassium content was more in l. africana than h. crinita and p. mildbraedii while the least was recorded in g. africanum. also, calcium content was observed to be greater in the leaf of l. africana than h. crinita, g. africanum and p. mildbraedii, in that sequence. the levels of iron were 94.75 mg/kg, 87.00 mg/kg, 74.15 mg/kg, and 66.60 mg/kg for g. africanum, p. mildbraedii, l. africana and h. crinita, respectively. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 protein carbohydrate fibre moisture ash lipid p er ce n ta g e co m p o si ti o n ( % ) proximate composition figure 1. proximate composition of four vegetables consumed mostly in akwa ibom g. africanum l. africana h. crinita p. mildbraedii 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 chlorophyll a chlorophyll b vit. c p er ce n ta g e co m p o si ti o n ( % ) figure 2. chlorophyll and vitamin c content of four consumed vegetables in akwa ibom g. africanum l. africana h. crinita p. mildbraedii agogbua et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 1-7 4 discussion the protein content of g. africanum and p. mildbraedii are within the range reported by ekpo (2007) and taiga et al. (2008) while l. africana and h. crinita are below the range. ekpo (2007) reported a crude protein content of g. africanum at 17.5% while taiga et al. (2008) reported a value of 13.33%. these differences in the protein contents may be attributed to the changes and forms of manure applied to improve the soil nitrogen content where these vegetables are harvested (saidu & jideobi, 2009). the moisture content of the tested leafy vegetables was high. according to gbadamosi et al. (2011), high moisture content supports stabilization of protoplasmic contents of the cells and further preserves the homeostasis of the cells, while, food spoilage caused by microorganisms could be attributed to high moisture contents. fagbohun et al. (2012) reported that the presence of mineral elements in vegetables is directly related to its ash content. this implies that increase in the ash content results to increase in mineral nutrition available in the plant. the highest ash content was obtained in h. crinita (3.14%) and the least in g. africanum (1.91%). therefore, this observation concerning h. crinita ash content agrees with the findings of adetuyi et al. (2011), while the values obtained for l. africana, g. africanum and p. mildbraedii are slightly closer to the range. fibres are non-hydrolysable polysaccharides which possess the ability to dissolve or remains as solid state and increases faecal bulk. it forms complexes with cholesterol, sugars and protein. the excess consumption of fibre may decrease the danger of colon cancer and cleans the intestines thereby improving the performance of digestive system (dawczynki et al., 2007). according to ugbogu (2016), dietary fibre supports proper bowel movement and avert health related challenge such as diverticulosis by assisting trace elements absorption in the gut. the fibre content of h. crinita, l. africana, g. africanum and p. mildbraedii vegetables were high and in sufficient amount needed for normal body function, maintenance and growth. the plants vitamin c content studied ranges from 0.069 – 0.094 mg/100g was highest in g. africanum. this vitamin c content was lower in relation to the work of edeoga et al. (2005) on the vitamin content (10 – 76 mg/100g) of some nigerian vegetables. also, other researchers (babalola et al., 2010; okunade & adesina, 2014; lawal et al., 2015) reported the vitamin c content of telfairia occidentalis as 62.50 mg/100g, 42.22 mg/100g, 64.333 mg/100g, 17.27 g/100g and 3.16 g/100g, in that order. according to the national research council (1984), the daily recommended dietary requirement of vitamin c for adult is 30 mg/100g/day. singh et al. (2012) reported that vitamin c is a crucial antioxidant present in the human system and have a range of functions such as: possess the ability to partake in enzymatic and hydroxylation reactions, involved in the oxidation-reduction reactions, it aids the absorption of micronutrients like fe and cu, available in trace element metabolism and protects cells from damage occasioned by the presence of free radical and environmental pollution. vitamins serve as biological catalysts in many chemical reactions as well as precursors to various body factors. however, the body system readily releases water-soluble vitamins (such as vitamin c) faster than fat-soluble vitamins. the high level of potassium to other mineral elements in leafy vegetables is in line with the works of other researchers (mensah et al., 2008; adeleke & abiodun, 2010; adeyeye et al., 2018). udo et al. (2013) working on two lesser known vegetables in farming communities in cross river state nigeria reported that calcium may be useful in the prevention of osteoporosis in the elderly. the mineral compositions of these leafy vegetables (g. africanum, h. crinita, l. africana and 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000 11000 mg ca fe k na m ii n er al c o n te n t (m g /k g ) minerals figure 3. mineral content of four mostly consumed vegetables in akwa ibom g. africanum l. africana h. crinita p. mildbraedii agogbua et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 1-7 5 p. mildbraedii) were higher compared to the work of idris (2011). according to idris (2011), the mineral composition of t. occidentalis leaf extract was given as: ca (0.67 mg/100g), p (0.40 mg/100g), k (0.15 mg/100g), n (3.41 mg/100g), mg (0.43 mg/100g), na (0.02 mg/100g), zn (7.50 mg/100g), fe (18.5 mg/100g), mn (1.18 mg/100g). ajibade et al. (2006) reported that the leaves of fluted pumpkin are rich in fe, thus used to treat anaemia. iron is a crucial trace element involved in the synthesis of haemoglobin, proper functioning of the central nervous system and in the oxidation of carbohydrates, proteins and fats (adeyeye & otokiti, 1999). conclusion the present study has shown that the leafy vegetables examined are abundant in minerals (potassium, magnesium, calcium, sodium and iron) and vitamin c needed by the human body as daily supplement. also, their rich proximate composition is an asset in confronting human nutritional challenges. the result suggests that the consumption of these vegetables in adequate amount would contribute greatly towards addressing human dietary requirement for proper development and suitable defense against illnesses arising from malnutrition. however, the study therefore recommends the consumption of these nutritious leafy vegetables based on dietary requirement of individuals. author contributions: conceptualization, j.u.a. and k.o.; data curation, d.a.a., a.i.f., k.o. and j.u.a.; methodology, j.u.a., k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; validation, j.u.a., k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; visualization, k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; formal analysis, k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; investigation, j.u.a., k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; resources, k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; writing – original draft, k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; writing – review & editing, j.u.a., k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; supervision, k.o. and j.u.a.; project administration, k.o., d.a.a. and a.i.f.; authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adeleke, r. o., & abiodun, o. a. (2010). chemical composition of three traditional vegetables in nigeria. pakistan journal of nutrition, 9(9), 858 – 860. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2010.858.860. adenipekun, c. o., & oyetunji, o. j. (2010). nutritional values of some tropical vegetables. journal of applied bioscience, 35, 2294 – 2300. adetuyi, f. o., osagie, a. u., & adekunle, a. t. (2011). nutrient, antinutrient, mineral and zinc bioavailability of okra abelmoschus esculentus (l) moench variety. american journal of food and nutrition, 1, 49 – 54. https://doi.org/10.5251/ajfn.2011.1.2.49.54 adeyeye, a., ayodele, o. d., & akinnuoye, g. a. (2018). evaluation of the nutritional composition of some less common edible leafy vegetables in nigeria. american journal of food science and nutrition, 5(1), 26 – 31. adeyeye, e. i., & otokiti, m. k. o. (1999). proximate composition and some nutritionally valuable minerals of two varieties of. capsicum annum (bell and cherry peppers). discovery and innovations, 11, 75 – 81. ajayi, o. b., bamidele, t. j., malachi, o. i., & oladejo, a. a. (2018). comparative proximate, minerals and antinutrient analysis of selected nigerian leafy vegetables. journal of applied life sciences international, 16, 1 – 8. https://doi.org/10.9734/jalsi/2018/26666. ajibade, s. r., balogun, m. o., afolabi, o. o. & kupolati, m. d. (2006). sex differences in the biochemical contents of telfairia occidentalis hook f. journal of food, agriculture and environment, 4(1), 155-156. www.world-food.net ajibesin, k., ekpo, b. a., bala, d. n., essien, e. e., & adesanya, s. a. (2008). ethnobotanical survey of akwa ibom state of nigeria. journal of ethnopharmacology, 115: 387 – 408. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2007.10.021 akindahunsi, a. a., & salawu, s. o. (2005). phytochemical screening, nutrient and anti-nutrient composition of selected tropical green vegetables. african journal of biotechnology, 4(6), 497 – 501. http://index.php/ajb/article/view/15128 akubugwo, i. e., obasi, n. a., chinyere, g. c., & ugbogu, a. e. (2007). nutritional and chemical value of amaranthus hybridus l. leaves from afikpo, nigeria. african journal of biotechnology, 6(24), 2833 – 2839. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb2007.000-2452 aoac (1990). official methods of analysis. association of official analytical chemicals, (15th edition). arlington, usa. babady-billa, j., chantal, w., suzane, t., amuri, k., & georges, h. (1994). two triterpenoid saponins from heinsia crinata. phytochemistry, 36(6), 1489 – 1492. babalola, o. o., tugbobo, o. s., & daramola, a. s. (2010). effect of processing on the vitamin c content of seven nigerian green leafy vegetables. advanced journal of food science and technology, 2(6), 303-305. bosch, c. h. (2004). pterocarpus mildbraedii harms. plant resource of tropical africa, 3, 78 – 80. bruijnzeel, l. a., scatena, f. n., & hamilton, l. s. (2010). tropical montane cloud forest. science for conservation and management. cambridge, cambridge university press. p.137. comar, c. l., & zscheile, f. p. (1942). analysis of plant extracts for chlorophylls a and b by a photoelectric spectrophotometric method. plant physiology, 17(2), 198-209. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.17.2.198 https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2010.858.860 https://doi.org/10.5251/ajfn.2011.1.2.49.54 https://doi.org/10.9734/jalsi/2018/26666 http://www.world-food.net/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jep.2007.10.021 http://index.php/ajb/article/view/15128 https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb2007.000-2452 https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.17.2.198 agogbua et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 1-7 6 dawczynski, c., schubert, r., & jahreis, g. (2007). amino acids, fatty acids and dietary fibre in edible seaweed products. food chemistry, 103(3), 891 – 899. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.09.041 dhellot, j. r., matouba, e., maloumbi, m. g., nzikou, j. m., safou-ngoma, d. g., linder, m., desobry, s., & parmentier, m. (2006). extraction of chemical composition and nutritional characterization of vegetable oils. case of amaranthus hybridus (var 1 and 2) of congo brazzaville. african journal of biotechnology, 5(11), 1095-1101. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb05.369 edeoga, h. o., okwu, d. e., & mbaebia, b. o. (2005). phytochemical constituents of some nigerian medicinal plants. africa journal of biotechnology, 4(7), 685 – 692. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb2005.000-3127 ekpo, a. s. (2007). determination of chemical composition of gnetum africanum (afang) seeds. pakistan journal of nutrition, 6, 40 – 43. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2007.40.43 fagbohun, e. d., lawal, o. u., & ore, m. e. (2012). the proximate, mineral and phytochemical analysis of the leaves of ocimum gratissimum l., melanthera scandens a. and leea guinesis l. and their medicinal value. international journal of applied biological pharmaceutical technology, 3(1), 15 – 22. www.ijabpt.com fasuyi, a. o. (2006). nutritional potentials of some tropical vegetables’ meals, chemical characterization and functional properties. african journal of biotechnology, 5, 49 – 53. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb2006.000-5008 fayemi, p. o. (2000). nigerian vegetables. heinmann educational books, nigeria. p. 1 – 8. gbadamosi, i. t., moody, j. o. & lawal, a. m. (2011). phytochemical screening and proximate analysis of eight ethnobotanicals used as antimalaria remedies in ibadan, nigeria. journal of applied bioscience, 44, 2967 – 2971. george, p. m. (2003). encyclopedia of foods. humane press, will belington, pp. 526 hanif, r., iqbal, z., iqbal, m., hanif, s., & rasheed, m. (2006). use of vegetable as nutritional food: role in human health. journal of agricultural and biological science, 1(1), 18 – 22. idris, s. (2011). compositional studies of telfairia occidentalis leaves. american journal of chemistry, 1(2), 56-59. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.chemistry.20110102.12 keay, r. w. (1989). trees of nigeria. clarendon press, oxford uk. pp. 269 lawal, o. o., essien, n. c., essien, n. m., & ochalla, f. (2015). vitamin c content of some processed green leafy vegetables. european journal of experimental biology, 5(2), 110-112. www.pelagiaresearchlibrary.com letouzey, r. (1986). manual of forest botany: tropical africa. vol.1 & 2. nogent-sur-marne, france ctft. p. 1 – 451. lowe, j. (1984). gnetum in west africa. nigeria field, 49(1-4), 99 – 104. mensah, j. k., okoli, r. i., ohaju-obodo, j. o., & eifediyi, k. (2008). phytochemical, nutritional and medical properties of some leafy vegetables consumed by edo people of nigeria. african journal of biotechnology, 7(14), 2304 – 2309. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb08.062 mohammed, m. i., & sharif, n. (2011). mineral composition of some leafy vegetables consumed in kano, nigeria. nigerian journal of basic and applied science, 19(2), 208 – 212. national research council (1984). recommended dietary allowance, u.s.a nutritional review, 395, 374-395. nnamani, c. v., oselebe, h. o., & agbatutu, a. (2009). assessment of nutritional values of three underutilized indigenous leafy vegetables of ebonyi state, nigeria. african journal of biotechnology, 8(9), 2321 – 2324. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb09.130 odedeji, j. o., & rasheed, m. (2007). chemical attributes and consumer acceptability of blends of fruit juices from african star apple (chrysophyllum albidum) and mango (mangifera indica). journal of applied science, 10(4), 7358 – 7363. okalebo, j. r., gathna, k. w., & woomer, p. l. (2002). laboratory methods of soil and plants analysis: a working manual. 2nd ed., tropical soil biology and fertility programme, nairobi. okunade, o. a., & adesina, k. (2014). preliminary study on the nutritional, anti-nutritional and elemental composition of bishops vegetable (jatropha tanjorensis) and cashew shoot (anarcadium occidentale) leaves. international journal of advanced research in chemical science (ijarcs), 1(7), 43-46. www.arcjournals.org okwu, d. e. (2004). phytochemicals and vitamins content of indigenous species of south eastern nigeria. j. sustain. agric. environ., 6, 30-37. saidu, a. n., & jideobi, n. g. (2009). the proximate and elemental analysis of some leafy vegetables grown in minna and environs. journal of applied science and environmental management, 13, 21 – 22. https://doi.org/10.4314/jasem.v13i4.55391 sheela, k., kamal, g., vijayalakshmi, d., geeta, m., & patil, r. b. (2004). proximate composition of underutilized green leafy vegetables in southern karnataka. journal of human ecology, 15(3), 227 – 229. https://doi.org/10.1080/09709274.2004.11905698 singh, d. p., beloy, j., mcinerney, j. k., & day, l. (2012). impact of boron, calcium and genetic factors on vitamin c, carotenoids, phenolic acids, anthocyanins and antioxidant capacity of carrots. food chemistry, 132, 1161– 1170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2011.11.045 sobukola, o. p., dairo, a.o., odunewu, a. v., & fafiolu, b. o. (2007). thin layer drying process of some leafy vegetables under open sun. food science technology, 13(1), 35 – 40. https://doi.org/10.1177/1082013207075953 taiga, a., suleiman, m. n., aina, d. o., sule, w. f., & alege, g. o. (2008). proximate analysis of some dry season vegetables in anyigba, kogi state, nigeria. african journal of biotechnology, 7(10), 1588 – 1590. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb08.185 taiwo, a. a., mephba, h. d., & eboh, l. (2007). effect of processing on proximate composition and mineral contents of selected indigenous soup-vegetable of akwa ibom. african journal of food and development, 7, 1 – 18. udo, s. e., obi-abang, m., okoi, a. i., & akwaji, p. (2013). nutrition and anti-nutrition components of two popular https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2006.09.041 https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb05.369 https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2007.40.43 http://www.ijabpt.com/ https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb2006.000-5008 https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb08.062 https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb09.130 https://doi.org/10.1177/1082013207075953 https://doi.org/10.5897/ajb08.185 agogbua et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 1-7 7 lesser known vegetables in farming communities of cross river state, nigeria. international journal of applied and natural sciences, 2(5), 85 – 90. ugbogu, a. e., emmanuel, o., elekwa, i., uhegbu, f. o., akubugwo, e. i., chinyere, g. c., ewuzie, f., & ugorji, c. j. (2016). toxicological assessment of the aqueous dried leaf extracts of senna alata l. in wistar rats. african journal of pharmacy and pharmacology, 10(34), 709 – 717. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajpp2016.4609 williams, i. o., parker, r. s., & swanson, j. (2009). vitamin a content of south-eastern nigerian vegetable dishes, their consumption pattern and contribution to vitamin a requirement. pakistan journal of nutrition, 8(7), 1000 – 1004. https://doi.org/10.3923/pjn.2009.1000.1004 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajpp2016.4609 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 33 influence of grasscover in restoring the properties of eroded soils of umudike, southeastern, nigeria onwuchekwa ojimgba phd department of soil science faculty of agriculture, abia state university, uturu, nigeria e-mail: onwuchekwao@yahoo.com abstract the influence of grasscover in restoring the eroded soils was carried out in umudike, southestern nigeria. the use of grass has attracted considerable research attention with respect to forage production and erosion control. little information is available on the influence of this grasscover management on soil physical and chemical properties. four different grasses namely: paspalum notatum(pn), panicum maximum(pm), axonopus compressus(ac) and vetiver grass(vg)vetiveria zizanioid/es) were used in this study and their influence on eroded soil tested in two locations. this study has shown that the soils planted with the grasses gave significantly (p<0.05) higher results of the physical and some chemical properties than their adjacent open bare soil. in all the parameters considered in this study, the values obtained in soils under paspalum notatum was higher than those obtained in pm, ac, vg and their adjacent bare soils(bs). the soils under pn had generally lower bulk density, higher total porosity and hydraulic conductivity than other grasses and adjacent open bare soil in both locations. the soil under pn proved best, outperforming pm, vg,and ac in stabilizing soil aggregates. planting of pn on eroded soil significantly (p<0.05) increased the mean weight diameter from 0.77mm (bspn1) to 1.31mm (pn1) and 0.82mm (bspn2) to 1.48mm (pn2) for locations 1 and 2, respectively. the relative improvement in location 1 was in the order : pn1>ac1=vg1>pm1>bsvg1=bspn1>bsac1=bspm1. also, soils under pn had significantly higher values of ph, organic c and organic matter, total nitrogen and available p more than other grasses and their adjacent open soils. the magnitude of increase in location 1 was in the order : pn1>ac1>pm1=vg1>bsvg1=bspn1=bsac1>bspm1. location 2 also increased in the same trend. the organic carbon content of pn increased from 0.73%(bspn1) to 2.89%(pn1) and 0.88%(bspn2) to 2.91%(pn2) in locations 1 and 2, respectively. also, the organic matter content of the soil increased in the same trend as organic carbon content. keywords: influence, grasscover, restoring, eroded soils, umudike, nigeria. 1. introduction 1.1 background information land degradation is becoming one of the severest environmental issues in the world, especially in developing nations. land degradation, usually accompanied by soil erosion, always results in a decrease or complete loss of land productivity, and produces on-site and off-site pollution to soil and water. much has been written about the amount of land in the different continents which have succumbed to erosion. it is a major impediment to increased agricultural production in many areas of nigeria (ojimgba, 2018). studies in nigeria show that damage caused by soil erosion is, manifested in detrimental changes in the physical and chemical properties of the residual eroded soils. the erosion of soil is a naturally occurring process on all land. the agents of soil erosion are water and wind, each contributing a significant amount of soil loss each year. soil erosion may be a slow process that continues relatively unnoticed or it may occur at an alarming rate causing serious loss of topsoil (ojimgba and mbagwu, 2007). the loss of http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:onwuchekwao@yahoo.com www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 34 soil from farmland may be reflected in reduced crop production potential, lower surface water quality damage drainage networks (blanco and lal, 2010). .however, erosion is a natural process; human activities have increased by 10-40 times the rate at which erosion is occurring globally. excessive erosion causes both ‘’on-site’’ and ‘’off-site’’ problem. on-site impacts include decrease in agricultural productivity and ecological collapse, both because of loss of the nutrient-rich upper soil. in some cases, the eventual end result is desertification. off-site effects include sedimentation of water ways and eutrophication of water bodies, as well as sediment-related damage to roads and houses. water and wind erosion are the two primary causes of land degradation, they are responsible for about 84% of the global extent of degraded land, making excessive erosion one of the most significant environmental problems world-wide (blanco and lal, 2010). intensive agriculture, deforestation, roads, anthropogenic climate change and urban sprawl are among the more significant human activities in regard to their effect on stimulating erosion (julien, 2010). however, there are many remediation practices that can curtail or limit erosion of vulnerable soils and one of such is the use of suitable grasscover. grasscover are grasses that are planted primarily to manage soil erosion, improving soil fertility, soil quality, water, weeds, pest, diseases, biodiversity, and wildlife in an agroecosystem (ojimgba and mgbeahuru, 2018). grasscover and perhaps land use are some of the most important factors in erosion management in south easternnigeria. bahia grass increases soil organic carbon, microbial biomass and potential nitrogen mineralization rate, reducing the bulk density. according to the authors, soils under grass cover have shown better chemical properties than soils under forest cover and also bare soils. stocking, et al., (1988) showed that vegetative cover acts in a variety of ways by intersecting raindrops, encouraging greater infiltration of water and increasing surface organic matter, thereby reducing the erodibility of the soil. sustainable agriculture research and education opined that grasscover helps to cut fertilizer cost, reduced the need for herbicides and other pesticides, improve yields by enhancing soil health, prevent soil erosion, conserve soil moisture, protects water quality and help safe-guide personal health. the objective of this study was to determine the influence of grasscover in restoring the properties of eroded soils of umudike, southeastern, nigeria 2. materials and methods 2.1 general description of the location the study was conducted on the experimental research farm of abia state university, umuahia campus. this study area is located on latitude 0.50 -29’n and longitude 070-33’e in the rainforest ecological zone of south eastern nigeria and lies at a mean elevation of 122meters (400ft) above sea level (climatic data for national root crop research institute (nrcri) station, umudike). the soil is classified as ultisol according to usda and as an acrisol according to fao/unesco classification schemes, as summarized by opara-nadi (2000). the soil is characterized by inherent constraints such as low organic www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 35 matter, poor structural stability, low nutrient and water holding capacities, low clay activities and high susceptibility to soil erosion and drought stress (opara-nadi 2000; salau et al., 1992). the climate of umuahia is typical of the humid tropics, with fairly even and uniform temperature throughout the two seasons (dry and rainy) each year. the rainy season which usually starts from march and ends in october is characterized by clouds driven by light winds from the ocean relatively constant temperatures. frequent rain and high humidity from may to october, rainfall is quite high with peaks in july and september. the rainfall distribution pattern of the area is bimodal with a total annual mean of 1830mm in the northern parts to 2188mm in the delta region (odurukwe et al., 1995). the mean annual minimum temperature ranges from 300c to 330c and mean annual minimum temperature ranges from 210c to29oc (enwezor et al., 1990). grasscover species used for the study carpet grass/root (axonopus compressus) bahia grass/root (paspalum notatum) guinea grass/root (panicum maximum) www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 36 vetiver grass/root (vetiveria zizanioides) 2.2 laboratory studies under each of the grasscover and the adjacent bare soil, disturbed samples were collected from the 0 -30 cm in two locations within the campus. each location represented a replicate. the samples were collected from the grasscover (paspalum notatum, panicum maximum, axonopus compressus and vetiver grassvetiveria zizanioides) already established to monitor runoff and soil loss, and their adjacent open bare soil ten (10) meters away. the grasses had been there for over 8 years. these are perennial grasses and could be widely accepted as a better alternative for land reclamation due to their excellent features: 1) strong resistance to adverse conditions, which adapts it to various harsh weather and environmental conditions; 2) strong ability to remove pollutants, which makes it rehabilitate the polluted land rapidly; and 3) huge biomass, including shoots and roots, which makes it effectively ameliorate the degraded soil and cover barren land rapidly. also, undisturbed core samples were collected randomly near points where the disturbed samples were taken. the dimensions of the core were 5.0 cm (height) and 5.7cm (internal diameter). the disturbed samples were air-dried, sieved through a 2-mm sieve and used to determine particle size distribution, ph, organic carbon, total nitrogen, available phosphorus and moisture retained at 1.5 mpa. the core samples were used to measure soil moisture retained at 0.01 mpa, saturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density and total porosity. the unsieved, disturbed samples were used to determine aggregate stability. the procedures that were used for the determination of the physico-chemical properties of the soil were outlined below: soil reaction (ph) soil ph was determined in 0.1n potassium chloride (kcl) solution using a soil: liquid ratio of 1:2.5. after 20g of soil sample was weighed into plastic beakers, distilled water of kcl was added and stirred for 30 minutes, then the ph values was read off using a glass electrode ph meter (mclean. 1982). organic carbon (oc) this was determined by the walkley and black method in which the soil organic matter was oxidized using 1n k2cr207 solution and conc.h2so4, and the percentage organic carbon found by titrating with in ferrous ammonium sulphate solution (nelson and sommers, 1982). www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 37 organic matter (om) this was determined from walkley and black method. the organic matter content was determined by multiplying the percentage organic carbon by the conventional ‘’van bemmelen factor’’ of 1.724. the use of this factor is based on the assumption that soil organic matter contains 58% carbon. total nitrogen (n) this was determined by the micro-kjaldahl method using cuso4/na2so4 catalyst mixture. the ammonia (nh3) from the digestion was distilled with 45% naoh into 2.5% boric acid and determined by titrating with 0.5n hcl available phosphorus available phosphorus was determined by the extractant method-bray’s method ii (0.03n ammonium fluoride x o.in hcl). the ppm phosphorus were determined using a photo-electric calorimeter (page et al., 1982). particle size analysis particle size analysis was determined on the soil sample using the principles of bouyoucos hydrometer method described by day (1965). the technique used was the dispersion of sample with calgon (sodium hexameta-phosphate). in this method, soil samples were soaked in calgon for 24 hours and later transferred to mechanical stirrer for mechanical agitation before the hydrometer test (gee and bauder, 1986). soil moisture retention characteristics disturbed soil samples were collected from the plots and 30 g of each weighed into robber bands (rings). these were used to determine the water content of the soil at 1.5 mpa (15 bar) and 0.01 mpa (0.1 bar), using the pressure – plate apparatus (stolte, 1997). in each case, the samples were placed on ceramic plate – sand soaked with water for 24 hours. the plates with the samples were placed in the pressure chamber and subjected to the different suctions until water ceased to drain out from the soil samples. the samples were then weighed and oven dried at 105°c for 24 hours. calculation field capacity that is 0.01 mpa suction is the maximum amount of water the soil can hold after it has freely drained for 2 – 3 days following saturation and without evapotranspiration occurring during the period (klute, 1986). wilting point: this value is sometimes known as lower limit of plant available water. it is often equated to the soil water content at 1.5 mpa (15 bar) water potential. available water capacity (awc) the amount of water which a given soil can store for plant use is estimated from the difference between the field capacity (fc) and the wilting point (wp). it was calculated as follows. awc = fc wp where: fc = gravimetric water content at field capacity (%) wp = gravimetric water content at wilting point (%) saturated hydraulic conductivity undisturbed soil samples were collected from each plot using cylindrical metal cores of size 5.0 x 5.7 cm for the length and internal diameter, respectively. soil loss was prevented by a muslin gauze at the bottom of the column. after saturating the samples with water for 24 hours, saturated hydraulic conductivity k(θ) was determined using a constant head permeameter. the transposed darcy’s formula for vertical flows of liquid was used to calculate k(θ) thus: www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 38 k(θ) = . where: θ = steady state volume of flow (cm3) a = cross sectional area of core sample (cm2) t = time elapsed (hr) l = length of core sample (cm) δh = change in hydraulic head (cm) = the hydraulic gradient (i.e., space rate of change of hydraulic head in the direction flow). bulk density bulk density (db) is the apparent density of the field soil and was calculated by dividing the mass of the oven – dried soil by its volume. after drying the soil samples used for the hydraulic conductivity measurements for 48 hours at 105°c, bulk density was determined by the core method (blake and hartge, 1986) using the formula. db = g/cm3 where: db = bulk density ms = mass of soil sample v = volume of soil sample (equals volume of core) total porosity total porosity is the volume of the sample not occupied by solid materials and is usually expressed as percentage of the sample volume. it is assumed to be the volume available to air and/or water. it was calculated from the values of bulk density using the method described by vomocile (1965). the calculation was based on the relationship between bulk density and particle density and on the assumption of particle density of 2.65 mg m-3 for mineral soils. st = x 100 where: st = total porosity (%) db = bulk density (mg m-3) dp = particle density (mg m-3) water stable aggregates (wsa) a nest of sieves, 2 mm, 1 mm 0.5 mm as described by kemper and chepil (1965) were used to sieve wet aggregates of between 4 and 2 mm diameter size. the operation was carried out for 2 minutes at one oscillation per second after which the sieves were removed from water and oven – dry weight of the materials on each determined. mean weight diameter : this was determined using the method of van bavel (1950) as modified by kemper and chepil (1965). the materials used for water stable aggregates determination were used in the following relationship: ms v (1 – db) dp θ at l δh h l www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 39 mwd = ∑x1 w1 … mwd = mean weight diameter x = mean diameter of each size fraction (mm) w = the proportion of the total sample weight occurring in the corresponding size fraction. 2.3 statistical analysis the data collected were analyzed statistically and significant differences between treatment means of various experiments were tested at p<0.05 using the fisher’s least-significant differences (f-lsd), standard errors and student’s “t”-test, according to the procedures of steel and terrie (1980). in all statistical analysis, p<0.05 were used to test for significant differences between the treatment means of the various experiments. 3. results and discussion physico-chemical properties of the eroded surrounding topsoil of the study site at umudike, nigeria. tables 1 and 2 summarize the physico-chemical properties of the bare topsoil of the study site at umudike, nigeria. the sandy clay loam topsoil had 1.70 mg gm-3 bulk density, 25.50% total porosity and 10.02 cm hr-1 hydraulic conductivity. however, the topsoil of the study site had low ph, n, organic c. and consequently organic matter, available p, exchangeable cations (k, na, ca, and mg) and percentage base saturation. however the percentage al. saturation, effective cation exchange capacity (ecec) and exchangeable acidity (ea) were high. the very high bulk density , decrease in total porosity and hydraulic conductivity observed in the surrounding soils of the study site according to ojimgba and mbagwu (2007), was due to translocation of clay from eluvial horizon with simultaneous loss of structure and close parking of sand grains in the eluvial horizon. lowery et al., (1995) also associated increase bulk density and decrease saturated hydraulic conductivity of eroded soils to loss of organic matter and other colloidal particles. ojimgba and mbagwu (2007) also concluded that increase in bulk density generally resulted in decrease porosity and poor aeration which physically restrict root growth. also, the soil ph value (4.42) was acidic. ojimgba and mbagwu (2007) observed that there was a problem of exposure of very acidic subsoil due to erosion. they attributed this low value partly because the soils were heavily leached of the basic cations due to very heavy rainfall associated with the rainforest zone. the organic matter content (0.72%) was low which is typical of most tropical soils which have been exposed to hot weather and constant cultivation. as erosion increased, organic c is reduced (ojimgba and mbagwu, 2007). opara-nadi (2000) concluded that, these soils being an ultisol constitutes the bulk of the upland soils of southeastern nigeria. he added that these soils are rich in free iron but have a lower mineral reserve and lower fertility than the ferruginous tropical soils. their cation exchange capacity and base saturation are very low. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 40 table 1. physical properties of unprotected topsoil at umudike, nigeria. attributes /statistics units of measurement mean values sand % 51.80 silt % 12.80 clay % 35.40 textural class sand clay loam bulk density mg mg-3 1.70 total porosity % 26.50 hydraulic conductivity cm hr –1 10.02 table 2. chemical properties of unprotected topsoil at umudike, nigeria. attributes /statistics units of measurement mean values ph 4.42 nitrogen % 0.03 organic c % 0.42 organic matter % 0.72 available p ppm 3.40 exchangeable k c mol (+) kg –1 0.06 “ na “ 0.12 “ ca “ 0.70 “ mg “ 0.50 “ al “ 2.20 exchangeable h “ 0.60 exchangeable acidity (ea) “ 2.80 effective cation exchange capacity (ecec) “ 4.18 al saturation % 62.90 base saturation % 39.00 c:n 14:1 www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 41 influence of grasscover management in improving the physical properties of eroded soils of umudike, nigeria table 3 summarizes the influence of grasscover (paspalum notatum, panicum maximum, axonopus compressus and vetiver grassvetiveria zizanioides), and their adjacent open soils on the textures, bulk density, total porosity and hydraulic conductivity of the soils of umudike. the grasscover management significantly (p<0.05) improved the soil physical properties. there were also significant changes in the physical properties of the various grasscover management as shown in tables 3, 4 and 5. therefore, the grasscover management improved the physical properties of the degraded soil. particle size distribution generally, the values obtained from table 3 show that the textures of the soils were not affected significantly at p<0.05 by the various grasses. clay values obtained from the grasses (pm, pn, ac and vg) were significantly similar and ranged between 33 and 35% for pn1 and bspm1 in location 1 as well as 34 and 35% for pn2 and bsvg2 in location 2, respectively. also, table 3 shows the values of the silt which were significantly similar in both locations 1 and 2, and ranged between 10 and 11% for bspn1 and pn1 (location 1), and 10 and 12% for bsac2 and pn2 (location 2), respectively. however, total sand content with statistically similar values ranged between 54 and 56% in location1 for bsvg1 and pn1, and 54 and 55% in location 2 for pn2 and bsac2, respectively. bulk density table 3 also shows that the grasscover management significantly decreased the soil bulk density relative to the adjacent open soils in locations 1 and 2. the results indicated that paspalum notatum (pn) gave significantly higher bulk density values in location 1 than those of the other grasses and their open adjacent soils. for example in location 1, the pn1 reduced the bulk density from 1.43 (bspn1) to 1.10 mg m-3(pn1), while in location 2, the reduction was from 1.49(bspn2) to 1.13 mg m-3 (pn2). the differences among the treatment means were in the order : pn1<pm1=ac1=vg1<bspm1=bspn1=bsvg1=bsac1. the results showed that the adjacent open soils produced no significant changes in bulk densities probably due to low organic matter content. total porosity table 3 also shows that the various grasscover management significantly increased the total porosity when compared with the adjacent open soils in locations 1 and 2. the paspalum notatum (68.23%) had statistically similar total porosity values with those of axonopus compressus (68%) and panicum maximum (65%) which were significantly higher than the values of vetiver grass (48%) and their adjacent open soils. the differences between the treatment means in location 1 were in the order : pn1=ac1=pm1>vg1=bspn1>bspm1>bsvg1=bsac1. also in location 2 pn1 gave significantly (p<0.05) the highest total porosity values than the rest of the treatments. the values ranged between 71.00 and 35.00% for pn2 and bsvg2, respectively. hydraulic conductivity table 3 also shows that paspalum notatum (pn1) and axonopus compressus (ac1) significantly increased the soil hydraulic conductivity relative to the statistically similar values of pm1 and vg1 as well as their adjacent open soils. however, the grasscover paspalum notatum (pn) gave significantly higher soil hydraulic conductivity values of 75.00 and 79.00 cm hr-1 than other treatments, while the least values of 25.00 and 27.00 cm hr-1 in both locations 1 and 2 study periods, respectively were the results for bsvg1 and bsac2. also, the relative improvement in the hydraulic www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 42 conductivity of the eroded soils by the grasses was in the order : pn1(75 cm hr-1) =ac1 (75 cm hr-1) >pm1 (63 cm hr-1) =vg1 (60 cm hr-1) >bspm1(45 cm hr-1) =bspn1(43 cm hr-1) >bsac1(26 cm hr-1) =bsvg1(25 cm hr-1) . paspalum notatum (pn1) grass, therefore, greatly improved water movement into the eroded soils more than the other grasses. water-stable aggregates (wsa) table 4 shows the influence of grasscover on water-stable aggregates as well as the mean weight diameter of the study soils. introduction of grasscover on the eroded soil greatly improved the stability of the soils. aggregate stability was determined at five different diameter : 4.00 – 2.00 mm, 2.00 – 1.00 mm, 1.00 – 0.5 mm, 0.5 – 0.2 mm, and <0.2 mm. the eroded soil planted with paspalum notatum in locations 1 and 2 proved best, outperforming other treatments in stabilizing aggregates. for example, relative to the adjacent open soil, in size range of 4.00 -2.00 mm, pn increased from 13.10 to 31.80, and 14.67 to 40.70% in locations 1 and 2, for bspn and pn, respectively. also, in size range between 0.5 and 0.2 mm, paspalum notatum significantly (p<0.05) reduced the soil size range from 49.37 to 35.00%, and 49.10 to 30.50% in locations 1 and 2 for bspn and pn, respectively. similar trends were observed with the < 0.2 mm fraction. however, relative to the adjacent open sites whose effects were not statistically noticed, the establishment of paspalum notatum in the eroded soils significantly increased mean weight diameter (mwd). the relative improvement in location 1 was in the order : pn1>ac1=vg1>pm1>bsvg1=bspn1>bsac1=bspm1. all the grasses significantly improved the eroded soils more than their adjacent open soils, while pn was the best in improving the soil aggregates. planting of pn on eroded soil significantly (p<0.05) increased the mean weight diameter from 0.77mm (bspn1) to 1.31mm (pn1) and 0.82mm (bspn2) to 1.48mm (pn2) for locations 1 and 2, respectively. moisture retention characteristics table 5 summarises the influence of grasscover management on volumetric soil moisture content (0.01 and 1.5 mpa suctions) and available water capacity of the eroded soils of umudike, nigeria. as with the saturated hydraulic conductivity and total porosity, the establishment of grasscover into the eroded soils significantly increased the soil moisture contents measured for the 0.01 and 1.5 mpa matric potentials. among the treatments, pn gave significantly the highest moisture content. however, the magnitude of increase was more pronounced at field capacity (0.01 mpa) than at wilting point (1.5 mpa). the volumetric moisture content of the soils ranged between 23.00 and 40.00% at 0.01 mpa in location 1, and 24.90 and 40.90% in location 2, for bsvg and pn, respectively. at these suction levels, higher values were obtained for soils with pn, while the corresponding adjacent open soils had lower values. however, the relative order of improvements in available water capacity (awc) obtained due to these grasses was : pn1>ac1> pm1>vg1> >bspm1>bspn1>bsac1=bsvg1. generally, the adjacent open soils gave significantly lower values than the grasses. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 43 table 3. influence of grasscover on the physical properties of eroded soils of umudike, nigeria. % % % clay silt sand bd tp hc location treatment ---- particle size analysis -------- t c (mg m-1) ( % ) ( cm hr-1 ) location 1 bspm1 35.00 11.00 54.00 scl 1.43 40.21 45.00 63.00 pm1 35.00 10.00 55.00 scl 1.26 65.00 bsvg1 35.00 11.00 54.00 scl 1.55 32.19 25.00 vg1 35.00 11.00 55.00 scl 1.30 48.00 60.00 ac1 35.00 11.00 54.00 scl 1.28 68.00 75.00 bsac1 34.00 10.00 56.00 scl 1.56 30.50 26.00 bspn1 34.00 10.00 56.00 scl 1.43 45.00 43.00 pn1 33.00 11.00 56.00 scl 1.10 68.23 75.00 f-lsd0.05 2.18ns 3.75ns 2.06ns 0.13* 4.45* 8.38* location 2 bspm2 35.00 11.00 54.00 scl 1.40 39.22 50.00 pm2 34.00 11.00 55.00 scl 1.19 57.99 73.00 bsvg2 35.00 11.00 54.00 scl 1.53 35.00 28.00 vg2 35.00 11.00 54.00 scl 1.30 48.05 62.00 ac2 35.00 10.00 55.00 scl 1.20 62.00 69.00 bsac2 35.00 10.00 55.00 scl 1.50 36.01 27.00 bspn2 35.00 10.00 54.00 scl 1.49 48.91 53.00 pn2 34.00 12.00 54.00 scl 1.13 71.00 79.00 f-lsd0.05 1.89ns 2.06ns 1.73ns 0.12* 4.64* 4.58* tc = textural class, bd = bulk density, tc = total porosity, hc = hydraulic conductivity, scl = sandy clay loam ns = not significant, * = significant at p = 0.05, pn=paspalum notatum,pm=panicum maximum, ac=axonopus compressus, vg= vetiver grassvetiveria zizanioides), bspn=bare soil pn, bspm=bare soil pm, bsac=bare soil ac, bsvg=bare soil vg www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 44 table 4. influence of grasscover on water-stable aggregates (wsa) and mean weight diameter (mwd) of the eroded soil of umudike, nigeria. --------------------------------------wsa%-------------------------------------- 4.00 2.00 1.00 0.5 location treatment 2.00 mm 1.00 mm 0.5 mm 0.2 mm < 0.2 mm mwd (mm) location 1 pm1 24.40 3.90 17.00 39.90 14.80 1.09 bspm1 8.10 2.20 14.90 46.00 28.80 0.61 bsvg1 14.10 2.90 14.10 43.80 25.20 0.77 vg1 27.00 4.00 22.10 35.70 11.20 1.18 ac1 27.80 3.50 18.80 36.80 13.10 1.18 bsac1 9.80 2.00 13.10 42.70 32.40 0.64 bspn1 13.10 2.70 17.50 49.37 17.00 0.77 pn1 31.80 4.50 20.10 35.00 8.60 1.31 f-lsd0.05 0.68* 0.34* 0.27* 0.59* 0.39* 0.04* location 2 pm2 31.10 3.20 13.20 35.50 17.00 1.24 bspm2 12.00 3.50 24.50 43.50 15.60 0.78 bsvg2 21.50 3.60 19.50 42.10 13.30 1.02 vg2 28.00 3.40 19.20 38.50 10.90 1.16 ac2 31.80 4.50 20.10 35.00 8.60 1.31 bsac2 10.80 2.10 17.30 48.40 21.40 0.70 bspn2 14.67 2.60 17.60 49.10 15.70 0.82 pn2 40.70 4.00 11.70 30.50 15.10 1.48 f-lsd0.05 0.91* 0.38* 0.34* 0.85* 0.36* 0.05* * = significant at p = 0.05 , mwd = mean weight diameter, wsa=waterstable aggregate, pn=paspalum notatum,pm=panicum maximum, ac=axonopus compressus, vg= vetiver grassvetiveria zizanioides), bspn=bare soil pn, bspm=bare soil pm, bsac=bare soil ac, bsvg=bare soil vg www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 45 table 5. influence of grasscover management on volumetric soil moisture content (0.01 and 1.5 mpa suctions) and available water capacity of eroded soils of umudike, nigeria. 0.01 1.5 location treatment mpa mpa awc location 1 pm1 25.60 10.90 24.70 bspm1 30.00 10.10 19.90 bsvg1 23.00 7.40 15.60 vg1 32.40 9.90 22.50 ac1 39.70 13.30 26.50 bsac1 26.70 8.20 18.50 bspn1 29.30 10.20 19.10 pn1 40.00 13.10 26.90 f-lsd0.05 10.07* 0.53* 0.37* location 2 pm2 38.00 11.90 26.10 bspm2 31.80 10.20 21.60 bsvg2 24.90 8.70 16.20 vg2 33.40 10.50 22.90 ac2 39.93 12.90 28.53 bsac2 29.80 9.00 20.80 bspn2 34.30 10.60 23.70 pn2 40.90 13.80 28.60 f-lsd0.05 0.88* 0.65* 0.44* awc = available water capacity; * = significant at p = 0.05, pn=paspalum notatum,pm=panicum maximum, ac=axonopus compressus, vg= vetiver grassvetiveria zizanioides), bspn=bare soil pn, bspm=bare soil pm, bsac=bare soil ac, bsvg=bare soil vg results presented in table 3 showed that the adjacent bare soils gave the highest bulk density values for the two locations than the grasses. ojimgba and mbagwu (2007) observed that the increase in bulk density may be due to the lower organic matter contents of the eroded soils. high bulk density according to mbagwu et al., (1984) is also attributed to translocation of clay from eluvial horizon with simultaneous loss of structure and close packing of sand grains in the eluvial horizon. also, bulk densities of all soils increased over time with cultivation. dry bulk density is a soil physical parameter used extensively to quantify soil compactness and has a very influential effect on root growth and proliferation which are both indicators of soil productivity (alvaro et al., 1998). anikwe et al., (2003) noted that a 0.1 mg m-3 decrease in dry bulk density had a significant beneficial effect on root development and yield of sorghum and groundnut. soil compatibility is influenced by soil organic matter content, soil water content during trafficking, initial dry bulk intensity, soil strength (cone index) and soil texture (gysi, 2001). the planting of grasses on the eroded soils resulted in a decrease in bulk densities. the lowest bulk density obtained with paspalum notatum may be due to its high organic matter contents and its constituents. anikwe et al., (2003) noted that it is logical that soil and crop management factors like tillage, crop type, incorporation of organic matter and mulching could influence soil compactability. they observed that the lowest (p<0.05) soil dry bulk density was recorded in groundnut plots amended with manure + npk than in plots with npk alone or control. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 46 decrease in total porosity and hydraulic conductivity was observed in all bare soils and was more evident on bsac. mbagwu et al., (1984) who made similar observation stated that reduced saturated hydraulic conductivities were due to structure degradations as reflected in increased bulk densities and decreased total porosities of the exposed soils. also, this reduction may be directly related to increased compaction, reduced micro-porosity and a higher incidence of soil crusting observed on the eroded soils. ojimgba and mbagwu (2007) concluded that increase in bulk density generally resulted in decrease porosity and poor aeration which physically restrict root growth. mbagwu (1992) had emphasized that expected high crop yields were not obtained on many tropical soils even after optimizing the chemical fertility. this had led to the conclusion that, on most soils in the tropics, for soil-management practices to be effective and reduce the fertilizer demand, they should aim at ameliorating the degraded physical properties. he concluded that the major physical constraint to high level crop production on degraded tropical soils is high bulk density resulting from continuous cultivation. that the consequences of this is reduced porosity, infiltration rates and saturated hydraulic conductivity, and low available water capacity within the rhizosphere. he also stressed that since high bulk density of these soils is directly related to low organic matter contents, all ameliorative treatments should logically aim at improving the soil organic matter status. high organic matter content of the grasses might have contributed to the reduction in soil bulk densities, increased porosity and hydraulic conductivity of the study soils. in terms of water-stable aggregates (wsa) at five different diameters, the soil planted with paspalum notatum proved best, outperforming other treatments in stabilizing aggregates and increasing mean weight diameter (mwd). this may be attributed to the increase in organic matter content of the soils which seemed to contribute to aggregation. however, from the result in table 4, with grasses, aggregate size distribution of whole soils was shifted to larger sizes, whereas percent content of micro-aggregates (<0.2 and 0.5 – 0.2 mm) decreased indicating improvement in aggregates >2 mm in size. piccolo and mbagwu (1990) made similar observations. bewick (1980) concluded that adding crop residues along side with manure increases soil aggregation, water movement and roots penetration. also, the incorporation of amendments into the soils significantly increased the soil moisture contents measured for the 0.01 (field capacity) and 1.5 mpa (wilting point) as well as the available water capacity (awc) relative to the unamended control and the fertilizer rates (table 4.6.3). ojimgba and mbagwu (2007) observed that it is possible that a reduction in the organic matter contents of the soils might have caused the lowering of water retained at these various suctions in the adjacent open soils. the increase in soil moisture contents and available water capacity (awc) may be due to the increase in organic matter contents of the soil as a result of the grasses. mbagwu (1992) had emphasized that the incorporation of organic manure into the soil significantly increased the soil moisture content. influence of various grasscover management on some chemical properties of soils of umudike, nigeria. tables 6 and 7 summarize the influence of grasses (vetiver grassvetiveria zizanioides, axonopus compressus, paspalum notatum and panicum maximum) on some chemical properties of soils in the two locations in umudike, nigeria. the soils under the grasses generally had higher ph, organic carbon and organic matter, as well as higher nitrogen and available phosphorus than the soils of the open adjacent soils. . the tables also show significant (p<0.05) differences existing among the various grasscover management. the grasses significantly improved the chemical properties of the soils more than their open adjacent bare soils. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 47 some increase in ph of the soils under the grasses was observed. for example, the ph of the soil under paspalum notatum(pn1) in location 1 was raised slightly from 4.5(h2o) and 4.0(kcl) for bspn1 to 6.3(h2o) and 5.2(kcl) for pn1, respectively. also, location 2 followed same trend. however, the soils under pn gave significantly higher values of ph than the values of other grasses and their open adjacent soils in locations 1 and 2. the relative improvement in ph in location 1 was in the order : pn1>ac1>vg1=pm1>bspm1=bsvg1>bsac1=bspn1 (table 6). also, the results obtained from tables 6 and 7 show that the percentage organic carbon content was significantly higher in the grasses than the adjacent open soils in locations 1 and 2. generally, all the grasses significantly increased the organic carbon concentration of the soil, but the magnitude of increase was more for pn than the other grasses and their adjacent open soils. the magnitude of increase in location 1 was in the order : pn1>ac1>pm1=vg1>bsvg1=bspn1=bsac1>bspm1. location 2 also increased in the same trend. the organic carbon content of pn increased from 0.73%(bspn1) to 2.89%(pn1) and 0.88%(bspn2) to 2.91%(pn2) in locations 1 and 2, respectively. also, the organic matter content of the soil increased in the same trend as organic matter content. however, the grasses significantly (p<0.05) increased the total nitrogen of the soil more than their adjacent open soils. for example, paspalum notatum(pn) increased the total nitrogen from 0.061%(bspn1) to 0.231%(pn1) and 0.036%(bspn2) to 0.241%(pn2) in locations 1 and 2, respectively. the relative improvement was in the order : pn1>ac1>pm1=vg1>bsvg1>bspn1>bsac1>bspm1 in location 1. also, location 2 followed the same trend, while bspm1 gave the least total nitrogen values in both locations (tables 6 and 7). the grasses also increased the available phosphorus (p) values. table 6. influence of various grass cover management on organic carbon, total nitrogen, ph and available phosphorus of umudike soils (location 1) treatment location 1 ph (h2o) ph (kcl) oc (%) om (%) n (%) av.p (mg/kg) vg1 5.8 4.7 1.68 2.89 0.148 18.6 bsvg1 4.8 4.3 0.76 1.31 0.068 13.4 ac1 6.1 4.9 2.62 4.52 0.209 21.3 bsac1 4.5 3.7 0.67 1.16 0.059 14.0 pn1 6.3 5.2 2.89 5.01 0.231 41.8 bspn1 4.5 4.0 0.73 1.26 0.061 16.5 pm1 5.7 4.8 1.81 3.12 0.149 18.5 bspm1 4.8 3.6 0.29 0.50 0.029 12.1 lsd (0.05) 0.18* 0.08* 0.20* 0.34* 0.01* 1.5* ac = axonopus compressus, oc = organic carbon , pn = paspalum notatum ,om = organic matter, pm = panicum maximum, vg = vetiver grass, tn = total nitrogen , av.p = available phosphorus, ), bspn=bare soil pn, bspm=bare soil pm, bsac=bare soil ac, bsvg=bare soil vg www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 48 table 7. influence of various grass cover management on organic carbon, total nitrogen, ph and available phosphorus of umudike soils (location 2) treatment location 2 ph (h2o) ph (kcl) oc (%) om (%) n (%) av.p (mg/kg) vg2 6.0 4.9 1.87 3.22 0.171 20.1 bsvg2 4.6 4.3 0.69 1.81 0.090 14.8 ac2 5.9 4.8 2.44 4.21 0.211 19.2 bsac2 4.8 3.8 0.48 0.83 0.033 12.8 pn2 6.4 5.2 2.91 5.04 0.241 22.6 bspn2 4.9 4.3 0.88 1.52 0.036 13.0 pm2 5.9 4.9 1.60 2.76 0.136 19.0 bspm2 4.5 4.0 0.36 0.62 0.030 11.3 lsd (0.05) 0.12* 0.07* 0.19* 0.35* 0.01* 1.0* ac = axonopus compressus, oc = organic carbon , pn = paspalum notatum ,om = organic matter, pm = panicum maximum, vg = vetiver grass, tn = total nitrogen , av.p = available phosphorus, ), bspn=bare soil pn, bspm=bare soil pm, bsac=bare soil ac, bsvg=bare soil vg ojimgba and mgbeahuru, (2018) observed increase in ph due to paspalum notatum. they added that grass increases soil organic carbon, microbial biomass and potential nitrogen mineralization rate, reducing the soil bulk density. they also stated that soils under grass cover have shown better chemical properties than soils under forest cover and bare soils. similar observation was made by ojimgba (2018). the high ph values of the adjacent bare soil according the ojimgba and mbagwu, (2007) may be attributed to the exposure of the acidic subsoil due to soil erosion. the attributed this low values partly because the soils are heavily leached of the basic cations due to very heavy rainfall associated with the rainforest zone. grasscover management have contributed to the sustainable management of land through replenishing soil nutrients (tizita, 2015). 4. conclusion and recommendations ▪ the study had basic information on the influence of grasscover management on the physical and some chemical properties of soil under panicum maximum, paspulum notatum, axonopus compressus and vertiver grass and their adjacent bare soils in umudike. this study has shown that the soils planted with the grasses gave significantly (p<0.05) higher results of the physical and some chemical properties than their adjacent open bare soil. in all the parameters considered in this study, the values obtained in soils under paspalum notatum was higher than those obtained in pm, ac, vg and their adjacent bare soils(bs). the soils under pn had generally lower bulk density, higher total porosity and hydraulic conductivity than other grasses and adjacent open bare soil in both locations. also, soils under pn had significantly higher values of ph, organic c and organic matter, total nitrogen and available p more than other grasses and their adjacent open soils the result, therefore, pointed to the fact that grasscover management especially paspulum notatum(pn) improved the physical and some chemical properties of the soils better than other grasses and their adjacent open soils. o from the study, paspalum notatum which proved best is a perennial grass with huge biomass and accepted as a better alternative for land reclamation. the shoots and roots, make it effective for use to ameliorate the degraded soil and cover barren land o it is hoped that grasscover if established on soils that are prone to erosion, would help improve the soil aggregate, reduce direct impact of raindrop and runoff and encourage infiltration. people should www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 49 not weed and expose the topsoil to avoid erosion hazards, rather plant paspalum notatum and trim continually. references alvaro, p.s., kay, b.d. and perfect, e. (1998). management versus inherent soil properties: effects on bulk density and relative compaction. soil tillage res. 44: 81-93 anikwe, m.a.n., obi, m.e. and agbim, n.n. (2003). effect of crop and soil management practices on soil compatibility in maize and groundnut plots in a paleustult in southeastern nigeria. netherlands. plant and soil 253: 457-465. bewick, m.w.m. (1980). handbook of organic waste conversion. new york. n.y. nostrand reinhold co. 418 p. blanco, and lal,r. (2010) “soil and water conservation”. principles of soil conservation and management. springer.p.2. isbn 978-90-481-8529-0. blake, g. r. and hartge, k. h. (1986). bulk density. methods of soil analysis, part 1.physical and mineralogical methods. ed. a. klute. american society of agron. , madison, wi, usa. pp. 365 – 375. day, p. r. (1965). particle fraction and particle size analysis . in: c. a. black (ed) methods of soil analysis. part i. am. agron. 9: 545 – 567. enwezor, w.o, ohiri, a.c, opuwaribo, e.e. and udo, e.j. (1990). a review of soil fertility investigation in southeastern nigeria vol. ii. federal department of agriculture (fda) lagos, nigeria. gee, g. w. and bauder, j. w. (1986). particle size analysis. in: methods of soil analysis. part ii. agronomy 9. ed. a. klute. am. soc. agron., madison, wi, usa, pp. 383 – 411. gysi, m. (2001). compaction of a eutric cambisol under heavy wheel traffic in switzerland: field data and a critical state soil mechanics model approach. soil tillage res. 61, 133-142. julien, p.y.(2010). erosion and sedimentation. cambridge university press. p.i. ibsn 978-0-521-53737-7. kemper, w o. and chepil, w. s. ( 1965). water-stable aggregates. in: methods of soil analysis, part 1. c. a. black (ed) , amer. soc. of agron. madison, wisconsin. klute, a. (1986). water retention : laboratory methods . in: a. klute (ed) . methods of soil analysis, part 1. second edition. amer. soc. of agronomy, inc., madison. lowery, b., swan, j. schumacher, t. and jones, a. 1995. physical properties of selected soils by erosion class. j. soil and water cons. 50 : 306-311. mbagwu, j.s.c. (1992). improving the productivity of a degraded ultisol in nigeria using organic and inorganic amendments. part 1. effects on the chemical properties and maize yield. bioresource technol. 42, 149-154. mbagwu, j.s.c., lal, r. and scott, t.w. (1984). effects of desurfacing alfisols and ultisols in southern nigeria. ii. changes in soil physical properties. soil sci. soc. am. j. 48: 834-838. mclean, e.o. (1982). soil ph and lime requirement. in: methods of soil analysis, part ii. agronomy 9.ed.a.l. page. pp. 199-234. am. soc. agron., madison, wi, usa. nelson, d. w. and sommers, l. e. (1982). total carbon, organic carbon and organic matter. methods of soil analysis. part 2. chemical and microbiological properties. asa, madison, wi. pp.359 – 380. odurukwe, s. o. , anuebunwa, f. o., iloka, a. w., udealor, a. and ibedu, m. a. (1995). physical environment of south-eastern nigeria. in: indigenous fallow and multi-purpose tree and shrub species in the farming systems of southeast zone of nigeria. a report of diagnostic survey. n.r.c.r.i., umudike publications. ojimgba, o. (2018). effectiveness of soil amendments in restoring the chemical properties of soils subjected to different intensities of erosion in nsukka, southeastern nigeria. scientific paper series management, economic engineering in agriculture and rural development. vol. 18, issue 4. pp 193-200. print issn 2284-7995, e-issn 2285-3952 ojimgba, o and mbagwu, j. s. c. (2007). evaluation of the physical and chemical properties of an eroded ultisol and their effects on maize yield. journ. sc. agric. , food tech. and the env. vol. 7. no. 1. pp. 57 – 64. fac. of agric., ebonyi state uni. , abakaliki, nigeria. ojimgba, o. and mgbeahuru, c. (2018). effect of bahia grass cover on the chemical properties of ultisol at different levels of slope in umudike, nigeria. scientific paper series management, economic engineering in agriculture and rural development. vol. 18, issue 3. pp 287-296. print issn 284-7995, e-issn 22853952 opera-nadi, o.a.,(2000). soil resources and agricultural productivity in nigeria. in: food and fiber production in the 21th century. nwaigbo, l.c., ukpabi, u.h. and anene, a. (eds). proceeding of the first annual conference of the college of agriculture and veterinary medicine, abia state university held on the 10th-13th september, 2000. page, a.l,, miller, r.h and keeney, d.r. (1982). methods of soil analysis. part 2 chemical and microbiological properties. asa, madison. www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 3, no. 1; 2020 50 piccolo, a. and mbagwu, j.s.c. 1990. effects of different organic waste amendments on soil micro-aggregates stability and molecular sizes of humic substances. plant and soil 123: 27-37. salau, o.a., opara-nadi, o.a. and swennen, r. (1992). effect of mulching on the properties, growth and yield of plantain on a tropical ultisol in southeastern nigeria. soil tillage res. 23:73-93. steel, r.g.d. and torrie, j.h. (1980). principles, procedures of statistics. a biometric approach. mc graw hill publication, new york, 633 pp. stocking, m.a., chakela, q. and elwell, h. (1988). an improved methodology for erosion hazard mapping. part 1. the technique geogr. amn. 7oa(3):169-180. stolte, j. (1997). manual of soil physical measurements. version 3 . wageningen, d. l. o. staring centre. tech. doc. 37. tizita endale (2015) dynamics of soil physico-chemical properties in area closures at hirna watershed of west hararghe zone of oromia region, ethiopia. international journal of soil science., 11(1);1-8,2016. van bavel, c. h. m. (1950). mean weight diameter of soil aggregates as a statistical index of aggregation. soil sci. soc. am. proc. 14 : 20 – 23. vomicil , j. a. (1965). porosity. in: c. a. black (ed), methods of soil analysis. part 1. am. soc. agron. 9 : 299 – 314. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an openaccess article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 26-30 26 agricultural studies aijas vol 6 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa production of waterleaf in a soil and soilless systems using single and double node cuttings chukwunalu okolie ossai (a)1 ayinde mudashir morakinyo (b ) oyeyemi azeez (c) stephanie clara akpeji (d) (a) research associate, international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria; e-mail: ossaichukwunalu1@gmail.com (b) postgraduate fellow, crop protection and environmental biology department, university of ibadan, nigeria; e-mail: ayindemorakinyo@gmail.com (c) seed manager, international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria; e-mail: o.azeez@cgiar.org (d) lecturer, microbiology department, novena university, ogume, delta state, nigeria; e-mail: akpejistephanie@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 9th september 2022 accepted: 20th october 2022 online publication: 29th october 2022 keywords: talinum triangulare, substrates, soil farming, nodal cuttings jel classification codes: q16 a b s t r a c t the general acceptability of waterleaf and its profitability as a vegetable has promoted its high demand in nigeria. however, rural farmers depend on conventional farming systems for production with a low output. this calls for an alternative technique besides the conventional method to boost production and meet market demand. this study, therefore, evaluated the yield response of waterleaf cuttings to soil and soilless systems. single and double nodal cuttings were cut from one-month-old waterleaf plants and planted in 4 kg cocopeat substrate and topsoil each, mixed with 250 g poultry manure each and arranged in a 2 (level of nodal cuttings) by 2 (substrate) factorial experiment laid in a completely randomized design with three replicates in 2 cycles. the plants were watered every other day. at harvest, data were collected on the root weight (rw), shoot weight (sw), and leaf weight (lw). data collected were analyzed using anova and differences in means were separated using least significance differences at 5% significance level. the substrate type was insignificant in the growth and yield parameters. however, the rw, sw and lw differed significantly between the nodal cuttings and ranged from 9.1±2.8 g to 21.2±2.8 g, 12.0±4.5 g to 27.0±4.5 g and 10.7±3.1 g to 21.9±3.1 g, respectively in the first cycle. the rw, sw and lw, also ranged from 10.1±1.8 g to 20.5±1.8 g, 12.7±3.0 g to 24.8±3.0 g, and 11.7±3.0 g to 23.7±3.0 g in the second cycle of production. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction waterleaf (talinum triangulare) is a leafy vegetable that originated from tropical africa and grown in many countries including asia, south america and west africa (tindall, 1983). urban residents usually see it as a weed during the raining season because of its widening survival range. like other leafy vegetables, it is widely cultivated in home garden to improve nutritional deficiency of less privilege family and mostly consumed in the southern part of nigeria (udoh et al., 2005). it plays a major role in eradicating malnutrition in africa because it is a rich source of calcium, phosphorous, iron, protein and vitamins (tata et al., 2016). the nutritional value and the affordability of the crop have made its demand higher among other common staple fibrous leafy vegetables. in southern nigeria, it is used as herb for treating ailments and contagious diseases including measles and stomach upsets (udoh et al., 2005). it performs well as fodder for raising giant snails (ebenso & okafor, 2002). waterleaf is an important vegetable both as food and as raw materials for industries, which also serves for economic interest (nya et al., 2010). in the past, the consumption of vegetable in nigeria had been on the increase and currently estimated between 22 and 47.5 kg/person/year. the general acceptability of the vegetable by all classes of people and its profitability among other vegetables has promoted its cultivation by unemployment youths and the women of the rural population in the southern part of nigeria. in west africa, forecasters indicate that the urban population will reach 63% by 2050, enhancing the needs for effective urban and sub-urban agricultural production systems to complement rural systems. in addition, cultivation of this crop may provide additional income especially for female farmers. this therefore calls for a technique, beside conventional 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-1924-5855 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.265 to cite this article: ossai, c. o. ., morakinyo , a. m. ., azeez , o. ., & akpeji , s. c. . (2022). production of waterleaf in a soil and soilless systems using single and double node cuttings. american international journal of agricultural studies, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.265 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.265 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1924-5855 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1545-6698 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5697-4897 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2191-8032 ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 26-30 27 method, which serves as alternative for massive production of waterleaf to meet the larger population as earlier projected. with the current security challenges in nigeria coupled with urbanization, the call for the adoption of hydroponics system at home garden becomes increasingly relevant to meet the demand for vegetables in the country. this study therefore evaluated the morphological and yield response of waterleaf cuttings to soil and soilless systems. materials and methods experimental setup buffered cocopeat substrate (5 kg block form) were purchased from afri-agri company in lagos state, nigeria. the cocopeat was dissolved in 30 litres of water and poured into 12 hydroponics troughs of 8 litre capacity. another twelve (12) troughs were filled with topsoil. single and double node vine cuttings of one-month-old growing waterleaf plants were harvested. the vines were planted in the soil and soilless (cocopeat) troughs. each substrate in the troughs were mixed thoroughly with 250 g poultry manure. the plants were watered three times a week for four (4) weeks before harvesting. the experiment was carried out twice. experimental design the experiment was a 2 (number of nodes) by 2 (substrate) factorial laid in a completely randomized design and replicated three times. data collection and statistical analysis bi-weekly, morphological data were taken on the plant height (cm), internode length (cm), number of leaves, and number of nodes, while at harvest, the number of new leaves, number of flowers and plant weight were collected. data collected were analysed using analysis of variance (sas 9.0 version) and differences in treatment means were separated using least significant differences at 5% level of significance. results plant height (cm) table 1 shows that there were no significant differences between the substrates, nodal explants and the interaction between the substrates and nodal explants on the plant height in the first cycle of cultivation. however, at two weeks after planting, the height of waterleaf plants grown in the cocopeat substrate (22.67±1.37) cm was significantly taller than the ones grown in the soil (15.42±1.37) cm in the second growing circle. number of nodes on the number of nodes, there were no significant differences between the substrates, nodal explants and the interaction between the substrates and nodal explants on the nodal production by the plants in both first and second cycle of cultivation (table 2). table 1. effect of substrates and explants nodal level in the height of waterleaf plants substrates plant height (cm) cycle one cycle two two weeks four weeks two weeks four weeks cocopeat 22.70a 31.83a 22.67a 29.67a topsoil 14.20a 28.17a 15.42b 27.33a lsd(0.05) 9.32 13.4 4.46 11.75 se 2.86 4.11 1.37 3.6 subxnodes 122.88ns 96.33ns 117.19* 16.33ns double 19.12a 32.33a 19.25a 31.00a single 17.78a 27.67a 18.33a 26.00a lsd(0.05) 9.32 13.4 4.46 11.75 se 2.86 4.11 1.37 3.6 means with the same alphabet down the groups are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: lead significant differences, se: standard error, subxnodes: substrate by nodes interaction table 2. effect of substrates and explants nodal level in the number of nodes produced by waterleaf plants substrates number of nodes cycle one cycle two two weeks four weeks two weeks four weeks cocopeat 13.00a 32.00a 17.17a 28.50a topsoil 6.50a 24.50a 10.83a 21.67a lsd(0.05) 7.82 12.15 6.49 19 se 2.39 4.02 1.99 5.83 subxnodes 36.75ns 154.08ns 21.33ns 114.08ns ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 26-30 28 double 12.00a 39.67a 17.83a 32.83a single 7.50a 16.83a 10.17b 17.33a lsd(0.05) 7.82 12.15 6.49 19 se 2.4 4.02 1.99 5.83 means with the same alphabet down the groups are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: lead significant differences, se: standard error, subxnodes: substrate by nodes interaction number of leaves there were no significant differences between the substrates, nodal explants and the interaction between the substrates and nodal explants on the number of leaves produced by the waterleaf plants in the first cycle of cultivation (table 3). however, in the second production cycle, the plants grown in the cocopeat substrate produced significantly higher number of leaves (19.17±2.07) than the ones grown in topsoil (6.76±2.07). internodes (cm) there were no significant differences between the substrates, nodal explants and the interaction between the substrates and nodal explants on the internodes of the waterleaf plants in both first and second cycle of cultivation (table 4). biomass (g) table 5 showed that in both first and second growing cycles; the double node planting explants produced heavier roots (21.15±9.05) g, (20.48±1.76) g compared to the single node cut explants with root weights of 9.05±2.76 g and 10.07±1.76 g, respectively. the stem weight of the double node cut explants in the first (26.97±4.49) and second (24.82±2.96) g cycles were significantly heavier than the single node cut vines that produced 12.02±4.49 g in first cycle and 12.68±2.96 g, respectively. the leaf weight produced by the double node cut vines in first cycle (21.88±3.06) g and second cycle (23.72±2.98) g were significantly heavier than the double node cut vines in the first cycle (10.65±3.06) and second cycle (11.68±2.98) g, respectively. table 3. effect of substrates and explants nodal level in the number of leaves produced by waterleaf plants substrates number of leaves cycle one cycle two two weeks four weeks two weeks four weeks cocopeat 16.33a 31.17a 19.17a 31.00a topsoil 11.17a 26.67a 6.76b 25.00a lsd(0.05) 10.97 16.42 6.76 19.87 se 3.36 5.25 2.07 6.09 subxnodes 30.08ns 216.75ns 21.33* 147.00ns double 16.50a 39.50a 19.33a 35.83a single 11.00a 18.33a 11.67b 20.17a lsd(0.05) 10.97 16.42 6.76 19.87 se 3.36 5.25 2.07 6.09 means with the same alphabet down the groups are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: lead significant differences, se: standard error, subxnodes: substrate by nodes interaction table 4. effect of substrates and explants nodal level in the internodes of waterleaf plants substrates internode length (cm) cycle one cycle two two weeks four weeks two weeks four weeks cocopeat 2.87a 3.83a 1.90a 2.08a topsoil 2.43a 2.90a 1.87a 2.05a lsd(0.05) 1.4 1.15 0.69 0.65 se 0.43 0.35 0.21 0.2 subxnodes 0.16ns 0.05ns 0.03ns 0.003ns double 3.00a 3.37a 2.00a 2.13a single 2.30a 3.37a 1.77a 2.00a lsd(0.05) 1.4 1.15 0.69 0.65 se 0.43 0.35 0.21 0.2 means with the same alphabet down the groups are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: lead significant differences, se: standard error, subxnodes: substrate by nodes interaction ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 26-30 29 table 5. effect of substrates and explants nodal level in the biomass of waterleaf plants substrates root weight (g) stem weight (g) leaf weight (g) cycle one cycle two cycle one cycle two cycle one cycle two cocopeat 16.58a 17.07a 20.98a 21.57a 17.08a 20.25a topsoil 13.62a 13.48a 18.00a 15.93a 15.45a 15.15a lsd(0.05) 8.99 5.74 14.66 9.65 9.97 9.73 se 2.76 1.76 4.49 2.96 3.06 2.98 subxnodes 2.25ns 2.17ns 5.47ns 17.28ns 0.01ns 15.41ns double 21.15a 20.48a 26.97a 24.82a 21.88a 23.72a single 9.05b 10.07b 12.02b 12.68b 10.65b 11.68b lsd(0.05) 8.99 5.74 14.66 9.65 9.97 9.73 se 2.76 1.76 4.49 2.96 3.06 2.98 means with the same alphabet down the groups are not significantly different from each other at 5% level of significance. lsd: lead significant differences, se: standard error, subxnodes: substrate by nodes interaction discussions the findings of this study showed that the waterleaf plants grew at same rate (considering the agronomic parameters) in both the soil and soilless systems and the nodal explant levels in both cycles of production. this might be a result of the fertigation with poultry manure, which allowed the plants access to adequate nutrient for growth and development in both systems. several research has established the usefulness of cocopeat substrate as a sufficient substrate for growing vegetables (ahmad et al., 2011) as cocopeat substrate has high aeration capacity which allows easy root penetrations (abad et al., 2002). vine cutting technology has become a common system of multiplying vegetative propagated crops (essilfie et al., 2016) of which waterleaf can be propagated through in addition to seeds. in the first two weeks of growth, the double node explants outgrew the single node cuttings in the second production cycle. however, at the fourth week of growth, the single node cuttings grew at same rate with the double node cuttings. this shows that the double node cuttings established faster than the single nodal cuttings, but considering propagation ratios, the single node cuttings is higher. the findings of this research supports the work of dumbuya et al. (2017). the growth substrates had no effect on the biomass produced by the waterleaf plants in the two production cycles. sarwar et al. (2018) had earlier reported the non-significance between topsoil and cocopeat in the production of vegetables. however, the double node cut vines produced heavier biomass in terms of root weight, stem weight and especially the leaf weight which is predominantly consumed by humans as vegetable soup and animals as folder. the double node cut explants benefitted from the early establishment in the accumulation of biomass compared to the single node cut explants. this supports the findings of essilfie et al. (2016). conclusions both soil and soilless systems of cultivating waterleaf supported the production in the two cycles. however, there were no difference between the nodal explants on the agronomic parameters but the double node cuttings had an improved biomass production relative to the single node cut explants. hence, waterleaf can be produced conveniently at ones convenience in the home garden to boost its availability. author contributions: conceptualization, c.o.o. and a.m.m.; methodology, c.o.o. and a.m.m; software, c.o.o. and a.m.m; validation, c.o.o. and a.m.m; formal analysis, c.o.o. and a.m.m.; investigation, c.o.o. and a.m.m.; resources, c.o.o. and a.m.m.; data curation, c.o.o. and a.m.m.; writing – original draft preparation, c.o.o., a.m.m., o.a. and s.c.a.; writing – review & editing, c.o.o., a.m.m., o.a. and s.c.a.; visualization, c.o.o., a.m.m., o.a. and s.c.a.; supervision, c.o.o.; project administration, c.o.o.; funding acquisition, c.o.o., a.m.m., o.a. and s.c.a. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: n/a. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references abad, m., noguera, p., puchades, r., maquieira, a., & noguera, v. (2002). physico-chemical and chemical properties of some coconut coir dusts for use as a peat substitute for containerised ornamental plants. bioresource technology, 82(3), 241-245. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0960-8524(01)00189-4 ahmad, m. g., hassan, b., & mehrdad, j. (2011). effect of some culture substrates (date-palm peat, cocopeat and perlite) on some growing indices and nutrient elements uptake in greenhouse tomato. african journal of microbiology research, 5(12), 1437-1442. https://doi.org/10.5897/ajmr10.786 ossai et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 26-30 30 dumbuya, g., sarkodie-addo, j., daramy, m. a., & jalloh, m. (2017). effect of vine cutting length and potassium fertilizer rates on sweet potato growth and yield components. international journal of agriculture and forestry, 7(4), 8894. https://doi.org/10.5923/j.ijaf.20170704.02 ebenso, i. e., & okafor, n. m. (2002). alternative diets for growing archachatina marginata snails in south-eastern nigeria. tropical science, 42(3), 144-145. retrived from https://europepmc.org/article/agr/ind23303852 essilfie, m. e., dapaah, h. k., tevor, j. w., & darkwa, k. (2016). number of nodes and part of vine cutting effect on the growth and yield of sweet potato (ipomoea batatas (l.) lam) in transitional zone of ghana. international journal of plant & soil science, 9(5), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2016/22776 nya, e. j., okorie, n. u., & eka, m. j. (2010). an economic analysis of talinum triangulare (jacq.) production/farming in southern nigeria. trends in agricultural economics, 3(2), 79-93. https://doi.org/10.3923/tae.2010.79.93 sarwar, m. s., niazi, m. b. k., jahan, z., ahmad, t., & hussain, a. (2018). preparation and characterization of pva/nanocellulose/ag nanocomposite films for antimicrobial food packaging. carbohydrate polymers, 184, 453464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2017.12.068 tata, p. i., afari-sefa, v., ntsomboh-ntsefong, g., ngome, a. f., okolle, n. j., & billa, s. f. (2016). policy and institutional frameworks impacting on vegetable seed production and distribution systems in cameroon. journal of crop improvement, 30(2), 196-216. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427528.2016.1141134 tindall, h. d. (1983). vegetable in the tropics. macmillan press ltd. london.uk. pp. 342-346. udoh, j., ndon, b. a., asuquo, p. e., & ndaeyo, n. u. (2005). crop production techniques for the tropics concept publications limited. munshin, lagos nigeria, 101-106. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 31 spatial analysis of paddy rice price variability in dass and tafawa balewa lgas of bauchi state, nigeria andarawus musa department of agricultural economics and extension, fuw, taraba state, nigeria e-mail: mandarawus@gmail.com r.m. sani department of agricultural economics and extension, atbu bauchi state, nigeria godiya bulus department of agricultural economics and extension, atbu bauchi state, nigeria received: july 27, 2021 accepted: august 30, 2021 online published: september 15, 2021 doi: 10.46545/aijas.v5i1.202 url: https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v5i1.202 abstract the study was conducted on the spatial analysis of paddy rice (oryza sativa) price variability in dass and tafawa balewa lgas of bauchi state, nigeria. data were collected using questionnaires administered to 120 respondents sampled through random sampling technique. secondary data were also collected from bsadp bauchi on monthly prices of paddy rice. data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean, frequency, ranking and likert scale), pearson product correlation, t-test and ratio to moving average model. it was revealed that the leading causes of spatial rice price variability were spatial variation in supply, high cost of transportation and inadequate market information. there was existence of price integration or perfect price transmission between and among the urban and rural markets during the period of study. the magnitude of paddy rice price variability in the rural markets were higher, and the ttest shows that there was a significant (p < 0.05) difference in price of paddy rice between rural and urban markets. spatial variation in supply, bad road condition, seasonal variation in supply, inadequate contact with extension agents and low capital outlay were the major constraints militating against paddy rice marketing in the study area. therefore, it is recommended that rural feeder roads should be constructed by government, ngos or individuals to enable easy movement of produce as well as all year round production/supply of rice should be encouraged through provision of fund and inputs by relevant stakeholders to farmers for dry season farming in order to curtail the problem of price variation due to seasonality in production. keywords: spatial, markets, paddy rice, price variability. http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:mandarawus@gmail.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 32 introduction over the past decade, the rice consumption rates have risen rapidly. according to terwase and madu (2018) only in the last decade, the consumption rate has risen to 7 million metric tons per annum. still, only 2.7 million metric tons are produced by nigerian farmers. this means that even the increase in rice production in nigeria still leaves a significant gap of 4.2-4.3 million metric tons. therefore, nigeria is only able to supply 49% of the domestic demand. nigeria’s per capita consumption of rice has grown significantly at about 7.3% (akande, 2019). to bridge the gap, the federal government of nigeria over the years has embarked on policies and incentives for the farmers to increase production. the most recent among them is the presidential initiative on rice inaugurated by the buhari’s administration in 2018. the objective of the initiative was to increase rice production, improve milling quality, and promote marketing to provide domestic rice for consumption and to reduce/band national rice importation as well as to achieve 15 million metric tons of rice production from the 3 million hecters of the consolidated farm land by 2025. (usaid, 2019). as beautiful as this may be, such may not be fully realizable without proper marketing and pricing system agricultural marketing is bedeviled by a lot of problems. some of the problems arise because of the basic characteristics and problem of nigeria’s agriculture. marketing constraints or challenges arise due to many factors such as limited knowledge and use of market information, lack of access to high-value reliable markets, high transactional costs, distance from the markets, poor quality of the products, lack of storage facilities, low educational level of farmers/marketers, poor agricultural extension services, lack of financial support and most recently poor price control/system (antwi & seahlodi, 2011). matungul et al. (2012) added that inadequate market infrastructure, lack of adequate access to finance, lack of good roads, risks and uncertainty, poor communication of information regarding prices, lack of bargaining power and excesses of intermediaries bedeviled agricultural marketing. according to xaba and masuku, (2012) socio-economic factors of the marketers for example: training, marketing experience, age, level of education, household size, and gender all contributed to problems of agricultural marketing and pricing. these marketing constraints constitute the greatest barrier for small-scale farmers when it comes to access high value markets (baloyi, 2010), and these factors restrain farmers and marketers from making decisions to participate in the markets (uchezuba et al., 2009). therefore, overcoming marketing constraints is critical for small-scale farmers to access lucrative markets (baloyi, 2010). he added that shifting the focus from production-oriented programmes to more market-oriented interventions will place a renew attention on institutions of collective action, such as farmer groups, as an efficient mechanism for enhancing market performance. much research work has been done on agricultural commodity marketing and specifically on price analysis. majority of these studies have concluded that price variation which is a common phenomenon in agricultural commodity marketing is caused by temporal and spatial production as well as constraints that marketers face such as cost of transportation and inadequate market information. other marketing studies such as the ones carried out by madre and pieter (2018), taru (2012), emokaro and ayantoyinbo (2014) and debaniyu et al. (2011) all lend credence to the fact that inefficiency in marketing and pricing information transmission is one of the major causes of price variation. few or no studies have been conducted on the effect of spatial price variability on the part of marketers, consumers and the farmers hence, this study which is aimed at analysing the effect of spatial price variability on the https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 33 part of rice marketers, consumers and the farmers in dass and tafawa balewa lgas, bauchi state. consequently, the broad objective of this research is to analyse the effect of spatial price variability of paddy rice in dass and tafawa balewa lgas of bauchi state. the specific objectives of the study are-:  to identify the causes of spatial price variation of paddy rice in the study area.  to determine the market integration of paddy rice in the selected markets.  to determine the effect and magnitude of rice price variability in the study area. methodology the study area this study was carried out in dass and tafawa balewa lgas of bauchi state. the study area has an estimated population of 532,210. its coordinates are: latitude 10.15n and 12.3n, and longitude 8.45e and 9.00e with a land mass of 22, 852 km2 (bsadp, 2015). this means that it lies in the guinea savanna region. the state is located in the north-east geopolitical region of the country bounded in the south by plateau state, in the north by jigawa and yobe states and in the east by gombe state. agriculture is the traditional occupation of the people in the study area. the tropical nature of the climate favors the growth of a variety of food crops such as cereals and legumes which include rice, maize, millet, acha, cowpea, groundnut etc. the vegetation consist of guinea savanna and derived sahel savanna towards the north. the climate is tropical with two distinct seasons. usually, the wet season last between may and october, while the dry season comes between november and april. mean annual rainfall is 1300mm per annum. maximum temperature is 40oc in april/may while minimum is 9o-10oc in dec/jan. source and method of data collection both primary and secondary source of data were used as follows: primary source semi structured questionnaire consisting of both open and closed ended questions and verbal interview were used to gather information on the socio economic characteristics of rice marketers. these characteristics include age, sex, marital status, years of marketing experience, level of education attained, level of capital outlay and source of initial capital. other information collected were causes of price changes and problems rice marketers face in the study area. secondary source data on monthly mean price of paddy rice were obtained from planning, monitoring and evaluation unit of bsadp, bauchi, covering prices in both urban and rural markets of dass and tafawa balewa local government areas. as seen in the table 1 below, two local government areas purposively selected were dass and tafawa balewa lgas based on the relatively high level of rice production in the state. in each local government, 2 urban and 2 rural markets were selected through simple random sampling. urban markets selected in dass local government were dass and baraza markets while the selected rural markets from the area were wandi and bazali markets. in the same vein, tafawa balewa and bununu urban markets were selected; and marti and zwal rural markets were selected from tafawa balewa local government area. based on the markets size and the number of rice marketers, 20% of the population were sampled. in total, 120 questionnaires were distributed and retrieved. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 34 table 1. sample size selection plan local government market sample frame sample size (20%) tafawa balewa tafawa balewa 102 20 tafawa balewa bununu 81 16 tafawa balewa zwal 69 14 tafawa balewa marti 51 10 dass dass 95 19 dass baraza 86 17 dass wandi 55 11 dass bazali 64 13 total 603 120 source: field survey, 2018 data analysis the data collected were analysed using the following statistical tools: objective (i and iv) were achieved using descriptive statistics such as mean, percentage, ranking, frequency and likert scale. objective (ii) was achieved using pearson product correlation analysis. objective (iii) was achieved using ratio to moving average model and independent t-test. independent t-test t-test for difference of means between markets. the formula for computing a t-test which was used to compare the mean prices between urban markets and rural market in the two local government areas is given as: x1 x2 t-cal = s12 + s22 √n1+n2 …… (1) where; t-cal = calculated value of t-distribution x1 = mean of rice prices for rural markets. x2 = mean of rice prices for the urban markets. s12 = standard deviation of rice prices for rural market. s22 = standard deviation of rice prices for urban market. correlation analysis pearson product correlation coefficient was computed for the urban and rural markets in line with the method of oladapo et al. (2007) to determine the market integration. the formula used was: rij = (pit -pit) (pjt pjt)  √(pit -pit)  √(pjt pjt) …(2) where; i = rural markets. j = urban market. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 35 pit and pjt are the prices of rice in the rural (i) and urban (j) markets measured at time t. pit and pjt = mean of rural and urban rice prices respectively. n = number of respondents rij = correlation between rural and urban markets. ratio to moving average model the ratio to moving average model was used to estimate the magnitude of rice price variability (kilima et al., 2013). the method is commonly used since it eliminates the trend cyclical and irregular components from the original data. venture (2005) defined magnitude of variability as the percentage change of the difference between the highest and the lowest seasonal price of a commodity among the months of a year or a given term period under study as shown in the equation below: m = x 100 … (3) where; m = magnitude of rice price variability. max = maximum price recorded during the season min = minimum price recorded during the season likert scale likert scale was adopted to analyse the respondents’ views on the causes of spatial and temporal price variation as well as constraints of paddy rice marketing in the study area. various kind of rating scales have been developed to measure attitudes directly. (i.e. the person knows their attitude being studied). the most widely used is the likert scale. in its final form, the likert scale is a five (or seven) point scale which is used to allow the individual to express how much they agree or disagree with a particular statement. jamieson (2004). a likert scale assumes that the strength/intensity of an attitude is linear, i.e. on a continuum from strongly agree to strongly disagree and make the assumption that attitudes can be measured. each of the five or seven responses would have a numerical value which would be used to measure the attitude under investigation. for example, strongly agree agree undecided disagree strongly disagree (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) results and discussion causes of spatial price variation according to taru (2012) spatial price variability refers to likelihood of fluctuation in price levels over space, i.e, between two or more locations that are separated by distance. the infrastructural factors influencing spatial price of paddy rice are; the cost of transportation and availability of storage facilities. again, the economic factors that influence spatial price of paddy rice are; the number of paddy buyers, market information, market organization and individual price fixing. the need for spatial price analysis arises because agricultural commodity’s production and consumption point are spatially dispersed, bulky and seasonally produced (nwibo et al., 2013). thus, the result of table 2 revealed that the leading causes of spatial rice price variability https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 36 were spatial variation in supply, high cost of transportation and inadequate market information, among the major causes of spatial price variation of rice which accounted for 95.83%, 93.33% and 59.93% of the marketers, respectively. other important causes as indicated by the marketers were inadequate supply of the produce (4th) and lack of standard unit of measurement (5th) which accounted for 46.67% and 21.67%, respectively. table 2. causes of spatial price changes in rice marketing causes sa a u d sd r spatial variation in supply 96(80) 19(15.83) 2(1.67) 2 (1.67) 1(0.83) 1st high cost of transportation 73(60.83) 39(32.5) 5(4.1) 3 (2.5) 0 2nd inadequate market information 5(4.1) 67(55.83) 36(30.0) 11 (9.17) 1 (0.83) 3rd inadequate supply of the produ 15(12.5) 41(34.17) 21(17.5) 37 (30.83) 6 (5) 4th lack of standard unit of meas 0 26(21.67) 36(30.0) 52 (43.33) 6(5) 5th unfriendly activities of t/unio 3(2.5) 18(15)8 31(25.83) 64 (53.33) 4 (3.33) 6th seasonal variation in supply 0 8(6.67) 6(5) 23 (19.17) 83(69.17) 7th high cost of storage chemicals 5(4.1) 2(1.67) 9(7.5) 57 (47.5) 47(39.17) 8th sa = strongly agreed, a = agreed, u = undecided, d = disagreed, sd = strongly disagreed and r = rank note: values in brackets are in percentages source: field survey, 2018 however, fraudulent activities of trade union (6th), seasonal variation in supply (7th) and high cost of storage chemicals (8th) accounted for 17.50%, 6.67% and 5.77% of the marketers respectively were the least significant causes of spatial price variation in the study area. this means that a considerable number of the factors considered in table 2 contributed greatly to spatial price variation with much emphasis on spatial variation in supply (1st), transportation cost (2nd) and inadequate market information (3rd). this agrees with the work of taru (2012) who reported that infrastructural factors influencing spatial price of paddy rice are; the cost of transportation and availability of storage facilities. again, the economic factors that influence spatial price of paddy rice are; the number of paddy buyers, market information, market organization and individual price fixing. similarly, minot (2017) posited that spatial/scattered production and cost of transportation are the major causes of spatial price variability. the implication of this result is that unless these factors are mitigated, price of paddy rice will continue to differ between markets in the study area paddy rice price integration price integration refers to a situation in which prices of a commodity in separate markets move together, thereby offering smooth transmission of price signals and information. the study of market integration is important in determining the co-movements of prices and the transmission of price signals and information across spatially separated markets. the high and significant correlation of price is an indication of co-movement in the prices. the positive correlation shows that an increase in the retail price in one market would follow the price increase in the other market. emokaro and ayntoyinbo (2014). without spatial price integration of market, price signals will not be transmitted from food deficit to food surplus areas; prices will be more volatile; agricultural producers will fail to specialize according to long-term comparative https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 37 advantage, and the gains from trade will not be realized. to further determine the extent to which prices move together in the study area, pearson correlation analysis was applied to average monthly market prices of paddy rice in rural and urban markets of dass and tafawa balewa lgas (table 3). the result revealed that in all the market pairs both urban-urban, urban-rural and rural-rural, there was strong linear relationship among the prices of paddy rice during the period of study as t-values range between 0.801 – 0.998. this implies that there was existence of price integration or perfect price transmission between and among the urban and rural markets in the study area. this agrees with emokaro and ayintoyinbo (2014) who reported that the strong linear relationship among the prices of paddy rice during the period of their study was possible due to the transmission of market information by marketers through various means, particularly via the use of mobile phones and short distance between the markets. it could also be deduced from the result that, factors that influence price of paddy in the rural markets are similar to those in the urban markets in the study area. table 3. pearson correlation matrix of average monthly price of paddy rice in the study area it was also revealed from the table 3 that correlation coefficient between the urban market pairs were higher (above 0.93) than those between urban and rural market pairs (below 0.89) which implies that the flow of information on rice price was faster among the urban markets than between rural and urban markets and so, a deficit/surplus in one urban market may have been promptly transmitted to the other. this findings was corroborated by bassey et al. (2013) who found out that correlation coefficient between the urban market pair was higher (0.81) than those between the rural and urban market pairs which ranged from 0.41 to 0.46 in akwa ibom state rice traders. similarly, these arguments collaborate with the findings of ojiako et al. (2012) in their analysis of the spatial integration of cassava product market price in nigeria, where it was reported that the mean price value of lafun in the urban market was higher than prices in the rural markets. the high and significant correlation of price is an indication of co-movement in the prices. the positive correlation shows that an increase in the retail price in one market would follow the price increase in the other market (emokaro & ayntoyinbo, 2014). this could be possible due to the transmission of market information by marketers through various means, particularly via the use of mobile phones. t/balewa (u) bununu (u) zwal (r) marti (r) dass (u) baraza( u) wandi (r) bazali (r) t/balewa (u) 1 0.993** 0.819** 0.857** 0.951** 0.942** 0.830** 0.844** bununu(u) 1 0.864** 0.895** 0.943** 0.937** 0.874** 0.888** zwal(r) 1 0.992** 0.801** 0.813** 0.994** 0.993** marti (r) 1 0.858 0.869 0.989** 0.993** dass (u) 1 0.993 0.816** 0.834** baraza (u) 1 0.828** 0.844** wandi (r) 1 0.998** bazali (r) 1 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 38 effect of paddy rice price variation the magnitude of price variability is the percentage change of the difference between the highest and the lowest seasonal price of a commodity among the months of a year or a given term period. the magnitude and frequency of price movement in both temporal and spatial directions have effects on farmers, traders as well as consumers. generally, the greater the magnitude of variability, the larger is the effect especially on the farmers’ income, consumers’ purchasing power and traders’ income and welfare. large increase in price may exacerbate poverty as poor consumers will not be able to afford basic food leading to poor nutrition (mustapha & richard, 2013; camara, 2013). the information presented in table 4 revealed that the magnitude of price variability for bazali (rural), marti (rural), wandi (rural) and zwal (rural) are about 58.89%, 54.81%, 54.72% and 53.11%, respectively. this high level of variability is highly associated with the drastic fall in rice prices from september to november. table 4. effect of rice price variation market max min annual average variability (%) seasonal differential t-value t/balewa(u) 145 105 127.22 38.10 40.00 bununu(u) 145 107 127.89 35.51 38.00 zwal (r) 139.33 91 118.60 53.11 48.33 39.18** marti (r) 139.33 90 118.11 54.81 49.33 dass (u) 150 105 124.44 42.86 45 baraza (u) 146 100 123.52 46.00 46 37.42** wandi (r) 139.25 90 118.09 54.72 49.25 bazali (r) 143 90 118.81 58.89 53.00 ** = significant (p≤0.05)u=urban market, r=rural market source: computed from bsadp, 2018 the magnitude of variability is relatively low in urban markets (baraza 46%, dass 42.86%, tafawa balewa 38.10% and bununu 35.51%) than in the rural markets (in bazali 58.89%, marti 54.81%, wandi 54.72% and zwal 53.11% these findings suggest that farmers located near rural areas (bazali, marti, wandi and zwal) are likely to have unstable earnings from the sales of their rice than those located near urban markets (baraza, dass, tafawa balewa and bununu). this findings agrees with emokaro and ayantoyinbo (2014) who says the retail price for rice in the urban markets were more stable than what is obtained in the rural markets. they added that farmers located near urban markets benefit from higher prices than those in more remote areas. also, the t-test analysis in table 4 shows that there was a significant (p≤0.05) difference in price of rice between at least two or more rural and urban markets in the study area during the period of study. it indicates that mean price in the urban markets were significantly higher than those in the rural markets. this result agreed with oladapo et al. (2007) who reported that prices in the urban markets were higher than those in the rural markets in their study area on marketing margin and spatial pricing efficiency of pineapple in nigeria. they further confirm that prices of agricultural commodities depicts wide differences between zones and markets within same region. taru (2012) added that prices for same product varies greatly between areas and this may be due to the cost of transportation, production area and communication difficulties. such price https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 39 variation among markets in nigeria is necessary for the existence of market, as it create incentives that attract market actors to engage in trade. the implication for this urban – rural price differential as indicated in table 4 is that it is economical to buy paddy rice from rural market as their price is significantly lower than those in the urban market so long as the marketing margin is less than the transport cost. constraints of paddy rice marketing in the study area agricultural marketing is bedeviled by a lot of problems. some of the problems arise because of the basic characteristics and problem of nigeria’s agriculture. marketing constraints or challenges arise due to many factors such as limited knowledge and use of market information, lack of access to high-value reliable markets, high transactional costs, distance from the markets, poor quality of the products, lack of storage facilities, low educational level of farmers/marketers, poor agricultural extension services, lack of financial support ( antwi and seahlodi, 2011). table 5. constraints of paddy rice marketing constraints sa a u d sd r spatial variation in supply 99(82.5) 20(16.67) 0 1(0.83) 0 1st bad road condition 68(56.67) 47(39.16) 0 4(3.33) 1(0.83) 2nd seasonal variation in supply 86(71.67) 27(22.5) 1(0.83) 5(4.16) 1(0.83) 3rd inadequate contact with extension agents 49(40.83) 62(51.67) 1(0.83) 6(5) 2(1.67) 4th unfriendly activities of brokers/agt 3(2.5) 89(74.17) 21(17.5) 7(5.83) 0 5th unfriendly activities of middlemen 3(2.5) 81(67.5) 11(9.17) 19(15.83) 6(5) 6th inadequate supply of produce 8(6.67) 76(63.33) 20(16.67) 16(13.33) 0 7th lack of standard unit of measurement 3(2.5) 76(63.33) 34(28.33) 40(33.33) 6(5) 8th poor quality control measures 5(4.16) 42(35.0) 33(27.5) 34(28.33) 6(5.0) 9th unfriendly market information unfriendly acts of trade union high cost of storage chemicals 5(4.16) 0 8(6.67) 37(30.83) 41(34.17) 3(2.5) 56(46.67) 7(30.83) 12(10.0) 19(15.83) 41(34.17) 40(33.33) 2(1.67) 2(1.67) 57(47.5) 10th 11th 12th sa = strongly agreed, a = agreed, u = undecided, d = disagreed and sd = strongly disagreed note: values in brackets are in percentage source: field survey, 2018 table 5 shows that rice marketing in the study area was faced with constraints such as bad road conditions, inadequate market information, seasonal variability in rice supply and so on. it is likely that the same constraints are responsible for price fluctuation among locations and between time periods. of all these problems, spatial variation in supply was ranked first (99.17%), this was followed closely by bad road condition, seasonal variation in supply and inadequate contact with extension agents with 95.83%, 94.17% and 92.40% respectively. other important problems of rice marketing as indicated by the marketers were unfriendly activities of brokers/agents (5th), unfriendly activities of middlemen (6th), inadequate supply of produce (6th) https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 40 and lack of standard unit of measurement (8th) which accounted for 76.67%, 70.00%, 70.00% and 65.8% of the total marketers, respectively. however, the least significant problems of rice marketing in the study area as indicated in the table were poor quality control measures (9th), inadequate market information (10th), unfriendly activities of trade union (11th) and high cost of storage chemical (12th) which accounted for 39.16%, 34.99%, 34.12% and 9.17% of the marketers, respectively. this finding is in line with nwibo et al. (2013) “the functioning of the rice markets is constrained by various problems and obstacles such as seasonal rice supply, imperfect market information for buying and selling rice, lack of credit and cash to finance the business, insufficient facilities for storage and transportation cost. this was also supported by antwi and seahlodi (2011) who stated that agricultural marketing is bedeviled by a lot of problems. some of the problems arise because of the basic characteristics and problem of nigeria’s agriculture. marketing constraints or challenges arise due to many factors such as limited knowledge and use of market information, lack of access to high-value reliable markets, high transactional costs, distance from the markets, poor quality of the products, lack of storage facilities, low educational level of farmers/marketers, poor agricultural extension services, lack of financial support. matungul et al. (2012) added that inadequate market infrastructure, lack of adequate access to finance, lack of good roads, risks and uncertainty, poor communication of information regarding prices, lack of bargaining power and excesses of intermediaries bedeviled agricultural marketing. according to xaba and masuku (2012) socio-economic factors of the marketers for example: training, marketing experience, age, level of education, household size, and gender all contributed to problems of agricultural marketing. the implication is that, rice marketers would continue to gain little or no profit from the business so long as these constraints continue to linger in the study area. and this would also boil down to farmers and consumers conclussion it can be concluded that the leading causes of spatial rice price variability were spatial variation in supply, high cost of transportation and inadequate market information. there was existence of price integration or perfect price transmission between and among the urban and rural markets during the study. the magnitude of paddy rice price variability is relatively high in rural markets than in the urban markets and that farmers located near rural areas are likely to have unstable earnings from the sales of their rice than those located near urban markets. paddy rice marketing in the study area was faced with constraints such as spatial variation in supply, bad road condition, and seasonal variation in supply and inadequate contact with extension agents. recommendations based on the findings of the research, the following recommendations were made:  rural feeder roads should be constructed by government, ngos or individuals to enable easy movement of produce.  marketers should improve their savings and investment strategies in order to generate more capital to expand their business  all year round production/supply of rice should be encouraged through provision of fund and inputs by relevant stakeholders to farmers for dry season farming in order to curtail the problem of price variation due to seasonality in production. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 41 references akande, t. (2019). an overview of the nigerian rice economy. nigerian agricultural publication limited lagos. antwi, m., & seahlodi, p. (2011). marketing constraints facing emerging small-scale pig farmers in gauteng province, south africa. journal of human ecology, 36(1), 37-42. baloyi, j. k. (2010). an analysis of constraints facing smallholder farmers in the agribusiness value chain: a case study of farmers in the limpopo province. information technology, learning and performance journal, 19(1), 43-50. bsadp. (2015). bauchi state agricultural development program: annual bulletin 2015. retrieved from http://www.bsadpbauchi.org/bauchi.html retrieved on 11/2/2020 camara, o. m. (2013). seasonal price variability and the effective demand for nutrient (evidence from cereal market in mali). african journal of food, agriculture, nutrition and development, 13(3), 7640 – 7661. debaniyu i. f., & yakubu, c. j. (2011). cowpea marketing and consumer preference in magama lga, niger state. journal of agricultural and social sciences. department of agricultural and natural resources. (2007). donga lga, taraba state, nigeria: annual report emokaro c. o., & ayantoyinbo, a. a. (2014). analysis of market integration and price variation in rice marketing in osun state, nigeria. american journal of experimental agriculture, 4(5), 601-618. igboji, c., anozie, r. o., & nneji, c. p. (2015). analysis of socio-economic factors and profitability of rice marketing in ebonyi state. journal of agricultural and veterinary science, 8(2), 20-27. kilima f. t. m., mbiha, e. r., erbaugh, m., & larson, d. (2013). seasonal variability of sorghum and pearl millet price in drought prone areas of tanzania eastern and southern. african journal of agricultural economics and development, 10(3), 116-131. madre, y., & pieter, d. (2018). how to tackle price and income volatility for farmers? an overview of international agricultural policies and instruments, 3(7), 214-221. matungul, p. m., orthmann, g. f., & paper, m. c. l. (2012). marketing methods and income generation amongst small-scale farmers in two communal ares of kwazulu-natal, south africa. a paper presented at the 13th international farm management congress, wageningen, the netherland, july 7-12 2012 nwibo, s. u., odo, n. e., & igbere, c. o. (2013). spatial price analysis of paddy rice in ebonyi north zone of ebonyistate, nigeria. journal of business management, 8, 50-53. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 42 oladapo, m. o., momo, s., & adetunji, m. o. (2007). food price differences and market integration in oyo state, nigeria. international journal of agricultural research, 2(1) 69-74. parmod, k., & sharma, a. (2016). price variability and its determinants: an analysis of major foodgrains in india. indian economic review. new series, 41(2), 149-172. taru, b. (2012). price fluctuation and market integration of selected cereal grains in northeastern, nigeria, unpublished ph. d thesis unpublished. nsukka: unn. 1-136 pp terwase, t. i., & madu, a. y. (2018). the impact of rice production, consumption and importation in nigeria: the political economy perspectives. international journal of sustainable development and world policy, 3(4), 90-99. uchezuba, i. d., moshabele, e., & dogopo, d. (2009). logical estimate of the probability of mainstream market participation among small-scale livestock farmers: a case study of the northern cape province. agrekon, 48(2), 171-183. usaid. (2019). improved package of practices for rice production. usaid markets. (maximizing agricultural revenue and key enterprises in targeted sites), abuja. xaba, b. g., & masuku, m. b. (2012). factors affecting the choice of marketing channel by vegetable farmers in swaziland. retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/sar.v2nlp112y copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/sar.v2nlp112y american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x published by american center of science and education, usa 1 response of china aster (callistephus chinensis l.) genotypes towards foliar application of ga3 sudipta biswas pg student department of seed science and technology bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india e-mail: sudiptabiswas.nxb96@gmail.com dr. sanjoy kumar bordolui (corresponding author) assistant professor department of seed science and technology bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india e-mail: sanjoy_bordolui@rediffmail.com dr. raghunath sadhukhan professor department of genetics and plant breeding bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india e-mail: drsadhukhan@gmail.com received: august 08, 2021 accepted: august 29, 2021 online published: september 07, 2021 doi: 10.46545/aijas.v5i1.197 url: https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v5i1.197 abstract china aster is one of the most popular flower that are used in ornamental garden. the demand for cut flowers of china aster is increasing day by day, but it has not been possible to supply the adequate amount of flowers especially during the festival season. the area under flower production is increasing year after year but farmers are not getting quality seeds in adequate quantity as very few farmers are taking up seed production because flower seeds loose their viability earlier than crop seeds. so, production of adequate quantity of quality seeds is essential to meet the demand. the present investigation was undertaken in horticulture research station, mondouri, b.c.k.v., mohanpur, nadia, west bengal during rabi season of 2018-19 and 201920. over two consecutive years, six genotypes were evaluated the potentiality of for its growth and flowering, as well as to estimate the influence of ga3 through foliar application at preflowering stage on its seed production. in field three treatments were considered viz. t1 (control i.e.no application of ga3), t2 (ga3@50ppm), t3 (ga3@100ppm). according to the size of http://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas mailto:sanjoy_bordolui@rediffmail.com https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 2 flowers, highest was recorded in local mix (g6). so, it could be considered as the best performer genotype considering flower diameter. seed yield plant-1 was recorded highest in local white (g5), it could be considered as the best performer genotype considering its higher number of flowers plant-1 and number of seeds flower-1. ga3 (100 ppm) could be utilized in a better way for greater enhancement in all those important parameters as overall influence of ga3 has been found to improve seed yield plant-1 and all the important attributes. concomitant consideration of seed yield and its important attributes may indicate to recommend foliar application of 100 ppm ga3 for enhancement in seed yield in all the genotypes. similar to the seed yield and its attributes, plant growth and development have been noticed to be positively influenced by ga3 concentrations with a higher side after 100 ppm, may lead to recommend foliar application of 100 ppm ga3 for commercial cultivation of this crop irrespective of the genotypes. keywords: china aster, ga3, seed yield. introduction indian culture is a pleasing mingling of various subcultures. the culture shows a close connection with flowers from ancient era. however, the social and economic aspects of flower growing were recognized much later. the offering and exchange of flowers on all social occasions apart from use of flowers in worshipping and use of flowers in home decoration and hair adornment of women have made more opportunity for commercial cultivation of flowers. among the various types of flowers, asters are one of the most beautiful and diverse flowers. the name of aster comes from greek word ‘aster’, which means star. according to greek mythology, the goddess asterea looked at the sky to watch the stars but she couldn’t see any stars. this incident made her sad and she started weeping, where her tears fell on the ground, asters began to grow there. in victorian england, floriography i.e. coded communication through the exchange of flowers, was all the rage and asters, with their wide range of colors act as the perfect medium. purple asters represented wisdom and royalty, and were most popular aster. white aster stood for purity, perfection, and innocence. red asters stood for devotion whereas pink asters stood for love. these days floriography is not in fashion yet, but asters still have an active symbolic life. china aster is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family asteraceae which contains the single species. cassini described china aster as callistephus hortensis but linnaeus named it as aster chinensis. then, nees changed its name to callistephus chinensis. the genus callistephus is evolved from greek word ‘kalistos’ meaning ‘most beautiful’ and ‘stephos’ which means ‘a crown’ referring to the flower head. plants of china aster are erect, alternate bearing. it has broadly ovate or triangular ovate, irregularly toothed leaves. flowers are solitary, contains two types of florets: ray florets and disc florets. the discs are ray florets are long and short. they have daisy like or star like flower heads with a yellow center. the most suitable character for the classification of china aster is by the shape of ray florets (janakiram & rao, 2002).the wide spectrum of colour ranges available in china aster are pink, bluish violet, purple and white. their attractive colour and long shelf life have made them a popular cut flower. flower quality is primarily a varietal trait. it is influenced by climatic conditions of growing period. optimum temperature and requisite photoperiod helps in obtaining better blooms of good size and high quality (nagaraju et al., 2004).the advantages of growing aster are short duration, suitable as intercrop in coconut and it has good seed setting. it is normally winter season flowering annual which is adapted to wide range of agroclimatic regions. the flower colour is well developed in the temperature range of 20-300c during day and 15-170c https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 3 during night with relative humidity of 5060% and 500-700mm rainfall. flowers of china asters are used for various purposes like flower decoration, preparation of bouquets, garlands, landscape gardening for aesthetic purpose. it is commercially cultivated in various countries like india, france, germany, netherlands, u.k., siberia, russia, japan, north america, switzerland and england (raghava, 1984). in india, china aster is largely grown on commercial scale in southern states mainly in karnataka, tamil nadu, andhra pradesh, maharashtra and also some eastern state like west bengal. in karnataka, the cultivated area is over an area of 775 lakh ha with an annual production of 6206 tonnes of flowers (anonymous, 2000). increased flower production, quality of flowers and perfection in the form of plants are important objectives to be followed in commercial flower production. so, it is essential to meet the demand of adequate quantity of quality seeds for flower as well as seed production. application of ga3 is an effective plant growth hormone which stimulates the cells elongation. ga3 is a lead to produce high seed production. it has ability to regulate plant height, enhance branches, increase productive (gavino et al., 2008; yuan et al., 2003). with the above view, present investigation has been carried out to evaluate china aster flower crop by applying ga3 treatment and record its various seed quality parameters during 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 at horticulture research station, mondouri, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india with the main objective of assessment of the effect of ga3 on growth, development flowering and seed production of different genotypes of china aster. materials and methods the field experiment was conducted in new alluvial zone at horticulture research station, mondouri, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india during rabi season of 2018-19 and 2019-20. soil ph of experimental site was 6.6-6.7, containing organic carbon 0.74%, sandy loam in texture, total available nitrogen 0.07%, phosphorus 28.50 kg ha-1 and potassium 78 kg ha-1. seeds of six china aster genotypes viz. arka kamini (g1), arka archana (g2), arka adya (g3), local pink (g4), local white (g5) and local mix (g6) were sown in the experimental plots. standard agronomic practices and intercultural operations were followed for raising seedlings in individual plots. forty days old healthy and uniformly grown seedlings were used for transplanting with a spacing of 40 cm x 40 cm with three replications following randomised block design. a spacing of 45cm between two replications and 45cm between two plots was given to design of water system channels and bunds, individually. the whole exploratory land was separated into plots estimating 2.5 m x 2.5 m. with 54 plots altogether. farm yard manure was applied @ 2kg plot-1. fertilizer dose of 10:26:26 (n:p: k mixed fertilizer) @ 150g plot-1 was applied as basal portion and another 50g plot-1 at 20 days after transplanting. foliar application of both the doses of gibberellic acid (i.e. 50 ppm and 100 ppm) was made on plants at three weeks after transplanting and the non-sprayed plants were treated as control. five plants were randomly tagged at the early crop growth stage and observations on different traits were recorded by a specific method, like plant height (cm), days to bud initiation, days 50% flowering, flower diameter (cm), head diameter (cm), number of flower plant-1, number of seed flower-1, test weight (g) and seed yield plant-1 (g). results and discussion different agronomic characters excepting test weight for which it was made during 2018-19 and 2019-20 along with the quality parameters (physiological) of the produced seeds by considerations of effect of ga3 as foliar application was made over two consecutive years. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 4 significant variation among the performance of the genotypes, influence of doses of ga3 as well as its interaction effects observed for all agronomic characters. gibberellic acid (ga) is a tetracyclic di-terpenoid compound. it is a plant hormone stimulating plant growth and development. it influences seed germination, trigger transitions from meristem to shoot growth, vegetative to flowering and seed development along with an interaction of different environmental factors viz., water, light and temperature. ga3 is sometime act as paracrine signals; it is still a mystery to understand the ga3 biosynthesis and its movement. it has not yet established the significant site of bioactive ga3 in plants or which tissues earmarked by bioactive ga3 to commence their action. plant height (cm) significantly tallest plants were observed for g4 (local pink) followed by g6 (local mix), when average was made over the treatments, while most dwarf plants were recognized for g5 (local white) (50.277cm) preceded by g1 (arka kamini) and g2 (arka archana), significant difference could be noticed among genotypes during 2018-19 (table 1). average influence of 100 ppm ga3 was significantly superior to that of 50 ppm ga3 over control for exhibition of plant height at 50% flowering stage. while considering the interaction between genotypes and treatments, significantly maximum plant height was recorded for g4 after application of 100 ppm ga3 followed by same genotype after application with 50 ppm of ga3. similar to the average influence of ga3 doses, high ga3 dose exerted greater influence than that of lower dose for almost all the genotypes for which significant difference between influences of both the doses of ga3 was recognized. average plant height at 50% flowering of g4 (i.e., local pink) was also found to be maximum (69.452 cm) followed by that of g6 (i.e., local mix) when average was made over the treatments during 2018-19 as was observed in second year; same like first year, g5 (local white) produced dwarf plants of average 50.154cm height preceded by those of g1, significant difference could be noticed in 2018-19. significantly enhanced average plant height over control (without application of ga3) could also be recorded after application of ga3 and plant height increased with the increased concentration of ga3 (table 1). the trend in enhancement in plant height of individual genotypes also followed the similar pattern as was recorded for average influence of ga3 concentration and significant difference between influence of 50 and 100 ppm ga3 could be noticed. plant height was recorded to be as maximum as 75.963cm for g4 after application of 100 ppm ga3 followed by that of same genotype after application of 50 ppm of ga3. similar type of result in plant height on marigold was also documented previously by (rai & bordolui, 2020). table 1. variation in plant height (cm) of different china aster genotypes g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 49.630 50.293 55.663 63.510 44.307 59.220 53.771 t2 53.530 55.923 59.743 69.437 50.080 64.147 58.810 t3 58.327 59.563 65.850 76.017 56.443 68.113 64.052 mean g 53.829 55.260 60.419 69.654 50.277 63.827 t g t x g sem(±) 0.269 0.381 0.659 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 5 lsd (0.05) 0.777 1.099 1.924 2019-2020 t1 49.200 50.250 55.577 63.250 44.233 58.890 53.567 t2 53.407 55.850 59.627 69.143 49.830 64.020 58.646 t3 57.997 59.510 65.610 75.963 56.400 67.860 63.890 mean g 53.534 55.203 60.271 69.452 50.154 63.590 t g t x g sem(±) 0.264 0.373 0.647 lsd (0.05) 0.762 1.078 1.867 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix days to flower bud initiation among the genotypes over treatments, longest duration to flower bud initiation was noted for g1 i.e. arka kamini (88.511days) during the year 2018-19 followed by g2 i.e. arka archana (81.487days), while it was minimum for g5i.e. local white(71.756 days) preceded by g4local pink (72.433days).among the treatments over the genotypes, maximum duration to bud initiation was observed for t1 (80.607 days) i.e., in control condition and it was minimum for t3 (75.071days) i.e., 100 ppm ga3.it has been observed that days required for bud initiation was reduced with the application of ga3.the interaction between ga3 treatment and genotype is noted overall significant though the influence of ga3 concentration on individual genotypes was varied non significantly in genotype g4 for both the doses of ga3 treatments and where no significant difference in days to flower bud initiation was observed. non-significant difference was observed between the genotype g3 and g6 for the treatment t2 and for the treatment t3 i.e. 100ppm ga3 dose; also in case of genotype g4 and g5 non-significant difference was observed in days to flower bud initiation in control as well as in t2.however, maximum days (80.607days) taken to bud initiation was recorded in the control plot i.e. without application of ga3. the average performance of the genotypes and influence of ga3 concentration in 201920 was almost similar to that observed in 2018-19, except minimum time taken for flower bud initiation was observed in g4 i.e. local pink (70.557days) preceded by g5i.e local white, (71.567days),which may be due to the variation in climatic conditions during experimentation over the years (table 2).when considering interaction between treatments and genotypes, overall it was significant. but it was varied non-significantly among the genotypes g5 and g6 for both doses of ga3, between g4, g5 for both the treatments and for control and g5, g6 for control. in the year 2019-20; still maximum number of days (90.357days) taken to bud in initiation was recorded for without ga3 application and consistent reduction in days to flower bud initiation was noticed for all the genotypes with enhancement in ga3 concentration. similar type of result in days to flower to bud initiation was also documented previously by (mahato et al., 2017). table 2. variation in days to flower bud initiation (cm) of different china aster genotypes g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 90.357 85.343 81.150 74.377 75.197 77.217 80.607 t2 88.820 81.073 75.723 71.923 72.143 75.373 77.509 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 6 t3 86.357 78.043 73.433 71.000 67.927 73.667 75.071 mean g 88.511 81.487 76.769 72.433 71.756 75.419 t g t x g sem(±) 0.251 0.355 0.615 lsd (0.05) 0.725 1.025 1.775 2019-2020 t1 90.433 84.400 81.057 74.597 75.200 76.467 80.359 t2 88.980 81.203 76.960 70.930 71.963 75.707 77.624 t3 86.690 78.110 74.043 66.143 67.537 74.000 74.421 mean g 88.701 81.238 77.353 70.557 71.567 75.391 t g t x g sem(±) 0.234 0.330 0.572 lsd (0.05) 0.674 0.953 1.651 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix days to 50% flowering significant difference was observed among the genotypes over treatments both the years; highest days to 50% flowering was recorded in g1 i.e. arka kamini (108.778days for first year and 108.520days for second year), followed by genotype g2 i.e. arka archana (96.808daysfor first year and 96.922 days for second year) and lowest days to 50% flowering was recorded in genotype g4i.e local pink (87.254daysfor first year and 87.150 days for second year) preceded by g5, g6 and g3. among the treatment over genotypes significant difference was observed. maximum duration of 50% flowering was recorded in t0 (97.615 days) and it was consistently reduced with the enhancement in ga3 concentration in both the years. in case of interaction between genotypes and foliar application of ga3 non-significant difference was recorded. though change in magnitudes for this parameter of individual genotypes after foliar application of ga3was recorded non-significant in both years, g1 took the maximum number of days to 50% flowering without application of ga3 irrespective of the years of experimentation followed by that of g2, g3 and g6. similar type of result in days to 50% flowering on rice was also documented previously by (biswas et al., 2020). table 3. variation in days to 50% flowering of different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 112.187 100.067 97.267 90.173 91.967 94.030 97.615 t2 107.947 96.323 93.187 87.323 89.037 91.483 94.217 t3 106.200 94.033 91.133 84.267 86.933 89.000 91.928 mean g 108.778 96.808 93.862 87.254 89.312 91.504 t g t x g sem(±) 0.175 0.247 0.428 lsd (0.05) 0.505 0.714 ns 2019-2020 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 7 t1 112.023 100.550 97.373 90.117 92.090 94.037 97.698 t2 107.337 96.200 93.150 87.240 89.063 91.493 94.081 t3 106.200 94.017 91.267 84.093 86.807 89.300 91.947 mean g 108.520 96.922 93.930 87.150 89.320 91.610 t g t x g sem(±) 0.160 0.226 0.391 lsd (0.05) 0.461 0.652 ns note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix flower diameter (cm) flower diameter is enhanced with increased dose of foliar application of ga3 over control. average potentiality of individual genotypes with respect to flower diameter of genotypes over treatments was significantly varied among it selves. during first year (2018-2019), genotype g6 i.e. local mix secured largest average flower diameter (6.552cm) followed by genotype g4 i.e. local pink (6.456cm) and g5 i.e. local white (6.201cm) respectively. beside this, smallest average flower diameter was recorded in the genotype g1 i.e. arka kamini (5.459cm) proceeded by g2 i.e. arka archana and g3 i.e. arka adya respectively (table 4).among the treatment over genotypes significant difference was observed when considered as average. largest flower diameter (6.354cm) was recorded under t3 i.e. 100ppm ga3 treatment and it is reduced towards lower dose application and in control respectively. in case of interaction, change in magnitudes for this parameter of individual genotypes after foliar application of ga3was recorded significant; maximum flower diameter was noted in genotype g6 i.e. local mix (6.823cm). the interaction between treatments and genotypes significantly varied in first year. highest value was recorded in t3g6 and lowest in t3g6. the average performance of the genotypes and influence of ga3 concentration in 201920 was almost similar to that observed in 2018-19 with slight change in magnitude which may be due to the variation in climatic conditions during experimentation over the years (table 4). the interaction between treatments and genotypes, was varied significantly overall though nonsignificant difference is recorded between the genotype g4 and g6 in control for the considered parameter. largest flower diameter was recorded in genotype g6 (6.867cm) and smallest flower diameter was recorded in the genotype g1 (5.492cm) as like in first year. table 4. variation in flower diameter of different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 5.237 5.360 5.603 6.187 5.770 6.257 5.736 t2 5.463 5.823 5.970 6.473 6.323 6.577 6.105 t3 5.677 6.053 6.353 6.707 6.510 6.823 6.354 mean g 5.459 5.746 5.976 6.456 6.201 6.552 t g t x g https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 8 sem(±) 0.009 0.013 0.023 lsd (0.05) 0.027 0.039 0.067 2019-2020 t1 5.247 5.373 5.617 6.213 5.823 6.277 5.758 t2 5.480 5.857 6.027 6.490 6.407 6.603 6.144 t3 5.750 6.103 6.410 6.787 6.600 6.867 6.419 mean g 5.492 5.778 6.018 6.497 6.277 6.582 t g t x g sem(±) 0.009 0.013 0.022 lsd (0.05) 0.026 0.037 0.065 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix head diameter (cm) head size was consistently increased among the various genotypes with increasing the dose of foliar application of ga3compared to control. overall significant difference was observed when considering average performance of genotypes over treatments as well as in case of treatment over genotypes. though non-significant differences was observed among the genotypes g1 and g2, g2 and g3, g3 and g4, g4 and g5 when considering average performance of the mentioned genotype over the treatments during the year 2018-2019. highest average head diameter was noted in case of genotype g5 i.e. local white (2.001cm) followed by genotype g6 i.e. local mix (1.964cm), g4 i.e. local pink (1.906cm) respectively. smallest head diameter is recorded in the genotype g3 i.e. arka adya (1.808cm) preceded by g2 and g1 (table 5).when considering treatments over genotypes, the parameter varied significantly. highest magnitude in head diameter was noted for t3 i.e. 100ppm foliar application of ga3 and lowest is observed in case of control. overall significant difference is observed in case of interaction between genotypes and treatments; though non-significant difference is observed between genotype g1, g2, g3, g4, g5 and g6 when critically observing the interaction (table 5). highest head diameter was recorded for genotype g1 i.e. arka kamini (2.227cm) when foliar application of 100ppm ga3 was given. the average performance of the genotypes and influence of ga3 concentration in 201920 was almost similar to that observed in 2018-19.the trend in performance of individual genotypes for head diameter in second year was also similar to that recorded in first year, especially with regard to highest and lowest head size. interaction between treatments and genotypes, was varied significantly overall though non-significant difference is recorded among the genotype g1, g2, g3 and among g4, g5, g6 over various treatment. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 9 table 5. variation in head diameter of different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 1.620 1.520 1.600 1.760 1.873 1.820 1.698 t2 1.770 1.930 1.833 1.793 2.010 2.007 1.891 t3 2.227 2.053 1.990 2.163 2.120 2.067 2.103 mean g 1.872 1.834 1.808 1.906 2.001 1.964 t g t x g sem(±) 0.030 0.043 0.074 lsd (0.05) 0.087 0.123 0.213 2019-2020 t1 1.640 1.550 1.613 1.807 1.887 1.843 1.753 t2 1.797 1.920 1.853 1.823 2.050 2.103 1.924 t3 2.257 2.080 2.017 2.177 2.153 2.107 2.132 mean g 1.898 1.850 1.828 1.936 2.030 2.018 t g t x g sem(±) 0.027 0.038 0.065 lsd (0.05) 0.077 0.108 0.188 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix number of flower plant-1 overall significant difference was observed when average was made among the genotypes over treatments for both the years; in the year 2018-2019 highest average number of flower per plant was recorded in g5 i.e. local white (36.800) followed by genotype g2and g1(table 6)and lowest average number of flower was recorded in genotype g6i.e local mix (24.456 ) preceded by g3 and g1 (table 6). among the treatment over genotypes significant difference was observed. maximum number of flowers was recorded in t3 (36.844) and it was consistently reduced with the lower ga3 concentration in both the years. in case of interaction, significant difference was observed overall but when observing critically, nonsignificant difference is observed between the performance of the genotype g3 and g4, g1 and g2 over control and in case of genotype g3 and g6, g1 and g2, g4 and g1 over t2 and in between the genotype g1 and g2 over t3. maximum number of flowers was recorded in t3 (36.844) and it was consistently reduced with the decrease in ga3 concentration in both the years similar pattern of improvement in flower number was recognized after utilization of ga3 in second year as like as first year. the performance of individual genotypes for number of flowers per plant in second year was as likewise as that recorded in first year, especially with respect to maximum and minimum number of flower (table 6). interaction of genotypes with the treatment was noted overall significant. though insignificant difference was noticed between the genotype g3 and g4 under unsprayed plot, in addition to this non-significant difference was observed among the genotypes g1, g2, g4 and between g3 and g6 for application of 50ppm ga3 when observing critically (table 6). https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 10 table 6. variation in number flower plat-1 of different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 22.533 24.467 20.400 20.533 28.433 17.767 22.356 t2 29.933 30.633 24.500 28.767 34.833 25.633 29.050 t3 37.700 38.467 32.867 34.933 47.133 29.967 36.844 mean g 30.056 31.189 25.922 28.078 36.800 24.456 t g t x g sem(±) 0.375 0.530 0.918 lsd (0.05) 1.082 1.531 2.651 2019-2020 t1 22.500 25.233 20.033 20.667 28.833 16.867 22.356 t2 29.733 30.433 23.967 29.733 34.633 25.367 28.978 t3 37.533 38.500 33.367 35.533 46.300 29.800 36.839 mean g 29.922 31.389 25.789 28.644 36.589 24.011 t g t x g sem(±) 0.380 0.537 0.930 lsd (0.05) 1.096 1.550 2.686 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix number of seed flower-1 significant difference was observed among the average performance of genotypes over treatments for this trait. highest number of seeds flower-1 was recorded for the genotypeg4 (210.751) followed by g5 while smallest number of seeds flower-1 was recorded for g3 (100.640) followed by g1 when considering average (table 7). there was a rise in number of seeds flower-1 with enhanced dose of ga3 compared to unsprayed condition. when considering treatments over genotypes, the parameter varied significantly. highest number of seeds flower-1 was recorded for t3 (182.318), and it reduced with decreased dose of ga3 (table 7).significant difference was observed in interaction between treatments and genotypes. highest number of seeds flower-1 was recorded for the genotype g4 (218.513) when treated with100ppm ga3 while lowest number of seed per flower head was recorded for the genotype g3 (93.460) in control. it is markable that, potential of producing seeds flower-1 was varied genotype to genotype which may conclude that this parameter is genotype specific. average performance of genotypes in response to various treatments varied significantly in final year. highest and lowest number of seeds flower-1 was recorded for the same genotypes https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 11 as was in first year. similar pattern of improvement in flower number was recognized after utilization of ga3 in second year as like as first year. the performance of individual genotypes for number seeds flower-1 in second year was as likewise as that recorded in first year with a minor change in magnitude. significant variation was observed when considering interaction between genotypes and treatments. highest number of seeds flower-1 was recorded in genotype g4 and lowest in case of genotype g3as likewise in first year with a slight change in magnitude (table 7). table 7. variation in number of seed flower-1 of different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 161.133 175.593 93.460 203.293 193.867 171.270 166.436 t2 168.140 181.783 100.430 210.447 199.523 180.547 173.478 t3 177.010 190.293 108.030 218.513 209.393 190.667 182.318 mean g 168.761 182.557 100.640 210.751 200.928 180.828 t g t x g sem(±) 0.326 0.461 0.798 lsd (0.05) 0.941 1.331 2.073 2019-2020 t1 161.300 175.377 93.370 203.223 193.887 171.330 166.415 t2 168.483 182.243 100.223 210.113 199.857 181.470 173.732 t3 176.993 190.477 107.533 218.060 209.143 191.013 182.203 mean g 168.926 182.699 100.376 210.466 200.962 181.271 t g t x g sem(±) 0.291 0.412 0.714 lsd (0.05) 0.841 1.189 2.060 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix test weight (g) unlike other parameters, test weight of seeds of different genotypes was recorded for final year only. significant difference was observed overall when average was made among the genotypes over treatment. though non-significant difference was observed between average test weight in between g4 and g5; highest average test weight was recorded in g1(1.922) followed by g6 and g3 while lowest average test weight was noticed in g2 preceded by g5 and g4.impact of foliar application of ga3 on various genotypes recorded significant when considering average where highest test weight was recorded for t3 (1.944).when considering interaction of treatments with genotypes, overall significant difference was observed. but when observing critically, some genotypes like g3, g4 in t1 and g5; g1 and g6 in t1 again g4, g5 and g6 in t2; g1, g5 and g6 in t2 showed insignificant difference in their test weight. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 12 table 8. variation in test weight of seed different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t t1 1.813 1.673 1.740 1.737 1.720 1.793 1.746 t2 1.920 1.750 1.840 1.817 1.803 1.903 1.839 t3 2.033 1.860 1.930 1.900 1.920 2.020 1.944 mean g 1.922 1.761 1.837 1.818 1.814 1.906 t g t x g sem(±) 0.003 0.005 0.008 lsd (0.05) 0.010 0.014 0.024 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix seed yield plant-1 (g) significant difference was observed among the average performance of genotypes over treatments in 1styears. highest average seed yield plant-1 was recorded for the genotype g5 (3.577g) followed by g4 (3.183g). lowest yield plant-1was recorded in g3 for both the years. when considering treatments over genotypes significant variation was noticed with highest magnitude of seed yield plant-1in t3 for both the years; concluding that application of ga3 has a positive impact on seed yield. in case of interaction effect, overall significant variation was observed. highest seed yield plant-1was recorded in g5 (3.980 g) when treated with 100ppm ga3. on the other hand, lowest seed yield plant-1was recorded in g3 (1.860g) in control. average performance of genotypes in response to foliar application of ga3 varied significantly in final year. highest and lowest seed yield plant-1was recorded for the same genotypes as noted in first year. similar pattern of improvement in seed yield was recognized after utilization of ga3 in second year just like first year. the performance of individual genotypes for seed yield plant-1 in second year was as likewise as that recorded in first year with a minor change in magnitude. significant variation was observed when considering interaction between genotypes and treatments; with highest yield of 3.987g in g3 when treated by t3. similar type of result in seed yield plant-1 was also documented previously by (chakraborty et al., 2019). table 9. variation in seed yield plant-1 (g) of different china aster genotypes after ga3 application g1 g2 g3 g4 g5 g6 mean t 2018-2019 t1 2.340 2.280 1.860 2.500 2.923 2.007 2.318 t2 3.337 3.150 2.777 3.463 3.827 3.053 3.268 t3 3.460 3.353 3.057 3.587 3.980 3.247 3.447 mean g 3.044 2.928 2.564 3.183 3.577 2.769 t g t x g sem(±) 0.008 0.011 0.018 https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 13 lsd (0.05) 0.022 0.031 0.053 2019-2020 t1 2.361 2.290 1.897 2.513 2.947 2.053 2.343 t2 3.347 3.153 2.770 3.490 3.860 3.063 3.281 t3 3.520 3.420 3.060 3.610 3.987 3.347 3.491 mean g 3.076 2.954 2.576 3.204 3.598 2.821 t g t x g sem(±) 0.007 0.009 0.016 lsd (0.05) 0.019 0.027 0.047 note: t = treatment, t1 = control, t2 = 50 ppm ga3, t3 = 100 ppm ga3, g = genotypes, g1 = arka kamini, g2 =arka archana, g3 = arka adya, g4 = local pink, g5 =local white, g6 = local mix i)arka kamini(v1) ii)arka archana(v2) iii)arka aadya(v3) iv)local pink(v4) https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 14 v)local white(v5) vi)local mix(v6) figure 1. field performance of different genotypes of china aster conclusions among the genotypes, highest flower size was recorded in local mix (g6). so, it could be recommended as the best performer genotype considering flower diameter. seed yield plant-1 was recorded highest in local white (g5), it could be considered as the best performer genotype considering its higher number of flowers plant-1 and number of seeds flower-1. ga3(100 ppm) could be utilized in a better way for greater enhancement in all those important parameters as overall influence of ga3 has been found to enhance seed yield plant-1 and all the important attributes. seed yield is an important attributes may indicate to recommend foliar application of 100 ppm ga3 for enhancement this trait for all the genotypes. the plant growth and development have been noticed to be positively influenced by ga3 @ 100 ppm, may lead to recommend foliar application of 100 ppm ga3 for commercial cultivation of this crop irrespective of the genotypes. references anonymous. (2000). statistical data on horticultural crops in karnataka state, department of horticulture, lalbagh, bangalore. biswas, s., bordolui, s.k., & chattopadhyay, p. (2020). influence of ga3 on hybrid rice seed production in west bengal. journal of crop and weed, 16(3), 136-142 chakraborty, a., bordolui, s.k., mahato, m. k., sadhukhan, r., & sri veda, d.j.m.s.n.k. (2019). variation in seed production potential of china aster genotypes in the new alluvial zone of west bengal. journal of crop and weed, 15(1), 201-204. gavino, r.b., pi y & abon jr, c.c. (2008). application of gibberellic acid (ga3) in dosages for three hybrid rice seed production in the philippines. j. agril. technol., 4(1), 183-192. https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas american international journal of agricultural studies vol. 5, no. 1; 2021 15 janakiram, t., & rao, t. m. (1991). genetic improvement of marigold. in :floriculture technology, trade and trends, eds. prakash, j. and bhandary, k. r. oxford and ibh co. pvt. ltd., new delhi, pp. 331-335. mahato, m. k., bordolui, s. k., sadhukhan, r., & moharana, r. l. 2017. evaluation of seed production potential of china aster in new alluvial zone, the bioscan, 12(3), 16491651. nagaraju, d., reddy, b. s., patil, r. t., gangadharappa, t. m., & kulkarni, b. s. (2004). effects of dates of planting on flowering and flower quality of china aster (callistephus chinensis nees.) cv. kamini. journal of ornamental horticulture, 7(3-4), 132-134. raghava, s. p. s. (1984). genetical studies in china aster (callistephus chinensis l.). university of agricultural sciences bangalore, india, phd thesis. ray, j., & bordolui, s.k. (2020). effect of ga3 on marigold seed production in gangetic alluvial zone. journal crop and weed, 16(1), 120-126. yuan, l., wu, x., liao, f., ma, g. and xu, q. (2003). hybrid rice technology. china agricultural press, beijing, china, pp. 132. yuan, l.p. (1985). a concise course in hybrid rice. changsha, china: human technology press. copyrights copyright for this article is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal. this is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 20-25 20 agricultural studies aijas vol 6 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa determinants of output of cassava (manihot species) production in abuja, nigeria olugbenga omotayo alabi (a)1 godbless friday safugha (b ) (a) professor, department of agricultural-economics, university of abuja, pmb 117 gwagwalada-abuja, abuja, nigeria; e-mail: omotayoalabi@yahoo.com (b) m.sc. development economics (agricultural economics), department of agricultural-economics, university of abuja, pmb 117 gwagwaladaabuja, abuja, nigeria; e-mail: gsafugha@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 6th september 2022 accepted: 19th october 2022 online publication: 23rd october 2022 keywords: determinants of output, cassava (manihot species) production, abuja, nigeria jel classification codes: q1, q3, q5 a b s t r a c t this research study focused on determinants of the output of cassava (manihot species) production in abuja, nigeria. multi-stage method of sampling was used. one hundred (100) cassava farmers were sampled and selected. primary data were obtained through the use of a well-designed and also wellstructured questionnaire. data were analyzed using econometrics and statistical tools. the results show that 87% of cassava producers were between 31 to 50 years of age. about 72% had formal education and were literate. averagely, they had 4.76 hectares of cassava farmland. the estimated gross margin (gm) and net farm income (nfi) of cassava production per hectare were 1,464, 162.72 naira and 1, 453, 752.49 naira respectively. this implies that cassava production was profitable and worthwhile. farm size and fertilizer input were statistically significant factors influencing the output of cassava production. age, labour input, and cassava cuttings were statistically significant factors influencing the output of cassava production. while chemical input statistically and significantly influenced the output of cassava production. the constraints facing cassava producers were the unavailability of improved cassava cuttings, the high cost of farm inputs, insecurity, inadequate extension services, and inadequate finances. the research study recommends that improved cassava cuttings should be made available to farmers for increased productivity. extension officers should be employed to disseminate innovations, research findings, and new farm technologies to cassava farmers. credit or loan facilities should be made available to cassava producers at low-interest rates. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction cassava (manihot species) belongs to euphorbiaceae, and it a major and important source of carbohydrate. it is second important staple food crop after maize in terms of energy or calories consumed. nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world with estimated production of 60,001,531 tonnes in 2020 (fao, 2020). cassava production in nigeria in 2018 and 2019 were 55, 867, 727 tonnes and 59, 411, 510 tonnes respectively. the total land area for cassava production in nigeria was 7,737, 846 ha, with annual yield of 77, 543hg/ha, and the average yield of cassava was 10.6 tonnes per hectare in 2020 respectively (fao, 2020). the tuber of cassava contains 2% protein, 62% water content, 20 – 30 % starch, 1 – 2% fiber, traces of minerals, and vitamins (akerele et al., 2018). cassava tolerates wide ranges of climatic and soil conditions; it yields properly on poor soils with low rainfall. cassava has tolerance to drought and has capacity to yield under marginal soil conditions. in nigeria, cassava can be grown in all ecological zones, and when moisture is available, it is planted all the year round. cassava can be consumed when properly prepared and processed. cassava products include: flour, chips, starch, pellets, alcohol, and adhesives, cassava products are vital raw materials for the following industries: livestock feed, wood, textile, confectionary, pharmaceuticals, soft drink and food, and ethanol/alcohol industries respectively. they are tradeable in international markets, and plays a significant role in increasing income, and food production in nigeria (aboajah et al., 2018). cassava especially the roots and leaves when compares with other staple food can generates more cash incomes and provides calories for largest number of farming households (sanusi et al., 2020). about 250 million people in sub-saharan africa (ssa) derive their daily calories or energy from cassava, the leaves are consumed as vegetables (oladoyin et al., 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-8390-9775 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.264 to cite this article: alabi, o. o. ., & safugha, g. f. (2022). determinants of output of cassava (manihot species) production in abuja, nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 6(1), 20–25. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.264 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.264 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8390-9775 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3306-3035 alabi & safugha, american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 20-25 21 2022). it is forecasted that by 2025, close to 62% of global cassava production will come from sub-saharan africa (okorie et al., 2021). cassava has many uses and this made the crop a potential and major foreign exchange earner in nigeria. cassava is cultivated by smallholder farmers who are resource poor farmers, having low resources. cassava ensures food security, plays significant role in alleviating poverty, and helps in environmental protection. cassava production over the years is faced with problems such as poor storage facilities, pests and diseases, price fluctuations, urbanization, and low capitalization. the high costs of processing, production, transportation, and the deficit in infrastructures in nigeria makes it difficult to add value to cassava in terms of quality, safety, quantity and shelf life, as this can encourage export and increase foreign earnings. objectives of the study this research study focused on determinants of output of cassava (manihot species) production in abuja, nigeria. specifically, the objectives were:  identify the socio-economic profiles of cassava farmers,  determine the profitability, costs and returns of cassava production,  evaluate factors influencing or affecting output of cassava production, and  determine the constraints faced by cassava farmers in the study area. materials and methods the research study was conducted in abuja, nigeria. abuja is located between latitudes 90 4│20|| north and longitudes 70 29│28|| east. abuja has three weather conditions annually, they are: rainy season, dry season and the harmattan period. the brief harmattan period comes in between the rainy and dry seasons. abuja falls within the savannah zone vegetation, the vegetation in the territory are classified into three (3) savannah types: firstly, grassy savannah; secondly, savannah woodland; and thirdly, the shrub savannah. abuja has population of about 776,298 people (npc, 2006). the population of abuja in 2022 is about 3,652,000 people which is 5.43% increase over the population of 3,464,000 people in 2021. the people are engaged in agricultural production activities. they are involved in animal production and growing crops. crops grown include: cassava, maize, millet, soybean, garden egg, beans, rice, yam, groundnut, sorghum. animal reared include: poultry, goats, sheep, cattle, rabbit and turkey. multi-stage method of sampling was used. sample size of 100 cassava farmers were selected. data obtained were those from primary sources. data were collected through the use of well-designed and also well-structured questionnaire. the questionnaire was administered to the cassava farmers through the help of welltrained enumerators. data were analyzed using the following analytical tools: descriptive statistics: this involves the use percentages, mean, range and frequency-distributions. this was used specifically to achieve objective one (i). farm budgetary technique: the gross margin model is stated thus: 𝐺𝑀 = 𝑇𝑅 − 𝑇𝑉𝐶 … … … … … … … … … … (1) 𝐺𝑀 = ∑ 𝑃𝑖𝑄𝑖 𝑛 𝑖=1 − ∑ 𝑃𝑗𝑋𝑗 … … … … … … (2)𝑚 𝑗=1 𝑁𝐹𝐼 = 𝑇𝑅 − 𝑇𝐶 … … … … … . (3) 𝑁𝐹𝐼 = ∑ 𝑃𝑖𝑄𝑖 𝑛 𝑖=1 − [∑ 𝑃𝑗𝑋𝑗 𝑚 𝑗=1 + ∑ 𝐺𝐾𝑘 𝑘=1 ] … … … . (4) where 𝑃𝑖 = price of cassava ( 𝑁 𝐾𝑔 ), 𝑄𝑖 = quantity of cassava (kg), 𝑃𝑗 = price of factor inputs ( 𝑁 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡 ), 𝑋𝑗 = quantity of factor inputs (units), 𝑇𝑅 = total revenue obtained from sales from cassava (n), 𝑇𝑉𝐶 = total variable cost (n), 𝐺𝐾 = cost of all fixed inputs (naira) 𝑁𝐹𝐼 = net farm income (naira) this was used specifically to achieve objective two (ii). financial analysis: gross margin ratio according to ben-chendo et al. (2015) is defined as: 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 … … … … . (5) the operating ratio (or) according to olukosi and erhabor (2015) is defined as: 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝑇𝑉𝐶 𝐺𝐼 … … … … … … … … (6) where, 𝑇𝑉𝐶 = total variable cost (naira), 𝐺𝐼 = gross income (naira), the rate of return per naira invested (rori) in cassava production is defined as: 𝑅𝑂𝑅𝐼 = 𝑁𝐼 𝑇𝐶 … … … … … … … … … … (7) alabi & safugha, american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 20-25 22 where, 𝑅𝑂𝑅𝐼 = rate of return per naira invested (unit) 𝑁𝐼 = net income (naira) 𝑇𝐶 = total cost (naira) this was used specifically to achieve objective two (ii). cobb-douglas production function model: the model is defined as follows: 𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑌 = 𝛼0 + 𝛼1𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋1 + 𝛼2𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋2 + 𝛼3𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋3 + 𝛼4𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋4 + 𝛼5𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋5 + 𝛼6𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋6 + 𝑈𝑖…………(8) 𝑌 = output of cassava (kg), 𝑋1 = age of cassava farmers in years, 𝑋2 = farm size in hectares 𝑋3 = labour − input in mandays 𝑋4 = fertilizer − input in kg 𝑋5 = cassava − cuttings in kg 𝑋6 = chemical − input in litres 𝑈𝑖 = error term, 𝛼1 − 𝛼6 = regression coefficients, 𝛼0 = constant term, this was used specifically to achieve objective three (iii). principal component model: the constraints faced by cassava farmers were subjected to principal component analysis. this was used specifically to achieve objective four (iv). results and discussions socio-economic profiles of cassava farmers the summary statistics of socio-economic profiles of cassava farmers are presented in table 1. gender classifications show that 71% of cassava farmers were male, while 29% were female. this signifies that cassava farming was dominated by male counterparts, this might be due to strength and rigors involve in activities of cassava farming. majority (87%) cassava producers were between 31 to 50 years of age. this age range of cassava producers are likely to be more energetic and be willing to take risks in cassava farming. the average age of cassava producers was 42 years. this implies that cassava producers were active, resourceful, and energetic in their youthful age. age of cassava producer’s influences physical work and productivity, as cassava farming is believed to be labour intensive. furthermore, 72% of cassava producers attended formal education and were literate, while 28% had non-formal education. education increase farmers’ understanding and knowledge of new farm technologies, and it is a significant factor that facilitates adoption of improved farm technologies among cassava producers. in addition, 84% of cassava producers had between 1 to 10 years’ experience in cassava farming. farmers with long years of experience in cassava farming would be more conversant with the problems and this would increase the farmer’s level of acceptance of innovations and new ideas as a method of overcoming the constraints (ashaye et al., 2018). the average farm size was 4.76 hectares, this signifies that cassava producers were smallholder, resource poor, small-scale farmers. averagely, there are 5 people per household, this signifies that availability of family labour for activities of cassava production and this will reduce amount spent on hired labour. table 1. socio-economic profiles of cassava farmers socio-economic profiles frequency percentage mean gender male female age in years 31 – 40 41 – 50 51 – 60 educational level in years non-formal tertiary secondary primary experience in farming years 1 – 5 6 – 10 11 – 15 16 – 20 farm size in hectares 1 – <5 5 – <10 10 – <15 15 – <20 size of household (units) 1 – <5 71 29 50 37 13 28 31 23 18 21 63 14 02 73 19 05 03 67 71.00 29.00 50.00 37.00 13.00 28.00 31.00 23.00 18.00 21.00 63.00 14.00 02.00 73.00 19.00 05.00 03.00 67.00 42.00 7.85 4.76 5.00 alabi & safugha, american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 20-25 23 source: field survey (2021) financial position and profitability analysis among cassava producers per hectare the financial analysis, costs and returns, profitability of cassava production per hectare was presented in table 2. the costs incurred and revenue obtained in cassava production per hectare was based on the prevailing market price as the time of the field survey. the total variable cost (tvc) estimated was 89,966.96 naira and this accounted for about 89.63% of total cost involved in cassava production per hectare. the total variable cost includes: cost of labour (16.49%), cost of fertilizer (29.35%), cost of cassava cuttings (21.49%), transportation (05.65%), rent on land (12.86%), loading and offloading cost (03.79%). the total fixed cost was estimated at 10, 410. 23 naira and this accounted for 10.37% of total cost of cassava production per hectare. the total cost of cassava production per hectare was evaluated at 100, 377.19 naira. the total revenue was calculated at 1, 554, 129.68 naira per hectare. the gross margin and net farm income of cassava production per hectare were 1,464, 162.72 naira and 1, 453, 752.49 naira respectively. this means that cassava production was profitable. the gross margin ratio was calculated at 0.94, this implies that for every one (1) naira invested in cassava production per hectare, 94 kobo covered interest, profits, taxes, depreciation, and expenses. operation ratio in financial analysis is used to measure operating efficiency and financial position of an enterprise. it is preferable and worthwhile to have low values of operating ratio for an enterprise. the calculated operating ratio was 0.058, this signifies that 5.8 % of returns from cassava produce was used to cover cost of cassava sold and other operating expenses. the calculated rate of returns was 14.48, this signifies that for every one (1) naira invested in cassava production 1448 kobo was realized. table 2. financial analysis, costs and returns, profitability of cassava production per hectare variable value (n) percentage (a) variable cost cost of labour cost of fertilizer cost of cassava cuttings transportation cost rent on land loading/offloading cost (b) total variable cost (c) fixed cost depreciation of assets/farm tools taxes interest (d) total fixed cost (e) total cost of production (f) total revenue (g) net farm income(nfi) (h) gross margin (i) gross margin ratio (j) operating ratio (k) rate of return on investment 16,550.00 29,456.09 21,576.87 05,670.00 12,907.00 03,807.00 89,966.96 5,500.23 3,709.00 1,201.00 10,410.23 100,377.19 1,554,129.68 1,453,752.49 1,464,162.72 0.94 0.058 14.48 16.49 29.35 21.49 05.65 12.86 03.79 89.63 05.47 03.70 01.20 10.37 100.00 source: field survey (2021) determinants of output of cassava production the result of cobb-douglas production function model showing factors influencing output of cassava production was presented in table 3. the exogenous factors under considerations were age, farm size, labour-input, fertilizer-input, cassava cuttings and chemical – input. the regression coefficients of all predictor variables were positive and significant. farm size (𝑋2) and fertilizer input (𝑋4) were statistically significant regressor variables influencing output of cassava production at (𝑃 < 0.01). a 1% increase in fertilizer factor input will lead to 22.98% increase in output of cassava production. age (𝑋1), labour-input (𝑋3), and cassava cuttings (𝑋5) were exogenous variables influencing output of cassava production at (𝑃 < 0.05). as cassava producers advanced in age, additional of one year in age will lead to 12.46% increase in output of cassava production. also, chemical input (𝑋6) was statistically significant at (𝑃 < 0.10). the return to scale is the summation of all elasticities of production for predictor factors included in the cobb-douglas production function model. the return to scale was calculated at 1.373, which means increasing return to scale, this means that for every additional unit to production inputs in cassava production will lead to more than proportionate increase in output of cassava production. the coefficient of multiple determinations (𝑅2) was 0.891, this means that 89.1% of variations in output of cassava production was explained by the predictor variables included in the cobb-douglas production function model. the f-value of 247.82 was significant at (𝑃 < 0.01), this signifies that the model is of good fit. this result is similar to findings of nandi et al. (2011) who reported that farm size, labour input, and cassava cuttings had positive coefficients and were statistically and significantly predictor factors influencing output of cassava production. 5 – <10 10 – <15 total 22 11 100 22.00 11.00 100.00 alabi & safugha, american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 20-25 24 table 3. result of multiple regression analysis of cobb-douglas production function model variable parameter regression coefficient standard error t-statistics age (𝑿𝟏) farm size (𝑿𝟐) labour-input (𝑿𝟑) fertilizer-input (𝑿𝟒) cassava-cuttings (𝑿𝟓) chemical-input (𝑿𝟔) constant 𝛼1 𝛼2 𝛼3 𝛼4 𝛼5 𝛼6 𝛼0 0.124660** 0.157761*** 0.100184** 0.22985*** 0.27828** 0.48236* 8.9927** 0.04516 0.04370 0.00041 0.06162 0.10344 0.24485 3.55442 2.76 3.61 2.51 3.73 2.69 1.97 2.53 rts = 1.373 𝑹𝟐 = 0.891 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝑹𝟐 = 0.852 f-value = 247.82*** source: data analysis (2021) *-significant at( 𝑃 < 0.10) **-significant at (𝑃 < 0.05) ***-significant at (𝑃 < 0.01) problems facing cassava producers in the area of study the constraints facing cassava producers were subjected to principal component model or factor analysis and was presented in table 4. constraints facing cassava farmers with eigen-values greater than one or unity were retained and used for further analysis by the model. problems with eigen values less than one or unity were discarded by the model. unavailability of improved cassava cuttings was ranked 1st with eigen-value of 1.9013 and this problem explained 18.24% of all constraints retained in the model. high cost of farm input was ranked 2nd among all constraints retained in the model, and this constraint explained 17.35% of all constrained retained in the model. all the retained problems in the model explained 69.53% of all constraints facing cassava producers that was included in the principal component analysis. the chi-square value of 671.27 was statistically significant at (𝑃 < 0.01), this signifies that the model is of good fit. table 4. principal component analysis of constraints facing cassava farmers constraints eigen-value difference proportion cumulative unavailability of improved cassava cuttings high cost of farm input lack of extension services inadequate finances insecurity 1.9013 1.827 1.724 1.702 1.535 0.623 0.304 0.207 0.167 0.094 0.1824 0.1735 0.1224 0.1148 0.1022 0.1824 0.3559 0.4783 0.5931 0.6953 bartlett test of sphericity kmo chi square rho 0.7221 671.27*** 1.00000 source: computed from data analysis (2021) ***-significant at (𝑃 < 0.01) conclusions this research study has established that cassava production is profitable and worthwhile in the area of study. the cassava producers were resourceful, active, energetic, and young farmers. the mean age was 42 years. most cassava producers had formal education and were literate. they had long years of experiences in cassava farming and are smallholder, resource poor, small scale farmers. the gross margin and net farm income of cassava production per hectare were 1,464,162.72 naira and 1,453,752.49 naira respectively. financial analysis shows gross margin ratio and operation ratio of 0.94 and 0.058 respectively. the statistical and significant predictor variables influencing output of cassava production were age of cassava producers, farm size, labour-input, fertilizer input, cassava cuttings and chemical-input. the constraints faced by cassava producers were unavailability of improved cassava cuttings, high cost of farm inputs, and lack of extension services, inadequate finances, and insecurity. based on the results, the following points were recommended:  improved cassava cuttings should be made available for cassava producers for increased productivity.  extension officers should be employed by government to disseminate innovations, research findings, and new farm technologies to cassava producers.  credit or loan facilities should be made available by government to cassava producers at low interest rate.  farm inputs such as fertilizers, chemicals, and land should be adequately provided for cassava producers for increased productivity.  security should be provided to protect lives and properties of farmers’ family, farm produce and farm land. author contributions: conceptualization, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; methodology, o.o.a. and g.f.s; software, o.o.a. and g.f.s; validation o.o.a. and g.f.s; formal analysis, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; investigation, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; resources, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; data curation, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; writing – original draft preparation, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; writing – review & editing, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; visualization, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; supervision, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; project administration, o.o.a. and g.f.s.; funding acquisition, o.o.a. and g.f.s. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. alabi & safugha, american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 20-25 25 institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: n/a. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references aboajah, f. n., onjewu, s. s., chia, j. i., & okeme, s. (2018). socio-economic determinants of cassava production in benue state, nigeria. international journal of environment, agriculture and biotechnology, 3(2), 550 – 557. https://doi.org/10.22161/ijeab/3.2.32 akerele, e. o., idowu, a. o., oyebanjo, o., ologbon, o. a. c., & oluwasanya, o. p. (2018). economic analysis of cassava production in ogun state, nigeria. acta scientific agriculture, 2(8), 43-50. ashaye, w. o., adeyi, a. m., willoughby, f. s., ola, o. a., & ayodele, o. d. (2018). economics of improved cassava production technologies in kwara state, nigeria. global scientific journals, 6(7), 15-31. retrieved from www.globalscientificjournal.com ben-chendo, g, n., lawal, n., osuji, m. n., osugiri, i. i., & ibeagwa, b. o. (2015). cost and returns of paddy rice production in kaduna state, nigeria. international journal of agricultural-marketing, 2(5). 084-089. fao. (2020). food and agriculture organization, database, rome, italy. nandi, j. a., gunn, p., & yurkushi, e. n. (2011). economic analysis of cassava production in obubra local government area of cross river state, nigeria. asian journal of agricultural sciences, 3(3), 205-209. npc. (2006). national population commission of nigeria, national census, 2006 oladoyin, o. p., akinbola, a. e., aturamu, o. a., & ilesanmi, j. o. (2022). economic analysis of cassava production in akoko district of ondo state, nigeria. world journal of advanced research and reviews, 14(1), 391-399. https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2022.14.1.0348 olukosi, j.o., & erhabor, p. o. (2015). introduction to farm management economics: principles and applications. agitab publishers limited, zaria, kaduna, nigeria, pp77 – 83. okorie,o. j., okon, u. e., & enete, a. a. (2021). profit efficiency of cassava production in enugu state, nigeria. journal for the advancement of developing economies, 10(1), 37-51. retrieved from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/jade/46 sanusi, s. o., adedeji, i. a., madaki, m. j., udoh, g., & abdullahi , z. y. (2020). economic analysis of cassava production: prospects and challenges in irepodun local government area, kwara state, nigeria. international journal of emerging scientific research, 1, 28-32. https://doi.org/10.37121/ijesr.vol1.138 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://www.globalscientificjournal.com/ http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/jade/46 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 12 agricultural studies aijas vol 6 no 1 (2022) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa performance of telfairia occidentalis leaf grown in urea hydroponic solution love akaja akonye (a) kalu okonwu (b)1 josephine udunma agogbua (c ) (a) professor, department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: love.akonye@uniport.edu.ng (b) department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: kalu.okonwu@uniport.edu.ng (c) department of plant science and biotechnology, university of port harcourt, nigeria; e-mail: josephine.agogbua@uniport.edu.ng a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 26th july 2022 accepted: 25th august 2022 online publication: 3rd september 2022 keywords: hydroponic, grown, performance telfairia occidentalis jel classification codes: o13 a b s t r a c t the study evaluated the performances of telfairia occidentalis hooker fil. under varying growth media subject to the amount of urea granules (25 g, 50 g, 75 g, 100 g, 125 g and 150 g) dissolved in water containing micronutrients. the growth media were m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u, m150u, and control. two-week old seedlings of t. occidentalis raised using river-sand were transferred into the non-circulatory growth media. the growth indices (vine main length (vml), number of leaves (nl), stem girth (sg), petiole length (pl), internode (li), leaf area (la), and total leaf area (tla)) of t. occidentalis were measured weekly. the root length (rl), root fresh weight (rfw), root dry weight (rdw) and pigment components were determined 5 weeks after planting following standard procedures. across the growth media studied, the control medium had the highest vml, nl, la, tla, pl and pigment composition of t. occidentalis. however, among the urea growth media, m25u medium produced relatively the highest vml, nl, tla, total chlorophyll, and rfw of t. occidentalis while m50u medium had the highest la, rl and rdw. also, t. occidentalis leaves grown in the control medium had the highest chlorophyll content (33.22 mg/g), followed by m25u medium (22.88 mg/g) and was significantly different from the other growth media.m100u medium effectively enhanced carotenoids content (6.49 mg/g) of t. occidentalis compared to others. the study showed that the mineral composition of the growth media enhanced the performance of t. occidentalis. hence, m25u growth media are recommended for growing t. occidentalis. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction plants do not necessarily need soil in order to grow and survive. according to white and brown (2010), plants obtain their inorganic elements from the soil solution. soil serves as a medium to support plant and to retain nutrients for plants’ utilization. hence, any medium that is stable enough to support plant and retain nutrients can do the same job as soil without being restricted to the ground. hydroponic is the cultivation of plants, edible and ornamental, in water containing dissolved nutrients. growing fresh produce in soilless systems could be a possible solution to food insecurity issues regardless of soil quality, climate or space (resh & howard, 2012). according to santos and ocampo (2005), hydroponics provides an instant and also long-term remedy to the difficult of inability of a household to produce its own vegetables under urban settings. a hydroponic system allows for uninterrupted vegetable production no matter the period (santos & ocampo, 2009). it is one of the technologies used in places not appropriate for traditional farming systems (pelesco & bentor-jr., 2013). this helps to mitigate the difficulty of climate change, assist in production system management for efficient exploitation of natural resources and alleviation of malnutrition (butler & oebker, 2006). the use of controlled environments can overcome cultivation difficulties and could be a way to manipulate phenotypic variation in bioactive compounds (murali-mugundhan et al., 2011). it has been claimed that the key to successful hydroponics culture is the nutrient solution (hedio, 2000). to achieve optimized growing systems, different types of crops, nutrient solutions, lighting and other factors are important when determining the crops that will be successful in hydroponic systems from environmental, economic and nutritional perspectives (treftz & omaye, 2015). previous literature has focused on various hypotheses of growing cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, peppers and strawberries hydroponically (arias et al., 2000; parađiković et al., 2011; coolong, 2012). 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0003-4140-5250 © 2022 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.256 to cite this article: akonye, l. a. ., okonwu, k. ., & agogbua, j. u. (2022). performance of telfairia occidentalis leaf grown in urea hydroponic solution. american international journal of agricultural studies, 6(1), 12–19. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.256 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v6i1.256 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3903-2408 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4140-5250 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6317-1227 akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 13 according to hickman (2011), the main greenhouse crops (including soil and soilless production) are tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper, herbs, eggplant and strawberry, in that sequence. resh (1995), earlier reported that the major vegetables grown in soilless cultivation are tomato, cucumber, sweet pepper and l. sativa in that order. but in latin america, the main vegetables include; l. sativa, arugula, tomato, sweet pepper, cucumber and strawberry (rodriguez-delfin, 2012) in that same order. with the hydroponic technology being used more frequently, it has become imperative to assess which crops are suitable to be grown in hydroponic systems. the production of vegetable crops and ornamentals using different soilless culture techniques has been practiced and commercialized (kratky et al., 1988; pelesco & bentor-jr., 2013). however, hydroponic as a way of growing plants is rarely practiced in nigeria even though the technology had long existed in the industrialized nations. hydroponics as a means of growing plants should be embraced in unindustrialized nations like nigeria. the ability to formulate nutrients locally to grow plants should be of priority to researchers. the cost of producing plants will reduce tremendously if required materials are sourced locally and are affordable to farmers. however, this study is aimed at using urea fertilizer in the formulation of locally hydroponic nutrient solutions for growing t. occidentalis and evaluate how the solutions affects its performance. materials and methods source of materials the seeds of fluted pumpkin used were sourced from choba market and the river-sand was obtained from choba-river port harcourt (4o54′0ʺn 6o54′0ʺe) while the urea fertilizer used was produced by unique fertilizer company nigeria and obtained from agricultural development programme, rumuodumaya port harcourt. formulation of the nutrient solution the method of kratky (2002) was used with modification in nutrient formulation and container used. urea granular fertilizers were weighed (25 g, 50 g, 75 g, 100 g, 125 g and 150 g, respectively) and transferred into black plastic bowls with the dimensions: 29 cm width, 41 cm length, and 23 cm depth. the same was dissolved with 20 litres of tap water in the plastic bowls leaving a space for aeration with the addition of 20 ml micronutrients stock solution (0.6 g h3bo3; 0.4 g mncl2.4h2o; 0.05 g znso4; 0.5 g cuso4.5h2o; 0.02 g na2moo4.2h2o) and epsom salt (9.8 g mgso4). the control medium (water) was setup without the addition of urea, micronutrients and epsom salt. these formulations were replicated four times. the growth media were designated as: m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u, m150u, and control (0 g urea) depending on the amount urea dissolved in water. study site and weather condition the study was conducted in a screen house inside the university of port harcourt (lat. n4o54'15", long. e6o54'35"). the site was free from direct rainfall and was open to sunlight anytime of the day. the screen house had a transparent cover that permits light penetration and hinders direct rainfall. during the period of experiment, the weather condition of the university was relatively wet with daytime temperature that ranges from 24oc in early morning to 32oc in the middle part of the day. planting of t. occidentalis the seeds of t. occidentalis were planted in nursery bags containing river-sand as a medium for germination to take place. after germination, the two weeks old seedlings (17 20 cm) from the river-sand were transferred into the non-circulating hydroponic systems containing different formulations of nutrient solution. the components of the nutrient solutions were sourced locally. growth indices measurement the vine length, petiole length and internode were measured using meter rule while the number of leaves was by direct count. the leaf area was determined following the method of akoroda (1993). the vine girth was determined with the aid of electronic digital caliper (carbon fiber composites digital caliper). pigment content the chlorophyll content was obtained according to the method of poora (2002) while the carotenoid content was determined following the method of sumanta et al. (2014). statistical analysis the data obtained for the morphological characters and pigment contents of fluted pumpkin were subjected to statistical analysis. results vine main length of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media the growth performance of t. occidentalis in varying urea solutions with respect to vine main length (vml) are presented in table 1. the rate at which the vml value for control treatment increased (28.63 – 57.05 cm) after week 4 was faster when compared to other growth media. this was followed by m25u growth medium (27.98 – 37.23 cm). the percentage increase in vml values were 99.27%, 33.06%, 33.87%, 2.66%, 0.55%, 4.12% and 0.23% for control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u growth media, respectively. the result of increasing the urea concentration in the medium did not produce an increased vml. at 5 weeks after planting, the lowest vml (21.95 ± 4.944 cm) was obtained at m150u medium and the vml value for control medium was significantly different from other media. akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 14 table 1. vine main length (cm) of t. occidentalis in different urea growth media treatment duration mean percentage increase (4 – 5 wap) 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 23.23 ± 5.752a 28.63 ± 10.036a 57.05 ± 18.018a 36.300a 99.27 m25u 22.55 ± 3.594a 27.98 ± 7.083a 37.23 ± 12.831b 29.250ab 33.06 m50u 17.10 ± 6.434a 18.60 ± 4.614a 24.90 ± 7.099b 20.200c 33.87 m75u 23.15 ± 5.501a 30.13 ± 13.818a 30.93 ± 14.695b 28.067bc 2.66 m100u 25.58 ± 3.007a 27.50 ± 2.783a 27.65 ± 3.226b 26.908bc 0.55 m125u 23.93 ± 6.777a 26.73 ± 9.554a 27.83 ± 10.169b 26.158bc 4.12 m150u 21.23 ± 4.307a 21.90 ± 4.917a 21.95 ± 4.944b 21.692bc 0.23 mean 22.393 ± 5.257b 25.921 ± 8.3164b 32.504 ± 14.9683a lsd(p=0.05) 7.6847 12.257 16.617 8.0275 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. stem girth of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media the stem girth of t. occidentalis grown in different concentration of urea solutions is shown in table 2. there was no exponential growth in the stem girth in all the growth media. the stem girth from week 3 – 5 for the growth media ranged thus: control (4.55 – 5.35 mm), m25u (4.68 – 4.88 mm), m50u (4.73 – 5.33 mm), m75u (3.83 – 4.60 mm), m100u (3.93 – 5.83 mm), m125u (3.93 – 4.43 mm) and m150u (2.73 – 4.98 mm). amongst growth media, the percentage increase in stem girth was 17.58%, 4.27%, 12.68%, 20.10%, 48.35%, 12.72% and 82.42% for control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u growth media, respectively. m150u medium had the highest percentage increase of stem girth from week 3 – 5. however, at week 5, the highest value for stem girth (5.83 ± 0.670 mm) was recorded at m100u growth medium while the lowest (4.43 ± 0.670 mm) at m125u growth medium. these values were statistically different at p = 0.05. considering the mean growth rate of the stem girth from 3 – 5 wap, m50u growth medium had the stem girth of t. occidentalis, followed by control, m25u, m100u, m75u, m125u and m150u, in that order. the mean stem girth value for m50u was significantly different from m75u, m125u and m150u, respectively. table 2. stem girth (mm) of t. occidentalis in different urea growth media treatment duration mean 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 4.55 ± 0.635a 4.65 ± 0.785a 5.35 ± 0.370ab 4.8500ab m25u 4.68 ± 0.754a 4.70 ± 1.344a 4.88 ± 1.330ab 4.7500ab m50u 4.73 ± 1.609a 5.28 ± 1.287a 5.33 ± 1.253ab 5.1083a m75u 3.83 ± 0.888ab 3.88 ± 0.939ab 4.60 ± 0.821ab 4.1000bc m100u 3.93 ± 0.613ab 3.93 ± 0.613ab 5.83 ± 0.670a 4.5583ab m125u 3.93 ± 1.307ab 3.93 ± 1.307ab 4.43 ± 0.670b 4.0917bc m150u 2.73 ± 0.858b 2.73 ± 0.858b 4.98 ± 0.411ab 3.4750c mean 4.0543 ± 1.184b 4.1536 ± 1.2088b 5.0534 ± 0.9094a lsd(p=0.05) 1.4605 1.5505 1.3014 0.8684 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. number of leaves of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media the number of leaves grown in different concentrations of urea growth media are presented in table 3. increased quantity of urea did not record a definite pattern in terms of size (either increase or decrease) in the number of leaves of t. occidentalis. the percentage increase in the number of leaves from weeks 3 – 5 was: 34.38%, 30.00%, 13.04%, 24.14%, 12.12%, 10.71% and 3.13%, respectively for the control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u media. control medium had the highest percentage increase for number of leaves of t. occidentalis from week 3 – 5, followed by m25u growth medium. hence, the highest mean value for number of leaves (10.75 ± 0.957) was recorded at the control medium while the lowest (6.50 ± 1.915) was recorded at m50u medium at week 5. table 3. number of leaves of t. occidentalis in different urea growth media treatment duration mean 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 8.00 ± 0.816a 8.75 ± 0.500a 10.75 ± 0.957a 9.1667a m25u 7.50 ± 0.577ab 8.75 ± 1.708a 9.75 ± 2.062ab 8.6667a m50u 5.75 ± 2.754b 6.00 ± 2.449b 6.50 ± 1.915c 6.0833c m75u 7.25 ± 1.258ab 8.50 ± 1.000ab 9.00 ± 0.816ab 8.2500ab m100u 8.25 ± 0.957a 9.25 ± 0.957a 9.25 ± 0.957ab 8.9167a m125u 7.00 ± 1.414ab 7.75 ± 1.893ab 7.75 ± 1.893bc 7.5000b m150u 8.00 ± 1.633a 8.00 ± 1.633ab 8.25 ± 1.258bc 8.0833ab mean 7.3929 ± 1.5477b 8.1429 ± 1.7152ab 8.7500 ± 1.8584a lsd(p=0.05) 2.2058 2.3140 2.1941 1.1475 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 15 leaf petiole length of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media the leaf petiole length (lpl) of t. occidentalis grown in varying concentrations of urea growth media varied across treatments (table 4). the rate at which the petiole lengths increased were not significant at p≤0.05 across and within growth media from weeks 3 – 5. the ranges within growth media were: control (3.90 – 4.90 cm), m25u (4.10 – 4.38 cm), m50u (4.03 – 4.95 cm), m75u (4.20 – 4.98 cm), m100u (4.30 – 4.85 cm), m125u (4.33 – 4.45 cm) and m150u (4.33 – 5.25 cm). amongst growth media, the percentage increase in the petiole lengths was 25.64%, 6.83%, 22.83%, 18.57%, 12.79%, 2.77% and 21.25% for control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u treatments, respectively. control medium had the highest percentage increase of lpl from weeks 3 – 5. however, at week 5, the highest mean value for lpl (5.25 ± 1.611 cm) was recorded at m150u medium while the lowest (4.38 ± 0.479 cm) at m25u medium. there was no significant difference among growth media. table 4. petiole length (cm) of t. occidentalis leaves in different urea growth medium treatment duration mean 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 3.90 ± 1.052a 4.20 ± 1.071a 4.90 ± 0.383a 4.3333a m25u 4.10 ± 0.577a 4.20 ± 0.589a 4.38 ± 0.479a 4.2250a m50u 4.03 ± 1.343a 4.88 ± 1.758a 4.95 ± 1.771a 4.6167a m75u 4.20 ± 0.712a 4.25 ± 0.742a 4.98 ± 1.150a 4.4750a m100u 4.30 ± 0.503a 4.33 ± 0.472a 4.85 ± 0.719a 4.4917a m125u 4.33 ± 0.914a 4.45 ± 1.248a 4.45 ± 1.248a 4.4083a m150u 4.33 ± 1.584a 4.33 ± 1.584a 5.25 ± 1.611a 4.6333a mean 4.3107 ± 0.8842a 4.3750 ± 1.0473a 4.6786 ± 1.1622a lsd(p=0.05) 1.4047 1.7059 1.7980 1.569 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. leaf internodes of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media the growth performance of t. occidentalis in varying urea solutions with respect to leaf internodes are presented in table 5. there was increase in leaf internodes from weeks 3 – 5 across growth media. the leaf internodes value was higher in the control medium compared to other growth media for weeks 3 – 5 after seedlings were transferred into the growth media. the percentage increase in leaf internodes values was 4.09%, 16.23%, 11.54%, 23.77%, 13.65%, 4.48% and 6.00% for control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u growth media, respectively. the effect of increasing the urea concentration in the medium did not record a definite pattern in terms of leaf internodes. the least value of leaf internodes (2.90 ± 1.023 cm) was recorded at m50u. table 5. internode (cm) of t. occidentalis leaves in different urea growth medium treatment duration mean 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 4.40 ± 1.444a 4.50 ± 2.380a 4.58 ± 0.419a 4.4917a m25u 3.08 ± 0.435b 3.15 ± 0.465ab 3.58 ± 1.014a 3.2667b m50u 2.60 ± 0.542b 2.80 ± 1.023b 2.90 ± 1.023a 2.7667b m75u 3.23 ± 1.452b 3.30 ± 1.402ab 4.03 ± 1.297a 3.5167b m100u 2.93 ± 0.737b 2.95 ± 0.695b 3.33 ± 0.427a 3.0667b m125u 3.35 ± 0.473b 3.50 ± 0.959ab 3.50 ± 0.959a 3.4500b m150u 2.83 ± 0.330b 2.83 ± 0.330b 3.00 ± 1.042a 2.8833b mean 3.203 ± 0.8805a 3.290 ± 1.0175a 3.560 ± 1.2542a lsd(p=0.05) 1.0608 1.4525 1.8941 0.7858 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. leaf area of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media table 6 shows the leaf area of t. occidentalis grown in different urea growth media. there was an increase in the leaf area from weeks 3 – 5 and the growth performance varied across the growth media. the leaf area ranged from 110.28 – 138.00 cm2, 105.39 – 117.57 cm2, 135.59 – 147.29 cm2, 93.73 – 98.10 cm2, 86.93 – 89.93 cm2, 95.54 – 111.85 cm2, and 94.56 – 100.26 cm2 for control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u growth media, respectively. the m50u medium had the highest leaf area value (147.29 ± 59.395 cm2) at week 5, followed by control medium (138.00 ± 17.617 cm2) while the lowest value (89.93 ± 29.796 cm2) was recorded at m100u medium. these highest and lowest points had the percentage leaf area increase from weeks 3 – 5 as follows: 25.14%, 8.63% and 3.45% for control, m50u and m100u media, respectively. however, there was no significant difference (p = 0.05) amongst growth media from weeks 4 – 5. table 6. leaf area (cm2) of t. occidentalis in different urea growth media treatment duration mean 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 110.28 ± 5.576ab 124.39 ± 14.924a 138.00 ± 17.617a 124.22ab m25u 105.39 ± 44.783ab 116.28 ± 32.724a 117.57 ± 33.129a 113.08bc m50u 135.59 ± 48.126a 143.36 ± 59.317a 147.29 ± 59.395a 142.08a m75u 93.73 ± 8.203ab 95.88 ± 19.324a 98.098 ± 17.588a 95.90c akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 16 m100u 86.93 ± 32.688b 89.93 ± 29.796a 89.93 ± 29.796a 92.26c m125u 95.54 ± 27.507ab 111.85 ± 37.758a 111.85 ± 37.758a 106.42bc m150u 94.558 ± 6.870ab 100.26 ± 30.741a 100.26 ± 30.741a 101.69bc mean 103.145 ± 29.792a 111.706 ± 36.223a 114.711 ± 36.367a lsd(p=0.05) 43.451 52.077 51.795 26.303 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. total leaf area of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media the total leaf area of t. occidentalis grown in different urea growth media for 5 weeks is shown in table 7. there was increase in the total leaf area from weeks 3 – 5 across growth media. the total leaf area value was higher in the control medium compared to other growth media for weeks 3 – 5 and it was significantly different (p = 0.05) from other growth media except m25u medium. there was rapid increase in the total leaf area value for all growth media. the percentage increase from weeks 3 – 5 for total leaf area values was 68.58%, 41.98%, 26.51%, 31.68%, 5.74%, 31.52% and 9.26% for control, m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u and m150u growth media, respectively. at week 5, the control medium (1492.04 ± 298.148 cm2) had the highest total leaf area value, followed by m25u medium (1119.77 ± 286.000 cm2). the lowest mean value for total leaf area (821.40 ± 253.916 cm2) was recorded at m100u medium. table 7. total leaf area (cm2) of t. occidentalis in different urea growth media treatment duration mean 3 wap 4 wap 5 wap control 885.08 ± 126.747a 1084.72 ± 102.990a 1492.04 ± 298.148a 1153.9a m25u 788.69 ± 356.772a 1000.77 ± 273.130a 1119.77 ± 286.000ab 969.7ab m50u 690.22 ± 134.854a 751.36 ± 90.560a 873.17 ± 131.333b 771.6b m75u 677.54 ± 117.140a 823.05 ± 236.101a 892.19 ± 225.461b 797.6b m100u 776.81 ± 177.727a 821.40 ± 253.916a 821.40 ± 253.916b 806.5b m125u 692.83 ± 305.588a 911.22 ± 464.163a 911.22 ± 464.163b 838.4b m150u 785.33 ± 222.153a 785.33 ± 222.153a 858.06 ± 96.061b 809.6b mean 756.636 ± 209.2924b 882.55 ± 257.7472ab 995.4064 ± 331.0746a lsd(p=0.05) 328.62 384.44 403.83 215.47 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. pigments composition of t. occidentalis leaves grown in different urea growth media the pigments composition of t. occidentalis leaves grown in different urea growth media at 5 wap are as shown in table 8. the chlorophyll and carotenoid contents of the leaves varied and were significantly different (p ≤ 0.05) amongst growth media. chlorophyll a content of the leaves was higher than chlorophyll b in all the growth media. telfairia occidentalis leaves grown in the control medium had the highest chlorophyll content and was significantly different from the other growth media. the lowest chlorophyll content of the leaves was recorded at m150u medium. the chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and total chlorophyll contents ranged from 2.50 – 17.31 mg/g, 1.13 – 15.90 mg/g and 3.63 – 33.22 mg/g, respectively. however, the result obtained for carotenoid of the leaves was different. the highest carotenoid content (6.49 mg/g) of the leaves was recorded at m100u medium which was significantly different from other growth media while the lowest carotenoid content (0.45 mg/g) was recorded at m25u medium. the carotenoid contents were lower compared to the chlorophyll a content. table 8. pigments composition (mg/g) of t. occidentalis leaves in different urea growth media at 5 wap treatment chlorophyll a chlorophyll b total chlorophyll carotenoid control 17.31 ± 0.191a 15.90 ± 0.942a 33.22 ± 1.131a 2.82 ± 0.320dc m25u 14.81 ± 1.142b 8.07 ± 0.243b 22.88 ± 1.357b 0.45 ± 0.125e m50u 13.45 ± 1.218b 8.25 ± 1.534b 21.70 ± 2.700b 4.53 ± 0.375b m75u 4.39 ± 0.292d 2.35 ± 0.389c 6.74 ± 0.681c 3.63 ± 0.286bc m100u 10.78 ± 3.241c 7.94 ± 2.831b 18.72 ± 5.969b 6.49 ± 2.215a m125u 3.94 ± 1.578d 2.451 ± 1.021c 6.393 ± 2.387c 3.78 ± 0.878bc m150u 2.50 ± 0.295d 1.13 ± 0.254c 3.63 ± 0.533c 1.713 ± 0.460de lsd(p=0.05) 2.4185 2.1463 4.3792 1.5723 mean ± standard deviation; means with the same letter in a column are not significantly different; wap = weeks after planting. root length, root fresh weight and root dry weight of t. occidentalis grown in different growth media at 5 wap the root length also varied in different urea growth media (figure 1). the root lengths ranged from 15.08 – 24.20 cm and the values recorded fluctuate across growth media. telfairia occidentalis grown in m50u medium had the highest root length (24.20 cm) compared to other media, which was not significantly different at p = 0.05 while the lowest was recorded at m150u growth media. the root fresh weight decreased as the quantity of urea increased in the growth media (figure 2). the root fresh weight values of t. occidentalis ranged from 2.24 – 8.77 g. the root fresh weight values recorded for urea growth medium were statistically different (p = 0.05) with the control medium. among the growth media, the control medium had the highest (8.77 g) root fresh weight while the lowest value (2.24 g) was recorded at m150u medium. akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 17 the root dry weight values of t. occidentalis varied across the urea growth media and ranged from 0.17 – 0.71 g (figure 3). among the growth media, the control medium had the highest root dry weight (0.71 g) while the lowest value (0.17 g) was recorded at m125u medium. there was significant difference in the value recorded for control medium and other growth media. discussions the performance of t. occiddentalis varied across urea growth media (m25u, m50u, m75u, m100u, m125u, m150u).m25u medium effectively enhanced vml, nl, la, tla, carotenoids content, rl, rfw and rdw. this suggest that lower quantity of macronutrients in hydroponic solution will improve the performance of t. occidentalis. the values obtained from the results for number of leaves, leaf area per leaf and total plant leaf area of t. occidentalis were in conformity with the work of oke (2015), who reported 13.61, 118.1 cm2 and 1607.87 cm2 at 3 wap for number of leaves, leaf area and total plant leaf area, respectively. this also agreed with works of akanbi et al. (2000), shiyam and binang (2013) and usman (2015). ndor et al. (2012) reported the number of leaves of fluted pumpkin grown in sawdust, river sand and topsoil as 9.33, 9.00 and 8.33 respectively at two (2) weeks after sowing. however, the average values for number of leaves and leaf area per leaf of t. occidentalis at 6 wap reported by nwonuala and obiefuna (2015) varied significantly from this present work. this difference probably occurred due to the mineral nutrition supplied to the plant. although, nutrient availability is crucial in the photosynthetic capacity of a crop, it is worthy to note that the number of leaves and the surface area of leaves affect directly or indirectly the photosynthetic rate of crops. vegetable consumers depend majorly on the leaves of fluted a a a a a a a 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 control m25u m50u m75u m100u m125u m150u l en g th ( cm ) growth medium figure 1. root length of t. occidentalis grown in different urea growth media at 5 wap a b b bc bc bc c 0 2 4 6 8 10 control m25u m50u m75u m100u m125u m150u w ei g h t (g ) growth medium figure 2. root fresh weight of t. occidentalis grown in different urea growth media at 5 wap. a b b b bc c bc 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 control m25u m50u m75u m100u m125u m150u w ei g h t (g ) growth medium figure 3. root dry weight of t. occidentalis grown in different urea growth media at 5 wap akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 18 pumpkin in the preparation of food and its leaves extract for medicinal purposes. this underscores the need to grow more leaves. the t. occidentalis vine main lengths obtained in different urea treatments were lower than those reported by other researchers (nwonuala & obiefuna, 2015; oke, 2015) on the same plant. they reported average vine main length of 158.30 cm and 189.61 cm at 6 wap and 3 wap, respectively. similarly, the highest stem girth obtained from the treatments was 0.58 cm, which was also lower compared to the works of ndor et al. (2012) and oke (2015). ndor et al. (2012) reported stem girth of t. occidentalis grown in sawdust (1.98 cm), river sand (2.10 cm) and topsoil (1.87 cm) at 2 wap, while oke (2015) recorded stem girth of 0.86 cm on the same plant at 3 wap. the variation in the stem girth by several researchers could be as a result of different treatments given to t. occidentalis. this presupposes that the performance of t. occidentalis is dependent on treatment and growth medium. the leaf petiole length and internode length of t. occidentalis grown in different solutions of urea were comparable with the values reported by nwonuala and obiefuna (2015), who worked on the yield and yield component of fluted pumpkin landrace. the root lengths of t. occidentalis grown in varying proportion of urea in solution were significantly higher than the values reported by ndor et al. (2012), who worked on growth of fluted pumpkin in different solid media. they observed and recorded the root length of t. occidentalis in different media as follows: sawdust (11.68 cm), river sand (11.12 cm) and topsoil (10.12 cm). this observation suggests that the compact nature of the growth medium used in growing t. occidentalis affects the root length. the roots of t. occidentalis grown in solution were soft and tender when compared to the texture of roots grown in other solid media (such as topsoil, river sand and sawdust). the total chlorophyll content of t. occidentalis were higher than the carotenoid content. total chlorophyll content of t. occidentalis grown in different urea solutions were higher compared to other vegetables (such as chinese cabbage, l. sativa, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel’s sprout and red cabbage) as reported by pandey et al. (2015). they reported the total chlorophyll range of 2.23 – 16.92 mg/g. chlorophylls are crucial components for photosynthesis (pandey et al., 2015). according to mustapha and babura (2009), carotenoids comprise a large group of natural pigments widely distributed in the plant and animal kingdoms. they are yellow-orange in colour, insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents. they are present as pigments in many vegetables and fruits and are associated with chlorophyll in higher plants, playing important role during photosynthesis by passing on the light energy they absorb to chlorophyll, they also protect the chlorophyll from excess light and oxidation. this function accounts for the low value obtained for carotenoids when compared to chlorophyll content of t. occidentalis in different growth media used. conclusions considering the performance of t. occidentals grown in different urea solutions, the control treatment had the highest vine main length, number of leaves, leaf area, total leaf area, petiole length and pigment composition of t. occidentalis compared to other treatments. however, among the urea treatments, m25u effectively enhanced some of the growth indices such as vine main length, number of leaves, leaf area, total leaf area, total chlorophyll, and root fresh weight of t. occidentalis while m50u treatment had the highest leaf area, root length and root dry weight. the study has shown that appropriate proportion of urea in solution can be used to grow t. occidentalis. therefore, pre-mixed fertilizers for growing vegetables should be developed to reduce the technicality involved for the ordinary farmers, who form the larger part of the pyramid in crop production. author contributions: conceptualization, l.a.a. and k.o.; data curation, l.a.a., k.o. and j.u.a.; methodology, l.a.a. and k.o.; validation, l.a.a., k.o. and j.u.a.; visualization, l.a.a., k.o. and j.u.a..; formal analysis, k.o.; investigation, j.u.a. and k.o.; resources, l.a.a., k.o. and j.u.a.; writing – original draft, k.o. and j.u.a.; writing – review & editing, l.a.a., k.o. and j.u.a..; supervision, l.a.a., k.o. and j.u.a..; project administration, k.o., and j.u.a.; authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references akanbi, w. b., baiyewu, r. a., & tairu, f. m. (2000). effects of maize-stover compost and spacing on growth and yield of celosia (celosia argentea l.). journal of agriculture, forestry and fisheries, 1, 5-9. akoroda, m. o. (1993). non-destructive estimation of area variation in shape of leaf lamina in the fluted pumpkin, telfairia occidentalis. scientia horticulturae, 53(3), 261-267. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4238(93)90074-z arias, r., lee, t. c., specca, d., & janes, h. (2000). quality comparison of hydroponic tomatoes (lycopersicon esculentum) ripened on and off vine. journal of food science, 65, 545-548. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.13652621.2000.tb16045.x butler, j. d., & oebker, n. f. (2006). hydroponics as a hobby: growing plants without soil. circular 844. information office, college of agriculture, university of illinois, urbana, il 61801. retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/2142/33041 coolong, t. (2012). hydroponic lettuce. university of kentucky cooperative extension services, 1-4. hedio, i. (2000). hydroponics and /or soil less culture, osaka prefecture university. pp. 6-17. hickman, g. w. (2011). greenhouse vegetable production statistics. cuesta roble greenhouse consultants, mariposa, ca, usa. 73p. akonye et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 6(1) (2022), 12-19 19 kratky, b. a. (2002). a simple hydroponic growing kit for short-term vegetables. university of hawaii ctahr hg-42. retrieved from https://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/freepubs/pdf/hg-42.pdf kratky, b. a., bowen, j. e., & imai, h. (1988). observations on a non-circulating hydroponic system for tomato production. hortscience, 23: 906-907. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4238(88)90160-4 murali-mugundhan. r. m., soundaria, m., maheswari, v., santhakumari, p., & gopal, v. (2011). hydroponicsa novel alternative for geoponic cultivation of medicinal plants and food crops. international journal of pharma and bio sciences, 2(2), 286-296. retrieved from http://www.ijpbs.net/issue-2/38.pdf mustapha, y., & babura, s. r. (2009). determination of carbohydrate and β-carotene content of some vegetables consumed in kano metropolis, nigeria. bayero journal of pure and applied sciences, 2(1), 119-121. https://doi.org/10.4314/bajopas.v2i1.58515 ndor, e., dauda, n. s., & chammang, h. b. (2012). effect of germination media and seed size on germination and seedling vigour of fluted pumpkin (telfairia occidentalis) hook. f. advances in environmental biology, 6(10), 2758-2761. retrieved from http://www.internationlscholarsjournal.com/articles/effect-of-germination-media-and-seed-size-ongermination-and-seedling-vigour-of-fluted-pumpkin-telfairia-occidentalis-hoo.pdf nwonuala, a., & obiefuna, j. (2015). yield and yield components of fluted pumpkin (telfairia occidentalis hook) landrace. international journal of agriculture innovations and research, 4(3), 421-425. retrieved from http://www.ijair.org/administrator/components/com_jresearch/files/publications/ijair_1620_final.pdf oke, o. f. (2015). leaf area development and vine growth of telfairia occidentalis (hook.f) in response to plant spacing and liquid cattle manure. iosr journal of agriculture and veterinary science, 8(12), 5-10. https://doi.org/10.9790/2380-081220510 pandey, v., chura, a., pandey, h. k., & nasim, m. (2015). estimation of ascorbic acid, β carotene, total chlorophyll, phenolics and antioxidant activity of some european vegetables grown in mid hill conditions of western himalaya. journal on new biological reports, 4(3), 238-242. retrieved from https://www.researchtrend.net parađiković, n., vinković, t., vinkovićvrček, i., žuntar, i., bojić, m., & medić-šarić, m. (2011). effect of natural biostimulants on yield and nutritional quality: an example of sweet yellow pepper (capsicum annuum l.) plants. journal of the science of food and agriculture, 91, 2146-2152. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.4431 pelesco, v. a., & bentor jr., m. a. (2013). head lettuce (lactuca sativa l., asteraceae) production in a non-circulating hydroponic system under the climatic condition of biliran, philippines: a preliminary investigation. journal of society and technology, 3, 1-7. retrieved from http://jst-online.org/index.php/jst/article/view/5 poora, r. j. (2002). the chequered history of the development and use of simultaneous equations for the accurate determination of chlorophyll a and b. photosynthesis research, 73, 149-156. https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1020470224740 resh, h. m. (1995). hydroponic food production. 5th ed. 23-26. woodbridge press publication company, santa barbara, ca. resh, h. m., & howard, m. (2012). hydroponic food production: a definitive guidebook for the advanced home gardener and the commercial hydroponic grower. eua, st. bárbara. https://doi.org/10.1201/b12500 rodriguez-delfin, a. (2012). advances of hydroponics in latin america. acta horticulturae, 947, 23-32. https://doi.org/10.17660/actahortic.2012.947.1 santos, j. a., & ocampo, e. t. m. (2009). principles of hydroponics (with emphasis on snap hydroponics). training manual version 1.3. pp. 1-17 santos, p. j. a., & ocampo, e. t. m. (2005). snap hydroponics: development and potential for urban vegetable production. philippine journal of crop science, 30(2), 3-11. retrieved from https://www.ukdr.uplb.edu.ph/journal-article/4228 shiyam, j. o., & binang, w. b. (2013). effect of poultry manure and plant population on productivity of fluted pumpkin (telfairia occidentalis hook f.) in calabar, nigeria journal of organic systems, 8(2), 29-35. retrieved from http://www.organic-systems.org/journal/82/8204.pdf sumanta, n., haque, c. i., nishika, j., & suprakash, r. (2014). spectrophotometric analysis of chlorophylls and carotenoids from commonly grown fern species by using various extracting solvents. research journal of chemical sciences, 4(9), 63-69. https://doi.org/10.1055/s-0033-1340072 treftz, c., & omaye, s. t. (2015). comparison between hydroponic and soil-grown raspberries (rubus idaeus): viability and sensory traits. food and nutrition sciences, 6, 1533-1540. https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2015.616158 usman, m. (2015) cow dung, goat and poultry manure and their effects on the average yields and growth parameters of tomato crop. journal of biology, agriculture and healthcare, 5(5), 7-10. retrieved from https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234660759.pdf white, p. j., & brown, p. h. (2010). plant nutrition for sustainable development and global health. annals of botany, 105, 1073-1080. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcq085 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2022 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://www.ijpbs.net/issue-2/38.pdf http://www.internationlscholarsjournal.com/articles/effect-of-germination-media-and-seed-size-on-germinationhttp://www.internationlscholarsjournal.com/articles/effect-of-germination-media-and-seed-size-on-germinationhttps://doi.org/10.1023/a:1020470224740 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 1 agricultural studies aijas vol 7 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa gender differentials and profitability analysis of pepper (capsicum species) production, kaduna state, nigeria olugbenga omotayo alabi (a)1 chinwe edith anekwe (b) (a) professor, department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, federal capital territory, nigeria; e-mail: omotayoalabi@yahoo.com (b) department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, federal capital territory, nigeria; e-mail: edithdennis@yahoo.co.uk a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 25th september 2022 accepted: 4th january 2023 online publication: 7th january 2023 keywords: gender differentials, profitability analysis, pepper production, kaduna state, nigeria jel classification codes: q1, q2, q5 a b s t r a c t this study analyzed gender differentials and profitability of pepper (capsicum species) production in kaduna state, nigeria. multi-stage sampling technique was adopted. one hundred pepper farmers were selected. primary sources of data were employed with the aid of well-designed and well-structured questionnaire. the results show that 66% of pepper farmers were between 21 to 50 years. pepper production was profitable in the study area. gender differentials in average costs and returns in pepper production revealed that gross margin were 137, 556.51 naira per hectare for male pepper farmers, higher than that at 109,711.77 naira per hectare for female pepper farmers respectively. gender differentials in factors influencing output of pepper produced shows that age (𝑋1),and fertilizer input (𝑋4), were significant factors influencing output of pepper produced by male farmers at 1% probability levels, while age (𝑋1), labour input (𝑋3), and fertilizer input (𝑋4), were significant factors influencing output of pepper produced by female farmers at 1% probability levels respectively. the return to scale(𝑅𝑇𝑆) of pepper production was estimated at 2.798 for male farmers, which signifies increasing return to scale. the return to scale (𝑅𝑇𝑆) was calculated for female pepper farmers at 0.033, which implies decrease return to scale. major constraints faced by pepper farmers were: lack of fertilizers, pest and disease infestations, and inadequate capital. the study recommends that women pepper farmers should be giving more access to farm inputs and credit facilities at low interest rate to increase productivity. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction pepper (capsicum species) is a highly valued, varied and widely grown spice crop for food and cash by farmers all over the world (aliyu et al., 2012). pepper ranks second (2nd) after tomatoes in the world as the most important fruit vegetable. pepper constitutes about 40% of human vegetable consumed and it’s the world’s most commonly used spice (adeoye et al., 2014). pepper is the most widely produced type of colouring food and spice flavouring crop and its excellent source of natural colours and anti-oxidants compound. nigeria has good soil and weather conditions that can support growth and productivity of pepper. nigeria is one of the major producer of pepper in the world, and it accounted for 50% of africa’s production (mohammed et al., 2013). nigeria produces 762, 174 tonnes of chillies and pepper, green in 2020 which is 0.27% increase over that of 2019 which was 760, 114 tonnes (fao, 2020). the average yield of chillies and pepper green in 2020 was 2 to 2.5 tonnes per hectare (fao, 2020) the area under chillies and pepper, green production was 101, 350 hectares in 2020, the yields of chillies and pepper green was 75, 202 hg/ha (fao, 2020). the production of chillies and pepper, dry in 2020 was 62,556 tonnes which was 0.32% increase over the production in 2019 which was 62, 356 tonnes (fao, 2020). the area and yields of chillies and pepper, dry in 2020 were 36, 605 ha and 17,089 hg/ha respectively (fao, 2020). pepper is medicinal and nutritional which has potentials to generate foreign exchange, reduce unemployment, and its use in pharmaceuticals, culinary and confectionary purposes has been on the increase. according to dipeolu and akinbode (2007) pepper contains vitamins a, b, c, b1, b2 and b3. all varieties of peppers are good excellent sources of vitamins a, and c, 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-8390-9775 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.269 to cite this article: alabi, o. o., & anekwe, c. e. (2023). gender differentials and profitability analysis of pepper (capsicum species) production, kaduna state, nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.269 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.269 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8390-9775 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4186-1694 alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 2 potassium, fibre and folic acid. most of the nigerian’s pepper is produced by small scale, resource-poor, smallholder farmers who sell their produce to middlemen or traders who re-sell the products to processors (adeoye et al., 2014). pepper is widely cultivated throughout nigeria especially northern nigeria, the yields obtained by resource-poor farmers are still low (ogunbo, 2015). production constraints include: lack of farm inputs, lack of credit facilities, low soil fertility, pests and diseases, weeds, and poor management practices (dennis & kentus, 2018; ogunbo, 2015). high potential pepper producing areas of nigeria are kaduna, kano, jigawa, sokoto, plateau, and bauchi states. pepper grown in nigeria is in high demand because of it pungency and good flavor (dennis & kentus, 2018). gender refers to the social opportunities and attributes associated with being female or male and the relationships between men and women (world bank, 2003). gender plays a significant role in the agricultural sector where both women and men are involved in the agricultural value chain activities that complement each other (adam et al., 2018). women make up 60 to 80 % of agricultural labour force in nigeria (world bank, 2003). in sub-saharan africa, nigeria inclusive, women are known to be involved in agricultural activities than men. about 73% of african women were involved in cash crops, arable and vegetable gardening, 16% were involved in post-harvest activities, while 15% of african women were involved in agro-forestry activities (ajibade et al., 2021). women in nigeria have practically taken over the processing and production of arable crops, they are responsible for as much as 80% of staple foods (afolabi, 2008; ogunlela & mukhtar, 2009). despite the high percentage of women in agriculture in nigeria, productivity is lower for female farmers when compared to their male counterparts (olakojo, 2017). women tends to have lower access to agricultural productive resources than men due to gender specific constraints (fao, 2020). productive resources include: access to credit facilities; access to extension services; ownership of land, crop and livestock; access to farm inputs; access to education, skills and knowledge related to agriculture; and management of agricultural resources (moore et al., 2015). women also had problem of access to agricultural information, when adequate information are available to women farmers, experiences can be shared, sources of financial aids, best practices, and new markets will be made known to women. in order to improve agricultural production and attained agricultural sustainable development, information on agriculture is crucial for any nation (lawal et al., 2017). women productive capacity in the agricultural sector remains lower than their male counterparts, and thereby impacting adversely on overall productivity (olakojo, 2017). male and female farmers have equal productive efficiency especially when inputs, credit and market access as well as physical and human capital are adequately controlled (olakojo, 2017) objectives of the study this study analyzed gender differentials and profitability analysis of pepper (capsicum species) production in kaduna state, nigeria. specifically, the objectives were to: (i) determine the socio-economic characteristics of pepper farmers, (ii) analyze the gender differentials in costs and returns of pepper production, (iii) evaluate gender differentials in factors influencing output of pepper production, (iv) evaluate gender differentials in elasticities of production, and return to scale of pepper production, and (v) determine the constraints faced by pepper farmers in the study area. materials and methods this research study was conducted in kaduna state, nigeria. kaduna state lies between longitudes 060 15│ and 080 50│ east of the prime meridian and latitudes 090 02│ and 090 02│north of the equator. the state has total land area of 4.5 million hectares. kaduna state vegetation is divided into northern guinea savanna and southern guinea savanna. there are two (2) seasons in kaduna state. the seasons are: dry and wet seasons, the dry season is between october to march, the wet season is from april to october, in between the dry and wet seasons is the brief harmattan period which span from november to february. the average rainfall is about 1,482mm, the temperature of kaduna state ranges from 350c to 360c during the humid period to as low as 100c to 230c during the harmattan period. the population of kaduna as at 2021 was 8.9 million people. they are involved in agricultural activities. crops grown include: pepper, maize, ginger, sorghum, rice, yam, cassava, millet, and tomatoes. animal reared include: cattle, goats, sheep, rabbit, and poultry. multi-stage sampling technique was used. one hundred (100) pepper farmers were selected. data collected from pepper farmers were of primary sources using well-designed and well-structured questionnaire. the questionnaire was administered to pepper farmers using well trained enumerators. data were analyzed using the following analytical tools: descriptive statistics: this involves the use of mean, range, percentages and frequency distributions to summarize the socio-economics characteristics of pepper farmers as stated in specific objective one (i). farm budgetary technique: the farm budgetary techniques used was gross margin analysis (gm) and is defined as the difference between gross farm income (gfi) and total variable cost (tvc). this tool of analysis was used to determine the gender differentials in costs and returns of pepper production as specified in specific objective two (ii). the gross margin model is stated thus: 𝐺𝑀 = 𝑇𝑅 − 𝑇𝑉𝐶 … … … … … … … … … … (1) 𝐺𝑀 = ∑ 𝑃𝑖𝑄𝑖 𝑛 𝑖=1 − ∑ 𝑃𝑗𝑋𝑗 … … … … … … (2)𝑚 𝑗=1 𝑁𝐹𝐼 = 𝑇𝑅 − 𝑇𝐶 … … … … … . (3) 𝑁𝐹𝐼 = ∑ 𝑃𝑖𝑄𝑖 𝑛 𝑖=1 − [∑ 𝑃𝑗𝑋𝑗 𝑚 𝑗=1 + ∑ 𝐺𝐾𝑘 𝑘=1 ] … … … . (4) alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 3 where 𝑃𝑖 = price of pepper ( 𝑁 𝐾𝑔 ), 𝑄𝑖 = quantity of pepper (kg), 𝑃𝑗 = price of variable inputs ( 𝑁 𝑈𝑛𝑖𝑡 ), 𝑋𝑗 = quantity of variable inputs (units), 𝑇𝑅 = total revenue obtained from sales from pepper (n), 𝑇𝑉𝐶 = total variable cost (n), 𝐺𝐾 = cost of all fixed inputs (naira) 𝑁𝐹𝐼 = net farm income (naira) financial analysis: this is an analytical tool used to determine the gender differentials in profitability of pepper production. the financial analysis was used to achieve part of specific objective two (ii). gross margin ratio according to ben-chendo (2015) is defined as: 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑇𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 … … … … . (5) the operating ratio (or) according to olukosi and erhabor (2015) is defined as: 𝑂𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝑇𝑉𝐶 𝐺𝐼 … … … … … … … … (6) where, 𝑇𝑉𝐶 = total variable cost (naira), 𝐺𝐼 = gross income (naira), according to olukosi and erhabor (2015) an operating ratio of less than one (1) implies that the gross income from pepper enterprise was able to pay for the cost of the variable inputs used in the enterprise. the rate of return per naira invested (rori) in pepper production is defined as: 𝑅𝑂𝑅𝐼 = 𝑁𝐼 𝑇𝐶 … … … … … … … … … … (7) where, 𝑅𝑂𝑅𝐼 = rate of return per naira invested (unit), 𝑁𝐼 = net income (naira), 𝑇𝐶 = 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 (𝑁𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑎). cobb-douglas production function model: the model is defined as follows: 𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑌 = 𝛽0 + 𝛽1𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋1 + 𝛽2𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋2 + 𝛽3𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋3 + 𝛽4𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋4 + 𝛽5𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋5 + 𝛽6𝐿𝑜𝑔 𝑋6 + 𝑈𝑖…………(8) where, 𝑌 = output of pepper (kg), 𝑋1 = age of farmers (years), 𝑋2 = farm size (hectares), 𝑋3 = labour input (mandays), 𝑋4 = fertilizer input (kg), 𝑋5 = seed input (kg), 𝑋6 = chemical input (litres), 𝑈𝑖 = error term, 𝛽1 − 𝛽6 = regression coefficients, 𝛽0 = constant term, this was used to evaluate gender differentials in factors influencing output of pepper production as stated in specific objective three (iii). elasticity of production and return to scale: elasticity of production and return to scale of pepper production can be defined as: 𝑅𝑇𝑆 = ∑ 𝐸𝑃 … … … … … … … . (9)𝑛 𝑖 𝑅𝑇𝑆 = ∑ 𝛽𝑖 6 1 … … … … … … (10) rts = 1, constant return to scale rts > 1, increasing return to scale rts < 1, decreasing return to scale alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 4 where 𝑅𝑇𝑆 = return to scale (units), and 𝐸𝑃 = elasticity of production inputs (units), this was used to evaluate the gender differentials in elasticity of production and return to scale of pepper production as stated in specific objective four (iv). principal component analysis: the gender differentials in constraints faced by pepper farmers were subjected to principal component analysis. this was used to achieve specific objective five (v). results and discussions socio-economic characteristics of pepper farmers in the study area the socio-economic characteristics of pepper farmers under considerations were age, gender, marital status, educational status, household size, access to credit facilities, contact with extension agents, years of farm experience, and farm size as presented in table 1. the results show that 66% of sampled pepper farmers were between 21 to 50 years of age. the mean age was 43 years. this implies that pepper farmers in the study area were active, energetic, and resourceful in their youthful age. mohammed et al. (2016) reported that younger pepper farmers were more flexible to risk and new ideas, therefore, they are expected to adopt innovations more readily than older farmers. gender analysis in this research study classified pepper farmers into male and female. about 78% of pepper farmers were male, while 22% were female. this means that pepper farming was dominated by male counterparts. about 43% of pepper farmers had formal education, while 57% had nonformal education. dennis and kentus (2018) reported that illiteracy level among pepper farmers could affect negatively the ability to participate in extension training as well as adopt high level of innovations and improved practices of pepper production. education acquired by pepper farmers is an important socio-economic factor influencing management decisions and adoption of new technology. furthermore, 74% of pepper farmers had between 1 to 10 people as member of household. averagely, there are 8 people per household. mohammed et al. (2015) reported an average household size of 11 people for pepper farming household which implies that there is appreciable number of family labour supply to accomplish various farm operations. similar to this finding, sani et al. (2010) reported that larger household sizes among pepper farmers provide enough persons for family labour which signifies that little or less money will be needed to pay for hired labour. also, 83% of pepper farmers had access to credit facilities, 35% do not have access to credit facilities. the low access to credit could be due to the fact that government seldom grant financial credit to farmers (ekong, 2003). access to credit is a very strong factor that is needed to develop any enterprise, availability of credit could determine the extent of production capacity (mohammed et al., 2016). access to micro-credit could improve productivity of pepper farmers and contribute to uplifting the livelihood of peasant resource-poor rural farming communities (nosiru, 2010). farm experience of pepper farmers is another important socio-economic factor that can bring about increase in pepper productivity. about 98% of pepper farmers had between 1 to 10 years’ experience in pepper farming. experience pepper farmers can correct past errors and can forecast future market situations of their products at higher prices to make better profits. averagely, pepper farmers had 1.01 hectares of planted pepper farm land. they are small scale, smallholder, and resource-poor pepper farmers. nigerian farms are classified into small scale (less than 5 hectares); medium scale (5 – 10 hectares); and large scale (more than 10 hectares). according to ogunbo (2015), farm size may influence adoption of technology, scale of production, output level, and revenue accruable to pepper farmers. table 1. socio-economic characteristics of pepper farmers in the study area variables frequency percentage mean age (years) 21 – 30 31 – 40 41 – 50 > 51 gender male female marital status single married divorced educational status primary secondary tertiary non-formal household size (units) 1 – 5 6 – 10 11 – 15 16 – 20 access to credit facilities yes no contact with extension agents 28 19 19 34 78 22 07 84 09 21 15 07 57 36 38 21 05 65 35 28.00 19.00 19.00 34.000 78.00 22.00 07.00 84.00 09.00 21.00 15.00 07.00 57.00 36.00 38.00 21.00 05.00 65.00 35.00 43.61 8.0 alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 5 yes no years of farm experience 1 – 5 6 – 10 11 – 15 farm size (hectares) 0 – 0.99 1 – 1.99 2 – 2.99 total 83 17 75 23 02 40 50 10 100.00 83.00 17.00 75.00 23.00 02.00 40.00 50.00 10.00 100.00 4.35 1.01 source: field survey (2021) gender differentials in profitability analysis of pepper production in the study area the gender differentials in costs and returns of pepper production was presented in table 2. all costs incurred and revenue obtained were based on the market price as at the time of field survey. the variable costs incurred in pepper production for male and female farmers include: seed input, fertilizer input, herbicides, insecticides, bag sack, and labour input. the fixed cost, depreciated involved in pepper production for both male and female farmers include: land rent, sprayer, hoe, cutlass, and water pump. there was a significant difference between total variable costs involved in pepper production between male and female farmers. the average total variable costs in pepper production for both male and female were 155, 409.01 naira and 122, 800.73 naira and this accounted for 81.87% and 81.81% of the total cost of production per hectare respectively. there was also a significant difference between average total costs incurred in pepper production between male and female farmers. the male farmers incurred average total cost of 189, 824.06 naira, while female farmers incurred 82, 418.15 naira. pooling the data for both male and female together, the average total cost incurred for both male and female farmers in pepper production was 134, 430.66 naira. the gross margin analysis per hectare revealed that pepper production was profitable for both male and female farmers. the enterprise is worthwhile for both male and female pepper farmers. the gross margin was higher per hectare basis for male pepper farmers at 137, 556.51 naira than female pepper farmers at 109, 711.77 naira. the net farm income analysis also revealed level of profitability for both male and female pepper farmers. there was a significant difference between net farm income for both male and female pepper farmers. the net farm income for male pepper farmers was higher at 103, 141.46 naira than female pepper farmers at 82,418.15 naira per hectare respectively. pooling the data together for both male and female pepper farmers, the net farm income was estimated at 98, 582.33 naira. this implies level of profitability for pepper production in the study area. financial analysis revealed that the gross margin ratios of pepper production for male, female farmers and pooled data were 0.47 each respectively. this implies that for one naira invested in pepper production 46 kobo covered taxes, profits, expenses, and depreciation respectively. the rate of return on investment was higher at 0.55 for male pepper for farmers (return on investment for female pepper farmers at 0.54), this implies that for one naira invested by male pepper farmers, additional 55 kobo was realized. similar findings on the same group of vegetable production by ajibade et al. (2021) reported that gross margin of tomato production at 67,083.64 naira per hectare for male farmers, this was higher than the gross margin of tomato production at 34,325.38 naira per hectare for female farmers in abuja, nigeria. table 2. gender differentials in average costs and returns of pepper production per hectare items male female pooled amount (naira) percentage amount (naira) percentage amount (naira) percentage total revenue variable cost seed input fertilizer input herbicides insecticides bags sack labour input (a) land clearing (b) soil tillage (c) planting (d) manure application (e) chemical application (f) weeding (g) fertilizer application (h) harvesting (i) bagging fixed cost (depreciation) (a) land rent (b) sprayer (c) hoe (d) cutlass (e) water pump total variable cost total fixed cost total cost gross margin 292,965.52 1,480.10 44,919.14 6,063.84 1,450.46 1,989.06 12,044.33 13, 385.22 11, 240.39 8, 275.86 8,122.17 18,622.66 8,029.56 15, 822.66 3, 963.55 26, 256.16 2,384.03 2,123.30 238.73 3,412.83 155,409.01 34,415.05 189,824.06 137, 556.51 0.779 23.66 3.194 0.764 1.047 6.344 7.051 5.921 4.339 4.248 9.810 4.230 8.335 2.088 13.83 1.255 1.185 0.125 1.797 81.87 18.13 100.00 232,512.50 1,280.01 39,231.20 4,547.88 1,160.37 1,591.24 9,033.25 10,038.91 8, 430.29 6,620.68 6, 497.74 14, 898.13 5,620.69 11,075.86 2,774.48 21,004.92 1,668.82 1,698.64 190.98 2,730.26 122,800.73 27,293.62 150,094.35 109,711. 77 0.852 26.13 3.030 0.775 1.060 6.018 6.688 5.616 4.411 4.329 9.923 3.744 7.379 1.848 15.999 1.111 1.131 0.127 1.819 81.81 18.19 100.00 279,665.85 1,436.08 43,667.79 5,730.33 1,386.64 1,901.54 11,381.89 12,649.03 10,622.16 7,911.72 7,764.79 17,803.26 7, 499.61 14,778.364 3,701.96 25,100.89 1,859.68 2,029.87 228,23 3,254.86 148,235.19 32,848.33 181,083.58 134,430.66 0.793 24.11 5.164 0.965 1.050 6.285 6.905 5.865 4.369 4.289 9.831 4.141 8.161 2.044 13.86 1.026 1.120 0.126 1.797 81.86 18.14 100.00 alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 6 net farm income quantity (50 kg) price operating ratio rate of return on investment gross margin ratio 103,141.46 14.64 20,000 0.53 0.55 0.47 82,418.15 11.62 20,000 0.52 0.54 0.47 98,582.33 13.98 20,000 0.53 0.544 0.47 source: field survey (2021) gender differentials in factors influencing output of pepper (capsicum species) production in the study area gender differentials in factors influencing output of pepper production was presented in table 3. the explanatory variables under consideration in the cobb-douglas production model were age(𝑋1), farm size (𝑋2), labour input (𝑋3), fertilizer input (𝑋4) , seed input (𝑋5) , and chemical input (𝑋6) . all the regression coefficients for male, female pepper farmers and pool data were positive. age(𝑋1) , and fertilizer input (𝑋4) were statistically significant at (𝑃 < 0.01) for male pepper farmers, while age (𝑋1), labour input (𝑋3), and fertilizer input (𝑋4) were statistically significant at (𝑃 < 0.01) for female pepper farmers. pooled data revealed that age (𝑋1), labour input (𝑋3), and labour input (𝑋3), were statistically significant at (𝑃 < 0.01). the coefficient of multiple determinations (𝑅2) was 0.81 for male pepper farmers and 0.56 for female pepper farmers. the coefficient of multiple determinations (𝑅2) for pooled data was 0.755. the coefficient of determinations (𝑅2) of 0.81 implies that 81% of variations in output of pepper produced by male pepper farmers were explained by the explanatory variables included in the model. also, the coefficient of determinations (𝑅2) of 0.56 implies that 56% of variations in output of pepper produced by female pepper farmers were explained by the explanatory variables included in the model. the f-values were statistically significant at (𝑃 < 0.01) for male (225.71), female (196.21) pepper farmers and pooled data (219.22) respectively. this confirmed the explanatory variables included in the model as jointly responsible for variations in output of pepper produced by male, female pepper farmers and pooled data respectively. the regression coefficients of farm size and fertilizer input were 0.521 and 0.491 for male pepper farmers, while that of female pepper farmers were 0.020 and 0.001 respectively. this implies that 1% increase in farm size will lead to 52.1% and 02.1% increase in output of pepper production for both male and female farmers respectively. similarly, adeoye et al. (2014) reported that 1% increase in farm size will lead to 05.15% increase in pepper production among farmers under tropical conditions. gender differentials in elasticity of production and return to scale of pepper production in the study area gender differentials in elasticity of production and return to scale of pepper production was presented in table 4. the regression coefficients of the male, female pepper farmers and pooled data were the elasticities of production. the sum of elasticities of production gave the return to scale for male, female pepper farmers and pooled data respectively. the elasticities of production of fertilizer input was 0.491 for male, and 0.039 for female pepper farmers respectively. the elasticities of production of fertilizer input for pooled data was 0. 3916. all the elasticities of production for variable inputs included in the cobb-douglas production model were positive for male, female pepper farmers and pooled data respectively. the return to scale (𝑅𝑇𝑆) of pepper production for male farmers was 2.798, which signifies increasing return to scale. this implies that a unit increase in any production input in pepper production will lead to more than proportionate increase in output of pepper produced. the return to scale(𝑅𝑇𝑆) of pepper production for female farmers was 0.033, which signifies decrease return to scale. this implies that a unit increase in any production inputs will lead to less than proportionate decrease in output of pepper produced. the return to scale for pooled data was 2.206. which signifies increase return to scale of pepper production. this result is similar to findings of dossah and mohammed (2016) who obtained return to scale (𝑅𝑇𝑆) of 1.314 for male vegetable farmers (increasing return to scale), and 0.97 for female vegetable farmers (decrease return to scale) in plateau state, nigeria. table 3. result of multiple regression analysis of cobb-douglas production function model variable male female regression coefficient standard error t-statistics regression coefficient standard error t-statistics age (𝑿𝟏) farm size (𝑿𝟐) labour input (𝑿𝟑) fertilizer input (𝑿𝟒) seed input (𝑿𝟓) chemical input (𝑿𝟔) constant rts 𝑹𝟐 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝑹𝟐 f-value 0.412 0.521 0.361 0.491 0.530 0.483 4.012 2.798 0.81 0.78 225.71*** 0.1141 0.2059 0.1332 0.1323 0.2070 0.2185 1.6786 3. 61*** 2.53** 2.71** 3.71*** 2.56** 2.21** 2.39** 0.035 0.020 0.006 0.039 0.014 0.012 2.844 0.033 0.56 0.51 196.21*** 0.011 0.008 0.002 0.001 0.006 0.005 1.252 3.21*** 2.57** 3.64*** 3.45*** 2.41** 2.56** 2.27** source: data analysis (2021) *-significant at 10% probability level **-significant at 5% probability level ***-significant at 1% probability level alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 7 table 4. result of multiple regression analysis of cobb-douglas production function model variable pooled data regression coefficient standard error t-statistics age (𝑿𝟏) farm size (𝑿𝟐) labour input (𝑿𝟑) fertilizer input (𝑿𝟒) seed input (𝑿𝟓) chemical input (𝑿𝟔) constant rts 𝑹𝟐 𝐀𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝑹𝟐 f-value 0.3291 0.4108 0.2829 0.3916 0.4165 0.3793 3.7550 2.2064 0.755 0.720 219.22*** 0.0093 0.1624 0.0972 0.1072 0.1646 0.1663 1.3372 3.52*** 2.53** 2.91*** 3.65*** 2.53** 2.28** 2.808** source: data analysis (2021) *-significant at 10% probability level **-significant at 5% probability level ***-significant at 1% probability level constraints faced by pepper farmers in the study area table 5 shows the constraints faced by pepper farmers in the study area using principal component model. principal component analysis (pca) is an analytical technique that can transform many interrelated constraints of pepper farmers into few uncorrelated constraints. constraints with eigen-values greater than one (1) were retained by the principal component model. constraints with eigen-values less than one (1) were discarded by the model. lack of fertilizers with eigen-value of 3.2091 was ranked 1st among the constraints based on the perception of pepper farmers, and this explained 21.71% of all constraints retained by the principal component model. pest and disease infestations was ranked 2nd based on the perceptions of pepper farmers, and this explained 21.60% of all constraints retained by the model. the other constrained faced by pepper farmers include: inadequate capital (3rd), high perishability of commodity (4th), poor soil fertility (5th), lack of improved seeds (6th), and lack of storage facilities (7th). the retained constraints faced by pepper farmers explained 83.76% of all constraints faced by pepper farmers in the study area. table 5. principal component analysis of constraints faced by pepper farmers constraints eigen-value difference proportion cumulative lack of fertilizers pest and disease infestation inadequate capital high perishability of commodity poor soil fertility lack of improved seeds lack of storage facilities 3.2091 3.1020 2.9801 2.9107 2.8709 1.8701 1.6701 0.4120 0.3971 0.3651 0.3402 0.3101 0.2907 0.2770 0.2171 0.2160 0.1131 0.1001 0.0971 0.0621 0.0321 0.2171 0.4331 0.5462 0.6463 0.7434 0.8055 0.8376 bartlett test of sphericity kmo chi square rho 0.6701 490.67 1.000000 source: data analysis (2021) ***-significant at 1% probability level conclusions this research study has shown that pepper production for both male and female farmers were profitable enterprise in the study area. pepper farmers were active, energetic, and resourceful, in their youthful age. pepper production is mainly dominated by male counterparts and farming household have large household size with an average of 8 people per household. they are small scale, smallholder, peasant and resource-poor pepper farmers with an average farm size of 1.01 hectares of farm land. gender differentials in average costs and returns of pepper production shows that the gross margin of male pepper farmers was 137, 141.46 naira per hectare higher than that of female pepper farmers with gross margin of 109,711.77 naira per hectare. net farm income of male pepper farmers was 103, 141.46 naira per hectare higher than that of female pepper farmers with net farm income of 82, 418.15 naira per hectare. financial analysis revealed that the gross margin ratios were 0.47 for male and female pepper farmers respectively. this signifies that for every one naira invested in pepper production, 47 kobo covered taxes, expenses, profits, interest, and depreciation respectively. the rate of return on investment was higher for male pepper farmers at 0.55 than female pepper farmers who had rate of return on investment of 0.54. gender differentials in factors influencing output of pepper produced shows that age, fertilizer input were the statistically significant factors influencing output of pepper produced by male farmers at 1% probability level, while age, labour input, and fertilizer input were statistically and significant factors influencing output of pepper produced by female farmers at 1% probability level. the coefficient of multiple determinations (𝑅2) was 0.81 for male pepper farmers and 0.56 for female pepper farmers. the return to scale was estimated at 2.798 for male pepper farmers which signifies increasing return to scale, while that of female pepper farmers was calculated at 0.033 which implies decreasing return to scale. constraints faced by pepper farmers include: lack of fertilizers, pest and disease infestations, inadequate capital, and high alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 8 perishability of commodity, poor soil fertility, lack of improved seeds, and lack of storage facilities. this research study recommends the following:  farm inputs should be provided for male and female pepper farmers such as improved seeds, fertilizer inputs, and chemical inputs, to increase productivity.  women pepper farmers should be giving more access to credit facilities at low interest rate to increase productivity.  government should employ female extension agents to disseminate research findings and new technologies to pepper farmers.  government should encourage mechanized farming by providing equipment’s such as tractors, motorized sprayers, and irrigation facilities etc. to increase productivity.  storage facilities should be provided for pepper farmers to solve the problem of high perishability of commodity. author contributions: conceptualization, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; methodology, o.o.a. and c.e.a; software, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; validation, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; formal analysis, o.o.a. and c.e.a; investigation, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; resources, o.o.a. and c.e.a; data curation, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; writing – original draft preparation, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; writing – review & editing, o.o.a. and c.e.a; visualization, o.o.a. and c.e.a; supervision, o.o.a. and c.e.a; project administration, o.o.a. and c.e.a.; funding acquisition, o.o.a. and c.e.a.. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: the authors thank the world bank for sharing the data. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adam, a. g., bidoli, t. d., ammani, a. a., & oduehie, t. c. (2018). gender participation in rice processing value chain in kebbi and sokoto states, nigeria. agriculture and veterinary, 18(2), 57-60. adeoye, i. b., fashogbon, a. e., & idris, b. a. (2014). analysis of technical efficiency of pepper production among farmers under tropical conditions. international journal of vegetable science, 20(2), 124-130. https://doi.org/10.1080/19315260.2012.762964 afolabi, m. m. (2008). women as pillars of national economy in nigeria: a study of economic activities of rural women in six local government areas of ondo state. iaffe summer conference, international association for feminist economics, torino, italy, 19 june21 july 2008. ajibade, y.e., oyibo, f.o., ameh, o.e., and enimola, m.o (2021). analysis of gender roles in tomato production in municipal area council, abuja, nigeria. journal of agricultural science and practice, 6(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.31248/jasp2020.237 aliyu, l., yahaya, r. a., arunah, u. l., & haruna, i. m. (2012). response of two chilli pepper varieties (capsicum frutescens l) to harvesting frequency. elixir international journal of agriculture, 42, 6493 – 6496. ben-chendo, g. n., lawal, n., osuji, m. n., osugiri, i. i., & ibeagwa, b. o. (2015). cost and returns of paddy rice production in kaduna state of nigeria. international journal of agricultural marketing, 2(5), 84-89. dennis, a., and kentus, t (2018). assessment of pepper production and socio-economics of pepper farmers in delta state, nigeria. asian journal of agricultural extension, economics & sociology, 28(2), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajaees/2018/44598 dipeolu, a. o., & akinbode, s. o. (2008). technical, economic, and allocative efficiencies of pepper production in south-west nigeria: a stochastic frontier approach. journal of economics and rural development, 17(1), 2433. dossah, b. o., & mohammed, i. u. (2016). evaluation of gender differences in resource utilization and technical efficiency of irrigated vegetable farming in plateau state, nigeria. european journal of basic and applied sciences, 3(2), 114. ekong, e. e. (2003). rural sociology: an introduction and analysis of rural nigeria. dove educational publishers. fao. (2020). food and agriculture organization, data base 2020. lawal, a. f., alabi, o. o., & oladele, a. o. (2017). elements of rural economics: access to agricultural information among rural women farmers in abuja, nigeria. journal of agricultural sciences (sri lanka), 12(2), 63-75. https://doi.org/10.4038/jas.v12i2.8225 mohammed, a. b., ayanlere, a. f., ekenta, c. m., mohammed, s. a. (2013). cost and return analysis of pepper production in ethiope west local government area of delta state, nigeria. international journal of applied research and technology, 2(2), 3-7. mohammed, b., abdulsalam, z., & ahmed, b. (2016). profitability in chilli pepper production in kaduna state, nigeria. british journal of science & technology, 12(3), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.9734/bjast/2016/20300 mohammed, b., ahmed, b., & abdulsalam, z. (2015). technical efficiency of chilli pepper production in kaduna state, nigeria. american journal of experimental agriculture, 9(5), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajea/2015/20298 moore, n. c., moore, c. s., & onugu, c. u. (2015). gender attitude on access to farm productive resources among alabi & anekwe, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 1-9 9 women farmers in awka north communities of south eastern nigeria. proceedings of academics world 8th international conference, dubai, uae, 13th november 2015. nosiru, m. o. (2010). microcredits and agricultural productivity in ogun state, nigeria. world journal of agricultural sciences, 6(3), 290-296. ogunbo, m. m. (2015). resource-use efficiency and optimal farm plan in pepper (capsicum species) production in ogun state, nigeria. african journal of food, agriculture, nutrition and development, 15(4), 10255-10271. ogunlela, y. i., & mukhtar, a. a. (2009). gender issues in agriculture and rural development in nigeria: the role of women. humanity & social sciences journal, 4(1), 19-30. olakojo, s. a. (2017). gender gap in agricultural productivity in nigeria: a commodity level analysis. economics of agriculture, 64(2), 415-435. https://doi.org/10.5937/ekopolj17024150 olukosi, j. o., & erhabor, p. o. (2005). introduction to farm management economics: principles and applications (pp. 77–83). zaria, kaduna, nigeria: agitab publishers limited. sani, r., gupta, b. k., sarkar, u. k., pandey, a., dubey, v. k., & singh lakra, w. (2010). length–weight relationships of 14 indian freshwater fish species from the betwa (yamuna river tributary) and gomti (ganga river tributary) rivers. journal of applied ichthyology, 26(3), 456-459. world bank. (2003). nigeria: women in agriculture, in: sharing experiences—examples of participating approaches. the world bank group. the world bank participating sourcebook, washington, d. c. retrieved from http:/www.worldbank.org/wbi/publications.html publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 1-6 1 agricultural studies aijas vol 9 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa can climate change affect income-generating activities?: evidence from farmers in enugu state nigeria kelvin nnaemeka nwangwu (a)1 chukwuma ume (b) ogochukwu gabriella onah (c) chinedum jachima chiemela (d) emmanuel ejiofor omeje (e) (a) lecturer ii, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: nnaemeka.nwangwu@unn.edu.ng (b) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: chukwuma.ume@unn.edu.ng (c) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ogochi.onah@unn.edu.ng (d) senior lecturer, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: chinedum.chiemela@unn.edu.ng (e) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ejiofor.omeje@unn.edu.ng a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received:10th january 2024 reviewed & revised:11th january to 28th april 2024 accepted:30th april 2024 published:4th may 2024 keywords: climate change, income-generating activities, pearson product-moment correlation jel classification codes: q00, o13 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t the need to analyze the changes that the effect of climate change brings on the income-generating activities of farmers in enugu state necessitated this study. the study examined farmers' socio-economic characteristics, described the perceived climate change effects, analyzed changes in income-generating activities, and evaluated the link between socio-economic factors and income-generating activities. primary data were collected from 120 respondents using well-structured questionnaires. the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and pearson product-moment correlation. the results showed that the majority (73.3%) of the respondents were male farmers. results of the study also showed that reduction in productivity (89.2%), change in farming pattern (77.5%), and soil degradation (65.0%) were the most perceived effects of climatic change among the respondents. the result also revealed strong negative change in income-generating activities in the areas of goat/sheep rearing (-33.4), fishing (-32.5), rabbit rearing (-15.0), and basket weaving (15.0), while petty trading (+23.4), hair barbing (+18.3) and food vending (+15.8) had strong positive change in the study area. the study revealed that socio-economic characteristics such as marital status, household size, and years of farming experience are correlated with positive income-generating activities. the study recommends that farmers should prioritize positive income-generating activities that correlate with their socio-economic characteristics. the study also recommends the implementation of crop rotation and organic manure as one of the ecological practices for climate change mitigation. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction climate change is characterized by a consistent and prolonged pattern of fluctuations in various weather elements over thirty years or more. these elements encompass temperature, pressure, wind systems, direction, humidity, cloud cover, and precipitation, as outlined by the ipcc in 2007. climate change has led to desertification, flooding, and drought, impacting various aspects of life, with a primary focus on agricultural systems (twumasi et al., 2022). the progress achieved in agricultural activities in enugu state is threatened by climate change, as highlighted by (ozor & nnaji, 2011). farmers in this region are facing challenges such as soil erosion, degradation, loss of fertility, reduced productivity, scarcity of potable water, loss of vegetation, intense weed growth, health issues, increased pests and diseases, and disruption of wildlife ecosystems. the agricultural sector, individuals with poor health, and those with lower levels of education are particularly vulnerable to the risks posed by climate change (ishaya & abaje, 2018). 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0008-0374-5071 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.312 to cite this article: nwangwu, k. n., ume , c., onah , o. g., chiemela, c. j., & omeje , e. e. (2024). can climate change affect incomegenerating activities?: evidence from farmers in enugu state nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 9(1), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.312 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.312 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0374-5071 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2033-0560 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9883-2109 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8605-0871 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1448-7003 nwangwu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 1-6 2 the significant impacts of climate change in the research area encompass diminished agricultural yields and income, the depletion of streams or rivers, deterioration in crop storage quality, the loss of pastureland or vegetation, and disruption of wildlife ecosystems (enete et al., 2011). this could be that enugu state is an arid area and also being closer to the northern parts of nigeria where there is insufficient rain for optimal crop production (nzeh & eboh, 2011). hence, some research in developing countries like nigeria have opined that farmers rely on both farm and non-farm activities for income generation for their livelihood (oladeji, 2007; alalade et al., 2021; kebede et al., 2024). in sub-sahara africa for example, farmers depend on livestock rearing for their livelihoods because they generate most of their incomes from livestock farming (twumasi et al., 2021; jamro et al., 2021; jabessa et al., 2023). climate change has profound implications for the income-generating activities of farmers, disrupting traditional agricultural practices and challenging livelihoods in nigeria (alalade et al., 2021). this multifaceted issue encompasses a spectrum of impacts on farming, from altered precipitation patterns and temperature fluctuations to extreme weather events, leading to environmental degradation and economic instability. in addition, shifts in precipitation and temperature can disrupt traditional growing seasons, leading to reduced crop yields and increased vulnerability to pests and diseases (patrick et al., 2023). these changes threaten the stability of farm income, particularly farmers who rely only on agriculture for their livelihood. in regions where agriculture is rain-fed, irregular rainfall patterns can result in prolonged droughts or sudden floods, which have detrimental effects on crop production (alalade et al., 2021). farmers may face increased financial strain as they grapple with the uncertainties associated with these climatic variations. the study area is currently facing drought, fluctuation in rain and drying up of numerous rivers because of climate change. these challenges are expected to contribute negatively on income-generating activities of farm household as well as impacting negatively on human living standards, particularly in sub-sahara africa like nigeria (akinbile, 2010; adefalu, et al., 2013; alalade et al., 2021). unlike other existing literature, this study explores the intricate relationship between climate change and the income-generating activities of farmers, examining both challenges and potential adaptations. the study also emphasized more on positive income-generating activities that correlate with the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers in the study area. the broad objective of this study is to analyze climate change and its effect on farmers' income-generating activities in enugu state. the specific objectives of the study include: describing farmers' socio-economic characteristics, determining the perceived effect of climate change among farmers in the study area; examining the change in income-generating activities of farmers in the study area; and examining the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and incomegenerating activities. literature review internationally, climate change is acknowledged as a significant menace to sustainable development, posing adverse effects on the environment, human health, food security, and physical infrastructure, as highlighted by the africa-wide civil society climate change initiative for policy dialogues (accid) in 2010. the comprehensive impact of climate change encompasses unpredictable rainfall, altering seasonal patterns, and elevating the probability and intensity of extreme events like floods. it is crucial to highlight that the gradual reduction of trees in forests, without replenishment, has impacted the presence of diverse plant and animal species. despite rising demand, deforestation has substantial consequences on exposed soil, resulting in thinner vegetation cover and compromising soil fertility (shove, 2016). in this regard, the incomegenerating activities of farmers have been diversified, forcing farmers to adopt different income-generating activities other than farming activities due to perceived effect of climate change in the study area. materials and methods study area the study was carried out in enugu state, nigeria. enugu state is one of the 36 states in nigeria, located in the southeast geopolitical zone. the state lies between latitudes 5056'n and 7005'n of the equator and longitudes 6053'e and 7055'e of the greenwich meridian (enadep, 2012). the state comprises 17 local government areas (lgas) and is divided into six agricultural zones (enadep, 2012). these zones are nsukka zone: igbo-etiti, nsukka, and uzo-uwani lgas; enugu ezike zone: udenu, igbo-eze south and igbo-eze north lgas; enugu zone: enugu north, enugu east, and isi-uzo lgas; agbani zone: nkanu east, nkanu west, and enugu south lgas; awgu zone: awgu, oji river and aninri lgas; and udi zone: udi and ezeagu lgas. sampling procedure a multi-stage sampling technique was used for the study. in first stage, two agricultural zones (nsukka and enugu ezike) were selected from the six agricultural zones. these zones were selected because they generate income from non-farm and farm activities. in stage two, uzo-uwani lga and igbo-eze north lga were purposively selected from nsukka and enugu ezike agricultural zones respectively, giving two lgas. these lgas were selected because they depend on agricultural activities for income generation. stage three involved a purposive selection of two communities from each of the two lgas, making four communities. these communities were selected because they depend on farming activities to generate income. in the fourth stage, two villages were randomly selected from each of the four communities to get eight villages. in the finally stage, fifteen respondents were selected randomly from each of the eight villages to generate sample size of 120. nwangwu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 1-6 3 data collection primary data were collected with well-structured questionnaires for the study. the questionnaires were administered to household farmers. it contains information on the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, some effect of climate change, and income-generating activities of the farmers in the study area. data analysis the data was analyzed using relevant statistical and econometric tools. first, second and third objectives were realized using descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages while fourth objective was analyzed using correlation analysis. results table 1. distribution of farmers according to their socio-economic characteristics socio-economic characteristics frequency percentages % age less than 20 4 3.3 21 – 30 11 9.2 31 – 40 31 25.8 41 – 50 33 27.5 51 – 60 34 28.3 61 and above 7 5.8 sex male 88 73.3 female 32 26.7 marital status single 35 29.2 married 73 60.8 others 12 10 educational level primary school 24 20 secondary school 58 48.3 tertiary education 38 31.7 primary occupation agriculture 44 36.7 trading 44 36.7 artisanship 19 15.8 civil/public service 13 10.8 years of farming experience 1-5 13 10.8 6-10 17 14.2 11-15 40 33.3 16 and above 50 41.7 household size 1 – 3 20 16.7 4 – 6 50 41.7 7 – 9 36 30.0 10 and above 14 11.7 monthly income (₦) less than 2000 32 26.7 >2000 88 73.3 total 120 100 table 2. perceived effect of climatic change among farmers in enugu state perceived impact of climatic change* frequency percentages (%) soil degradation 78 65.0 economic instability 23 19.2 fluctuation in the rainy seasons 61 50.8 change in farming pattern 93 77.5 deforestation 14 11.7 destruction of wildlife ecosystem 37 30.8 loss of pasture land and vegetation 42 35.0 reduction in productivity 107 89.2 air pollution 15 12.5 *multiple responses recorded table 3. change in income-generating activities of farmers income-generating activities of farmers* engaged in ten years ago engage presently % change in income generating activities frequency percentages frequency percentages %diff goat/sheep rearing 68 56.7 28 23.3 33.4 fishing 53 44.2 14 11.7 32.5 livestock production 13 10.8 10 8.3 2.5 nwangwu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 1-6 4 hunting 28 23.3 20 16.7 6.7 piggery production 37 30.8 34 28.3 2.5 palm oil processing 38 31.7 27 22.5 9.2 crop planting 26 21.7 28 23.3 1.7+ selling of firewood 27 22.5 29 24.2 1.7+ keeping of local fowls 32 26.7 26 21.7 5.0 rabbit rearing 37 30.8 19 15.8 15.0 snail collection 37 30.8 21 17.5 13.3 basket weaving 43 35.8 25 20.8 15.0 food vending 50 41.7 31 57.5 15.8+ petty trading 42 35.0 14 58.3 23.3+ hair plating 40 33.3 25 45.8 12.5+ hired labour 37 30.8 31 25.8 5.0 tailoring 31 25.8 14 40.0 14.2+ palm-tapping 13 10.8 13 10.8 0.0* blacksmithing 15 12.5 19 15.8 3.3+ cloth weaving 24 20.0 25 20.8 0.8+ carpentry 30 25.0 39 32.5 7.5+ welding 13 10.8 12 10.0 0.8 barbing 45 37.5 23 55.8 18.3+ transporter 28 23.3 36 30.0 6.7+ traditional medicine 37 30.8 25 20.8 10.0 mean 33.76 23.55 + signify more involvement in income generating activities, signify less involvement in income generating activities; * signify no change in income generating activities table 4. pearson product-moment results showing the correlation between some selected socio-economic characteristics of the farmers and positive income-generating activities variable s chi-square value df p-value age 0.58 4 0.170 sex 0.11 2 0.321 marital status 7.67 1 0.006* level of education 2.08 1 0.148 primary occupation 1.12 1 0.472 household size 4.08 2 0.005* farming experience 21.10 4 -0.001* * means significant correlation discussions table 1 discusses the socio-economic characteristics of the farmers, such as age, sex, marital status, level of education, primary occupation, years of farming experience, household size, and monthly income. the result revealed that the majority (28.3%) of the respondents are within the age of 51-60 years, (27.5%) and (25.8%) are within 41-50 years and 31-40 years respectively. the results also show that the majority (73.3%) of respondents were male farmers whereas (26.7%) are female farmers. the result of the marital status indicates that the majority (48.3%) of respondents is married and (29.2%) are single, (10.0%) are others. this suggests that farmers who were married are keen into diversifying their income generation to support their household needs. the result also revealed that the majority of the respondents (48.3%) were secondary school graduates, while (31.7%) were graduates from tertiary institutions and (20%) were from primary school. the result of the primary occupation revealed that the majority (36.7%) of the respondents were agriculturist and traders whereas (15.8%) were artisans. the finding shows high level of diversification in income-generating activities by the respondents in the study area. the finding is in line with oladeji (2007) who opined that most developing countries like nigeria generates income from difference sources other than farm activities for their livelihood. the result of the farming experience shows that the majority (41.7%) of the respondents has more than 16 years of farming experience, whereas (33.3%) have between 11 and 15 years, and (14.2%) have between 6-10 years of farming experience. this means that significant numbers of respondents in the study area are experience farmers. this means that significant numbers of respondents in the study area are experience farmers. on that note, they can easily navigate the adverse effect of climate change by diversifying their income-generating activities. the result also shows that the majority (41.7%) of the households has between 4-6 persons in a house, (30.0%) have between 7-9 persons in the house and (16.7%) have 1-3 persons in the house. the result also shows that the majority (73%) of the respondents earn more than ₦2000 while (26%) earn less than ₦2000 per month from both farming and non-farming activities. this finding is not in conformity with adefalu et al. (2013) who reported that farm earnings have decreased in recent years as a result of the impact of climate change on agricultural productivity. table 2 revealed that about 89.2% of the respondents perceived reduction in productivity to be the greatest adverse effect caused by climate change in the study area. the results also show that 77.5% and 65.0% of the respondents perceived change in farming patterns and soil degradation as the second and third ranking adverse effects caused by climate change in the study area respectively. fluctuation in the rainy season was reported by 50.8% of the respondents, and 35.0% of the respondents reported that the loss of pasture land and vegetation was also among the adverse effects caused by climate nwangwu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 1-6 5 change in the study area. it also revealed that 30.8% of the respondents reported destruction of wildlife, and 19.2% of the respondents reported economic instability as the adverse effect caused by climate change. in addition, 12.5% and 11.7% of the respondents mentioned air pollution and deforestation respectively as the least adverse effect caused by climate change in the study area. the findings revealed that respondents perceive climate change as being detrimental to agriculture, particularly in decreasing agricultural productivity, shifting farming practices and causing degradation of soil quality. consequently, respondents are likely to engage in additional off-farm income-generating endeavors to support their livelihoods. the findings align with that of alalade et al. (2021), who argue that climate change adversely affects agricultural activities. thus, it is crucial to investigate the repercussions of climate change and devise strategies to mitigate its adverse effects for sustainable agribusiness within urban and rural areas in nigeria. additionally, soil degradation resulting from exposure to adverse weather variability reduces productivity, hence, affecting income-generating activities in the study area. furthermore, deforestation emerges as a significant contributing factor, because it exposes soil to harsh climatic conditions, thereby disrupting crop growth and diminishing farmers' agricultural productivity. table 3 indicates the various farming and non-farming activities that farmers engaged in between 10 years ago and the present. the finding revealed that some of the activities reduced and/or increased in the recent time. for instance, income-generating activities such as goat/sheep rearing (33.3%), fishing (32.55%), rabbit rearing (15.0%), basket weaving (15.0%), snail collection (13.3%), traditional medicine (10.0%), and palm-oil processing (9.2%), reduced in the recent time compared to ten years ago. petty trading (23.3%), hair barbing (18.3%), food vending (15.8%), tailoring (14.2%), and carpentry (7.5%), increased recently. the finding implies that large numbers of farmers are now shifting from agricultural related activities to other ventures such as trading, hair barbing etc. this is because climate change is adversely affecting the cultivation of staple crops and overall farming practices, prompting farmers to seek alternative sources of income through off-farm activities. in addition, this also shows that there is diversification in farmers’ income-generating activities, aimed at mitigating high risks associated with climate change. the finding is in line with alalade et al. (2021), who opined that non-agricultural activities assist farmers in spreading production risks by diversifying their income generation. consequently, agricultural income-generating activities of the farmers have been negatively influenced by climate change. the implication is that there will be potential decline in food production in the region on the long run. hence, the finding is in line with onumadu et al. (2000) who stated that climate change are risk to food security and the sustainability of agricultural production. therefore, adapting to the challenges posed by climate change requires innovative and sustainable practices. precision agriculture, which utilizes technology to optimize inputs like water and fertilizers, can enhance efficiency and mitigate resource use. diversification of crops and income sources can also make farmers more resilient to climatic uncertainties. additionally, the promotion of agroforestry and conservation agriculture practices helps improve soil health, water retention, and overall resilience in the face of changing climate conditions. according to shove (2016), concentrating on positive income-generating activity such as crop planting with the help of organic practices could also play vital role in climate change mitigation. table 4 showed that out of the seven selected socio-economic characteristics (age, sex, marital status, level of education, primary occupation, household size, and farming experience) of the respondents, only marital status (0.006), household size (0.005) and farming experience (-0.001) were significantly correlated with the positive income generating activities as perceived by the respondents. this implies that experience farmers who are married with up to four children have more tendency of adopting climate change mitigation and diversify their income generation through non-farm activities. however, the study is in contrast with akinbile (2010); alalade et al. (2021) who reported that there is positive relationship between socio-economic characteristics (age and level of education) with income-generating activities of farmers. conclusions the study aimed at analyzing climate change and its effect on farmers’ income-generating activities in enugu state, nigeria. the study revealed that most farmers in the study area are male and married with a household size of about 4-6 persons. the most perceived effects of climate change in the study area are reduction in productivity, change in farming patterns, and soil degradation. the study revealed that income generation on goat/sheep rearing, fishing, rabbit rearing, basket weaving, snail collection, traditional medicine and palm oil processing were low. however, it revealed that there are increase in income generation among farmers who combines petty trading, hair plaiting, hair barbing, food vending, tailoring and carpentry with farming activities. it was also revealed that marital status (0.006), household size (0.005), and farming experience (-0.001) were correlated with the positive income-generating activities as perceived by the respondents. the study recommends that farmers should prioritize positive income-generating activities that correlate with their socioeconomic characteristics. the study also recommends the implementation of crop rotation and organic manure as one of the ecological practices for climate change mitigation. furthermore, extension agents need to put in more efforts in educating farmers on the possible ways of addressing the severity of climate change. author contributions: conceptualization, k.n.n., c.u., o.g.o., c.j.c. and e.e.o.; methodology, k.n.n.; software, k.n.n.; validation, f k.n.n.; formal analysis, k.n.n., c.u., o.g.o., c.j.c. and e.e.o.; investigation, k.n.n.; resources, k.n.n., c.u., o.g.o., c.j.c. and e.e.o. and b.d.; data curation, k.n.n.; writing – original draft preparation, k.n.n., c.u., o.g.o., c.j.c. and e.e.o.; writing – review & editing, k.n.n., c.u., o.g.o., c.j.c. and e.e.o.; visualization, k.n.n.; supervision, k.n.n.; project administration, k.n.n.; funding acquisition, k.n.n., c.u., o.g.o., c.j.c. and e.e.o. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable nwangwu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 1-6 6 informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adefalu, l. l., aderinoye-abdulwahab, s. a., bello, o. g., olorunfemi, o. d., & oba, s. a. (2013). information needs of fish farmers in ilorin metropolis, kwara state, nigeria. nigerian journal of agriculture, food and environment, 9(2), 1-5. africa-wide civil society climate change initiative for policy dialogues (accid). (2010). farmers need to adapt to climate change. akinbile, l. a. (2010). effects of climate change on income generating activities of farmers in osun state, nigeria. journal of agriculture and social research (jasr), 10(1), 23-29. https://doi.org/10.4314/jasr.v10i1.67520 alalade, o. a., longe, m. p., olamide, l. t., james-ojibo, i. u., & akinboye, o. a. (2021). effect of climate change on farmers income generating activities in kwara state, nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 25(1), 41-47. https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v25i1.5 enadep. (2012). enugu state agricultural development programme. enete, a., madu, i., mojekwu, j., onyekuru, a., onwubuya, e., & eze, f. (2011). indigenous agricultural adaptation to climate change: study of southeast nigeria. african technology policy studies network. ipcc (intergovernmental panel on climate change) (2007). climate change 2007: the physical science basis. contribution of working group i to the fourth assessment report of the ipcc. cambridge, united kingdom cambridge university. ishaya, s., & abaje, i. b. (2008). indigenous people's perception on climate change and adaptation strategies in jema'a local government area of kaduna state, nigeria. journal of geography and regional planning, 1(8), 1-6. jamro, m. m.-u.-r., abbasi, z. a., & chandio, a. s. (2021). determination of fruit development stages and production of dates in khairpur sindh pakistan. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 3(2), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v3i2.1190 jabessa, t., tesfaye, g., & bekele, k. (2023). evaluation of genotypes with environmental interactions of lablab (purpureus l.) and it’s dry matter yields stability in the midland of guji zone, southern oromia, ethiopia. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 8(1), 34-43. https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v8i1.2169 kebede, b., bobo, t., & korji, d. (2024). pre-extension demonstration of shiro type field pea technologies in the highlands of guji zone, oromia regional state, ethiopia. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 9(1), 1-6.https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v9i1.2185 nzeh, e. c., & eboh, o. r. (2011). study of technological and farming systems adaptation to climate change in farming communities of enugu state, nigeria. african technology policy studies network research paper, (5). oladeji, j. o. (2007). effect of land degradation on income generating activities of farmers in. journal of rural economics and development, 16(1), 92-105. onumadu, f. n., popoola, l., & adekunle, o. a. (2000). agroforestry farming systems: environmental and socio-economic benefits of its practice. journal of environmental extension, 1(1), 36-43. https://doi.org/10.4314/jext.v1i1.2716 ozor, n., & nnaji, c. (2011). the role of extension in agricultural adaptation to climate change in enugu state, nigeria. journal of agricultural extension and rural development, 3(3), 42-50. patrick, s., mirau, s., mbalawata, i., & leo, j. (2023). time series and ensemble models to forecast banana crop yield in tanzania, considering the effects of climate change. resources, environment and sustainability, 14, 100138. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resenv.2023.100138 shove, e. (2010). social theory and climate change. theory, culture & society, 27(2-3), 277-288. https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276410361498 twumasi, m. a., asante, i. o., essilfie, g., ntim-amo, g., modzi, s. k., & jiang, y. (2022). household income improvement among ghanaian livestock farmers: does climate change adaptation strategies matter?. environmental development, 44, 100737. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2022.100737 twumasi, m. a., jiang, y., asante, d., addai, b., akuamoah-boateng, s., & fosu, p. (2021). internet use and farm households food and nutrition security nexus: the case of rural ghana. technology in society, 65, 101592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101592 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.4314/jasr.v10i1.67520 https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276410361498 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2022.100737 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2021.101592 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 1 agricultural studies aijas vol 8 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa rice farmer's using mobile in marketing operations: an analytical study in the specific region of bangladesh farjana akter shila (a)1 sauda afrin anny (b) bisakha dewan (c) (a) msc in agribusiness and marketing, department of agribusiness and marketing, sher-e-bangla agricultural university, dhaka, bangladesh; e-mail: farjanashila10dec@gmail.com (b) assistant professor, department of agribusiness and marketing, sher-e-bangla agricultural university, dhaka, bangladesh; e-mail: anny3543@gmail.com (c) assistant professor, department of agribusiness and marketing, sher-e-bangla agricultural university, dhaka, bangladesh; e-mail: d.bisakha@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 1st september 2023 revised: 20th october 2023 accepted: 27th october 2023 published: 4th november 2023 keywords: rice farmers, price, marketing information, mobile phone, rice marketing. jel classification codes: o13, o33, q11, q13 a b s t r a c t rice is a major staple crop in bangladesh, and its production has a profound effect on the country's agricultural sector. large distribution networks in bangladesh may drive up rice prices. the scarcity of marketing information prevents farmers from making decisions when planning their output and sales. this study aimed to analyse the variables that influence mobile usage and the effects of mobile use in rice marketing. 100 farmers were selected by two steps sampling procedure from the rural area of upazila bangladesh. 100 farmers in all, mostly small-scale rice farmers with an average plot size of 1.88 acres, were approached using a concise interview format & questionnaires. the data was evaluated using a variety of statistical methods, including correlation and regression analysis using a binary logistic regression model. the analysis was carried out utilizing the spss. studies showed that 75% of mobile phone owners utilize it for paddy marketing. income and education have a significant influence on cell phone usage, as shown in regression analysis. in the likert scale study, there was a highly positive impact on having access to a broad variety of information, the accuracy of that information, negotiating power, and reducing market intermediaries' and transportation corporations' oppressiveness. most farmers can save time and money by acquiring information themselves. it can be concluded that the adoption of mobile phones facilitates marketing activities and all potential consequences for rice farmers. assuring mobile phone utilization could be essential in this area to improve the calibre of rice marketing. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction food security and social stability are two areas in which rice has historically played a significant influence over the world (zeigler & barclay, 2008). farmed in over a hundred different countries, rice is the staple food for more than half of the world's population (fukagawa & ziska, 2019). millions of people may attribute the success of their economies, cuisines, and cultures to rice (gnanamanickam, 2009). some farmers preferred rice production over other crops because of rice's high adaptability to many environments and minimal cultivation risk (al mamun et al., 2021). united nation (2022) estimates that the world's population will reach 9.7 billion by 2050 and peak at roughly 10.4 billion in the 2080s. it is estimated that 14,886 mmt of food will need to be produced to fulfil demand in 2050 (islam & karim, 2020). in addition, rice accounts for 67.5% of daily calorie consumption in bangladesh (saha et al., 2021). the agriculture sector of the country's economy relies heavily on growing rice. bangladesh's status as an agricultural giant would be further cemented by the country's projected rice output of 37 million tonnes for the 2023-24 season (team, 2023). more than 165 million people are being produced at this time, and the crop is responsible for around 78% of annual land use (gross cultivated area) (kabir et al., 2021). agriculture is the backbone of bangladesh's economy. approximately 76% of the 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0005-6625-1392 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v8i1.271 to cite this article: shila, f. a., anny, s. a., & dewan, b. (2023). rice farmer's using mobile in marketing operations: an analytical study in the specific region of bangladesh. american international journal of agricultural studies, 8(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v8i1.271 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v8i1.271 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0009-0005-6625-1392 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4078-6429 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1237-2218 shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 2 population resides in rural regions, with 47.5% of the overall workforce being employed in agriculture (shelley et al., 2016). agriculture contributes 13.6% to bangladesh's gdp. seventy-five percent of the land is used to grow rice, and 85 percent of it is planted in varieties with excellent yields (international rice research institute, 2023). seventy of bangladesh's harvested farmland is used for rice production, and of the 71 million people who work in agriculture there, 65 million are small-scale farmers (ganesh-kumar et al., 2012). although selling rice on the official markets is crucial to many people's economic security, farmers often face barriers that prevent them from doing so. smallholder market participation is both a cause and a consequence of a country's economic growth and development, crucial to the monetization of agriculture and the welfare of farmers (hoq et al., 2021). small-scale farmers, who account for almost all of the food producers in emerging nations, are often abandoned by the market (barrett, 2008). agricultural markets may be difficult for small-scale farmers because of a lack of knowledge or a systemic problem that results in discord between producers and buyers (kydd & dorward, 2004). since the lengthy trek to distant, higher-paying markets is not worth it for an overwhelming number of small-scale farmers, they instead sell their rice in low-paying local marketplaces (fafchamps & hill, 2005). efficient market information provided has been proven to help farmers, traders, and policymakers (dagar, 2015). farmers require regular, timely, and trustworthy market information for production and marketing planning, in addition to other market participants, to make the best trading decisions. ideally, marketing information services should be available to anyone. farmers can benefit from proper marketing information services to help them better realize pricing for marketed products (sasec village, 2013). a rising amount of farmers in smaller economies are using mobile phone technology to increase their access to markets for agriculture. this is because mobile phone communication is one of the most significant drivers encouraging economic development in emerging economies (katengeza et al., 2011). the majority of a farmer's income and ability to feed their family is dependent on the selling price of rice. farmers' ability to gain entry to new markets has a significant impact on rice prices (hoq et al., 2021). farmers' and businessmen's relationships are bolstered by the broad acceptance of mobile phone use (kumar, 2023). the current global population is estimated to be 7.33 billion, making up 91.04% of those with cell phones (turner, 2018). in developing nations, where computers and phones may not be readily accessible, almost 94% of farmers have their own mobile devices (agrivi, 2015). there are presently 186.10 million mobile phone users in bangladesh (bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission, 2023), and this number is expected to rise by 1% by 2022. in some parts of bangladesh, 80.15 percent of farmers utilize a mobile phone service of some kind (mamun-ur-rashid et al., 2019). the potential for mobile phones to promote market transparency and efficiency in the agricultural sector has been at the forefront of discussions about the intersection of agriculture and information technology. mobile phone usage in farming might influence market prices under certain conditions. mobile phones could minimize the costs of farmers' households searching for private information, especially when compared to traditional mechanisms such as personal travel, periodicals, or landlines (kusumaningsih, 2023). this research aims to identify the variables that contribute to mobile phone use and assess the results of mobile phone use among farmers seeking market data on rice. analytical outlines of this study are – (a) to characterize the unique socioeconomic features of the farmers, (b) to ascertain the elements influencing the utilization of mobile phones for gathering market data, (c) to assess the effects of farmers using their mobile phones to get market information. literature review the world's rice production has more than tripled. the majority of the production came from asia. more than 80% of the world's rice is produced in seven asian nations, including bangladesh (bin rahman & zhang, 2022) and bangladesh ranks third globally in rice production (sarkar et al., 2022). the production and trading of rice in bangladesh have been the main issues (bala et al., 2016). for farmers, a successful rice market is crucial. sometimes it is impossible to develop a welldesigned rice market due to inaccurate market information (rahman et al., 2020). in addition, high levels of market power among rice wholesalers and millers suggest that they have a monopolistic effect on the market. consequently, farmers are receiving less money or profit than is paid for their products, which benefits the intermediaries (khatun et al., 2020). price increases are observed as a result of market manipulation by major merchants and millers (rahman et al., 2021). mobile devices improved the delivery of agricultural extension services (fu & akter, 2016). information sharing in agriculture is essential for the widespread implementation of new farming techniques (khan et al., 2019). an inefficient agricultural market has negative effects on market participants and, in the long run, has serious societal and economic ramifications when information is lacking. improvements in market infrastructure, access to information and communication technologies, and potential development are all essential (nugroho, 2021). agricultural market information is crucial for small-scale farmers, hence they often turn to mobile devices as a reliable interaction route (nyagango et al., 2023). bangladeshi farmers utilize their cell phones largely for forecasts of the weather, market data, information on pests and diseases, and financial transactions (rahman et al., 2020). significant factors that influenced mobile phone usage included level of education, family size, income, and attitudes toward the use of mobile phones (amir et al., 2016). by expanding farmers' access to information and services throughout the agricultural value chain, mobile phones boost farmers' influence and improve their quality of life (anadozie et al., 2021). farmers may increase their income, decrease their operational costs, and increase their crop yields by using mobile phones (ogunniyi & ojebuyi, 2016). favorable effects of literacy, accessibility to local markets, size of the land, asset values at the time, crop revenue, and regional differences (katengeza et al., 2013). the study found that using information systems, smallholder farmers' agricultural endeavors and agribusinesses improved agricultural output and boosted rural households' access to food (mdoda et al., 2023). this study concentrates on the socio-demographic profile and correlation of different independent variables to find the results on different unique parameters that have strong driving power in agriculture marketing. some of the studies have an analysis of factors and their shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 3 impact on overall areas, but this study solely focuses on rice farmers to assess what factors are responsible. this study has some unique analyzing features that outline the impact of using mobile on rice marketing, like degree and reliability of information, intermediaries’ oppressiveness, information searching time and costs, bargaining power in all aspects, and rational decision-making. materials and methods population and sampling technique the population of the study was mostly made up of local rice farmers. a basic random sample approach was used to select 100 farmers from 501 farmers (20% of the total population), with the decimal number adjusted accordingly. method of data collection face-to-face interviews were used to acquire data for the primary sources which was achieved with well-designed interview schedule that included both open and closed-ended queries. these were briefed to them and easy to answer with a view to collecting more precise opinions from the farmers over two months period. location of the study the study was conducted in a rural area in a specific region of bangladesh (coordinates: 23°36′n 90°59.5′e / 23.600°n 90.9917°e / 23.600; 90.9917). analyzing data the primary data that had been obtained were carefully scrutinized to look for flaws and omissions. the completed data was then entered into the spss program for additional analysis. approaches for analysis we utilized a binary logistic regression approach to analyze how various characteristics of participants influenced their likelihood to open marketing messages on their cell phones. a null hypothesis was created in accordance with the purpose to be used while running the regression model. multiple variables in an analysis of multiple linear regression that are highly associated with each other and with the dependent variable are said to be multicollinearity. due to multicollinearity, several previously significant variables become nonsignificant. multiple collinearity between the independent variables was discovered via the use of a correlation analysis. the following describes the binary logistic regression model used in this study: log [p/1-p] = β0 + β1x1 + β2x2 + β3x3 + β4x4 + β5x5 + β6x6 + β7x7 + e where, p= probability of outcome, β0 = intercept, x1 = age of the farmer’s (year), x2= farmers’ gender (male=0, female=1), x3=level of education, x4=duration of farming (year), x5=average income/year (bdt), x6=terms of using mobile, x7= plot size (acre), β1 – β7 = regression coefficient of the predictors, e = random error the data was analyzed using spss. * signifies significance when applied to the 0.1 level, ** signify significance at the 0.05 level and ***signify importance when comparing groups at the 0.01 level. lastly, descriptive statistics like percentage, mean, and standard deviation were utilized to examine the data from the likert scale and categories. results farmers' socioeconomic profile the criteria were the farmer’s age, farmer’s gender, education level, plot size, farming duration, income, data of mobile use, and terms of mobile using mobile phones. tables 1 and 2, demonstrate the category distribution of farmers' socioeconomic characteristics and descriptive statistics of farmers' socioeconomic characteristics, respectively. approximately 90% of men and 10% of women work as farmers, according to table 1. a third of farmers (34%), on average, have a secondary education. in the study area, there is a 73.0% literacy rate among respondents. as can be seen in table 1, around 79% of people in the research region use mobile phones. the selected farmers' average age, according to table 2, is 51.3 years, but the average length of time they have been farming is 23.50 years. table 1. categorical distribution of farmer’s socio-economic characteristics (n=100) specification frequency percentage gender male 90 90% female 10 10% education level illiterate 27 27% primary 17 17% secondary 34 34% higher secondary 18 18% graduation & above 4 4% mobile phone shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 4 mobile phone users 79 79% mobile phone non users 21 21% the majority of farmers in the research areas are small farmers, with a mean plot size of 1.88 acres; there are no large farmers in the region. the survey comprised small-holder farmers with small-category farms and annual incomes of roughly 2-3 lacs shown in table 2. table 2. socioeconomic features of farmers independent variables min. max. mean std. deviation age of the farmer's 28.0 75.0 51.32 12.71 grade of the education 0 16.0 6.99 4.95 farming duration 4.0 50.0 23.50 12.68 terms of using mobile (years) 4.0 17.0 8.71 2.87 household income (bdt in lac) 0.50 12.00 2.72 1.52 plot size (acre) 0.20 5.50 1.88 1.08 analysis of the factors driving using mobile in paddy marketing: the characteristics affecting rice farmers' usage of mobile phones to learn about the market were identified using a binary logistic regression model. in this model, the independent factors included the farmer’s age, farmer’s gender, education level, household income, mobile phone usage duration, farm size, etc., whereas the dependent variable was the mobile phones used to get market information. through spss software, the model was tested. prior to performing the regression analysis, a correlation study was conducted to determine whether the independent variables were multicollinearity. table 3. the independent variables' coefficient of correlation age of the farmer's level of education farming duration average income/year (bdt in lac) mobile phone use duration (years) plot size in acre age of the farmer's 1 -0.475** 0.847** -0.038 0.088 0.140 level of education -0.475** 1 -0.424** 0.529** 0.220* 0.394** farming duration 0.847** -0.424** 1 -0.061 0.003 0.071 average income/year (bdt in lac) -0.038 0.529** -0.061 1 0.352** 0.596** mobile phone use duration (years) 0.088 0.220* 0.003 0.352** 1 0.429** plot size in acre 0.140 0.394** 0.071 0.596** 0.429** 1 ** significant at the 5% level a correlation analysis in spss revealed a correlation coefficient of 0.847 between the age of the farmers and their terms of farming, which is significant at the 5% level of significance. this information is displayed in table 3. it suggests that the age of the farmer and the number of years they have been farming have a significant positive link. a variable should be removed in order to prevent multicollinearity. years of agricultural experience have been eliminated as an independent variable in the ensuing binary logistic regression analysis. the remaining six independent variables were utilized in regression analysis. the dependent variable was the use of mobile phones to get market information. table 4 presents the results of the regression. table 4 examines the null hypothesis and implies that the significant contributing factors (at the 1% and 5% levels of significance) are education and income and the other 4 parameters are unrelated to farmer’s use of mobile phones to receive market information. model validity: it was checked through cox and snell r2, nagelkerke r2, and chi-square test where cox & snell r2 and nagelkerke r2 values were 0.556 & 0.815 respectively. according to the cox and snell r2 value of 0.556, the explanatory variable may account for around 56% of the variance in the response. unknowns are responsible for the remaining 44.4%. the farmers' usage of mobile phones to receive market information varies significantly among respondents, although each predictor might be able to account for some of the variation by pure chance. adjusting the cox and snell r2 is done via nagelkerke r2. according to the nagelkerke r2 value of 0.815, the explanatory factors can account for 82% (roughly) of the variance in the response. additionally, 93.5% of predictions were accurate overall. the omnibus test value for the model coefficient is about 62.46, which is greater than the tabular value (18.48) of chi-square (χ2) test at the 1% level of significance with 60 of freedom. this indicates that this model passes the omnibus test of model coefficient value. these findings collectively show that the model is valid and best fitted. table 4. binary logistic regression coefficients of the influencing variables: the farmers' usage of mobile phones to receive market information was the dependent variable independent variable ß se wald sig. exp (ß) age of the farmers -0.036 0.116 0.097 0.755 0.965 gender 1.839 2.057 0.799 0.371 6.288 education 0.640 0.195 10.767 0.001*** 1.896 shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 5 household income 1.946 0.844 5.309 0.021** 6.998 length of using mobile phone -0.058 0.255 0.052 0.819 0.943 plot size -0.725 0.727 0.995 0.318 0.484 *** significant at 1%; ** significant at 5%. impact of using mobile phonedescription with null hypothesis farmers' propensity to utilize mobile phones to get market information is hypothesized to be positively correlated with their level of education and family income. h1: there is no educational value in trying to convince farmers to use cell phones to get access to market information. h2: the likelihood that farmers will utilize their mobile phones to receive market information is unaffected by household income. education's impact on the likelihood of mobile phone use the variable 'education' has a p-value of 0.001 (table 4). based on the results of the relevant study's variables, the following conclusions were drawn: (a) education significantly affects farmers' propensity to use mobile phones to get market information at the 1% level. the null hypothesis can thus be disproved. (b) mobile phone use and education are positively correlated, which implies that a farmer had a better likelihood of acquiring market information via mobile phone if they had more education. farmers who have greater education have an 89% more chance of utilizing a cell phone than those with less education, according to the exp (ß) value of 1.896. through education, farmers can improve their capacity to use mobile phones to get market information in a short amount of time. income’s impact on the likelihood of mobile phone use in table 4, the variable household income's p-value was 0.021. based on this value, under examination in the study, the following discussions were made: (a) at a 5% level, household wealth significantly affects farmers' propensity to use mobile devices to get market data. so, the null hypothesis is disproved. (b) mobile phone usage and household income are positively correlated which defines that farmer who have higher income has a greater likelihood of acquiring market information via mobile phone. farmers with higher household income might increase the possibility of using a mobile phone about 600%, as indicated by the exp (β) value (7). outcomes of mobile phone use in rice marketing according to the discussion above, 79% of the farmers in the research region own mobile phones. the remaining 21% do not own mobile phones but do occasionally use those provided by their family, relatives, or other service providers. farmers were further categorized based on whether they explicitly used mobile phones for paddy marketing in order to study the effects of their use in gathering market data. figure 1. landscape of farmer’s mobile phone use in paddy market figure 2. response of the farmers who use mobile phone in paddy marketing. the detailed impact results is displayed here which is explained in table 8. 5% 75% 95% 25% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% mobile phone not owner mobile phone owner don’t use phone in paddy marketing use phone in paddy marketing 12% 88% 10% 90% 8% 92% 53% 12% 5% 29% 2% 19% 81% 14% 86% 53% 14% 2% 32% n o y es n o y es n o y es a g re e d is ag re e n eu tr al s tr o n g ly a g re e s tr o n g ly d is ag re e n o y es n o y es a g re e d is ag re e n eu tr al s tr o n g ly a g re e scale of information reliable information taking decision oppressiveness bargaining power search cost searching time r es p o n se ( % ) shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 6 table 5. response from the farmers who don’t use mobile phone in paddy marketing individual visit expenses and expenses with mobile are calculated to understand the cost ratio during data collection. the mean cost of individual visit expenses and expenses with mobile was about 41.33 & 13.65 (bdt) respectively (table 6). table 6. a scenario of the relative costs of collecting information categories sample (n) min. (bdt) max. (bdt) mean (bdt) std. deviation individual visit expense (tk) 42 30.00 60.00 41.33 9.70 mobile phone expense (tk) 58 5.00 30.00 13.65 5.07 table 7. impacts result summary and findings impacts description results findings scale of information various levels of data were collected for paddy marketing and solicited for this study from 60 mobile users in rice marketing 88% of people think it's important to learn more, compared to 12% who don't (figure 2). in contrast, 60% of non-user shared unfavorable opinions (table 5) in paddy marketing, the majority of people are positive about utilizing mobile phones to obtain extensive information. information reliability information reliability was asked to the both mobile users and non-users 90% of farmers who used mobile phones said they trusted the data more than other sources (figure 2). most farmers who don't use it, however, (60%) said they didn't get it. the other 40% of the population strongly disagreed with the comment (table 5). comprehensive market information is available to rice farmers from a variety of vendors, allowing them to choose whether reports are reliable. rice marketing in decision decision parameters were evaluated with welldesigned questions nearly all mobile users (92%) agree that having instantaneous access to a variety of factors facilitates better decision-making (figure 2). the marketing of rice requires several decisions from the farmer, including where to sell the crop, who to sell to, how to transport the crop, and what roads to take. it can be achieved easily with mobile phone ownership which simplifies their daily works intermediaries' oppressiveness influence and market power were assessed 29% strongly agree and 53% agree that mobile phones can lessen oppressiveness (figure 2), in the contrary 65% of non-users showed a negative response (table 5). using mobile phones in rice marketing can able to reduce the stiffness of the middlemen where producers can communicate directly and get optimum outcomes with faster communication. bargaining power of the farmer crosschecking and validation of prices and costs by the farmers were also evaluated 81% of cell phone users are farmers, giving them instantaneous access to numerous data on regional and international market trends and prices (figure 2). communication with mobile phones in rice marketing broadens increases their reach and sales potential. this gives them greater sway in negotiations with potential buyers. information searching time can information be collected faster or not 53% of farmers agreed and 32% of farmers strongly agreed compared to conventional (figure 2) and 60%had ambivalent opinions regarding cutting down on the amount of time needed (table 5) utilizing their phones will speed up information gathering and paddy marketing. search cost with mobile phone cost effectiveness were examined compare to individual visit cost when asked how often they seek information, 86% of farmers said it was less often than before they started using their mobile phones. (figure 2) mobile phone use actively in rice marketing can save money to assist in getting the desired outcome. impacts neutral n (%) no n (%) yes n (%) agree n (%) disagree n (%) scale of information 12 (60) 7 (35) 1 (5) reliable information 12 (60) 8 (40) taking decision 12 (60) 8 (40) oppressiveness 7 (35) 13 (65) bargaining power 13 (65) 7 (35) search cost 12 (60) 8 (40) searching time 12 (60) 1 (5) 7 (35) shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 7 discussions agriculture frequently provides the primary source of income for rural farmers in developing countries. there are so many factors that influence the income of farmers. it is assessed and evaluated in some studies regarding the influential parameters that contribute to household income. numerous studies on mobile usage and its related economic and social effects have been conducted recently. numerous studies examine the impact of mobile devices on market efficiency and agricultural pricing trends. an in-depth evaluation of the variables influencing paddy farmers' use of mobile phones to access market information was done in this study. education and household income are among the socioeconomic factors of the respondents, who are farmers that have the greatest beneficial impact on the use of mobile phones to get market information. rajkhowa and qaim (2022) found that using mobile phones is linked to higher household earnings. the likelihood of using a mobile phone to get market information improves by 89% with education. the simplest practical explanation for this is that more educated farmers are more aware of their profit margins and subsequently aim to cut costs. they therefore look for farming and product marketing methods that are comparably less expensive. in addition, education raises farmers' marketing and agriculture understanding of the advantages of mobile. they get insight into potential applications of mobile technologies to improve their agricultural and marketing operations, which will lower their costs and boost their profit margin. the likely outcome of using mobile devices for acquiring market data is significantly positively correlated with household income. the likelihood of using a mobile phone to receive market information grows by 600% with income. more amenities are guaranteed with higher income. in our nation, a cell phone still costs a lot to buy and maintain, especially for those with lower incomes. higher earners would rather make a phone call than visit someone in person. they are not particularly bothered by the cost of phone calls. but it might be a burden for the underprivileged. so, using a cell phone to gather market data depends significantly on money. market information systems have the ability to deliver exact and reliable data on costs & agriculture product prices, arrivals & availability of the products, trends, analysis, etc. an effective and accessible marketing information system may control prompt product delivery, cut marketing expenses, and boost output and productivity. for farmers to achieve their targeted outcomes, real-time market knowledge and trustworthy data are essential. in this study, results showed that the majority of farmers who use mobile devices, using a mobile phone suggests a favorable impact on their marketing operations, such as information search time, search cost, decision making, and so forth. varieties of agriculture marketing information can be collected easily from different trustworthy sources which assist the farmers to make appropriate and rational decisions. mittal and tripathi (2009) stated that mobile devices can be a catalyst for raising rural incomes and agricultural output while associated with three most crucial elements: quality, timeliness, and trustworthiness of the information. according to this study, the majority of farmers agreed that using a mobile phone implies a favorable impact on their marketing operations, such as providing a reliable, timely, and large volume of information. as there remains a long chain that is dominated by many intermediaries can be mitigated by access to market information. study findings indicated that most of the farmers can overcome these challenges and lessen the stiffness of intermediaries. ilahiane (2023) asserted that farmers' use of mobile phones leads to increased farmers’ market involvement and the gradual elimination of middlemen in the agricultural value chain. however, the opposite opinion was shared by non-users which forwarded the necessity of the use of mobile phones in rice marketing. most importantly, rice marketing information can be managed with high speed, and the search cost with mobile is reduced by 68% compared to personal visit cost. as a result, bargaining ability and scope are increased. a study by aker (2008), observed that using cell phones in the agriculture market reduces information searching costs. the non-user group, meanwhile, tended to give unfavorable feedback or remained silent. when comparing the two groups' comments, it can be concluded that the employment of mobile phones in the paddy marketing system has enormous potential. conclusions the use of mobile devices is rapidly increasing worldwide. farmers are finding mobile phones a fantastic tool to maintain and extend communication to all relevant stakeholders they need in agriculture marketing. mobile phone adoption in emerging nations and its effects on the economy and society in this study, most of the farmers are using mobile phones for rice marketing. the research region found that using a cell phone to get information on rice marketing worked satisfactorily. the use of mobile phones by farmers is significantly influenced by household income and educational attainment. study results based on farmers’ reactions found that mobile offers large-scale, fast, trustworthy information at a relatively cheaper cost, giving farmers more negotiating leverage in the market and lessening the power of the middlemen. following the conversation, it is clear that using a mobile phone has enormous potential for expanding the agricultural marketing industry. mobile phone usage among farmers has the potential to boost both the distribution and manufacturing sectors. the potential afforded by mobile phone technology can be used by the government and policymakers to boost production and create a productive and successful marketing system for farmers. since rice is the primary staple food in the nation, the government ought to place more attention on supplying farmers with more facilities. if not, farmers will face difficulties in growing rice, which will cause the entire country to suffer in the near future. author contributions: conceptualization, f.a.s.; methodology, f.a.s.; software, f.a.s.; validation, f.a.s, s.a.a. and b.d.; formal analysis, f.a.s.; investigation, f.a.s.; resources, f.a.s, s.a.a. and b.d.; data curation, f.a.s.; writing – original draft preparation, f.a.s.; writing – review & editing, f.a.s, s.a.a. and b.d.; visualization, f.a.s. and s.a.a.; supervision, s.a.a. and b.d.; project administration, s.a.a. and b.d.; funding acquisition, f.a.s, s.a.a. and b.d. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 8 funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references agrivi. (2015, january 20). smart agriculture on smartphones agrivi. agrivi. retrieved from https://www.agrivi.com/blog/smart-agriculture-on-smartphones aker, j. c. (2008). does digital divide or provide? the impact of cell phones on grain markets in niger (october 1, 2008). center for global development working paper no. 154, available at ssrn: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1093374 al mamun, m. a., nihad, s. a. i., sarkar, m. a. r., aziz, m. a., qayum, m. a., ahmed, r., rahman, n. m. f., hossain, m. i., & kabir, m. s. (2021). growth and trend analysis of area, production and yield of rice: a scenario of rice security in bangladesh. plos one, 16(12), e0261128. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261128 amir, m., peter, n., & muluken, w. (2016). the role of mobile phones in accessing agricultural information by smallholder farmers in ethiopia. ruforum working document series, 14(1), 395-402. retrieved from http://www.ruforum.org/sites/default/files/amir.pdf anadozie, c., fonkam, m., & cleron, j. p. (2021, january 15). assessing mobile phone use in farming: the case of nigerian rural farmers. african journal of science, technology, innovation and development, 14(2), 418–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/20421338.2020.1840052 bala, b. k., bhuiyan, m. g. k., alam, m. m., arshad, f. m., sidique, s. f., & alias, e. f. (2016, may 6). modelling of supply chain of rice in bangladesh. international journal of systems science: operations & logistics, 4(2), 181–197. https://doi.org/10.1080/23302674.2016.1179813 barrett, c. b. (2008, august). smallholder market participation: concepts and evidence from eastern and southern africa. food policy, 33(4), 299–317. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2007.10.005 bin rahman, a. n. m. r., & zhang, j. (2022, june 27). trends in rice research: 2030 and beyond. food and energy security, 12(2), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.390 bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission. (2023). mobile subscriber in bangladesh. retrieved from https://btrc.portal.gov.bd/site/page/0ae188ae-146e-465c-8ed8-d76b7947b5dd dagar, g. (2015). study of agriculture marketing information systems models and their implications. aima journal of management & research, 9(2/4), 1-9. fafchamps, m., & hill, r. v. (2005, august). selling at the farmgate or traveling to market. american journal of agricultural economics, 87(3), 717–734. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8276.2005.00758.x fu, x., & akter, s. (2016, april 28). the impact of mobile phone technology on agricultural extension services delivery: evidence from india. the journal of development studies, 52(11), 1561–1576. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220388.2016.1146700 fukagawa, n. k., & ziska, l. h. (2019, october 11). rice: importance for global nutrition. journal of nutritional science and vitaminology, 65(supplement), s2–s3. https://doi.org/10.3177/jnsv.65.s2 gnanamanickam, s. s. (2009). rice and its importance to human life. biological control of rice diseases, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2465-7_1 ganesh-kumar, a., prasad, s. k., & pullabhotla, h. (2012). supply and demand for cereals in bangladesh. international food policy research institute, washington, dc, 2010-2030. hoq, m. s., uddin, m. t., raha, s. k., & hossain, m. i. (2021, december). welfare impact of market participation: the case of rice farmers from wetland ecosystem in bangladesh. environmental challenges, 5, 100292. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envc.2021.100292 ilahiane, h. (2023, june 1). mobile phones, farmers, and the unsettling of geertz’s moroccan suq/bazaar economy. anthropology of the middle east, 18(1), 98–112. https://doi.org/10.3167/ame.2023.180107 international rice research institute (2023). international rice research institute. retrieved from https://www.irri.org/where-we-work/countries/bangladesh islam, s. m. f., & karim, z. (2019). world’s demand for food and water: the consequences of climate change. in desalination-challenges and opportunities, 1-27. intechopen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.85919 kabir, m. s., salam, m. u., islam, a. k. m. s., sarkar, m. a. r., mamun, m. a. a., rahman, m. c., ... & rahman, n. m. f. (2020). doubling rice productivity in bangladesh: a way to achieving sdg 2 and moving forward. bangladesh rice journal, 24(2), 1-47. https://doi.org/10.3329/brj.v24i2.53447 katengeza, s. p., okello, j. j., & jambo, n. (2011, july 1). use of mobile phone technology in agricultural marketing. international journal of ict research and development in africa, 2(2), 14–25. https://doi.org/10.4018/jictrda.2011070102 katengeza, s. p., okello, j. j., & jambo, n. (2013). use of mobile phone technology in agricultural marketing: the case of smallholder farmers in malawi. in technology, sustainability, and rural development in africa (pp. 102112). igi global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-3607-1.ch008 khan, n. a., qijie, g., ali, s., shahbaz, b., & shah, a. a. (2019). farmers’ use of mobile phone for accessing agricultural information in pakistan: ciência rural, 49(10), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-8478cr20181016 shila et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 8(1) (2023), 1-9 9 khatun, m. m., saha, s. m., khan, m. a., & hossain, m. e. (2020). farmers’ supply response and perception of rice procurement program in bangladesh. future of food: journal on food, agriculture and society, 8(3), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.17170/kobra-202010131940 kumar, r. (2023). farmers’ use of the mobile phone for accessing agricultural information in haryana: an analytical study. open information science, 7(1), 20220145. https://doi.org/10.1515/opis-2022-0145 kusumaningsih, n. (2023, january 21). the technical efficiency of rice farming and mobile phone usage: a stochasticfrontier analysis. food research, 7(1), 93–103. https://doi.org/10.26656/fr.2017.7(1).595 kydd, j., & dorward, a. (2004, october). implications of market and coordination failures for rural development in least developed countries. journal of international development, 16(7), 951–970. https://doi.org/10.1002/jid.1157 mamun-ur-rashid, m., karim, m. m., islam, m. m., & mobarak, m. s. b. (2019, december 20). the usefulness of cell phones for crop farmers in selected regions of bangladesh. asian journal of agriculture and rural development, 9(2), 298–312. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.1005/2019.9.2/1005.2.298.312 mdoda, l., christian, m., & agbugba, i. (2023). use of information systems (mobile phone app) for enhancing smallholder farmers’ productivity in eastern cape province, south africa: implications on food security. journal of the knowledge economy, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13132-023-01212-0 mittal, s., & tripathi, g. (2009). role of mobile phone technology in improving small farm productivity1. agricultural economics research review, 22(conf), 451-459. https://doi.org/10.5958/j.0974-0279 nugroho, a. d. (2021, november 12). agricultural market information in developing countries: a literature review. agricultural economics (zemědělská ekonomika), 67(11), 468–477. https://doi.org/10.17221/129/2021agricecon nyagango, a. i., sife, a. s., & kazungu, i. (2023). use of mobile phone technologies for accessing agricultural marketing information by grape smallholder farmers: a technological acceptance model (tam) perspective. technological sustainability, 2(3), 320–336. https://doi.org/10.1108/techs-01-2023-0002 ogunniyi, m. d., & ojebuyi, b. r. (2016). mobile phone use for agribusiness by farmers in southwest nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 20(2), 172-187. https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v20i2.13 rahman, haque, & afrad. (2020, june). utility of mobile phone usage in agricultural information dissemination in bangladesh. east african scholars journal of agriculture and life sciences, 3(6), 154–170. https://doi.org/10.36349/easjals.2020.v03i06.001 rahman, m. c., pede, v., balie, j., pabuayon, i. m., yorobe, j. m., & mohanty, s. (2020, july 21). assessing the market power of millers and wholesalers in the bangladesh rice sector. journal of agribusiness in developing and emerging economies, 11(3), 280–295. https://doi.org/10.1108/jadee-04-2018-0053 rahman, m. m., ahmed khan, m. r., islam, s., rahman, m. s., uddin molla, m. m., alam, j., ... & rahman, m. c. (2021). analysis of recent rice price dynamics in bangladesh: causes and policy options. asian journal of agricultural extension, economics & sociology, 39(12), 54-69. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajaees/2021/v39i1230803 rajkhowa, p., & qaim, m. (2022). mobile phones, off‐farm employment and household income in rural india. journal of agricultural economics, 73(3), 789–805. https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12480 saha, i., durand-morat, a., nalley, l. l., alam, m. j., & nayga, r. (2021, december 31). rice quality and its impacts on food security and sustainability in bangladesh. plos one, 16(12), 1-17. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0261118 sarkar, m. a. r., rahman, m. c., rahaman, m. s., sarker, m. r., islam, m. a., balie, j., & kabir, m. s. (2022). adoption determinants of exotic rice cultivars in bangladesh. frontiers in sustainable food systems, 6, 1-16. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.813933 shelley, i. j., takahashi-nosaka, m., kano-nakata, m., haque, m. s., & inukai, y. (2016). rice cultivation in bangladesh: present scenario, problems, and prospects. journal of international cooperation for agricultural development, 14, 20-29. https://doi.org/10.50907/jicad.14.0_20 sasec village. (2013). agriculture & market information. agriculture & market information. retrieved from http://rtn.bcc.net.bd/index.php/agriculture-market-information team, f. (2023, july 23). top 10 rice producing countries in the world [2023]. fair. https://fairbd.net/top-10-riceproducing-countries-in-the-worlda turner, a. (2018). 3.12 billion more phones than people in the world! bankmycell. retrieved from retrieved from https://www.bankmycell.com/blog/how-many-phones-are-in-the-world united nation. (2022, november). world population to reach 8 billion on 15 november 2022. in united nations. retrieved from https://www.un.org/en/desa/world-population-reach-8-billion-15-november-2022 zeigler, r. s., & barclay, a. (2008). the relevance of rice. rice, 1(1), 3–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12284-008-9001-z publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 32 agricultural studies aijas vol 7 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa analysis of sesame production among indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in yagba east, kogi state, nigeria yetunde eunice ajibade (a)1 haruna ibrahim opaluwa (b) matthew olufemi adio (c) abayomi oluwaseun gbadamosi (d) sefiaat abdullahi (e) (a) department of agricultural economics and extension, prince abubakar audu university, nigeria; e-mail: euniyetbade@yahoo.com (b) department of agricultural economics and extension, prince abubakar audu university, nigeria; e-mail: opaluwa.h.i@ksu.edu.ng (c) department of agricultural economics and extension, federal university oyeekiti, nigeria; e-mail: matthew.adio@fuoye.edu.ng (d) department of agricultural education, college of education, nigeria; e-mail: oluwaseunabayomigbadamosi@gmail.com (e) department of agricultural economics and extension, prince abubakar audu university, anyigba, nigeria; e-mail: onyinoyi82@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 21st january 2023 revised: 20th march 2023 accepted: 26th june 2023 published: 31st july 2023 keywords: constraints, profitability, resources, t-test. jel classification codes: g32 a b s t r a c t sesame is one of the oil crops with high economic value. its production is becoming more pronounced in many parts of the world and gaining more ground among farmers in nigeria. the study analyzed sesame production among indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in yagba east, nigeria. this study employed a two-stage sampling technique in collecting primary data from one hundred and twenty respondents. it is a comparative study with specific objectives embedded. the data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, gross margin analysis, and a 4.0-point likert scale. the results show that the majority (58.33%) of indigenous farmers were young, while (65.00%) of nonindigenous farmers were middle age. also, most respondents were married (65.00%, 81.67%) indigenous and non-indigenous farmers. the average total revenue (n370,452.50, n548,712.40) per hectare accrued to indigenous and non-indigenous farmers, respectively. the average total costs the indigenous and non-indigenous farmers expended were (n70,152.28, n84,408.18) per hectare respectively. the findings showed (5.28, 6.50) as benefit-cost ratio (bcr) for the indigenous and nonindigenous farmers, respectively. the results revealed that the high cost of fertilizer (mean score=3.38, 3.88), lack of improved seed (mean score=3.23, 2.53), high transportation cost (mean score=3.25, 3.52), and access to credit (mean score= of 3.43, 3.42) were serious constraints confronting both the indigenous and non-indigenous farmers respectively. therefore, good road construction is needed through self-help or government intervention for effective transportation of inputs and output, extension visit is paramount, and farmers' resources should be pooled together to enhance farmers' access to adequate finances. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction sesame seeds or beniseed are the tropical annual “sesamum indicum" seeds. the species are cultivated for oil, according to history. it is an important crop that is cultivated extensively all over the world, and it is attracting the interest of many researchers and developers all over the world (dossa et al., 2023). sesame is produced in northern, southern, and some parts of southeast and south-south in nigeria (mohammed, 2020). there are two types of sesame seeds that are produced in nigeria; the white/ raw food-grade seeds used in the bakery industry, which contains 98-100% white-grade seeds, and the brown/mixed type, which is primarily used for oil production. sesame yields in relatively poor climatic conditions and is widely used within nigeria. sesame is an important component of nigeria's agricultural exports. sesame is often intercropped with other crops by smallholder farmers (hong et al., 2020). sesame is majorly grown for its seeds, and the seed is a source of oil for cooking. due to its economic value, sesame production is becoming attractive to farmers in kogi state, just as in other parts of nigeria. non-indigenes from other parts of the country, especially farmers from benue state, have been moving to the state to cultivate sesame amidst other food and oil crops. the indigenes from a few villages have 1corresponding author: orcid id:0000-0002-4638-9547 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.290 to cite this article: ajibade, y. e., opaluwa, h. i., adio, m. o., gbadamosi , a. o., & abdullahi , s. (2023). analysis of sesame production among indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in yagba east, kogi state, nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 7(1), 32–40. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.290 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.290 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4638-9547 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9161-9639 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9783-0259 https://orcid.org/0009-0008-5986-4504 https://orcid.org/0009-0004-0689-0160 ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 33 embraced sesame production. although many of the farmers are small farm holders, their value calls for attention and empirical study in terms of the resource use, output, profit, and constraints encountered in production. since sesame has high market potential no matter the output, there is a ready market for it at home and abroad. every part of the crop is useful, ranging from its stem to other parts. the sesame-dried stem is a good cooking fuel source; the leaves could serve as a vegetable in the human diet, and it is rich in protein and other nutrients (tundeakintunde et al., 2012). however, it may not be unlikely that sesame production, just as other challenges facing agricultural production, may be limited by inadequate technology or processing facilities for sesame, especially for oil extraction, and lack of access to capital by the farmers, among others (wacal et al., 2021). despite the involvement of indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in sesame production in the study area, with many others migrating from other states to settle down in the area for agricultural production, there need to be more empirical studies in this regard. therefore, this study filled the existing gap by analyzing sesame production among indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in yagba east, nigeria. thus, the study was able to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, compare the resources used by the respondents, estimate their costs and returns, and identify the constraints facing the respondents to justify the research questions. which were;  what are the socio-economic characteristics of indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers in the study area?  are there differences in the amount of farm resources used by indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers in the study area?  are there differences in the costs and returns of indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers in the study area?  what are the constraints the indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers face in the study area? the introduction section reveals the background of the study, uses of the crop, justification, and objectives of the study, which emanated from the research questions raised. the literature review section reveals the volume of sesame production globally and major producers, including nigeria, and reviews past empirical studies and their recommendations. the methodology section reveals the study area, sampling technique, and analytical tools adopted. the results and discussions of the study's findings were enumerated in this section. this section highlighted the study's conclusion, recommendations, and limitations. literature review the total sesame produced by sesame-producing countries exceeded 92.6% of the world's production (faostat, 2022). sesame is grown globally on over 5 million acres (20,000 km2), with six countries producing sesame in asia, thirteen countries producing sesame in africa, and only three countries producing sesame in both central and south america (dossa et al., 2023). nigeria was among the ten sesame-producing countries in the world in 2018 (wacal et al., 2021). sesame surplus is usually bulked up, bagged, commercialized, and exported to other parts of the world after drying and cleaning (rmrdc, 2004). recently, yadav et al. (2022) reported the challenges farmers face in sesame production and recommended the need to address technologies and develop the best economic and sustainable development strategies. wei et al. (2022) showed sesame's nutritional value in terms of chemical composition, pharmacological effect, and processing using sesame and recommended further studies on the pharmacological effects of sesame. dossa et al. (2023) also conducted a study on the economics of sesame production and recommended developing and promoting the sesame value chain in the agricultural sector. however, this study analyzes sesame production among indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in the study area. the study is a comparative study among the two categories of sesame farmers in the study area. materials and methods study area this study was carried out in yagba east. yagba east is situated in kogi state, nigeria. its headquarters are in the town of isanlu tedo. it has two (2) major districts, namely: yagba north-east and yagba southeast. it shares boundaries with mopa/amuro, yagba west, some parts of kabba/bunu, and others of ijumu. it is located on latitude: 8° 16' 60.00" n and longitude: 5° 49' 59.99" e. it occupies a landmass of 1396 square kilometers with an average temperature of 30 degrees centigrade. it experiences two climatic conditions: the rainy and dry seasons. the rainy period lasts 8.3 months, from march 1 to november 12, with a sliding 31-day rainfall of at least 0.5 inches. the most rain falls during the 31 days centered around september 3, with an average total accumulation of 7.3 inches, and the dry season period of the year lasts for 3.7 months, from november 12 to march 1. the least rain falls around december 29, with an average total accumulation of 0.0 inches. it has an estimated average humidity level of 44 percent and an average wind speed of 10 km/h. this area lies within the country's savanna vegetation belt, including scrub, grasses, and occasional trees. yagba east is a hub for agricultural practices, with the area known for cultivating various crops such as yam, rice, cassava, maize, millet, sesame, cowpea, and ground nut. other important economic activities include trade, animal rearing (goats, sheep, poultry birds, and pigs), crafts making and wood carving, and lumbering. the indigenous dwellers of yagba east are okun people (a sub-group of yoruba ethnic people); the okun dialect of the yoruba language is commonly spoken in the area. it also accommodates people from other tribes, such as igbo, hausa, ebiras, and bassa, who have been living peacefully without rancor and acrimony. farming and trade is the major occupation, while education is also the largest industry in the community. ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 34 population and sampling techniques the target population for the study comprises all indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers in yagba east. a twostage sampling technique was used for the selection of respondents. in the first stage, three villages where sesame farmers (indigenous and non-indigenous) were prominent were purposively selected, namely ijowa isanlu, ponyan, and ifeolukotun. in the second stage, twenty (20) indigenous and twenty (20) non-indigenous sesame farmers were randomly selected from the farmers’ group lists (indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers), respectively. a total sum of one hundred and twenty (120) respondents, that is, sixty (60) indigenous sesame farmers and sixty (60) non-indigenous sesame farmers, were selected for this study. a well-structured questionnaire and a personal interview were used to elicit information from the respondents. data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-test, gross margin analysis, and a 4.0-point likert scale. t-test in statistics, the term "t-test" refers to the hypothesis test in which the test statistic follows a student's t-distribution. according to kim (2015), a comparison of two independent groups is possible using a t-test. it can be used to check whether two data sets were significantly different from each other or not. this study compares the resources used by the respondents in this study (indigene and non-indigene) using a t-test. mathematically, it is represented as, t = ( x̄1 – x̄2) / √ [(s1 / n1 ) + (s2 / n2)] where: x̄1 = observed mean of 1st sample x̄2 = observed mean of 2nd sample s1 = standard deviation of 1st sample s2= standard deviation of 2nd sample n 1 = size of 1st sample n 2 = size of 2nd sample gross margin analysis measurement of the profitability of respondents was achieved using gross margin analysis in estimating costs and returns of the two categories of sesame farmers following other authors (djokoto & zigah, 2021; choumbou et al., 2015; ukpabuku & ohen, 2020). the total revenue represents the value of the output from the farm multiplied by the unit price. the total costs include the variable and fixed costs of the respondents. the gross margin (gm) is expressed mathematically as: gm = tr-tvc ------------------(1) where: gmgross margin (n) trtotal revenue (n) tvctotal variable cost (n) labour (man day) seed purchase (kg) fertilizer (kg) pesticides (litres) 4-point likert scale according to tunde-akintunde et al. (2012), likert scale technique provides interesting results in analyzing constraints or challenges faced by farmers in agricultural production. dossa et al. (2023) adopted 5point likert scale in identifying constraints faced by sesame farmers in their study. the constraint associated with sesame production was achieved using a mean score from a 4-point likert scale in this study. these were rated as strongly agree (sa) =4, agree (a) = 3, disagree (d) = 2, and strongly disagree=1 the mean score of respondents based on the 4point likert scale. opinion point very serious (vs) 4 serious (s) 3 not serious (ns) 2 not a problem 1 ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 35 the mean response to each item was calculated using the following formula; 𝑋 = ∑𝐹𝑋 𝑁 it was computed as: 4 + 3 + 2 + 1 4 = 10 4 = 2.5 decision rule: any mean scores below 2.5 (i.e., ms< 2.5) were ranked "not serious; while those greater than 2.5 (ms>2.5) were considered ‘serious.' results and discussions the results in table 1 show that 58.33% of the indigenous sesame farmers were 30-50 years old, while the majority (65.00%) of the non-indigenous sesame farmers were within the age range of 51-70 years. the results imply that younger, active, and productive farmers who were indigenes of the study area engaged in sesame production, unlike the nonindigenous farmers who were much older. the older non-indigenous farmers could have laid their hands on other agricultural and non-agricultural activities before discovering and venturing into sesame production. however, the indigenous farmer could have discovered the crop's economic importance through the non-indigene who were grossly engaged in sesame production in the area. thus, the productive age of the indigenous farmers, if properly utilized, would, in turn, enhance high productivity. uwagboe et al. (2016) observed that age is an important factor in farm work; if the bulk of the farmers are old, they will have less energy, which will, in turn, affect their productivity. table 1 shows that the majority (75.0%) of indigenous and 71.67% of non-indigenous sesame farmers were male in the study area. these agree with the findings of tiamiyu et al. (2013), who reported that men dominated sesame farming. also, musa et al. (2020) also asserted the dominance of males in sesame production in their study. this could be attributed to the fact that male farmers have more access to family land than their female counterparts because of the exclusive right of male children to inherit family land. in contrast, the male non-indigenous farmers could have more drive to rent, purchase or lease farmland for sesame cultivation due to its economic value. another reason for male predominance in the study area could be attributed to the labor-intensive nature of sesame farming, which could be hectic and time-consuming, especially for female respondents who combine farming with other domestic chores. the results in table 1 show that 65.00% of the indigenous and 81.67% of the non-indigenous farmers were married, respectively. this implies that most indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers were responsible and could be assisted by their wives and children if available on the farm. the results concur with abu et al. (2011), who stated that a high proportion of married indicates family labor availability. also, rahman et al. (2009) findings also stated that a high proportion of married respondents would contribute widely to the use of family labor. the results in table 1 further show that 48.33% of the indigenous sesame farmers had household sizes of 6-10 individuals, and 91.67% of the non-indigenous sesame farmers had household sizes of 11 and above individuals. this implies that family labor would be readily available when needed for sesame farming operations by the respondents. larger household sizes have been reported to enhance family labor availability. hence, the need for hired labor will be minimal, alleviating labor constraints. however, a large household size means more mouths to feed so large households could provide a smaller marketed surplus for a given farm size. the results in table 1 show that the majority (96.66%) of the indigenous sesame farmers had formal education from primary education to tertiary education. in comparison, 30.00% of the non-indigenous respondents needed formal education. although some non-indigenous sesame farmers also had one form of education or the other, their level of education still needed to be higher than the indigenous sesame farmers. the findings imply that there is potential for increased sesame production in the study area since education will give farmers access to information on new agricultural innovations that can be adopted to enhance their productivity. farmers who can read and write are expected to adopt innovation with its effect on productivity. this finding agrees with ezeh et al. (2012), who found that the level of education attained by farmers increases farm productivity and enhances their capacity to understand and evaluate new production technologies. the results in table 1 showed that 46.67% of the indigenous respondents were full-time farmers, while 91.67% of the non-indigenous were full-time farmers. this implies that the non-indigenous sesame farmers were fully engaged in farming; no wonder they were majorly devoted to sesame cultivation, unlike their counterparts, who gave more priority to other occupations, thus taking farming as a part-time venture. the results in table 1 also show that 31.67% of the indigenous sesame farmers had farming experience between 10-20 years, while 51.67% of the non-indigenous respondents had farming experience between 10-20 years. these imply that indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers are experienced in sesame cultivation. however, the non-indigene had a higher percentage of sesame cultivation in the study area. one can infer that the non-indigenous farmers have been in business ahead of the indigenes who later joined the train, probably, due to the prospect foreseen through the non-indigenous farmers. the results align with the findings of abu et al. (2011), who reported that the average farming experience of sesame farmers in nasarawa state was 12.8 years. amaza and olayemi (2002) also stated that the higher the number of years spent in farming by a farmer, the more he becomes aware of new production techniques. also, the farming experience could be an added advantage to the farmers regarding management practices that could increase productivity and cost of production minimization. ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 36 the results also show that the majority (86.67%) of the indigenous sesame farmers hired labor for sesame production. in comparison, the majority (93.33%) of the non-indigenous sesame farmers made use of their family members on the farm. the results buttress the larger household size, especially for the non-indigene who had large members within their reach, who became sources of labor on their farms, and the entire family members took sesame production as their means of income. therefore, the non-indigenous farmers spent less on labor while their indigene counterparts spent more on hired labor. it may be likely that they even employed non-indigenous farmers to help on their farms since many indigenous sesame farmers were part-time farmers, as stated earlier. the results revealed in table 1 further show that 53.33% of the indigenous respondents had no contact with the extension agents. likewise, the majority (66.67%) of the non-indigenous respondents had no contact with the extension agents. this may negatively influence the adoption of improved sesame production technologies because contact with extension agents exposes farmers to new technologies, improved seed varieties, and others. the low extension access recorded in this study could be associated with the low extension staff-to-farmers ratio observed in nigeria and other developing countries. table 1. socio-economic characteristics of indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers indigenous non-indigenous socio-economic variables frequency percentage mean/mode frequency percentage mean/mode 30-50 35 58.33 17 28.33 51-70 20 33.33 39 65.00 71-90 5 8.33 4 6.67 total 60 100,00 60 100,00 sex female 15 25.00 17 28.33 male 45 75.00 male 43 71.67 male total 60 100.00 60 100.00 marital status single 4 6.67 widow 3 5.00 8 13.33 widower 7 11.67 married 3 5.00 married 39 65.00 49 81.67 married divorced 7 11.67 total 60 100.00 60 100.00 household size 1-5 23 38.33 1 1.67 6-10 29 48.33 4 6.67 11-15 8 13.33 55 91.67 total 60 100.00 60 100.00 level of education no formal education 2 3.33 18 30.00 primary education 5 8.33 26 43.33 secondary education 15 25.00 tertiary education 14 23.33 primary education tertiary education 38 63.33 2 3.33 total 60 100.00 60 100.00 other occupation other occupation 32 53.33 5 8.33 full-time farming 28 46.67 other occupation 55 91.67 full-time farming total 60 100.00 60 100.00 source of capital self-finance 21 35.00 self-finance 28 46.67 self-finance credit and thrift 6 10.00 14 23.33 cooperative 19 31.67 18 30.00 agric bank 7 11.67 0 0.00 friends and family 7 11.67 7 11.67 total 60 100.00 60 100 farming experience 10-20 19 31.67 21 35.00 21-40 34 56.67 31 51.67 above 41 7 11.67 8 13.33 total 60 100.00 60 100.00 land source inherited 30 50.00 inherited 5 8.33 gift 23 38.33 19 31.67 ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 37 purchase 5 8.33 16 26.67 rent rent 2 3.33 20 33.33 total 60 100.00 60 100.00 source of labour family 4 6.67 56 93.33 hired 52 86.67 hired 3 5.00 family cooperative farming 4 6.67 1 1.167 total 60 100.00 60 100.00 extension access no access 32 53.33 20 33.33 access 28 46.67 no access 40 66.67 no access total 60 100.00 60 100.00 source: field survey, 2021 comparison of resources used by indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers the result in table 2 showed that non-indigenous farmers planted more seed (303.33kg) than the indigenous sesame farmers (91.25kg); the difference in seed quantity planted was significant at 1%. this implies that the expected output of the nonindigenous sesame farmers should be greater than their counterparts, all things remaining equal. the costs incurred by the respondents were in line with the seed quantity purchased, as shown in the table. this implies that the non-indigenous sesame farmers cultivated more land than the indigenous sesame farmers. the evidence of these is revealed in the land area cultivated by indigenous sesame farmers (11.02ha) and non-indigenous sesame farmers (23.26ha), which was also significant at 1%. this implies that the non-indigenous sesame farmers acquired more land than the indigenous sesame farmers, who were indigenes and rightful land owners. however, the indigenous farmers need to attach more importance to sesame production on their land, thus, leaving the strangers to take better advantage of their possession economically. the results also showed that the indigenous farmers, despite their low land cultivation, still hired more labor (10.56) than the non-indigenous sesame farmers who used low-hired labor (4.18). it may be likely that the indigenous farmers also hired the non-indigenous sesame farmers on their farms because indigenes always see strangers in their land as cheap sources of labor. also, there were significant differences in the quantities of herbicides and pesticides used by the two categories of sesame farmers. these variables were significant, mostly at 1%, apart from the quantity of fertilizer, which was not significant for both categories of farmers. these results show that in terms of management practices, the non-indigenous sesame farmers could take good care of their farms regarding pest and weed control. these could translate to more output during the harvest period for the non-indigenous sesame farmers who were always on the ground to look after their farms. table 2. farm resources used by the indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers resources indigenous non-indigenous t-value seed quantity (kg) 91.25 303.33 9.5884*** seed cost (n) 55,343.33 485,565.33 2.7437** land quantity (ha) 11.02 23.65 4.1318*** labour quantity (person-days) 10.56 4.18 3.8766*** labor cost (n) 22,755.17 10,800.00 2.0087** pesticides quantity (liters) 10.28 18.22 6.0207*** pesticides cost (n) 13.025.83 38.438.83 2.6120*** herbicides quantity (liters) 10.72 18.83 6.1789*** herbicides cost (n) 14,887.50 31,675.83 5.0201*** fertilizer quantity (50kg bag) 9.98 19.13 1.3412 fertilizer cost (n) 35,882.14 64,720.00 5.2247*** note: significant at ***1%, **5% source: field survey, 2021 costs and returns of indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers the results in table 3 show that the average total revenue obtained by indigenous sesame farmers was n370,452.50 per hectare, and the total variable cost was n59,942.78 per hectare while the gross margin was n310,509.72 per hectare with 5.28. as benefit cost ratio. the non-indigenous sesame farmers’ average total revenue was n548,712.40 per hectare, average total variable cost was n72,867.73 per hectare while the gross margin was n475.844.67 per hectare with benefit cost ratio (6.50). these results showed that sesame production is highly profitable in the area, and thus, any effort at expanding it would be a good decision. the results align with the findings of abu et al. (2011), who found that sesame production is profitable in west african countries. the results also buttressed the findings of makama et al. (2011), who found that sesame production is profitable, in which sesame farmers' realized a bcr of 1.40. table 3. costs and returns of indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers/hectare variables indigenous non-indigenous items qty. unit price amount (n) qty. unit price amount (n) return (100 bags) 10.45 35,450.00 370,452.50 15.50 35,400.80 548,712.40 a. total revenue, tr 370,452.50 548,712.40 ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 38 variables costs seed (kg) 17.4 550.45 7,376.03 18.35 555.16 10,187.19 labour 13.5 2,200.50 29,706.75 15.5 2200.00 34,100.00 pesticide (liters) 3.8 1400.00 5,320.00 3.3 1350.85 4,457.81 herbicide (litres) 2.0 3100.00 6,200.00 2.7 3100.50 8,371.35 fertilizer (bag) 1.8 6300.00 11,340 2.5 6300.55 15,751.38 b. total variable cost, tvc 59,942.78 72,867.73 fixed cost depreciation on fixed items 10,209.50 11,540.45 c. total fixed cost, tfc 10,209.50 11,540.45` total costs, tc = b+c 70,152.28 84,408.18 gross margin, gm= a – b 310,509.72 475,844.67 profit, π = a – c 300,300.22 464,304.22 bcr = a/c 5.28 6.50 source: field survey, 2021 constraint faced by indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers the results in table 4 show that the indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers faced the constraints of the high cost of fertilizer (mean scores = 3.38, 3.88), respectively. the implication is that the high fertilizer cost would limit farmers' purchasing and applying adequate fertilizers to increase their production. thus, soil fertility would be depleted faster each year without adequate replenishment, which could lead to low sesame production in the current and subsequent years. nyiatagher and ocholi (2015) state that low fertilizer application could lead to low yield. lack of improved seeds (mean scores = 3.23, 2.53) was another serious constraint faced by indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers, respectively. thus, the local sesame cultivar is majorly planted by the farmers in the area, which would have affected the volume of their output. also, inadequate access to credit was a serious constraint faced (mean scores = 3.43, 3.42) by the indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers, respectively. this implies that the respondent’s means of expansion will be limited to probably their savings or from friends and relatives. this could limit their land area to be cultivated, managed and total output. the inability of farmers to have access to credit from financial institutions may be due to the lack of collateral required for credit acquisition. invariably, family and friends may remain their main sources of farm credit, whose disbursement volume is usually low. this collaborates with the findings reported that producers complained that shortage of capital and stringent conditions imposed by banks for securing loans had deterred farmers' performance in sesame production. also, abu et al. (2011) discovered funds as a constraint to sesame production among farmers in nasarawa state. table 4. constraints facing indigenous and non-indigenous sesame farmers constraint indigenous non-indigenous vs s ns np ms vs s ns np ms high cost of fertilizer 41 8 4 7 3.38 54 5 1 0 3.88 lack of improved seed 27 25 3 5 3.23 4 26 28 2 2.53 disease and pest infestation 13 6 26 15 2.28 0 15 40 5 2.17 low output per hectare 8 13 22 17 2.20 1 18 34 7 2.22 inadequate processing facilities 16 10 23 11 2.25 5 16 24 15 2.18 high transportation cost 34 13 7 6 3.25 43 8 6 3 3.53 poor storage facilities 18 5 17 20 2.35 17 5 15 23 2.27 inadequate access to credit 37 14 7 2 3.43 40 9 7 4 3.42 pilfering/theft 2 5 18 35 1.57 5 3 19 33 1.67 note: vs= very serious, s= serious, ns=not serious, np= not a problem, ms= mean score source: field survey, 2021 conclusions the study compared sesame production among indigenous and non-indigenous farmers in yagba east, kogi state, nigeria. the findings showed that the majority of the respondents (indigenous and non-indigenous) were married men. the indigenous sesame farmers were more educated than the non-indigenous sesame farmers. the non-indigenous farmers cultivated more land area than the indigenous farmers. also, the non-indigenous farmers were mostly given to full-time farming of sesame, and they had more years of experience in sesame production than their counterparts. the findings showed that higher returns, gross margins, and benefit-cost accrued to the non-indigenous farmers than the indigenous, who also found sesame production profitable. the high cost of transportation, lack of improved seed varieties, high fertilizer cost, and inadequate access to credit facilities and extension services were serious constraints faced by indigenous and nonindigenous sesame farmers, respectively. therefore, good road networking construction is paramount for the effective transportation of inputs and output; extension agents visits are needed in the study area to disseminate new techniques to enhance increased sesame production, and sesame farmers (indigenous and non-indigenous) should pool their resources together as cooperatives to enhance easy access to credit in other to purchase farm inputs such as fertilizer to replenish soil fertility and increase their output in the study area. the limitations of this study were inadequate funding and the inability of older respondents to read and write. future research should compare technical efficiency and value addiction among different categories of sesame producers in the study area. ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 39 author contributions: conceptualization, y.e.a.; methodology, y.e.a.; software, y.e.a.; validation, y.e.a. and h.i.o.; formal analysis, y.e.a., s.a. and m.o.a.; investigation, y.e.a., s.a. and m.o.a.; resources, y.e.a., s.a. and m.o.a.; data curation, a.o.g. and s.a.; writing – original draft preparation, y.e.a., s.a. and m.o.a.; writing – review & editing, y.e.a., h.i.o. and a.o.g.; visualization, y.e.a., s.a. and m.o.a.; supervision, y.e.a.; project administration, y.e.a.; funding acquisition, y.e.a., s.a. and m.o.a. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references abu, g. a., abah, d., & okpachu, s. a. (2011). analysis of cost and return for sesame production in nasarawa state: implication for sustainable development in nigeria. journal of sustainable development in africa, 13(3), 238– 249. amaza, p. s., & olayemi, o. (2002). analysis of technical efficiency in food crop production in gombe state of nigeria. nigeria applied economics, 9(13), 146-152. https://doi.org/10.4314/naj.v32i1.49376 choumbou, r. f. d., odoemenem, i. u., & ohen, n. e. (2015). gross margin analysis and constraints faced by rice producers in the west region of cameroon. journal of biology, agriculture and healthcare, 5(21), 1088-112. djokoto, j. g., & zigah, d. e. (2021). gross margin of smallholder palm fruit processors with non-allocable inputs in assin north and south district in ghana. journal of agriculture and food research, 5, 100177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2021.10017 dossa, k. f., enete, a. a., miassi, y. e. & omotayo, a. o. (2023). economic analysis of sesame (sesamum et al.) production in northern benin. frontiers in sustainable food system, 6, 1015122. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1015122 ezeh, c. i., anyiro, c. o., & chukwu, j. a. (2012). technical efficiency in poultry broiler production in umuahia capital territory of abia state, nigeria. science, 2(1), 001-007. faostat (2022). production of crops and livestock products. retrieved from https://www.fao.org/faostat#compare hong, y., heerink, n., & der werf, w. (2020). farm size and smallholders' use of intercropping in north-west, china. elsevier, 99,105004. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020 mohammed, d. t. (2020). maximizing the potential of beniseed sesame (sesamum et al.) production in adamawa state, niger. international journal of innovative agric. and biology research, 8(2), 12–20. makama, b. y. (2011). synthesis and effect of catalyst concentration on the yield of biodiesel by transesterification of castor oil and palm oil in admixture. int. j. chem. sci. tech, 1, 116-120. musa, j., bello, m. s., & beli, s. a. (2020). profitability analysis of sesame (sesamum et al.) production in dutsin-ma local government area, katsina state, nigeria. fudma journal of agriculture and agricultural technology, 5(2), 47-55. https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.18516.35205 nyiatagher, z. t., & ocholi, a. (2015). gross margin analysis and resource use efficiency in sesame production among small scale farmers in benue state, nigeria. journal of agriculture and veterinary science, 8(7), 15–23. rahman, s. a. & umar, h. s. (2009). measurement of technical efficiency and its determinants in crop production in lafia local government area of nassarawastate, nigeria. journal of tropical agriculture, food, environment, and extension, 8(2), 90-96. https://doi.org/10.4314/as.v8i2.51103 raw materials research and development council (rmrdc) (2004). survey report of ten selected agro raw materials in nigeria. beniseed (maiden edition) 108pp. tiamiyu, s. a., adagba, m.a. ibrahim, p. a. & shaahu, a. (2013). profitability of sesame production and marketing in nigeria. advanced journal of agricultural research, 1(6), 88-94, science and management, 3(1), 100-104. https://doi.org/10.29322/ijsrp.12.01.2022.p12142 tundeakintunde, t. y., oke, m. o., & akintunde, b. o. (2012). sesame seeda book published by interchopen. ukpabuku, j. u., & ohen, s. b. (2020). analysis of profitability of microbroiler enterprises in calabar metropolis, crossrivers state. global journal of agricultural sciences, 19, 1-9. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/gjass.v/9i1.1 uwagboe, e., meludu, n. t., & agbebaku, e. e. o. (2016). adoption of integrated pest management among cocoa farmers in cross river and osun states of nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 5, 188-201. wacal, c., daniel, b., okello-anyanga w., murongo, m.f., namirembe, c., & malingumu, r. (2021). analysis of sesame seed production and export trends; challenges and strategies towards increasing production in uganda. edp sciences. https://doi.org/10.1051/ocl/2020073 wei, w., zhao, f.,wang, z., wang, z., hou, g., & meng, q. (2022). sesame (sesamum et al.). a comprehensive review of nutritional value, phytochemical composition, health benefits, development of food and industrial applications. nutrients, 14(19), 4079. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu1419479 yadav, r., kalia, s., rangan, p., pradheep, k., govind, p. r., kaur, v., panday, r., rai, v., vasimalla, c. c., langan, s., sharma, s., thangavel, b., rana, v. s., vishwakarma, h., shan, a., kumar, a., singh, k., & siddique, k. h. m. https://www.fao.org/faostat#compare ajibade et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 32-40 40 (2022). current research trends and prospects for yield and quality improvement in sesame, an important oilseed crop. front. plant sci, p. 13, 863521. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.863521 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 10 agricultural studies aijas vol 7 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa analysis of cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in edo south agro-ecological zone, edo state, nigeria magdalene iredia osakue (a)1 christopher osamudiamen emokaro (b) chukwunalu okolie ossai (c) (a) research intern, international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria; e-mail:osakueiredia@gmail.com (b) professor, agricultural economics department, university of benin, benin city, nigeria; e-mail: christopher.emokaro@uniben.edu (c) research associate, international institute of tropical agriculture, ibadan, nigeria; e-mail: c.ossai@cgiar.org a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 25th november 2022 accepted: 24th january 2023 online publication: 30th january 2023 keywords: manihot esculenta, marketing, efficiency, profitability jel classification codes: q17 a b s t r a c t cassava farmers and marketers are faced with problems bothering on poor pricing of the product locally, with attendant negative implications on their profitability. hence, this study focused on the profitability of cassava marketing in rural and urban markets in edo south agro-ecological zone, edo state, nigeria. a three-stage sampling procedure was used in drawing up a sample of 161 cassava marketers from seven purposely selected major cassava markets. data collected with the aid of a wellstructured questionnaire were analyzed using descriptive statistics, budgetary analysis and regression analysis. cassava tuber marketing was shown to be profitable in the study area with a monthly gross margin of ₦29,061.4 and a return per naira invested of 0.29 (29%) for rural marketers. urban marketers had a mean monthly gross margin of ₦19, 961.3 per marketer and a return per naira invested of 0.32 (32%). rural markets were found to be more efficient (576.78%) than urban markets (168.84%). the major factor militating against the farmers and marketers in their adopted management practices was having little money to spend. it is concluded that in order to improve the profitability of cassava tuber marketers in the study area, measures should be taken to cut down on the cost of transportation. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction cassava (manihot esculenta crantz) is an important crop widely cultivated in sub-saharan africa. although the crop is grown virtually in all parts of the sub-continent, production is specific in the humid tropics. cassava plays a major role in efforts to alleviate nigeria’s food crisis because of its efficient production of food energy, all year round availability, and tolerance to extreme stress conditions and suitability to various farming and food systems (ezeh, anyiro, obioma, & maduagwu, 2012). cassava is currently undergoing a transition from a mere subsistence crop found on the field of subsistence farmers to a commercial crop grown in plantations. this unprecedented expansion on the crop is attributed to its discovery as a cheap source of edible carbohydrate that could be processed into different forms of human delicacies and animal feeds (onyenwoke & simonyan, 2013). according to the food and agriculture organization (fao, 2013), not only is cassava a very important staple food for the urban and rural populace in nigeria, it is also a part and parcel of the rural livelihoods of the people. as a food crop, cassava fits well into the farming systems of the smallholder farmers in nigeria because it is available all year round, thus ensuring household food security (oladejo, 2016). aside from its food security and famine reserve role, cassava also possesses high economic potential when exploited as raw material/feedstock for different feed and non-feed industrial applications through import substitution and export market opportunities. most of the developing tropical countries value cassava not only because it provides food security but because of its ability to be converted into a large number of products ranging from traditional and novel food products, livestock feed, ethanol and starch and its numerous derivatives (sewando, 2012). according to the united nations industrial development organization; globally, the five largest cassava producing nations are nigeria, thailand, indonesia, 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0003-3808-3473 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.278 to cite this article: osakue, m. i., emokaro, c. o., & ossai, c. o. (2023). analysis of cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in edo south agro-ecological zone, edo state, nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 7(1), 10– 19. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.278 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.278 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-3473 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-3473 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8830-1814 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1924-5855 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 11 brazil and democratic republic of congo (drc). in sub-saharan africa (ssa), the major cassava producing countries include nigeria (53 million tonnes in 2013), drc (16 million tonnes), angola (16.4 million tonnes), ghana (15.9 million tonnes) and mozambique (10 million tonnes). this means that nigeria is the largest producer of cassava in the world and with such a large volume of production, it would be expected that cassava and its products would be abundant and available for domestic use and export. that however, is not the case. according to ogisi, begho, and alimeke, (2013) despite the fact that nigeria is the world’s largest producer of cassava, its output is way below the total demand for the crop as food, for industrial raw materials and for export. although nigeria occupies the leading position as producer, the country still imports significant quantities of cassava products such as starch, flour and sweeteners (olakunle, 2012). statement of the problem fresh root cassava cannot be stored for long because they rot within 3 – 4 days. this exerts pressure on handling, packaging, transportation and sales with negative effect on market prices (ugwumba & ukoh, 2010). this perishable nature of cassava leads to substantial qualitative and quantitative losses and in a bid to sell their products as quickly as possible to avoid deterioration and losses due to transportation difficulty and inadequate storage materials, cassava tuber marketers tend to sell their products locally and at reduced prices to encourage purchasing which leads to reduced profit margin. objectives of the study the broad objective of this study was to analyse cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in edo south agroecological zone. the specific objectives were to;  describe the socio-economic characteristics of cassava tuber marketers in rural and urban markets in the study area  compare the profitability of cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in the study area  describe the market structure, conduct and assess the performance of cassava tuber markets in the study area  outline the management practices carried out by the marketers and farmers to prevent post-harvest losses in the study area  identify the constraints militating against the marketing of cassava tubers in the study area  identify the sources of information to cassava marketers on methods of preservation and management in the study area. justification according to adejumo, abass, okoruwa, and salman (2015), food security has persisted as a major issue in the world today especially in developing countries. availability and access to food are negatively affected by many factors, prominent of which is post-harvest loss (which could either be physical loss or economic loss) with its attendant negative effect on product prices, and profitability. this study is justified in that though the research community has extensively explored the marketing of cassava tubers such as research works carried out by ogisi, begho, and alimeke (2013), oladejo (2016) and others, very little research work has been done on the analysis of cassava tuber marketing in rural and urban markets in the study area and much less has been conducted to compare the profitability of rural and urban marketers in the study area. this is the gap in knowledge this study is designed to fill. this research work will provide the government and policy makers with information on the determinants of the profitability of urban marketers of cassava in the study area and their effect on the economy as a whole which will assist in the formulation of policies and decisions that will improve the profitability of the marketers and the general wellbeing of the economy. the study will also provide information to cassava tuber marketers in the study area on different management practices to prevent post-harvest losses which will also help to increase their profit margin. materials and methods area and scope of study the study was carried out in ikpoba-okha, ovia north-east, uhumwonde and egor lgas of edo state. edo state comprises 18 lgas, three agro ecological zones and shares boundaries of three other states of the federation. the choice of edo state for the study was deemed suitable because of its precedence in agriculture and its related activities. the state is mainly agrarian, producing crops like cassava, yam, rubber, plantain, maize, oil palm, cocoyam, etc. sample size and sampling procedure a three-stage sampling procedure was adopted in the study. the first stage involved a purposive sampling of four out of the seven lgas that make up edo south, based on the preponderance of cassava marketing activities in these lgas. the second stage involved a purposive sampling of eight markets (four urban markets and three rural markets) based on the high prevalence of marketing activities in cassava tuber. the third stage involved a simple random sampling of 36 marketers from obaretin, 21 from obagie, 28 from ugbojiobo, 15 from ehor, 28 from enyai, 23 from oregbeni and 10 from uselu. this made a total of 161 cassava tuber marketers from 4 lgas (ikpoba –okha, uhumwonde, egor and ovia north-east). table 1. sample size and sampling procedure markets frequency percentage rural obaretin 36 22.36% osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 12 obagie 21 13.04% ugbojiobo 28 17.39% ehor 15 9.32% total 100 62.11% urban enyai 28 17.39% oregbeni 23 14.29% uselu 10 6.21% total 61 37.89% data collection primary and secondary data was used for the study. the primary data was generated through the use of questionnaires administered through scheduled interviews. secondary data was collected from relevant journals, literature, articles, textbooks and the internet. measurement of variables variable used for the study was measured as follows: age: was measured in years sex: was measured in males or females marital status: single, married, divorced, widow/widower level of education: informal, formal (school certificate, junior secondary school, senior secondary school and tertiary) household size: was measured by the number of individuals in the family marketing experience: was measured in years analytical techniques: the data generated was analyzed using the following: objective one: the socio-economic characteristics were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as mean, frequency counts, table percentages and standard deviation. objective two: budgetary analysis such as gross margin and return per naira invested (rni) were used to analyze the profitability of the cassava tuber marketing enterprises. gross margin (gm) was used in estimating the profit earned from the enterprise. it is calculated as the difference between total revenue (tr) and total variable cost (tvc). tr is quantified as the quantity of cassava tuber sold × price per unit. tvc is quantified as the total cost of all variable inputs like purchase at farm gate, transportation, labor, etc. gm = tr – tvc where; gm = gross margin tr = total revenue tvc = total variable cost. the rni on variable cost was used in assessing the profitability of the enterprises. the rni was computed by the equation; rni = gmtvc the profits were compared using the student t-test which is given as; t = xr xusr + su = xr xusr + su where; xu = mean of urban marketers’ profit xr = mean of rural marketers’ profit su = standard deviation of urban marketers’ profit sr = standard deviation of rural marketers’ profit n = number of respondents sample size objective three: market conduct was analyzed using descriptive statistics such as number of buyers and sellers, free entry and exit, homogeneity of product etc. market structure was analyzed using descriptive statistics and gini-coefficient. gini coefficient is expressed thus; g.c = 1 xy where; g.c = gini-coefficient x = proportion of sellers y = cumulative proportion of total sales market performance was analyzed based on marketing efficiency m.e = net profit total market cost ×100% osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 13 objective four: a three point likert-type scale was used in the identification of the management practices carried out by marketers and farmers in order to prevent postharvest losses in the study area. the responses to the management practices were scored in such a way that the response indicating the most serious constraint will be given the highest score of 3. the responses were grouped into; very serious = 3, serious = 2, and not serious = 1. the mean was computed by summing up the scores on each item and dividing by the total number of responses. objective five: a three point likert-type scale was used in the identification of constraints faced by the marketers. the responses to the constraints were scored as described in objective five procedure objective six: descriptive statistics such as frequency and percentages were used to identify the sources of information to cassava marketers on the methods of preservation and management in the study area. results and discussions socio-economics characteristics of the marketers sex categorization the results presented in table 1 showed that the majority (87.6%) of the cassava marketers from the selected markets were female while 11.8% were males. this shows that there is a dominance of females in cassava marketing in the study area. age distribution of the cassava marketers the result shows that many of the cassava marketers were within the age range of 41 50 (42.2%) which was followed by those in the age range of 31 – 40(24.8%) and then, the next age range of 51 and above (21.1%). this corresponds to the findings of nzeh and ugwu (2014) who stated that most of the marketers were over 45 years of age. the age range with the least population was for cassava marketers who were less than 30 years of age. the mean age of the cassava marketers in the study area was about 43 years with a standard deviation of 8.7294. this implies that a large number of people who were into cassava marketing in the study area were those who were way past their youth and tending towards old age. marital status of the cassava marketers table 1 shows that the majority (67.1%) of the cassava marketers were married (67.1%), with the next ranking population being those who were widowed (20.5%). this category of people is followed by those who were divorced (5.6%), and this in turn is followed by those who were separated (7%). the category of cassava marketers with the least population is those who were single (2.5%). educational status of the cassava marketers based on educational status, cassava marketers who attended secondary school had the most population (35.4%), with the next population being those who had no formal education (29.8%), who are also followed by those who had just primary education (26.1%) and the category with the least being those who had tertiary education (8.7%). this implies that cassava tuber marketers in the selected areas were largely literates. household size of the cassava marketers over half (67.7%) of the population had household size ranging between 4 – 7 persons, while 22.4% of the population had household size of eight persons and above. a few of the population (9.9%) had a household size of less than three persons. the table also shows the mean household size of respondents to be six persons with a standard deviation of 2.65849. marketing experience a good number (35.4%) of the population had marketing experience of less than five years and this showed the influx of marketers into cassava tuber marketing in the last decade and also implies the significance of cassava tuber marketing as an important source of income while twenty-six percent of the cassava marketers had marketing experience of 16 years and above. twenty-four percent of the marketers had experience of between 6 – 10 years. few (14.3%) of the population had marketing experience of between 11 – 15 years. the marketers had a mean marketing experience of 11 years with a standard deviation of 7.97504. the result on the table shows that majority (82.6%) of the population were from monogamous families while very few of the marketers were from polygamous families. source of capital majority (68.9%) of the marketers generated their capital from personal savings which suggests that marketing of cassava tubers in the selected markets may not be capital intensive. this result supports the findings of oladejo (2016). a sizable (22.4%) number of the marketers sourced their capital from cooperatives and a lesser (8.1%) population of them got their capital from family and friends. a very small (0.6%) number of the population acquired their capital from the bank and this suggests very poor participation of the banking sector in financing cassava tuber marketers in the selected markets. occupational distribution of the marketers it is shown on table 1 that for most (59%) of the cassava marketers, cassava tuber marketing was their major occupation and this implies that cassava tuber marketing is profitable enough if not for anything else, to provide their basic needs and those who did not have cassava marketing as their major occupation were 42.2% of the population. osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 14 table 1. distribution of cassava marketers based on their socio-economic characteristics description frequency percentage mean std. deviation sex female 141 87.6 male 19 11.8 age 43.0559 8.72944 <30 19 11.8 31 – 40 40 24.8 41 – 50 68 42.2 51 and above 34 21.1 marital status single 4 2.5 married 108 67.1 divorced 9 5.6 widowed 33 20.5 separated 7 4.3 educational status no formal education 48 29.8 primary education 42 26.1 secondary education 57 35.4 tertiary education 14 8.7 household size 6.1813 2.65849 <3 16 9.9 4 – 7 109 67.7 8 and above 36 22.4 marketing experience 10.5155 7.97504 <5 57 35.4 6 – 10 39 24.2 11 – 15 23 14.3 16 and above 42 26.1 nature of homestead monogamy 133 82.6 polygamy 28 17.39 source of capital banks 1 .6 cooperative society 36 22.4 personal savings 111 68.9 family and friends 13 8.1 major occupation other occupation 66 42.2 cassava tuber marketing 95 59.00 profitability analysis of cassava tuber marketing from the result shown on table 2 an average rural marketer sold a mean volume of 97.8 bags (of 50 kg each) of cassava tubers and incurred an average variable cost of n100, 228.6 per month, earning an average monthly revenue of n129, 290. this high amount could largely be attributed to the unequal distribution of income. also the average monthly gross margin was estimated as n29,061.4. dividing this value by four results in a mean weekly gross margin of n7,265.35. the estimated average rate of return was 0.29% which means that an estimate of n 0.29 was realized for every n1.00 spent on the business. since the return per naira invested, (rni) on variable cost is less than 1 (0.29), it suggests that although cassava tuber marketing in the selected rural market is profitable, it is not a viable business enterprise. on the other hand, the result of an average urban marketer sold a mean volume of 56.78 bags of 50kg each and incurred an average variable cost of n62,314 with average revenue of n82, 275.4 per month. the rate of return per naira invested on variable cost was 0.32% which means that an estimate of n0.32 was realized for every n1.00 spent on the business. since the rni was also less than 1 (0.32) it implies that although cassava tuber marketing in the selected urban markets is profitable as corroborated by oladejo (2016) and nzeh and ugwu (2014), it is not a viable business enterprise. also from the table, the mean monthly gross margin was n19,961.3. this amounts to a mean weekly margin of n4990.325 per cassava tuber marketer. table 2. analysis of profitability of cassava tuber marketing in the study area rural urban quantity unit cost amount %contribution of tvc quantity unit cost amount %contribution of tvc total revenue 129290 82275.41 average quantity purchase/market day (bags) 97.08 56.78 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 15 average quantity sold/market day(bags) 97.8 56.78 average weight/bag (kg) 50 50 average purchase price/bag(₦) 955 924.5902 average selling price/bag (₦) 1344 1544.754 cost of cassava tubers 97.08 955 95190 95.0 56.78 924.5902 50491.8 81.0 marketing market charges 272 0.3 1000 1.6 marketing transportation 2674.6 2.7 10540.33 16.9 marketing packaging cost 2092 2.1 281.9672 0.5 total variable cost tvc 100228.6 62314.1 gross margin tr – tvc 29061.4 19961.31 rni = gm/tvc 0.289951 0.320334 comparison of the profitability of rural and urban marketers of cassava tubers the result (table 3) shows that there exists a significant difference in the mean profitability of rural and urban marketers of cassava tubers at 5% confidence interval. this implies that the profitability of rural marketers of cassava tuber is significantly higher than the profitability of urban marketers of cassava tuber in the study areas. table 3. analysis of the comparison of profitability between rural and urban cassava markets in the study area t-test: two-sample assuming unequal variances rural urban mean 29061.4 19961.31148 variance 854223280.9 158056904.9 observations 100 61 hypothesized mean difference 0 df 146 t stat 2.727301075 p(t<=t) one-tail 0.003584368 t critical one-tail 1.655357345 p(t<=t) two-tail 0.007168737 t critical two-tail 1.976345655 market structure, conduct and performance market structure the market structure was analyzed using the gini coefficient. table 4 shows the estimated gini coefficient to be 0.33. this implies a lower level of concentration and inequality in the distribution of income across the marketers in the study area. this result is similar to the findings of egwuma et al. (2019) who found the existence of high variation of income distribution of cassava marketers. the implication of this is that no single trader was exercising control and as a result, cannot influence supply of the tubers by decreasing or increasing the quantity they sell. the output of each marketer accounts for an insignificant volume of trade in the market such that it could not affect prices. this semblance of perfect competition is a sign of efficiency in the market. table 4. computation of gini coefficient for cassava tuber marketers sales freq. proportion x cumulative proportion total value of sales proportion of total sales cumulative proportion of total sales y ∑xy less than 50,000 139 0.86 0.86 2887072.5 0.64 0.64 0.55 50,001 100,000 20 0.12 0.98 1411150 0.31 0.95 0.11 100,001 and above 2 0.01 1 221050 0.05 1 0.01 total 161 1 4501272.5 1 0.67 gini coefficient = 1-∑xy = 1-0.67 = 0.33 market conduct market conduct was analysed using descriptive statistics such as number of buyers and sellers, free entry and exit and homogeneity of product price determination, among others. the results on table 5 shows that there was no product differentiation. source of cassava tuber supply from the results shown on table 5, it is observed that a little over half (51.6%) of the cassava marketers got their cassava from their farms and this goes to say that majority of the farmers market their commodity by themselves. this population is followed by a large (41.0%) percentage of the marketers who got their supply of cassava tuber from other farmers while 7.5% of the cassava marketers got their supply from wholesalers. osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 16 position of the cassava marketers in the market chain from the result on table 5, it is shown that on the basis of purchasers, over half of the marketers were processors (59%) who are closely followed by retailers (29.8%) and wholesalers accounting for very few (11.2%) of the population, implying that wholesalers would rather buy at the farm gate that at the market. the table also shows that on the basis of sellers, a large proportion (77.6%) of the marketers are sellers (wholesalers) while 22.6% are buyers (retailers). factors that affects sales of cassava tuber table 5 shows that the major factor that affected the sale of cassava tubers was size (38.5%) and this is because the buyers would always go for tubers that were large in size and this factor is followed by selling price (32.9%) and this in turn, is followed by experience (19.9%) of the marketers. this implies that the level of experience a particular marketer has in marketing cassava influences the volume of his /her sale of the commodity because such marketer would have been well known by buyers who will always patronize them based on past business dealings. although transportation (5.0%), supply (1.9%) and season (1.9%) are factors that affect the sale of cassava tubers in the selected markets, their influence is small compared to that of tuber quality and selling price. factors that determine the selling price of cassava tuber in the selected markets table 5 shows that the cost price of the marketers is the major factor (29.8%) that determines the selling price of the tubers and next after this is the bargaining power (20.5%) of the buyers while season is the next important determinant of the price of cassava tuber and this could be because, the ground is usually dry during the dry season; making harvesting of the tubers more difficult and hence, an increase in price to compensate for their labour. trade unions determined the selling price of 8.1% of the marketers and this is because very few (27.1%) of the marketers belonged to trade unions. market costs (7.5%) also determined the selling price of the tubers. the least determining factors were supply (1.9%) and demand (1.2%). means of transportation to the market it is shown on table 5 that 55.9% of the marketers make use of public transport to transport their commodity to the market and this population is above half of the population, suggesting that cassava tuber marketing is not capital intensive, neither is it asset dependent for its survival. a good number of the marketers employed the use of wheel barrows in transporting cassava to the market. about 17% of the marketers had their own personal means of transportation to the market while very few (0.6%) of the marketers employed head portage in their transportation. the bulky nature of cassava tuber discourages such means of transportation and this also suggests that such marketers who used head portage are those whose source of purchase are not far from the market. occurrence of trade union in cassava tuber markets and their effects from the results shown (table 5), a very large population (78.3%) of the marketers reported that there was no trade union for cassava tuber marketers and as a result, they did not belong to any union for the marketing of their commodities. about 22% of the marketers reported that there was a trade union for cassava tuber marketers and as such, they belonged to the association and this may be attributed to the fact that they help to protect the interest of the sellers by fixing a general price level for sale of a particular quantity of the cassava tuber. as shown (table 3.2), 21.7% of the marketers reported that the trade union influences the marketing and price of cassava tubers. strategy to attract customers to purchase leftovers many (47.2%) of the marketers employed the giving out of discount as their strategy to attract customers to buy leftovers as there is no means of storing them and so, because of the perishable nature of cassava tubers, these marketers sold at very reduced prices as an incentive to encourage purchase. about 20% of the marketers applied persuasive efforts towards their customers, followed by open display (9.3%) and the strategy which was employed by the least population of marketers was giving of gifts/ additional commodities (1.2%). table 5. marketing information of cassava tuber marketers description frequency percentage source of cassava supply your farm 83 51.6 other farmers 66 41.0 wholesaler 12 7.5 commodity sold to wholesaler/dealer 18 11.2 retailer 48 29.8 processor 95 59.0 nature of marketing sellers 125 77.6 buyers 36 22.36 frequency of purchase every 4 days 68 42.2 weekly 50 31.1 twice monthly 27 16.8 monthly 16 9.9 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 17 what affects your sale? selling price 53 32.9 season 3 1.9 quality 62 38.5 transportation 8 5.0 experience 32 19.9 supply 3 1.9 what determines the price at which you sell cost price 48 29.8 bargaining power 33 20.5 demand 2 1.2 supply 3 1.9 quality 19 11.8 market cost 12 7.5 trade union 13 8.1 season 31 19.3 what do you use to transport your commodity head portage 1 .6 wheelbarrow 37 23.0 public transport 90 55.9 private transport 28 17.4 is there a trade union for cassava tuber marketers no 126 78.3 yes 35 21.7 if yes, do you belong to their association no 126 78.3 yes 35 21.7 if yes, does the trade union influence marketing and price no 126 78.3 yes 35 21.7 is the influence on price subject to changes no 126 78.3 yes 35 21.7 what do you do to keep and attract customers to buy leftovers discount 76 47.2 gifts/additional commodity 2 1.2 persuasive effort 32 19.9 open display 15 9.3 personal delivery 36 22.4 market performance the market performance of cassava tuber marketing was analysed using marketing efficiency and marketing cost. the efficiency analysis (table 6) shows the marketing efficiency of rural markets to be 576.78% and that of urban markets was 168.84%. it could be inferred that this higher rural market efficiency than that of the urban markets is because of the lesser marketing cost incurred by the rural marketers. the high efficiency ensures a fair amount of return to the marketers and this will encourage them to invest more in the business. the higher efficiency of rural markets accounts for the higher returns earned by the rural marketers as shown earlier, where mean monthly gross margin of rural marketers was shown to be n29, 061.4 as against n19, 961.3 for urban marketers. table 3.3 also shows the marketing cost of rural marketers to be n5, 038.6 and that of urban marketers to be n11822.3. this implies that for every bag of cassava tuber bought from the rural market on the average, about 5% of the price paid by the customers covers the marketing cost and profit of the seller while the remaining 95 % goes to the cost of the cassava tuber itself. the same applies for urban markets in that for every bag of cassava tuber bought in the urban market, 19% of the price paid covers the marketing cost and profit of the seller while the remaining 81% goes for the cost of the cassava tuber. the cost component that accounts for the high marketing cost of urban marketers is transportation which constitutes 16.9% of the tvc as shown in table 6. in order to improve the marketing efficiency of the urban markets therefore, attempts should be made to cut down on transportation cost. table 6. analysis of marketing efficiency variable mean value for rural markets (n) mean value for urban markets(n) net income 29, 061.4 19, 961.3 marketing cost 5, 038.6 11, 822 marketing efficiency 576.78% 168.84% constraints faced by cassava tuber marketers in the study area general constraints faced by cassava tuber marketers in the study area from the result shown in table 7, bad weather (rainfall) is the major constraint faced in marketing cassava tubers in the markets selected. this could be attributed to the fact that edo state is largely characterized with high annual rainfall as stated by godwin et al. (2010) that rainfall is usually of high intensity with double maxima and a dry little spell in august osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 18 usually referred to as “august break”; with the rainfall amount ranging from 1800 to 2780mm. this could also be attributed to the fact that there is no structure for stalls where the marketers stay to sell their commodity which also affects sales. table 7. general constraints faced by cassava tuber marketers in the study area mean rank bad weather 2.093167702 1st lack of technical know-how 1.770186335 2nd lack of storage facilities 1.757763975 3rd distance to the market 1.732919255 4th high cost of transportation 1.726708075 5th bad roads 1.714285714 6th type transportation means 1.325 7th overload 1.310559006 8th low patronage 1.30625 9th pest/diseases 1.273291925 10th container 1.204968944 11th high cost of storage 1.105590062 12th management practices carried out by the marketers to prevent postharvest loss table 8 shows that the most important method to prevent phl is timed buying (98.1%) due to the highly perishable nature of tubers. the table also showed that about half (50.3%) of the marketers did not prefer to sell cheap while the other half would rather sell cheaply to prevent loss than to allow complete spoilage; leading to reduced profit margin. furthermore, it is shown that 80.7% of the marketers did not process leftovers because of the stress involved and their lack of modern processing facilities. table 8. analysis of management practices carried out by farmers to prevent post-harvest loss hp p np constrain frequency % frequency % frequency % mean s.d harvest on demand 76 47.2 7 4.3 78 48.4 1.9876 0.98099 leave open for fresh air 161 100.0 1.0000 0.00000 leave un-harvested in the ground 81 50.3 2 1.2 78 48.4 2.0186 0.99669 process all on purchase 3 1.9 158 98.1 1.0373 0.27130 timed buying 158 98.1 3 1.9 2.9814 0.13565 sell cheap 45 28.0 35 21.7 81 50.3 1.7764 0.85860 buy little 94 58.4 7 4.3 60 37.3 2.2112 0.95793 processed leftovers 11 6.8 20 12.4 130 80.7 1.2609 0.57578 hp = highly preferred, p = preferred, np = not preferred constraints faced in reducing post-harvest losses table 9 shows that having little money to spend in order to improve their status is a major constraint in preventing losses because as shown in table 9, over half (58.4%) of the marketers prefer to buy less quantity than they would have wanted which results in less profit. another constraint faced is lack of modern processing facilities. this further supports the findings of nzeh and ugwu (2014). as a result of the stress and time involved in processing the tubers locally, the marketers would rather sell raw tubers than processed cassava as shown in table 9 where processing of tubers is ranked 7th with 98.1% of the marketers not preferring to process. table 9. constraints faced in reducing post-harvest loss constraint mean rank little money to spend 2.35 1st lack of modern processing facilities 1.94375 2nd bad weather 1.9125 3rd poor information on quantity demanded 1.20625 4th method to stop spoilage is not working 1.0375 5th source of information on method of preservation/management from table 10, it is shown that the majority (83.9%) of the respondents got to know about the management practices they adopted from their fellow marketers while 15.5 % of them got theirs from their relatives and friends and just 0.6 % got to know about their chosen method of management from extension agents. this value of 0.6 implies the near absence of the activities of extension service agents. table 10. source of information on method of preservation/management source of information frequency percentage fellow marketers 135 83.9 extension agents 1 0.6 relatives/friends 25 15.5 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 10-19 19 conclusions cassava tuber marketing is a profitable business for rural and urban marketers in the study area. in recent years, more people have gone into the business despite the many challenges and limitations associated with the business. improved marketing and processing conditions will go a long way to encourage participation of more people, even youths, which will in the long run lead to increase in per capita income, low unemployment rate and general development of the country at large. this study recommends the following: 1. efforts should be made to eradicate the problem of bad roads which will ensure ease of transportation during marketing. 2. funds should be made available to marketers along with provision for infrastructures and credit facilities which should be easily accessible to the marketers by different financial bodies. loans should be given to marketers at a low interest rate to encourage participation. 3. modern processing and storage facilities should be made available to the government to the marketers to encourage value addition and as a result, increase in income. 4. cassava tuber marketers in the study area should form cooperative society’s trade unions which will enable them to market their commodities at better prices than they would get as individuals. author contributions: conceptualization, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; methodology, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; software, m.i.o.; validation, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; formal analysis, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; investigation, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; resources, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; data curation, m.i.o.; writing – original draft preparation, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; writing – review & editing, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; visualization, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o.; supervision, c.o.e.; project administration, c.o.e.; funding acquisition, m.i.o., c.o.e. and c.o.o. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adejumo, o., adebayo, a., okoruwa, v., & salman, k. (2015). an assessment of the use of postharvest prevention technologies for cassava in nigeria. in conference on international research on food security, natural resource management and rural development, humboldt-universitat zu berlin and the leibniz centre for agricultural landscape research (zalf). tropentang (pp. 16-18). egwuma, h., muhammed, a. e., ojeleye, o. a., oladimeji, y. u., & hassan, a. a. (2019). analysis of structure and efficiency of cassava marketing in ado-ekiti local government area of ekiti state, nigeria. nigerian journal of basic and applied sciences, 27(2), 62-69. ezeh, c. i., anyiro, c. o., obioma, n. q., & maduagwu, o. c. (2013). demand structure and the consumption of garri in owerri north local government area of imo state, nigeria. bangladesh e-journal of sociology, 10(2), 93-102. fao. (2013). analysis of incentive and disincentive for cassava in nigeria, technical notes series, monitoring african food and agricultural policy (mafap). fao, rome. godwin, o. a., peter, a. o., & alex, e. u. (2011). changing rainfall and anthropogenic-induced flooding: impacts and adaptation strategies in benin city, nigeria. journal of geography and regional planning, 4(1), 42-52. nzeh, e. c., & ugwu, j. n. (2014). economic analysis of production and marketing of cassava in akoko north-west local government area of ondo state, nigeria. international journal of agricultural policy and research, 2(6), 234237. onyenwoke, c. a., & simonyan, k. j. (2014). cassava post-harvest processing and storage in nigeria: a review. african journal of agricultural research, 9(53), 3853-3863. oladejo, j. a. (2016). profitability analysis of cassava tuber marketing in oyo state, nigeria: implication for sustainable development goals. scientia, 16(2), 67-73. https://doi.org/10.15192/pscp.sa.2016.16.2.6773 ogisi, o. d., begho, t., & alimeke, b. o. (2013). productivity and profitability of cassava (manihot esculenta) in ika south and ika north east local government areas of delta state, nigeria. journal of agriculture and veterinary science, 6(1), 52-56. olakunle, t.o. (2012). socio-economic determinants and profitability of cassava production in nigeria. international journal of agricultural economics and extension, 4(4), 229-249. sewando, p. t. (2012). urban markets-linked cassava value chain in morogoro rural district, tanzania. journal of sustainable development in africa, 14(3), 283-300. ugwumba, c. o. a., & okoh, r. n. (2010). price spread and the determinants of catfish marketing income in anambra state, nigeria. journal of agriculture and social sciences, 6(4), 73-78. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.15192/pscp.sa.2016.16.2.6773 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 27 agricultural studies aijas vol 9 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa influence of humic acid on yield and yield attributing characters of ridge gourd sanjoy kumar bordolui (a)1 gouranga sundar mandal (b) (a) assistant professor, department of seed science and technology, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india; email: sanjoy_bordolui@rediffmail.com (b) assistant professor, department of genetics and plant breeding, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india; email: mandal.gouranga@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 14th june 2024 reviewed & revised: 14th june to 14th august 2024 accepted: 20th august 2024 published: 29th august 2024 keywords: fym, humic acid, neem cake, ridge gourd, yield jel classification codes: q22, q120 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t humic acids are organic compounds that enhance agronomic parameters, plant growth, and soil characteristics. humic acid-based products have recently been utilized in crop production to maintain the sustainability of agricultural output. humic acid can enhance a variety of physical, chemical, and biological properties of soil, including texture, structure, water-holding capacity, cation exchange capacity, ph, soil carbon, enzymes, nitrogen cycling, and nutrient availability. this study emphasizes the significance of humic acid for crop growth, plant hormone production, nutrient uptake and assimilation, yield, and protein synthesis. the study deals with the effect of humic acid on growth, fruit weight, fruit volume, quality of fruit, and yield per hectare of ridge gourd. the research was studied at the in-check farm, bckv, mohanpur, nadia, w.b., india, in the pre-kharif season of 2023, following rbd with three replications, seven treatments, and control. among the treatments, t6 had the highest fruit yield (127.908 q ha-1), followed by t5 in second place (109.842 q ha-1) and t1 in last place (70.480 q ha-1), with a significant difference between them. the average fruit yield and parameters associated with yield were significantly higher for ridge gourds when 112 kg ha-1 of humic acid was applied in conjunction with the recommended dosage of fertilizers (t6). in all cases except days to flower initiation, t6 was highest among the other treatments. hence, the humic acid (112 kg ha-1) along with fym @ 20 kg ha-1, neem cake @ 600 kg ha-1, n @ 50 kg ha-1, p2o5 @ 25 kg ha-1, and k2o @ 25 kg ha-1 fertilizers were recommended for getting the maximum yield, and quality of ridge guard. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction ridge gourd [luffa acutangula (l.) roxb.)] is a "cucurbitaceae" family member and is cultivated mainly for edible purposes. the ridge gourd originated in india. it is grown throughout the country, viz. malaysia, myanmar, sri lanka, the philippines, indonesia, and taiwan. ridge gourds are also grown for commercial purposes. ridge gourds are tender, green fruits that are used in a variety of dishes. the gelatinous substance "luffing" found in gourd fruits is emetic and has historically been used to treat fever and stomach ailments (karthick et al., 2017). as the population grows, each nation's need for vegetables progressively rises. thus, to supply a balanced diet, it is imperative to increase production by developing high-yielding varieties, using improved technologies, and increasing acreage (kumar & dwivedi, 2018). a balanced diet is one of the key elements influencing the growth and yield of vegetable crops. it is equally important to consider the optimal levels at which nutrients should be applied and the source from which they originate. excessive fertilizer use for higher crop yields will result in nutrient leaching and increase production costs. this will ultimately affect the environment and the health of the soil (hebbar et al., 2004). humic acid is an organic substance produced by decomposing plant and animal matter. this biostimulant is a significant part of humus and is the black organic matter that accumulates in soils and other environments. plants can gain various advantages from humic acid. it contributes to increased nutrient uptake, moisture retention, and soil structure improvement. it stimulates the growth of plants as well. it can be sprayed on leaves or given to plants in liquid or granular form. it is crucial to adhere to the application rates and timing the manufacturer recommends. it is a natural material made from decaying plant and animal stuff. humic acid is necessary for plants to produce more crops and to be generally healthier. proper fertilizer is crucial for ridge gourd cultivation to achieve ideal growth (hebbar et al., 2004). this article will cover the special needs of ridge gourds, particularly the dosage of humic acid, and provide 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0003-2087-2968 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.315 to cite this article: bordolui, s. k., & mandal, g. s. (2024). influence of humic acid on yield and yield attributing characters of ridge gourd. american international journal of agricultural studies, 9(1), 27–34. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.315 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.315 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2087-2968 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8728-4699 bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 28 professional guidance on increasing ridge gourd yield. the goal of the current study was to determine the ideal dosage of humic acid for improving ridge gourds' growth, yield, and fruit quality, as there is a shortage and an absence of scientific data on humic acid, particularly concerning ridge gourds. the main objective of this study is to observe the effect of humic acid on yield and yield attributing characters in ridge gourd. the literature review section highlights the response of humic acid in ridge gourd and other crops. it usually has a positive response to yields and enhances the biochemical characteristics of the soil. considering the considerations above, the experiment was carried out in the pre-kharif of 2023 at the in-check farm, bckv, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india. the treatments details were t1 = control (no input); t2 = t1 + humic acid @112.0 kg ha-1; t3 = fym @ 20 kg ha-1, neem cake @ 600 kg ha-1, n @ 25 kg ha-1, p2o5 @ 25 kg ha-1, and k2o @ 25 kg ha-1 applied uniformly to all the treatments before sowing. apply 25 kg n ha-1 thirty days after sowing; t4= t3 + humic acid @28 kg ha-1; t5= t3 + humic acid @56 kg ha-1; t6= t3 + humic acid @112 kg ha-1; t7= t3 + humic acid @124 kg ha-1. based on the results and discussion, it was determined that the optimum doses for achieving the highest yield in ridge guard were humic acid (112 kg ha-1) combined with fym @ 20 kg ha-1, neem cake @ 600 kg ha-1, n @ 50 kg ha-1, p2o5 @ 25 kg ha-1, and k2o @ 25 kg ha-1. literature review humic acid is one of the most potent biostimulants among humic substances and has many positive effects on growth and development. according to cao et al. (2010) and zhang and shangguan (2007), it effectively encourages the rate of photosynthesis, increased plant growth, more dry matter, and production and accumulation of more organic matter. when humic acid is added to different synthetic fertilizers, plants grow faster and absorb more nutrients. by boosting microbial population and activities, water holding capacity, cation exchange capacity, and enzyme activities in the soil, humic acid can improve the biochemical properties of soil. humic acid will lead to more effective plant growth and nutrient uptake (khattak & dost, 2010). plant height, the leaf area index (lai), and the production of biomass through increased photosynthesis are all ultimately impacted by humic acid (tahir et al., 2011). numerous scientific studies have shown that humic acid influences the development of plant roots and shoots and the amount of chlorophyll. according to rose et al. (2014) and olaetxea et al. (2020), humic acid enhances the growth of shoots and roots by raising the levels of enzyme activity and growth-promoting hormones, such as auxin and cytokinin, in plants. according to sivakumar et al. (2007), humic acid application significantly increases n, p, and k uptake in plants, which ultimately influences higher branches, number of flowers, fruits, yield, and seed test weight. materials and methods the field experiment was conducted at the in-check farm, bckv, mohanpur, nadia, west bengal, india, in the pre-kharif season 2023. the trial site's soil type was a well-drained sandy loam with initial organic carbon of 0.43%, ph of 7.45, ec (electrical conductivity) of 0.63 ds m-1, available nitrogen of 0.07%, available phosphorus of 220.2 kg ha-1, and available potassium of 126 kg ha-1. ridge gourd genotypes "amta jhinge" seeds were sown at 1.50 x 0.60m spacing during the last week of april 2023. three replications of each of the seven treatments were included in the crd design of the experiment. before seeding, n, p2o5, and k2o were evenly applied to each treatment @ 25:25:25 kg ha-1, along with the fym @ 20 t kg ha-1 and neem cake @ 600 kg ha-1. thirty days after sowing, apply 25 kg n ha-1. the treatment information and amount of fertilizer used per treatment are shown in table 1. ten plants were randomly selected replication-wise for each treatment, and various growth and yield parameters were recorded. according to the suggested package of practices, all agronomic and plant protection measures were implemented (prabhakar et al., 2010). the different yield and yield attributing characters like root length, shoot length, days to flower initiation, effect on the number of flowers plant-1, effect on the number of fruits picking-1, effect on yield per picking (q ha-1), effect on total yield (q ha-1), average number of fruits / 2 kg, and average fruit weight (g). the experimental data were statistically analyzed using the opstat computer programming (sheoran et al., 1998) and compared using critical difference (cd) at 5%. table 1. treatments details sl. no. treatments details dose (kg ha-1) 1. t1 control (no input): without the application of fertilizer and humic acid 2. t2 t1 + humic acid @112.0 kg ha-1 3. t3 fym @ 20 kg ha-1, neem cake @ 600 kg ha-1, n @ 25 kg ha-1, p2o5 @ 25 kg ha-1, and k2o @ 25 kg ha-1 applied uniformly to all the treatments before sowing. apply 25 kg n ha-1 thirty days after sowing. 4. t4 t3 + humic acid @28 kg ha-1 5. t5 t3 + humic acid @56 kg ha-1 6. t6 t3 + humic acid @112 kg ha-1 7. t7 t3 + humic acid @224 kg ha-1 results root length (cm) the root length of seedlings varied significantly. the root length in t6 was the longest at 34.000 cm, and the differences between t6, t4, t5, and t7 were not statistically significant. t1 (12.630) had the lowest root growth, followed by t2, t3, and t4. all three groups’ statistical growth was comparable (table 2). bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 29 plant height (cm) regarding the impact of humic acid on the plant height of ridge gourds, it is evident from the table-2 that the highest growth was recorded by t6 (1,432.000 cm), followed by t4 and t7; in comparison, most dwarf plants were recognized for control (995.333 cm) preceded by t2 though the non-significant difference was observed among t2, t4, t5, and t7. the range of plant height was 995.333 cm to 1,432.000 cm. at the same time, after applying various humic acid doses, a notable increase in plant height over control was observed. sible et al. (2021) observed an analogous type of result. days to flower initiation days to flower initiation varied non-significantly among the different treatments. the maximum days required for flower initiation were in t1 (32.667), and the minimum days were represented in t6 and t7 (31.333). table 2. root length (cm), plant height (cm), days to flower initiation, total number of flowers plant-1, and number of fruits picking-1 of ridge gourds sl no. treatments root length (cm) plant length (cm) days to flower initiation number of flowers planted 1 number of fruits picked -1 1 t1 12.630 995.333 32.667 36.253 1.627 2 t2 12.767 1,260.333 32.667 36.603 1.640 3 t3 13.433 1,313.333 32.333 39.428 1.765 4 t4 29.333 1,247.000 31.667 40.747 1.827 5 t5 32.833 1,203.667 31.667 43.739 1.956 6 t6 34.000 1,432.000 31.333 47.082 2.108 7 t7 25.333 1,215.333 31.333 42.890 1.920 c.d. (0.05) 10.453 197.116 ns 3.201 0.133 sem (±) 3.355 63.271 0.356 1.027 0.043 se(d) 4.745 89.478 0.504 1.453 0.060 c.v. 25.373 8.851 1.932 4.344 4.020 number of flowers plant-1 a maximum number of flowers in plant-1 was observed in t6 (47.082) and the minimum in t1 (36.253). the number of flower plants-1 varied significantly. even so, t1, t2, t3; t5, t7 showed the non-significant differences. number of fruits picking-1 a significant difference existed between the treatments in the number of fruits picked per day. t6 had the most considerable number of fruits picked per day (2.108), while t1 had the number picked per day (1.627). t5 and t7 showed no discernible differences in fruit production per picking. yoshida et al. (2011) reported a similar outcome. table 3. treatment-wise yield (q ha-1) of ridge gourds from pickings 1 to 5 s.no. treatments no. of picking yield (q ha-1) (1st picking) yield (q ha-1) (2nd picking) yield (q ha-1) (3rd picking) yield (q ha-1) (4th picking) yield (q ha-1) (5th picking) 1 t1 10 4.688 7.093 7.263 7.764 8.580 2 t2 10 6.042 7.150 8.092 8.000 11.593 3 t3 10 6.875 8.021 10.583 8.674 12.167 4 t4 10 7.969 9.046 12.740 8.505 13.223 5 t5 10 8.125 8.819 16.037 9.206 15.180 6 t6 10 15.938 9.033 15.869 9.578 15.780 7 t7 10 10.781 9.304 11.977 9.268 13.733 c.d. (0.05) 0.552 0.675 0.975 0.900 1.376 sem (±) 0.177 0.217 0.313 0.289 0.442 se(d) 0.251 0.307 0.443 0.408 0.625 c.v. 3.555 4.495 4.597 5.742 5.933 no. of picking for every treatment, ten pickings were completed. yield of 1st picking the yield of the first picking significantly varied among the treatments. the highest yield was found in t6 (15.938 q ha-1), and the lowest yield was in t1 (4.688 q ha-1), though t2 and t3 showed a non-significant difference. yield of 2nd picking there were notable differences in the second-picking yield between the treatments. t7 had the highest yield (9.304 q ha-1) while t1 had the lowest yield (7.093 q ha-1); however, there were no significant differences between t4, t6, and t7. bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 30 yield of third-picking the third picking yield showed a significant variation between the treatments. t5 recorded the highest yield (16.037 q ha 1), while t1 recorded the lowest yield (7.263 q ha-1). nonetheless, non-significant differences were seen in the data from t5 and t6. yield of 4th picking in this instance, the yield ranged from 7.764 q ha-1 (minimum-t1) to 9.578 q ha-1 (maximum-t6). the fourth picking yield showed considerable variation. a few non-significant differences were observed, such as t1, t2, t3, and t4; t5, t6, and t7. yield of 5th picking the yield in t6 was at its maximum (15.780 q ha-1) and its lowest (8.580 q ha-1). there were notable variations in the yield of 5th picking. despite this, t5 and t6 showed some non-significant differences. table 4. treatment-wise yield (q ha-1) of ridge gourds from pickings 6 to 10 s. no. treatments yield (q ha-1) (6th picking) yield (q ha-1) (7th picking) yield (q ha-1) (8th picking) yield (q ha-1) (9th b picking) yield (q ha-1) (10th picking) 1 t1 5.417 9.413 6.896 6.500 6.867 2 t2 7.813 12.027 6.979 7.567 7.233 3 t3 6.458 12.267 7.573 9.167 8.933 4 t4 8.125 12.880 9.479 9.867 9.767 5 t5 8.854 14.233 8.958 10.367 10.067 6 t6 11.667 15.467 11.146 11.867 11.600 7 t7 8.021 14.733 9.271 10.173 10.007 c.d. (0.05) 2.647 1.121 1.768 0.874 0.646 sem (±) 0.850 0.360 0.567 0.280 0.207 se(d) 1.202 0.509 0.802 0.397 0.293 c.v. 18.279 4.793 11.289 5.190 3.901 yield of 6th picking the yield from the sixth picking was highly variable. t6 had the highest yield (11.667 q ha-1), while t1 had the lowest yield (5.417 q ha-1). however, t1, t2, t3, t4, t5, and t7 all showed some non-significant differences. yield of 7th picking the yield of the 7th picking significantly varied among the treatments. while there was a non-significant difference between t2, t3, t4, t5, and t7, t6 had the highest yield (15.467 kg ha-1), and t1 had the lowest (9.413 kg ha-1). yield of 8th picking across the treatments, there was a significant variation in the eighth picking yield. though there was no statistically significant difference between t1, t2; t2, t3; t3, t5; t4, t5, t7, the maximum yield (11146 kg ha-1) was noted for t6 and the minimum was for t1 (6.896 kg ha-1). yield of 9th picking the yield of the 9th picking significantly varied among the treatments. the yield of t6 (11.867 kg ha-1) was the highest, while t1 (6.500 kg ha-1) was the lowest. nevertheless, non-significant differences were shown in the t3, t4, t5, and t7 data. yield of 10th picking the yield ranged from 6.867 q ha-1 (minimum-t1) to 11.600 q ha-1 (maximum-t6) in this instance. during the tenth picking, the yield varied greatly. however, some non-significant differences existed between t5 and t7 and t1 and t2. table 5. total yield (q ha-1), the average number of fruits per 2 kg, and average fruit weight (g) of ridge gourd s. no. treatments total yield (q ha-1) average number of fruits / 2 kg average fruit weight (g) 1 t1 70.480 14.500 137.310 2 t2 82.492 13.900 143.293 3 t3 90.713 12.867 155.143 4 t4 101.600 12.533 159.190 5 t5 109.842 12.433 160.287 6 t6 127.908 10.167 196.237 7 t7 107.263 11.167 180.033 c.d. (0.05) 3.085 0.525 2.552 sem (±) 0.990 0.169 0.819 se(d) 1.401 0.239 1.158 c.v. 1.739 2.335 0.878 bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 31 total yield the overall yield varied considerably between the treatments. with a significant difference, t6 had the highest yield (127.908 q ha-1), and t5 came in second (109.842 q ha-1). t1 had the lowest yield (70.480 q ha-1) of all the treatments, which was significantly lower. the results of treatment 2, which applied only 112 kg of humic acid per hectare, showed an increase of more than 17% (82.492 q ha-1) in comparison to the control group (70.480 q ha-1) and only 10% below the recommended dosage (90.713 q ha-1) of fertilization (t3) for ridge gourd crops. the average number of fruits per 2 kg the control group (14.500) had the highest number of fruits per 2 kg, followed by t2, while t6, t7, and t3 had the significantly lowest number of fruits per 2 kg (table 5). t3 and t4 had non-significantly different numbers. average fruit weight (g) in contrast to the recommended practices, which call for t3 (155.143 g), the average fruit weight, which varied significantly among the treatments, resulted in a 26% increase in t6 (196.237 g). discussions the results of treatment 2, which applied only 112 kg of humic acid per hectare without the application of any fertilizer, showed an increase in fruit yield of more than 17% (82.492 q ha-1) in comparison to the control (70.480 q ha-1) and only 10% below the recommended dosage (90.713 q ha-1) of fertilization (t3) for ridge gourd crops. interesting to mention that application of 112 kg ha-1 of humic acid along with fym@ 20 kg ha-1; neem cake @ 600 kg ha-1; n, p2o5 and k2o @ 50:25:25 kg ha-1 chemical fertilizers) (t6) increased by 41 per cent without applying any fertilizer (t1) in the fruit yield of ridge gourds. less no3-n and k have been observed to leach into the deeper soil layer as a result of increased nutrient uptake caused by water soluble fertilizers, and wsf fertigation increased npk uptake (singandhupe et al., 2007; badr et al., 2010; yoshida et al., 2011). plants can be treated with humic acid as a foliar spray, liquid, or granule form. for this experiment, it was applied in granular form. the kind of plants being treated and the intended outcome determine the recommended dosage the most. the compositions of humic acid affect the source. however, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen are present in all forms of humic acid. for instance, humic acids with higher carbon content are more resilient to degradation than those with lower carbon content. younger plants or stressed plants typically require a higher concentration. plant type, growth stage, and granular doses are some variables that affect how humic acid affects plants. younger plants are generally more vulnerable to the effects of humic acid than older ones. high humic acid doses can be particularly harmful to seedlings. humic acid promotes the metabolism of nitrogen and carbon, which is crucial for plant growth. humic acid-activated enzymes related to the nitrogen absorption processes, including glutamine synthetase, nitrate reductase, and glutamate dehydrogenase (canellas et al., 2013). moreover, humic materials promote the production of nitric oxide (no) at the lateral root emergence site. nitric oxide is a bioactive material that plays several functions in a plant's physiological processes, including root development (lamattina et al., 2003). humic substances are incorporated to increase no accumulation, which aids in the morphological changes of the root system, including the growth of secondary roots, an increase in root thickness, and higher fresh weight of roots (mora et al., 2012). according to research by canellas and olivares (2014), humic acid promotes root tissue cell proliferation and the density and length of root hairs. the humic materials enhance the hormonal effects on the root and shoot of plants (muscolo et al., 2013). humic compounds can increase h+ atpase and ion transport in the root system's plasma membranes (muscolo et al., 2013). these effects directly affect the plant system's ability to acquire and absorb nutrients. humic substances have been shown to increase the activities of enzymes involved in the tricarboxylic acid cycle and glycolysis process (nardi et al., 2007). pyruvate kinase, phosphofructokinase, glucokinase, and phosphoglucose isomerase are the enzyme activities linked to the glycolysis process; malate dehydrogenase, nadp+isocitrate dehydrogenase, and citrate synthase are the enzyme activities related to the respiration process. by activating auxins, such as phospholipase a2, a regulator of stomatal opening, humic acid in the root zone can set off physiological responses for shoot development (russell et al., 2006). the higher absorption of plant nutrients (micro and macronutrients) via humic acid raises the chlorophyll concentration in the leaf, which benefits the plant’s ability to grow shoots (sible et al., 2021). plants can absorb more nutrients because of the humic acid's slow release of soil nutrients, which increases the number of tillers in the plants (sunarya & tedjaningsih, 2016). the findings indicate that when added to soil or applied topically, humic acid can significantly enhance growth-related attributes like plant height, tiller count, dry weight, etc. unbalanced nutrient intake and toxic effects on plant metabolism can impair physiological processes and nutrient uptake. both soil and foliar application of humic acid have a notable impact on the yield-related traits of the plants. according to elankavi et al. (2020), humic acid enhances the soil's chemical, physical, and microbial activities and increases hormone activity. these results increased plant nutrient uptake, producing more photosynthate production and more significant source-to-sink translocation of assimilates. ultimately, this leads to yield and yield attributing characters, such as straw yield and grain test weight. humic acid application influences n and p and increases plant age, according to sivakumar et al. (2007). these aids influence yield production and the significant accumulation of dry matter. furthermore, it is a naturally occurring biostimulant, reducing production losses and enhancing plant resistance to abiotic stresses like salinity and drought. conversely, humic acid improves nitrogen uptake in the sink, raising the grains' protein content (el-galad et al., 2013). humic acid also contributes to the increase in the content of carbohydrates by promoting a faster rate of photosynthesis, which in turn increases the amount of assimilates that are transferred from the source to the sink (azcona et al., 2011). when humic acid is applied, the bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 32 plants develop stronger roots and more permeable cell membranes, which improve plant nutrition uptake and ultimately result in higher doses of n, p2o5, and k in the plants (eshwar et al., 2017; mahmoud et al., 2011). nonetheless, sivakumar et al. (2007) state that humic acid applied to the soil up to 115 kg ha-1 significantly boosts crop yield; however, due to its harmful effects on plant metabolic processes, yield production is reduced beyond this point. conclusions compost and other decomposing organic materials are natural sources of humic acid. humic acid can be used as a fertilizer to enhance the soil’s fertility and structure and to help plants absorb more nutrients. from the experiment, it can be concluded that the application of 112 kg ha-1 of humic acid, along with the recommended dosage of fertilizers (treatment 6) for ridge gourd crops, had successfully improved the growth (root as well as shoot), yield, yield attributing parameters (number of flowers and fruits) and also the average fruit weight of ridge gourds. seed sowing after germination first wedding first flowering 2nd wedding fruit initiation first harvesting the field at first harvesting canopy of plant fruiting stage harvesting harvesting bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 33 author contributions: conceptualization, s.k.b. and g.s.m.; methodology, s.k.b.; software, s.k.b.; validation, s.k.b. and g.s.m.; investigation, s.k.b. and g.s.m.; resources, s.k.b. and g.s.m.; data curation, s.k.b.; writing – original draft preparation, s.k.b. and g.s.m.; writing – review & editing, s.k.b. and g.s.m.; visualization, s.k.b.; supervision, s.k.b.; project administration, s.k.b.; funding acquisition, s.k.b. and g.s.m. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study because the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgements: we want to acknowledge bckv for their incredible support. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author. due to restrictions, they are not publicly available. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references azcona, i., pascual, i., aguirreolea, j., fuentes, m., garcía‐mina, j. m., & sánchez‐díaz, m. (2011). growth and development of pepper are affected by humic substances derived from composted sludge, journal of plant nutrition and soil science, 174(6), 916-924. https://doi.org/10.1002/jpln.201000264 badr, m. a., abou hussein, s. d., el-tohamy, w. a., & gruda, n. (2010). nutrient uptake and yield of tomato under various methods of fertilizer application and levels of fertigation in arid lands. gesunde pflanzen, 62(1), 11-19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s103430100219-5 canellas, l. p., balmori, d. m., médici, l. o., aguiar, n. o., campostrini, e., rosa, r. c., façanha, a. r., & olivares, f. l. (2013). combining humic substances and herbaspirillum seropedicae inoculation enhances the growth of maize (zea mays l.) plant soil, 366, 119–132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11104-012-1382-5. canellas, l. p., & olivares, f. l. (2014). physiological responses to humic substances as plant growth promoters. chemical and biological technologies in agriculture, 1, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/2196-5641-1-3 cao, d., zong, l. g., xiao, j., zhang, q., & zhao, y. (2010). effects of bio-fertilizer on organically cultured cucumber growth and soil biological characteristics. ying yong sheng tai xue bao= the journal of applied ecology, 21(10), 2587-2592. elankavi, s., nambi, j., ramesh, s., jawahar, s., & lavanya, k. (2020). influence of different doses of fertilizers and foliar spray of nutrients on yield and yield attributes of rice. annals of the romanian society for cell biology, 24(2) 11271134. el-galad, m. a., sayed, d. a., & el-shal, r. m. (2013). effect of humic acid and compost applied alone or in combination with sulphur on soil fertility and faba bean productivity under saline soil conditions. journal of soil sciences and agricultural engineering, 4(10), 1139-1157. eshwar, m., srilatha, m., rekha, k. b., & sharma, s. h. (2017). effect of humic substances (humic, fulvic acid) and chemical fertilizers on nutrient uptake, dry matter production of aerobic rice (oryza sativa l.). journal of pharmacognosy and phytochemistry, 6(5), 1063-1066. hebbar, s. s., ramachandrappa, b. k., nanjappa, h. v., & prabhakar, m. (2004). studies on npk drip fertigation in field grown tomato (lycopersicon esculentum mill.). european. j. agron., 21, 117-127. karthick, k., patel, g. s., & prasad, j. g. r. (2017). performance of ridge gourd (luffa acutangula l. roxb). varieties and nature of cultivation on growth and flowering attributes. int. j. agril. sci., 9, 3910-3912. khattak, r. a., & dost, m. (2010). seed cotton yield and nutrient concentrations are influenced by lignitic coal-derived humic acid in salt-affected soils. sarhad journal of agriculture, 26(1), 43-49. kumar, a., & dwivedi, a. k. (2018). growth and yield of ridge gourd [luffa acutangula l. (roxb.)] as affected by application of nitrogen and potash fertilizers under the agro-climatic condition of zone prevailing in bokaro district of jharkhand., int. j. curr. microbiol. app. sci., 8, 22-28. lamattina, l., garcía-mata, c., graziano, m., & pagnussat, g. (2003). nitric oxide: the versatility ofan extensive signal molecule. annual review of plant biology, 54(1), 109-36. mahmoud, m. m., hassanein, a. h., mansour, s. f., & khalefa, a. m. (2011). effect of soil and foliar application of humic acid on growth and productivity of soybean plants grown on a calcareous soil under different levels of mineral fertilizers. journal of soil sciences and agricultural engineering, 2(8), 881-890. mora, v., baigorri, r., bacaicoa, e., zamarreno, a. m., & garcía-mina, j. m. (2012). the humic acid-induced changes in the root concentration of nitric oxide, iaa and ethylene do not explain the changes in root architecture caused by humic acid in cucumber. environmental and experimental botany, 76, 24-32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2011.10.001 muscolo, a., sidari, m., & nardi, s. (2013). humic substance: relationship between structure and activity. deeper information suggests univocal findings. journal of geochemical exploration, 129, 57-63. nardi, s., muscolo, a., vaccaro, s., baiano, s., spaccini, r., & piccolo, a. (2007). relationship between molecular characteristics of soil humic fractions and glycolytic pathway and krebs cycle in maize seedlings. soil biology and biochemistry, 39(12), 3138-46. olaetxea, m., mora, v., baigorri, r., zamarreño, a. m., & garcía-mina, j. m. (2020). the singular molecular conformation of humic acids in solution influences their ability to enhance root hydraulic conductivity and plant growth. molecules, 26(1), 3. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26010003 prabhakar, m., hebbar, s. s., & nair, a. k. (2010). production technology of vegetable crops-a hand book. indian institute of horticultural research, hessarghatta, bangalore, karnataka, 87-92. bordolui & mandal, american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 27-34 34 rose, m. t., patti, a. f., little, k. r., brown, a. l., jackson, w. r., & cavagnaro, t. r. (2014). a meta-analysis and review of plant-growth response to humic substances: practical implications for agriculture. advances in agronomy, 124, 37-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-800138-7.00002-4 russell, l., stokes, a. r., macdonald, h., muscolo, a., & nardi, s. (2006). stomatal responses to humic substances and auxin are sensitive to inhibitors of phospholipase a2. plant and soil, 283, 175-185. sheoran, o. p., tonk, d. s., kaushik, l. s., hasija, r. c., & pannu, r. s. (1998). statistical software package for agricultural research workers. department of mathematics statistics, ccs hau, hisar, 139-143. sible, c. n., seebauer, j. r., & below, f. e. (2021). plant biostimulants: a categorical review, their implications for row crop production, and relation to soil health indicators. agronomy, 11(7), 1297. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy110 7129739. singandhupe, r. b., james, b. k., antony, e., nanda, p., & behera, m. s. (2007). response of drip fertigation and mulching on growth and fruit yield of pointed gourd (trichosanthes dioica). indian. j agril. sci., 77(1), 8-13 sivakumar, k., devarajan, l., dhanasekaran, k., venkatakrishnan, d., & surendran, u. (2007). effect of humic acid on the yield and nutrient uptake of rice. oryza-an international journal on rice, 44(3), 277-279. sunarya, y., & tedjaningsih, t. (2016). increasing nitrogen fertilizer efficiency on wetland rice by using humic acid. journal of tropical soils, 20(3), 143-148. https://doi.org/10.5400/jts.2015.20.3.143 tahir, m. m., khurshid, m., khan, m. z., abbasi, m. k., & kazmi, m. h. (2011). lignite-derived humic acid effect on growth of wheat plants in different soils. pedosphere, 21(1), 124-131. yoshida, c., iwasaki, y., makino, a., & ikeda, h. (2011). effects of irrigation management on the growth and fruit yield of tomato under drip fertigation. horticultural research, 10(3), 325-331. zhang, x. c., & shangguan, z. p. (2007). effect of nitrogen fertilization on photosynthetic pigment and fluorescence characteristics in leaves of winter wheat cultivars on dryland. j. nuclear agric. sci., 21, 299-304. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 21 agricultural studies aijas vol 10 no 1 (2025) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa integration of nanotechnology and indigenous african agricultural knowledge: a review magdalene iredia osakue (a)1 joy chinaza aninwonye (b) ginikanwa patience ezeaku (c) tolulope tosin ajayi (d) fatimoh ikeoluwa egbinola (e) (a) research technician, international institute of tropical agriculture (iita), oyo, nigeria; e-mail: osakueiredia@gmail.com (b) msc student, enugu state university of science and technology, enugu, nigeria; e-mail: aninwonyejoy001@gmail.com (c) research assistant, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ginikanwaugwuja@gmail.com (d) msc student, department of food security and agricultural development, kyungpook national university, daegu, republic of korea; e-mail: ajayitolu84@gmail.com (e) graduate student, department of animal science, faculty of agriculture, obafemi awolowo university, nigeria; e-mail: fatimohegbinola@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 22rd june 2024 reviewed & revised: 22rd june 2024 to 20th march 2025 accepted: 21st march 2025 published: 14th april 2025 keywords: nanotechnology, nanopesticides, indigenous agricultural knowledge, nanotoxicity jel classification codes: o13, o55, q16, q56 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t there is a pressing need to improve agricultural methods and apply cutting-edge technologies to boost food production and ensure food security in africa. for decades, farmers have relied on commercially available pesticides that are both environmentally harmful and expensive. on the other hand, nanotechnology is an emerging technology with numerous promising uses, among which is the prevention and treatment of plant diseases. its application has allowed for more precise and efficient pesticide distribution to plants but there have been increasing concerns about toxicity and general acceptance. this review article examines the infusion of indigenous agricultural knowledge into nanotechnology for pesticide production in africa. this study employs a systematic review to identify relevant published articles from electronic databases like pubmed, directory of open access journals (doaj), and african journals online (ajol) after which a total of 46 articles were selected from 373 articles which were identified at the initial stage. the study shows that the african agricultural system, governed by indigenous agricultural knowledge, which is the result of human efforts to optimise crop yields via careful planning, experimentation, and the transmission of tried-and-true techniques from generation to generation has proven to be an economical, eco-friendly, and healthful strategy for addressing issues like weed control and insect and disease prevention in agriculture. the findings of this review suggest that incorporating indigenous agricultural knowledge with nanotechnology via green methods can solve these problems. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction pesticides play a crucial role in contemporary agriculture because of their ability to ward against pests and diseases (hashimi et al., 2020). most commercially available pesticides are chemical formulations, and their use has been standard in traditional pest control for decades (samada & tambunan, 2020). however, using these pesticides relies on blanket spraying, which exposes non-targets and pollutes the surrounding area (a. sharma et al., 2020). other potential drawbacks are the development of resistance to these pesticides over time (abdollahdokht et al., 2022) and the short duration of action which necessitates their frequent reapplication, causing more environmental harm and higher costs for farmers. this necessitates research into potential solutions to improve pesticide application while reducing environmental impacts. recently, nanotechnology has gained special attention for its applications in solving many environmental problems. additionally, using nanopesticides selectively reduces the overall amount of pesticides needed, which benefits the environment and reduces the likelihood of pesticide residues in human food and water supplies (bratovcic et al., 2021). by increasing the duration of exposure and reducing the number of treatments needed, controlled release increases the effectiveness of pesticides (chaud et al., 2021). to reduce the number of treatments and the overall ecological impact of pesticide use, nanopesticides can aid in promoting sustainable agricultural practices (r. kumar et al., 2022). 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0003-3808-3473 © 2025 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v10i1.355 to cite this article: osakue, m. i., aninwonye, j. c., ezeaku, g. p., ajayi, t. t., & egbinola, f. i. (2025). integration of nanotechnology and indigenous african agricultural knowledge: a review. american international journal of agricultural studies, 10(1), 21-28. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v10i1.355 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v10i1.355 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3808-3473 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-2038-7874 https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3356-2559 https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1766-4574 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8024-4680 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 22 despite the need and potential of nanotechnology in combating food insecurity in africa, its development and application are fraught with challenges because of the increasing concern for the potential toxicity of nanomaterials and their effects on human health and the environment over time. the development of nanotechnology for agricultural applications in africa is still at an early stage and is progressing quite slowly, as noted by jellason et al. (2021). as a result, very little research has been conducted in this field in africa, especially in the area of incorporating nanotechnology and indigenous agricultural technology. achieving the dual goals of food security and environmental protection thus becomes very pertinent. the objective of this study is to explore how africa’s agricultural sector can be advanced to promote environmentally sustainable practices toward achieving food security. to achieve this, the article begins by outlining the current state of pesticide usage on agricultural land across the continent. it then examines the diversity of nanoscale system through a literature review. the discussion also considers several research works and that have shown the potential to integrate indigenous agricultural knowledge with nanotechnology for sustainable environment and agricultural transformation. this review study concludes with a recommendation for more research to be carried out to establish the cost implications and feasibility for small holder farmers in africa. literature review diversity of nanoscale system nanoparticles nanoparticles (nps), which range in size from 1 to 100 nanometers, have attracted significant attention from a wide range of scientific and professional communities due to their intriguing properties. their high surface-to-volume ratio and remarkable size-dependent features make them useful and versatile across many fields. in agriculture, nanoparticles hold tremendous potential to revolutionise crop protection and yield. fewer agrochemicals are utilised with a more precise distribution approach, protecting people and the environment from harm (v. sharma et al., 2022). silver nanoparticles, which have antibacterial properties and can be used to treat plant infections (vanti et al., 2020), and iron oxide nanoparticles, which can be utilised for remediation of the environment or as nanofertilizers (s. khan et al., 2023) are only two examples. carbon-based nanoparticles like graphene and carbon nanotubes are perfect for developing novel sensors, biosensors, and intelligent agriculture systems due to their exceptional mechanical strength and conductivity (malik et al., 2023). as a result, they may be engineered to respond to specific stimuli or to transport bioactive chemicals, nanoparticles are finding growing use in controlled-release systems and precision agriculture (thi et al., 2019). figure 2 illustrates how nanoparticles are used to deliver nano pesticides in plant root meristem. figure 1. nanoparticles as carriers for pesticide molecules. generated by biorender.com and published based on their academic license term. nanogels in several fields, including biomedicine, environmental science, and agriculture, nanogels have proven to be versatile and promising materials (lima et al., 2020). these three-dimensional networks are made of cross-linked polymer chains that are highly hydrated and capable of transporting a wide variety of bioactive substances (maddiboyina et al., 2022; yang et al., 2024). considering its potential to increase crop yield and sustainability, nanogels have attracted a lot of interest in the agricultural sector (arora et al., 2022). nanogels' potential to act as controlled-release delivery systems for nutrients, fertilisers, and insecticides is one of its primary benefits (del prado-audelo et al., 2022). nanogels can encapsulate and protect active substances thanks to their porous structure, preventing the ingredients from being prematurely released or degraded (shelar et al., 2023). as a result of this controlled-release mechanism, bioactive substances are released gradually and consistently, giving plants a steady and effective dose of nutrients or pesticides (del prado-audelo et al., 2022). nanogels assist in reducing waste, and environmental pollution, and increase crop health and production by facilitating the efficient and targeted administration of agrochemicals. osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 23 nanocapsules the core-shell structure of these nanoparticles allows for the regulated release of insecticides. the pesticide is housed within the nanocapsule's core, while the shell serves as a barrier. this encapsulation prevents the pesticide from degrading or evaporating before it reaches its intended location (kannan et al., 2022). nanocapsules' controlled release qualities allow for the pesticide to be exposed to pests for a longer period, increasing its effectiveness while decreasing the amount of pesticide required (ning et al., 2022). the capacity of nanocapsules to concentrate their contents in certain plant organs is a major benefit. they can travel through plant tissues and access high-density pest populations in places like feeding sites and stomata because of their diminutive size (shelar et al., 2023) where they can do the most damage. using this method of tailored delivery encourages more eco-friendly pest control methods by cutting down on unnecessary pesticide use and exposure to non-target organisms (singh et al., 2022). nanocapsules improve the pesticide's stability and bioavailability, enabling a continuous and regulated release that boosts the pesticide's efficacy (li et al., 2021). nanofibres the creation of nanopesticides for efficient plant protection has seen the emergence of nanofibers as a viable technology. due to their high surface area and adaptability, these ultrafine fibers have significant benefits for the delivery of pesticides (subhan et al., 2021). the nanofiber matrix provides a barrier against degradation and volatilization, and this makes the pesticide to be more stable and last longer (shangguan et al., 2022). this method of controlled release keeps the pesticide in the environment for an extended period, increasing its effectiveness while reducing the amount of pesticide used. targeted delivery is a major advantage of nanofibers in nanopesticides (okey-onyesolu et al., 2021). significance of nanotechnology to pesticide delivery non-target organisms are less likely to be harmed by nanopesticides than they would be by conventional pesticides (deka et al., 2021); modifying polymers used in pest control in even small ways can improve their biocompatibility, biodegradability, and the controlled administration of active ingredients (ai). recent studies have shown that nanopesticides can lessen the harmful effects of chemical-based pesticides, provide pest control that is more tailored to its target, and aid in the development of smart nano-systems that may mitigate issues like environmental imbalances and their adverse impact on food security and crop yields (asif et al., 2021). they solve environmental issues including excessive nutrient levels in water bodies and the buildup of non-biodegradable components in the food chain by limiting the release of active ingredients, and they have an extended shelf life. there is still a need to improve the methods to see substantial gains in agricultural productivity. figure 2. overview of nanotechnology application in plants and their interactions with plants. source: a. kumar et al. (2021) challenges of nanotechnology to pesticide delivery nanotoxicity the delivery of pesticides utilizing nanotechnology may be affected by concerns over nanotoxicity. nanotechnology has the potential to improve the delivery of pesticides to specific areas, but their potential toxicity must be carefully examined. accumulation of nps in plant tissues can have negative effects on plants and, by extension, human health. nps can enter plant cells via endocytosis, interacting with organic compounds, ion channels, stomatal openings, and the bases of trichomes after being translocated into the plant system (ali et al., 2021). osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 24 there is also the possibility of harm to non-target organisms and ecosystems from the nanoparticles used in pesticide delivery (chaud et al., 2021). nanoparticles' enhanced interactions with living organisms might have unanticipated harmful effects, such as oxidative stress, cellular damage, inflammation, and disruption of physiological systems (n. sharma et al., 2024), due to their small size and increased surface area. assessing nanotoxicity in pesticide delivery also requires considering the environmental impacts and behavior of nanomaterials. metallic nps are the basis for many cutting-edge nano-agricultural products, including nanopesticides, nanoherbicides, and nanofertilizers. soil nps, including znoand cuonps, might have detrimental impacts on enzymatic activity and nutrient cycles of several valuable soil microbial communities like azotobacter, sphingomonas, and rhizobiales upon accumulation (rajput et al., 2020). evaluating the impact of nanoparticles on ecosystems requires an understanding of the potential for nanoparticle release, transport, and change in environmental systems. figure 3 shows the toxic effects of nanopesticides in plant cells. figure 3. toxicity of nanopesticides in plant cells. source: ali et al. (2021) uncertainties of nanotechnology in agriculture: limitations of nanotechnology's broad applicability have been fairly assessed, although there are still questions about its use in agriculture. however, it does not appear that the existing risk assessment data in agriculture is sufficient for customers to make educated decisions. the regulatory structure is severely hampered by this lack of information which raises serious concerns about consumer and environmental safety (mwaanga, 2018). these worries have prompted important inquiries like, "do current toxicology testing protocols provide enough information?" which indicator best characterizes the toxicity of nps, especially those that enter the body through the digestive tract? is there enough regulatory framework to safeguard nps used in farming? (grillo et al., 2021) regulation: it may be challenging to develop a regulatory framework for nanotechnology because of the size-related distinctions between nano-particles and their bulky counterparts. governments need to adopt nano-specific regulations and formulate a standard definition to encourage knowledge sharing, trade in products containing nanoparticles, and risk mitigation (grillo et al., 2021). figure 4 gives an overview of the potential implications of nanopesticide production and its applications osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 25 figure 4. potential implications of nanopesticide production and applications. source: shekhar et al. (2021) materials and methods a systematic literature review was conducted to identify relevant published articles between 2016 2024 on indigenous agricultural knowledge and nanotechnology. keywords such as ‘nanotechnology’, ‘indigenous agricultural knowledge’, ‘toxicity’, ‘effect of pesticide toxicity’, ‘agricultural advancement in africa’, and ‘challenges of nanotechnology’ were explored on several electronic databases like pubmed, web of science, directory of open access journals (doaj), and african journals online (ajol). only peer-reviewed journals, books, and reports were considered to ensure the credibility of the information. a total of 373 articles were identified in the first stage of review but only 46 articles were selected to be a good match for the review based on the objective of the study. the review is limited by the availability of full-text fulltext articles. discussions iak and nanotechnology for pesticide delivery: the way forward for agricultural advancement in africa researchers have identified that combining iak with scientific approaches has improved several facets of agriculture (limpo et al., 2022; al-shabeeb et al., 2022; ghidan et al., 2017). due to their affordability, biodegradability, and comparable levels of control, plant-based alternatives have gained increasing attention as a safer and more sustainable option as opposed to synthetic products (souto et al., 2021). the use of nps to improve the efficiency and safety of chemical applications to plants and combining it with iak is a topic we investigate further. the iak of using plants to combat pests has been integrated into nanotechnology research by several researchers to synthesize nps for pesticide formulation. these are innovations that could benefit the agricultural system in africa. the synthesis of agnps from coriander was studied by m.z.h. khan et al. (2018). the coriander leaf extract was used in this study with an aqueous solution of agno3 to synthesize agnps with silver ions being reduced into nanoparticles in this study. tippayawat et al. (2016) used aloe vera extract to synthesize agnps. in this study, they employed a hydrothermal process used to produce uniformly small spheres of nanoparticles. furthermore, zinc oxide nanoparticles have been synthesized from vachellia nilotica leaf extract (gupta et al., 2024). gunasekaran et al. (2023) synthesized cerium oxide (ceo2), another significant np from turmeric rhizomes. producing nanoparticles through green methods holds great promise for improving plant development while reducing the risk of phytotoxicity. it has been shown that producing nanoparticles via green methods is not only safe, but also environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and free of harmful chemicals (garg et al., 2023). ghidan et al. (2017) proposed the synthesis of mghnps using neem leaf extract which is traditionally used to control aphids. the concentration of mghnp has been shown to have a significant effect on aphid mortality, suggesting their potential utility as an aphicide. however, more research in screenhouses and field settings is required to corroborate these findings (ghidan et al., 2017). judging by this, african farming and food systems could benefit greatly from the incorporation of iak and the use of nanoparticles as it would not only dispel health and environmental concerns but also contribute to achieving food security in africa. osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 26 conclusions the study aimed at exploring how africa’s agricultural sector can be advanced to promote environmentally sustainable practices toward achieving food security. the result of this study revealed that incorporating nanotechnology and iak holds great promise for improving plant development, environmental preservation, and public health. this paper uniquely contributes to scientific knowledge in africa especially in the area of incorporating nanotechnology and indigenous agricultural technology because there is very little research in this area. the case studies used were limited to thailand and india which were the readily available research that had been carried out in this area of research as at the time of the writing of this review. these research works revealed that incorporating nanotechnology and iak holds great promise for improving plant development, environmental preservation, and public health. this review study concludes with a recommendation for more research to be carried out to establish the cost implications and feasibility for small holder farmers in africa. additionally, it is recommended that the government provide funds for more research in this field toward food security and a sustainable environment. author contributions: conceptualization, m.i.o., and j.c.a.; methodology, m.i.o.; validation, m.i.o., j.c.a., g.p.e., t.t.a., and f.t.e.; formal analysis, m.i.o.; investigation, m.i.o., j.c.a., g.p.e., t.t.a., and f.t.e., resources, m.i.o., j.c.a., g.p.e., t.t.a., and f.t.e., data curation, m.i.o., j.c.a, and g.p.e.; writing – original draft preparation, m.i.o., j.c.a., g.p.e., t.t.a., and f.t.e., writing – review & editing, m.i.o., j.c.a., g.p.e., t.t.a., and f.t.e., visualization, m.i.o.; supervision, m.i.o.; project administration, m.i.o.; authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references abdollahdokht, d., gao, y., faramarz, s., poustforoosh, a., abbasi, m., asadikaram, g., & nematollahi, m. h. (2022). conventional agrochemicals towards nano-biopesticides: an overview on recent advances. chemical and biological technologies in agriculture, 9(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40538-021-00281-0 ali, s. s., al-tohamy, r., koutra, e., moawad, m. s., kornaros, m., mustafa, a. m., ... & sun, j. (2021). nanobiotechnological advancements in agriculture and food industry: applications, nanotoxicity, and future perspectives. science of the total environment, 792, 148359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.148359 al-shabeeb, a. r., hamdan, i., al amoush, h., al-adamat, r., & al-fugara, a. k. (2022). integrating indigenous knowledge with mcda in the gis environment to determine site potential for water harvesting in wadi hammad basin in jordan. sustainability, 14(21), 14033. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114033 arora, s., murmu, g., mukherjee, k., saha, s., & maity, d. (2022). a comprehensive overview of nanotechnology in sustainable agriculture. journal of biotechnology, 355, 21-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.06.007 asif, m., islam, s., malik, m. a., dar, z. m., masood, a., shafi, s., ... & sidique, s. (2021). nano pesticides application in agriculture and their impact on environment. in agricultural development in asia-potential use of nanomaterials and nano-technology. intechopen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.100690 bratovcic, a., hikal, w. m., said-al ahl, h. a., tkachenko, k. g., baeshen, r. s., sabra, a. s., & sany, h. (2021). nanopesticides and nanofertilizers and agricultural development: scopes, advances and applications. open journal of ecology, 11(4), 301-316. https://doi.org/10.101610.4236/oje.2021.114022 chaud, m., souto, e. b., zielinska, a., severino, p., batain, f., oliveira-junior, j., & alves, t. (2021). nanopesticides in agriculture: benefits and challenge in agricultural productivity, toxicological risks to human health and environment. toxics, 9(6), 131. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9060131 deka, b., babu, a., baruah, c., & barthakur, m. (2021). nanopesticides: a systematic review of their prospects with special reference to tea pest management. frontiers in nutrition, 8, 686131. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.686131 del prado-audelo, m. l., bernal-chávez, s. a., gutiérrez-ruíz, s. c., hernández-parra, h., kerdan, i. g., reynagonzález, j. m., ... & leyva-gómez, g. (2022). stability phenomena associated with the development of polymer‐based nanopesticides. oxidative medicine and cellular longevity, 2022(1), 5766199. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/5766199. souto, a. l., sylvestre, m., tölke, e. d., tavares, j. f., barbosa-filho, j. m., & cebrián-torrejón, g. (2021). plant-derived pesticides as an alternative to pest management and sustainable agricultural production: prospects, applications and challenges. molecules, 26(16), 4835. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26164835 garg, d., sridhar, k., stephen inbaraj, b., chawla, p., tripathi, m., & sharma, m. (2023). nano-biofertilizer formulations for agriculture: a systematic review on recent advances and prospective applications. bioengineering, 10(9), 1010. https://doi.org/10.3390/bioengineering10091010 ghidan, a. y., al-antary, t. m., awwad, a. m., & akash, m. w. (2017). aphidicidal potential of green synthesized magnesium hydroxide nanoparticles using olea europaea leaves extract. arpn journal of agricultural and biological science. 2017b, 12(10), 293-301. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2022.06.007 http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oje.2021.114022 https://doi.org/10.3390/toxics9060131 https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2021.686131 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 27 grillo, r., fraceto, l. f., amorim, m. j., scott-fordsmand, j. j., schoonjans, r., & chaudhry, q. (2021). ecotoxicological and regulatory aspects of environmental sustainability of nanopesticides. journal of hazardous materials, 404, 124148. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124148. gunasekaran, n. k., tumkur, p. p., bayon, n. n., prabhakaran, k., arasho, w. d., hall, j. c., & ramesh, g. t. (2023). cerium oxide nanoparticles: synthesis and characterization using curcuma longa (turmeric rhizome). energy and environment focus, 7(1), 83-89. https://doi.org/10.3390/nanomanufacturing5020006 gupta, k., sharma, b., garg, v., neelratan, p. p., kumar, v., kumar, d., & sharma, s. k. (2024). enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue and methyl orange using biogenic zno nps synthesized via vachellia nilotica (babool) leaves extract. hybrid advances, 5, 100160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hybadv.2024.100160 hashimi, m. h., hashimi, r., & ryan, q. (2020). toxic effects of pesticides on humans, plants, animals, pollinators and beneficial organisms. aprj, 5(4), 37-47. https://doi.org/10.9734/aprj/2020/v5i430114 jellason, n. p., robinson, e. j., & ogbaga, c. c. (2021). agriculture 4.0: is sub-saharan africa ready?. applied sciences, 11(12), 5750. https://doi.org/10.3390/app11125750 kannan, m., mohan, m., elango, k., govindaraju, k., & mani, m. (2022). principles and application of nanotechnology in pest management. trends in horticultural entomology, 49-79. https://doi.org/ 10.1007/978-981-19-0343-4_2 khan, m. z. h., tareq, f. k., hossen, m. a., & roki, m. n. a. m. (2018). green synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticles using coriandrum sativum leaf extract. journal of engineering science and technology, 13(1), 158166. khan, s., akhtar, n., rehman, s. u., & jamil, m. (2023). iron oxide nanoparticles: plant response, interaction, phytotoxicity and defense mechanisms. in nanomaterials and nanocomposites exposures to plants: response, interaction, phytotoxicity and defense mechanisms (pp. 227-245). singapore: springer nature singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2419-6_11 kumar, a., nagar, s., & anand, s. (2021). nanotechnology for sustainable crop production: recent development and strategies. in plant-microbes-engineered nano-particles (pm-enps) nexus in agro-ecosystems: understanding the interaction of plant, microbes and engineered nano-particles (enps) (pp. 31-47). cham: springer international publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66956-0_3 kumar, r., kumar, n., rajput, v. d., mandzhieva, s., minkina, t., saharan, b. s., ... & duhan, j. s. (2022). advances in biopolymeric nanopesticides: a new eco-friendly/eco-protective perspective in precision agriculture. nanomaterials, 12(22), 3964. https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12223964 li, n., sun, c., jiang, j., wang, a., wang, c., shen, y., ... & wang, y. (2021). advances in controlled-release pesticide formulations with improved efficacy and targetability. journal of agricultural and food chemistry, 69(43), 1257912597. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.0c05431 lima, c. s. d., balogh, t. s., varca, j. p., varca, g. h., lugão, a. b., a. camacho-cruz, l., & kadlubowski, s. s. (2020). an updated review of macro, micro, and nanostructured hydrogels for biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. pharmaceutics, 12(10), 970. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12100970 limpo, s. y., fahmid, i. m., fattah, a., rauf, a. w., surmaini, e., muslimin, ... & andri, k. b. (2022). integrating indigenous and scientific knowledge for decision making of rice farming in south sulawesi, indonesia. sustainability, 14(5), 2952. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052952 maddiboyina, b., desu, p. k., vasam, m., challa, v. t., surendra, a. v., rao, r. s., ... & jhawat, v. (2022). an insight of nanogels as novel drug delivery system with potential hybrid nanogel applications. journal of biomaterials science, polymer edition, 33(2), 262-278. https://doi.org/10.1080/09205063.2021.1982643 malik, s., singh, j., goyat, r., saharan, y., chaudhry, v., umar, a., ... & baskoutas, s. (2023). nanomaterials-based biosensor and their applications: a review. heliyon, 9(9), e19929. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19929 mwaanga, p. (2018). risks, uncertainties, and ethics of nanotechnology in agriculture. new visions plant sci, 22(3), 143. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76590 ning, j., li, t., & chen, c. p. (2022). neuro-adaptive distributed formation tracking control of under-actuated unmanned surface vehicles with input quantization. ocean engineering, 265, 112492. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oceaneng.2022.112492 okey‐onyesolu, c. f., hassanisaadi, m., bilal, m., barani, m., rahdar, a., iqbal, j., and kyzas, g. z. (2021). nanomaterials as nanofertilizers and nanopesticides: an overview. chemistry select, 6(33), 8645-8663. https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.202102379 rajput, v., minkina, t., mazarji, m., shende, s., sushkova, s., mandzhieva, s., & jatav, h. (2020). accumulation of nanoparticles in the soil-plant systems and their effects on human health. annals of agricultural sciences, 65(2), 137-143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aoas.2020.08.001 samada, l. h., & tambunan, u. s. f. (2020). biopesticides as promising alternatives to chemical pesticides: a review of their current and future status. online journal of biological sciences, 20(2), 66-76. https://doi.org/10.3844/ojbsci.2020.66.76 shangguan, w., li, s., cao, l., wei, m., wang, z., & xu, h. (2022). electrospinning and nanofibers: building drug delivery systems and potential in pesticide delivery. materials today communications, 33, 104399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mtcomm.2022.104399 sharma, a., shukla, a., attri, k., kumar, m., kumar, p., suttee, a., ... & singla, n. (2020). global trends in pesticides: a looming threat and viable alternatives. ecotoxicology and environmental safety, 201, 110812. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoenv.2020.110812 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2020.124148 https://doi.org/10.3390/nanomanufacturing5020006 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hybadv.2024.100160 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11125750 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0343-4_2 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-2419-6_11 https://doi.org/10.3390/nano12223964 https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics12100970 https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052952 https://doi.org/10.1080/09205063.2021.1982643 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e19929 http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76590 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/slct.202102379 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aoas.2020.08.001 https://doi.org/10.3844/ojbsci.2020.66.76 osakue et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 21-28 28 sharma, n., kurmi, b. d., singh, d., mehan, s., khanna, k., karwasra, r., ... & kakkar, d. (2024). nanoparticles toxicity: an overview of its mechanism and plausible mitigation strategies. journal of drug targeting, 32(5), 457-469. https://doi.org/10.1080/1061186x.2024.2316785 sharma, v., javed, b., byrne, h., curtin, j., & tian, f. (2022). zeolites as carriers of nano-fertilizers: from structures and principles to prospects and challenges. applied nano, 3(3), 163-186. https://doi.org/10.3390/applnano3030013 shekhar, s., sharma, s., kumar, a., taneja, a., & sharma, b. (2021). the framework of nanopesticides: a paradigm in biodiversity. materials advances, 2(20), 6569-6588. https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ma00329a shelar, a., nile, s. h., singh, a. v., rothenstein, d., bill, j., xiao, j., ... & patil, r. (2023). recent advances in nanoenabled seed treatment strategies for sustainable agriculture: challenges, risk assessment, and future perspectives. nano-micro letters, 15(1), 54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40820-023-01025-5 singh, g., ramadass, k., sooriyakumar, p., hettithanthri, o., vithange, m., bolan, n., & vinu, a. (2022). nanoporous materials for pesticide formulation and delivery in the agricultural sector. journal of controlled release, 343, 187206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.01.036 subhan, m. a., choudhury, k. p., & neogi, n. (2021). advances with molecular nanomaterials in industrial manufacturing applications. nanomanufacturing, 1(2), 75-97. https://doi.org/10.3390/nanomanufacturing1020008 thi, t. t. h., nguyen, t. n. q., hoang, d. t., ngo, v. c., & nguyen, d. h. (2019). functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles and biomedical applications. materials science and engineering: c, 99, 631-656. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.msec.2019.01.129 tippayawat, p., phromviyo, n., boueroy, p., & chompoosor, a. (2016). green synthesis of silver nanoparticles in aloe vera plant extract prepared by a hydrothermal method and their synergistic antibacterial activity. peerj, 4, e2589. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2589 vanti, g. l., kurjogi, m., basavesha, k. n., teradal, n. l., masaphy, s., & nargund, v. b. (2020). synthesis and antibacterial activity of solanum torvum mediated silver nanoparticle against xxanthomonas axonopodis pv. punicae and ralstonia solanacearum. journal of biotechnology, 309, 20-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiotec.2019.12.009 yang, z., xie, f., & cai, j. (2024). advances in the delivery of bioactive compounds using starch-based nanogels: formation mechanism, contemporary challenges, and prospects. journal of agriculture and food research, 16, 101142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101142 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.3390/applnano3030013 https://doi.org/10.1039/d1ma00329a https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.01.036 https://doi.org/10.3390/nanomanufacturing1020008 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101142 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 20 agricultural studies aijas vol 7 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa differentials in profitability and efficiency of cowpea marketing in rural, semiurban and urban markets in nasarawa state, nigeria luka anthony (a)1 elizabeth samuel ebukiba (b) funso omolayo alabuja (c) ahanotu kenedy chigozie (d) jeremiah samuel aluwong (e) (a)department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, gwagwalada federal capital territory, nigeria; e-mail: gqluka11@gmail.com (b) department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, gwagwalada federal capital territory, nigeria; e-mail: odudu4sure@yahoo.com (c) department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, gwagwalada federal capital territory, nigeria; e-mail: funsoalabuja@gmail.com (d) department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, gwagwalada federal capital territory, nigeria; e-mail: kennygold500@gmail.com (e) department of agricultural extension and management, school of agricultural technology, nuhu bamali polytechnic, zaria, samaru kataf campus, kaduna state, nigeria: e-mail: jeremiahaluwong1@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 21st january 2023 revised: 20th march 2023 accepted: 25th june 2023 published: 15th july 2023 keywords: differentials, profitability, marketing efficiency, cowpea jel classification codes: g32 a b s t r a c t this study analyzed differentials in profitability and efficiency of cowpea marketing in rural semi-urban and urban markets in nasarawa state, nigeria. multistage sampling technique was employed for this study. data was collected from 150 sampled cowpea marketers through the use of well-structured questionnaires. the following statistical and econometric tools was used to achieve the stated objectives of the study, descriptive statistics, budgetary technique, multinomial logit regression model and likert scale. the results of the socioeconomic characteristics of the samples cowpea marketers show that the mean age of the sampled cowpea marketers operating in rural, semi-urban and urban markets were 35 years, 33 years and 35 years respectively. the gross margin obtained by rural marketers was n680,744.91, while the gross margin obtained by the semi-urban and urban marketers was n209,539.45 and n2,498,189.69 respectively. the marketing efficiency level achieved by the marketers were 38%, 16% and 35% and were all less than 1. the mean price of the cowpea in naira/50kg at the various market under study were rural market price n20,909.64, semi-urban market price was n21,439.65 and urban market price was found to be n22,954.96 on average basis. the results further show that the following factors influencing the choice of rural semi-urban and urban market were age of the marketers (p<0.01). household size (p<0.01), education level of the marketers (p<0.01), marketing experience (p< 0.05) market price of cowpea (p<0.01) and cost of transportation (p<0.01). the constraints faced by cowpea marketers include rodents, inadequate security, market leadership, customers, weevil, lack of fund, bad roads, lack of electricity, rainfall, and high price of the commodity. therefore, the study recommends that extension services should be made available, storage facilities should be provided in the markets at all levels credit facilities should be provided to the marketers to increase their capacity either through government or nongovernmental organizations or microfinance banks or institutions, good roads and other infrastructural facilities should be made available specially to link the rural markets in the rural areas, security personnel should be provided to secure the markets at all levels. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction cowpea (vigna unguiculata) also known as beans in nigeria is included among one of the most ancient crops that has been in existence that is well known to man. it is classified as an important source of protein derived from plant in the developing world and most especially in west african countries; it is also the among most important crop that is economically and nutritionally indigenous african legume crops, especially in west and central african regions (kaka et al., 2020). sustainability of agricultural production all over the world is hinged on active pricing system driven by market forces. in the recent years in the past, the marketing trend for agricultural products and commodity in nigeria has revealed the pattern of long-term price fall of cowpea and short-term price instability. nigeria is the major world‘s leading cowpea (vigna 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0001-8337-2341 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under responsibility of american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.287 to cite this article: anthony, l., ebukiba , e. s., alabuja , f. o., chigozie , a. k., & aluwong, j. s. . (2023). differentials in profitability and efficiency of cowpea marketing in rural, semiurban and urban markets in nasarawa state, nigeria . american international journal of agricultural studies, 7(1), 20–31. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.287 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.287 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8337-2341 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6765-8697 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7579-1041 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6921-2923 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8462-538x anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 21 unguiculata) producing country, with the production capacity of over 2.91 million tons of dry grains (food and agriculture organization of the united nations rome (2014); coker et al., 2018). some countries in africa such as niger republic produces (1.57 million tons) ghana, burkina faso, senegal and cameroon are also significant producers of cowpea. outside africa, the major cowpea production areas are in asia, north and south america. nigeria’s production of cowpea is about 58 percent of the global supply, making the country the largest producer of cowpea all over the world. nigeria is also the largest consumer of the cowpea crop. cowpea is one of the most important foods consumed across all the geo-political zones in the country. according to naerls (2020), the national demand for cowpea in nigeria is about 5.6 million tons. out of this figure, the domestic supply by the country farmers is 4.1 million tons, while the deficit balance of 1.5 million tons is imported into the country. nigeria can earn almost about $638 million annually on cowpea export to europe but the european union has extended the ban on export of beans from nigeria to europe till 2022 as a result of the pesticides content and failure to implement food safety plan. the main market channels of distribution of cowpea are through the local market, within the farming community, and bulk merchants, outside the farming community. according to mohammed and mohammed (2014), cowpea grain has a protein content of about 23% making it a good source of plant protein. they further asserted that it is has an ability to cover a protein gap created by inadequacy of animal protein in the diet of common people living in nigeria. cowpea is gradually attaining its economic importance in nigeria particularly in the southern and eastern states of nigeria. the appreciating economic importance may be due to its ability to generate revenue to farmers and marketers across the value chain and also food value which made it a good supplement/complimentary source of animal protein. marketing can be defined as the topmost performance of all line of activities involved business which lead to the easy flow of goods and services from the point of initial agricultural production passes through different channels until they are in the hands or custody of the ultimate final consumers (ali et al., 2019). agriculture in all its embodiment has evolved into marketing and has already tuned and become a vast and complex system which has now reaches far beyond the ordinary farm operation but includes all those who are involved in the activities of bringing food and fiber to bosom of the consumers (kaka et al., 2020). agricultural marketing involves the performance of all business activities that comprises of direct flow of agricultural commodity, goods and services to potential consumers in order to accomplish the purpose of producer’s objectives. thus, marketing leads to the creation of the goods form, the place of sale, time of sale or purchase and possession utilities. marketing has to do with the process of building lasting relationships between producers, retailers, wholesalers and consumers through decision of planning, executing and controlling the conception of the plan including; pricing, promotion and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create mutual exchange that satisfy individual and organizational needs and objectives (ali et al., 2019; premjit, 2013). agricultural marketing is being started and initiated right from the supplies of farm inputs up to the time when a product reaches the ultimate consumer (katanga et al., 2016). in performing the roles of marketing, products pass through various marketing agents or intermediaries called market channels 9 (kaka et al., 2020). these market intermediaries are the wholesalers and retailers and both play an important role in the marketing system (girei et al., 2013). variability in products prices in different markets in the same county could be unfavorable to the marketing system and the economy as a whole. this could cause allocation of resource inefficiency among sellers as well as consumers depending on the sources and causes of the variability in commodity prices. it might also upsurge poverty level between low income earners in the humanity (polaski, 2013; akpan et al., 2014). price of cowpea grains is highly unstable between seasons and consumers pay different amounts of money for the same product in different markets locations separated by just a few kilometers of distance (kaka et al., 2020). according to kaka et al. (2020) the sustainability of agricultural marketing and flow of commodities is highly hinged on active pricing system. just in the recent years past, the market for agricultural products in nigeria has revealed a pattern of long-term price fall and short-term price instability in the commodity market. economically, cowpea has a great value in the internal trade within the country because it promotes trading between the producing areas and the non-producing areas. it also serves as a source of providing income for those that involved in the marketing process such as middlemen who embark on transporting cowpea from one location to another. the returns earned from cowpea marketing like any other type of business or firm ensure sustainability of the system through the enhanced revenue generated by both marketers and producers. however, the challenge that marketers face is to satisfy consumer’s wants at a reasonable profit level and in a socially acceptable manner. cowpea marketing in karu lga is currently getting prominent attention at both local and national levels following the creation of a hub market for the selling of grains majorly cowpea in auta-balefi market of the lga in november, 2016 by cowpea (beans) dealers association dominated by displaced person from gwoza local government borono state nigeria. as a result of the establishment of the cowpea hub market otherwise non as’’ bags market’’ in the area, the production, demand and subsequent marketing of cowpea at different market levels is growing from strength to strength. the marketing activities has increased tremendously in the area as so much demand on grains, like beans are brought by traders and taken to places like lagos and ibadan with many middlemen playing their intermediary roles between the farmers and the buyers. to meet up with the rising demand, the quantities of cowpea produced in the catchment areas have also increased. the need to examine the market price trends, the profit margins accruable from marketing of cowpea at different market levels in the area to the market operators, the possible effects of the socioeconomic characteristics on the marketing of cowpea and the associated marketing problems become not only necessary but imperative in the area. marketing system studies such as the structure and performance approach to marketing studies is one of the most important approaches to the analysis of markets. efficiency attainment in marketing of agricultural commodities encourages the participation of a large number of people operating at various types of markets and exchange points where the marketing services of assembling, storage, processing, transportation and break-of bulk are performed. the effects of an efficient market can go a long way in influencing positively the supply response of agricultural products (gaya et al., 2020). the different categories of market players such as middlemen, whole sellers and retailers operating at different market levels have contributed immensely in anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 22 making farm produce readily available to the consumers at different market locations nationwide; however, there is generally limited information on the profit margin accruing to each market player in the marketing of cowpea. producers habitually assent to lower prices as they are unaware of the market prices or since they lack the time, money or resources to transport cowpea grains to the market in urban areas for better profits (abah & tor, 2012). features influencing price setting of cowpea in various markets outlets are: cowpea grain quality, the selling price, transportation fare, storage facilities, market tolls, commissions and levies (kaka et al., 2020). in the recent past, the market for agricultural produce in nigeria has revealed a pattern of long-term price fall and short-term price instability (imf, 2010). the instability in price of agricultural produces in nigeria has been credited to several factors including variances in the bargaining power among consumers, recurring earnings fluctuation amid sellers and consumers, seasonality of production, natural shocks such as a result of climate change such as flood, high temperature, torrential rainfall, inadequate rainfall, pests and diseases, and inappropriate response by farmers to price signals (kaka et al., 2020).there are numerous categories of market players such as retailers, middlemen and whole sellers involved in the marketing of agricultural commodities such as cowpea, in different market levels across the nation and their quantum (capital base) are observed to be low. despite the important roles of such categories of market players that are bringing the needed commodities to the consumers at the designated market locations, there is generally limited information on their respective profitability levels from marketing the various commodities including cowpea. food consumption expenditures accounts for higher proportion of the total households’ expenditures in nigeria and the food demand has been growing at the rate of 3.5% per annum with food production growing at a rate of 2% per annum in recent years, while, the annual growth rate of population is as high as 2.9 percent, thereby, creating a serious food deficit in the country. the ability of nigeria agricultural production to perform its role in development has been on a decline for decades thus creating wider gap between the demand for and supply of food (alabi et al., 2012). agricultural commodity marketers are usually faced with problem of inadequate finance arising from the difficulties in accessing funds for their marketing operations and inadequate infrastructure. the problem necessitating this study in the chosen study area is an attempt to ascertain the profit margins (returns) accruable to the different categories of market players (retailers, middlemen and whole sellers) involved in the marketing of cowpea at different market levels (rural, semiurban and urban markets). several studies have been conducted by several authors on marketing (gaya et al., 2020; kaka et al., 2020; ali et al., 2019; katanga et al., 2016). there is a gap in the existing literature regarding the differentials in profitability and the efficiency of cowpea marketing in different markets in the study area that need to be investigated, to fill this gap an attempt was made to carry out this study, hence, this research work was conducted to examined the differentials in profitability and efficiency of the resources being used in the marketing of cowpea at different market levels among the different market operators in karu local government area of nasarawa state. the broad objective of this study is to analyze the differentials in profitability and efficiency of cowpea marketing in rural, semi-urban and urban area in nasarawa state nigeria. the specific objectives were:  to determine the socio-economic characteristics of the different categories of cowpea marketers operating different market levels,  to estimate the profitability margin acquiring to different categories of market players in the marketing of cowpea at different market levels,  to determine marketing efficiency in urban, semi and rural cowpea markets in the study area,  to determine the marketing channels of distribution of cowpea in the study area  determine the factors influencing the choice of cowpea marketing outlets  determine the constraints of cowpea marketing in the study are materials and methods study area this study was conducted in nassarawa state, nigeria. nasarawa state is bounded in the north by kaduna state, in the west by the abuja federal capital territory, in the south by kogi and benue states and in the east by taraba and plateau states. the state lies between latitudes7° 45’ and 9° 25’ north of the equator and between longitudes7° and 9° 37° east of the greenwich meridian. the average annual temperature is 28.4 °c and about 839 mm of precipitation falls annually. the temperatures are highest on average in april, at around 32.9 °c and lowest average temperature of 25.1 °c in january. the state has a total land area of 27,137.8 square kilometer and a population of about 1,826,883 people (npc, 2006). nasarawa state is divided into 13 local government areas. the soil texture is predominantly sandy-loam. the major crops grown in large quantities are: cassava, yam, sesame, rice, maize, millet, groundnut, and cowpea, while tree crops include: mango, cashew, citrus and guava. method of data collection the methodology used in collecting data for this study was through the use of well-structured questionnaires including primary and secondary sources. the primary sources include the use of well-structured questionnaires for collecting detailed information from randomly selected categories of market players at different market levels. oral interviews and discussions using both online and offline were also used to collect information from those market players who cannot read and write. sampling techniques and sample size this study employ multi-stage sampling technique to arrive at the sample size; first stage adapts purposive selection of anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 23 nasarawa state, nigeria. this is because the state is becoming known for cowpea production and marketing. the second stage karu local government area was also purposively selected in the third stage random sampling procedure was used to select six (6) markets using ballot-box raffle draw method in the fourth stage simple random sampling was used to select target respondents (cowpea marketers). a total sample size of 150 categories of market players operating at different levels were randomly selected and administered with questionnaires and interviewed with 25 respondents or operators targeted in each of the six randomly selected markets consisting of 2 rural, 2 semiurban and 2 urban markets. eleven (11) questionnaires were not retrieved from the respondents. method of data analysis data will be analyzed using various statistical tools such as  descriptive statistics  marketing efficiency  budgetary technique  financial analysis  multinomial logit regression model descriptive statistics this tool was used to examine the socio-economic characteristics of the marketers in the study area. these include their gender, marital status, household size, age, level of education etc. statistical package for social science (spss 20) and stata version 14 were used for analyzing the collected data. descriptive statistics involve the use of mean, mode, range, frequency distribution tables, minimum, maximum values, standard deviations and percentages etc. marketing efficiency marketing efficiency (me) reflects the benefit accruing to the marketers in comparison to the price that consumers are satisfied to pay as delivered by the marketing system. the marketing efficiency ratio is expressed in percentage as used by alabi et al. (2020) and it is stated thus: 𝑀. 𝐸 = 𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑋 100 where, if m.e =1, marketing is efficient if m.e is < 1 marketing is inefficient if m.e is >1 marketing is highly efficient budgetary technique gross margin analysis gross margin analysis is a tool used in farm budgeting by definition is the difference between the gross farm income and total variable cost (olukosi & erhabor, 2005). normally, gross margin analysis is used to test the effects of changes that do not alter the fixed cost of production, especially the cost of land and other durable factors. it is used to determine the potential profitability and effect on farmer’s farm income. gross margin model is expressed as follows: 𝐺𝑀 = 𝑇𝑅 − 𝑇𝑉𝐶 … … … … … (1) where, gm = gross margin (n), tr = total revenue obtained (n), tvc = total variable cost (n), and tr = p.q (n). where: -p = price of cowpea produced in naira per kilogram, q = output of cowpea produced in kilogram financial analysis the following financial ratios was used in this study in order to determine the profitability of cowpea marketing. this will be used to achieve part of specific objective three (iii) 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜 = 𝐺𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑠 𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑅𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑢𝑒 operating ratio and rate of return per naira invested in cowpea marketing. the operating ratio (or) is stated thus: 𝑂𝑅 = 𝑇𝑉𝐶 𝐺𝐼 … … . (3) where, or= operating ratio (units); anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 24 tvc= total variable cost (naira); gi= gross income (naira). the rate of return invested per naira is stated thus; 𝑅𝑂𝑅𝐼 = 𝑁𝐼 𝑇𝐶 … … … (4) where, rori= rate of return per naira invested (units); ni= net income from maize production (naira); tc= total cost (naira). (fixed cost is negligible on a short run). this was used to achieve part of specific objective three (iii) multinomial logit model analysis multinomial logit model was used to analyze the factors that influence the choice of urban, semi and rural markets. pr(𝑦 = 1) = 𝑒𝑥𝛽(1) 𝑒𝑥𝛽(1) + 𝑒𝑥𝛽(2) + 𝑒𝑥𝛽(3) … … … … … … … … … … … … … (5) 𝑃𝑖𝑗 = 𝑒𝑥𝑖 ′β𝑗 ∑ 𝑒𝑥𝑖 ′β𝑙𝑚 𝑙=1 = 𝑗 = 1, … , 𝑚 … … … … … … … … … (6) in the multinomial logistic regression model, a set of coefficients, ‘y’is estimated, corresponding to each result of the following probabilities for each case of the value of the dependent variable markets pr(𝑦 = 2) = 𝑒𝑥𝛽(2) 𝑒𝑥𝛽(1) + 𝑒𝑥𝛽(2) + 𝑒𝑥𝛽(3) … … … … … … … … … … . (7) pr(𝑦 = 3) = 𝑒𝑥𝛽(3) 𝑒𝑥𝛽(1) + 𝑒𝑥𝛽(2) + 𝑒𝑥𝛽(3) … … … … … … … … … … . (8) 𝐿𝑛𝑌𝑖 = 𝛽0 + ∑ 𝛽𝑖 10 𝑖=1 𝐿𝑛𝑋𝑖 + ⋯ 𝛽𝑛𝐿𝑛𝑋𝑛 + 𝑈𝑖 … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … . (9) the explicit function is stated thus: 𝐿𝑛𝑌𝑖 = 𝛽0 + 𝛽1𝐿𝑛𝑋1 + 𝛽2𝐿𝑛𝑋2 + 𝛽3𝐿𝑛𝑋3 + 𝛽4𝑙𝑛𝑋4 + 𝛽5𝐿𝑛𝑋5 + 𝛽6𝑙𝑛𝑋6 + 𝛽7𝐿𝑛𝑋7 + 𝛽8𝑙𝑛𝑋8 + 𝛽9𝐿𝑛𝑋9 + 𝛽10𝑙𝑛𝑋10 + 𝑈𝑖……… ……………………………………………………………………………………………...(10) where, 𝐿𝑛𝑌𝑖 = markets (1, urban; 2, semi; 3, rural), 𝑋1= sex of head of household (1, male; 0, otherwise), 𝑋2 = age (years) 𝑋2 = marital status of the household head (1, married; 0, otherwise), 𝑋4 = households size (total number of persons), 𝑋5 = level of education (0, non-formal; 1, primary; 2, secondary; 3, tertiary), 𝑋6 = marketing experience (years) 𝑋7 = market price of cowpea (naira) 𝑋8 = distance to market (kilometers) 𝑋9 = incurable costs (naira) 𝑋10 = cost of transportation (naira) 𝑈𝑖 = error term 𝛽0 = constant term 𝛽1 − 𝛽10 = parameters to be estimated results and discussions socio-economic characteristics of the different categories of cowpea marketers operating at different market levels table 1 presents the results of the analysis of the socioeconomic characteristics of the different categories of cowpea marketers operating at different market levels in the study area. the results show that 12.9% of the sampled respondents from the rural market were male while 10.1% were female. majority 57.6% of the sampled cowpea marketers from semianthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 25 urban market were male while 2.1% were female 18% and 8.6% of the sampled cowpea marketers in urban market were male and female respectively. the mean age of the sampled cowpea marketers operating in rural, semi-urban and urban markets were 35 years, 33 years and 35 years respectively. the implication of this result is that the sampled marketers were young marketers that are still in their productive age, this could make them to be able to travel to rural areas and source for cowpea commodity where the price may be lower than that of the semi-urban and urban markets for more profit. this result is in agreement with katanga et al. (2016) who posited that market participation reduces as the age of farmer’s increases because the older farmers are known to be risk averse. table 1 also show that 19.4%, 45.3% and 23.7% of the marketers from all market level were married while 3.6%, 14.4% and 2.9% of the cowpea marketers were single from rural, semiurban and urban markets respectively. about 20.9%, 57.6% and 17.3% of the samples marketers from all markets had 1-15 members per household respectively. the average persons per households in rural area was 3 while that of semi-urban area was 3 persons per households and the average persons per household in the urban area was 6 persons per household. the results also show that 18%, 3.6% and 5.8% of the sampled marketers in rural, semi-urban and urban markets had no formal education respectively while 1.4% and 10.8% of the marketers from rural and urban market had primary education. the study further revealed that 3.6%, 5.8% and 4.3% of the cowpea marketers from market categories obtained secondary education respectively. about 51.1% of the sampled cowpea marketers from the semi-urban market obtained tertiary education level while 5.8% of the urban marketers obtained tertiary education, education level of a marketer enables them to access market information easily about the price and which market outlet offers a better price for their commodity for profit making this is in consonance with alabi et al. (2020) who reported that educated marketers makes more profit than the uneducated farmers and they further stated that illiteracy is one of the factors working against agricultural development in nigeria. about 2.9% and 13.7% of the sampled marketers from rural, semi-urban and urban markets had business as their major occupation while 6%, 5% and 8.5% of the marketers in the markets outlets had farming as their major occupation and 13.7% and 4.3% had other business as their major occupation in the study area respectively. more so 2.3%, 57.6% and 25.2% of the cowpea marketers from rural, semi-urban and urban had business as their secondary occupation. the average years of marketing experience of the sampled marketers from different markets were rural marketers 6 years, semi-urban market 6.6 years and urban marketers was 7.6 years marketing experience. the study also shows that 20.9% of the marketers from the rural market had 1-10 years marketing experience while 59.7% sampled marketers from semi-urban and 21.8% marketers from rural market had 1-10 years of marketing experience. this result is in line with gaya et al. (2020) who reported that long term experience in the marketing business have influence on decision making by the marketers as well as market efficiency level and performance, beside the technique and strategies of marketing takes time to adopt. the mean price of the cowpea commodity at the various outlets market under study was rural market price n209,09.64, semi-urban market price was n21,439.65 and urban market price was found to be n22,954.96 on average basis. this implies that the market price of cowpea in the study areas has no much significant variance according to the evidence from the results of the study. this is result is consistent with (ddungu et al., 2015) who asserted that there is an indication of seasonal variations. as expected, cowpea grains are cheaper during the harvest period and immediately afterwards. there was a clear difference between the prices in different markets. generally, crop prices set their seasonal low at harvest followed by a post-harvest rally. these finding is also line with kaka et al. (2020) who asserted that the price of cowpea is lower in the markets that are closer to the production area of the crop. table 1. socioeconomic characteristics of the different categories of cowpea marketers operating at different market levels, in the study area variables rural market semi-urban market urban market freq % mean freq % mean freq % mean sex male 18 12.9 80 57.6 25 18.0 female 14 10.1 3 2.2 12 8.6 age 35.59 32.61 35.21 20 21-30 7 5.0 55 39.6 8 5.8 31-40 14 10.1 17 12.2 19 13.7 41-50 11 7.9 5 3.6 6 4.3 51 and above 6 4.3 4 2.9 marital status married 27 19.4 63 45.3 33 23.7 single 5 3.6 20 14.4 4 2.9 divorced widow/widower household size 3.34 2.72 5.45 1-5 29 20.9 80 57.6 24 17.3 6-10 3 2.2 3 2.2 11 7.9 11-15 2 1.4 educational level no formal education 25 18.0 5 3.6 8 5.8 primary education 2 1.4 15 10.8 secondary education 5 3.6 8 5.8 6 4.3 tertiary education 71 51.1 8 5.8 major occupation business 4 2.9 4 2.9 19 13.7 anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 26 farming 9 6.5 9 6.5 12 8.6 others 19 13.7 19 13.7 6 4.3 occupation business 32 23.0 80 57.6 35 25.2 others 3 2.2 2 1.4 marketing experience 5.46 6.62 7.6 1-10 29 20.9 83 59.7 25 18.0 11-20 3 2.2 10 7.2 21-30 2 1.4 price trends rural market price 20,909.64 semi-urban price 21,439.65 urban market price 22,954.96 total 139 100 source: field survey (2021) cost and benefits of cowpea marketing in the study areas table 2 presents the results of the analysis of cost and benefits of cowpea marketing in rural, semi-urban and urban markets, the study shows that the average cost of purchasing cowpea by marketers in the rural market was n1487931,0345 representing 86.7% proportion of the total cost of investment in cowpea marketing by rural marketers, the total variables cost expended by the rural marketers was n228,910.27 representing 13.3% of the total cost of marketing in the rural markets, the total cost involved in cowpea marketing in the rural market was n171,6841.30 while the total revenue realized by the rural marketers on average was n2,397,586.23 with the gross margin of n680,744.91 and gross margin ratio 0.28, operating ratio 0.34 and rate of return on investment 0.39, the value of rate of return on investment 0.39 indicates that every 1 naira invested yields 39 kobo as an interest which covers taxes, commissions and profits, this implies that cowpea marketing is profitable in the rural markets, this result is in line with gaya et al. (2020) who discovered that the retailers and wholesalers were able to cover their total variable cost of marketing and earn some level of returns that makes them earn profit from cowpea marketing. the study further show that the average cost of purchasing cowpea by cowpea marketers in semi-urban and urban markets was n1,262,308.642 and n6,987,027.03 respectively. the total cost of cowpea marketing in semi-urban and urban areas which comprises of cowpea purchases, cost of transportation, incurable costs, commissions and cost of storage was n1,310,213.64 and n7,220,143.64 respectively and the total revenue realized in the semi-urban and urban markets was n1,519,753.09 and n9,718,333.33 accordingly. the gross margin obtained by the semi-urban and urban marketers was n209,539.45 and n2,498,189.69 respectively with gross margin ratio of (0.13, 0.23), operating ratio (0.22, 0.09) and rate of return (0.16, 0.35) respectively this results implies that cowpea marketing is profitable in the semi-urban and urban markets. comparatively urban marketers are more profitable than those operating in semi-urban and rural markets this could be because rural marketers don’t have access to price information due to the unavailability of the means of communication easily through social media, internet, and mobile phones or unwillingness to take risks to take their crop to the urban markets. this is consistent with (alabi et al., 2020; gaya et al., 2020). the formula for calculating marketing efficiency is stated thus. 𝑀. 𝐸 = 𝑁𝑒𝑡 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑖𝑛 𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑋100 the calculated value of marketing efficiency of the rural, semi-urban and urban market was 0.39, 0.16 and 0.35 respectively. % m.e = 0.39x100 = 39%, 0.16x100 =16%, and 0.35 x100 =35% a marketing efficiency of 38%, 16% and 35% are all less than 1, therefore, the cowpea marketing is not efficient in rural, semi-urban and urban market respectively. this is in line with (onyemauwa, 2010). table 2. average costs involved and benefits of marketing cowpea at different market levels in the study area cost items rural market semi-urban market urban market average value (n) (%) average value (n) (%) average value (n) (%) cowpea purchase 1,487,931.03 86.7 1,262,308.64 96.3 6987027.0270 96.8 variable cost transportation 76,437.50 4.5 9,986.75 0.7 43,951.35 0.6 incurable costs 26,218.75 1.5 9801.20 0.7 37,661.62 0.5 commissions 42,142.86 2.5 14,472.46 1.1 67,140.00 0.9 storage 82,111.11 4.8 13,644.58 1.0 84,363.64 1.1 total variable cost 228,910.27 13.3 47,904.994 3.7 233,116.61 3.2 total cost 1,716,841.30 1,310,213.64 7,220,143.64 total revenue 2,397,586.21 1,519,753.09 9,718,333.33 gross margin 680,744.91 209,539.45 2,498,189.70 gross margin ratio 0.28 0.13 0.23 operating ratio 0.34 0.22 0.09 rate on return 0.39 0.16 0.35 marketing efficiency 0.39 0.16 0.356 source: field survey (2021) anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 27 sources of transportation of cowpea produce to the market by the marketers in the study area table 3 presents the available sources of transportation used by cowpea marketers in the study area, the results show that majority 86.3% of the sampled marketers involving rural, semi-urban and urban marketers transported cowpea from one location to another while 10.8% of all the marketers do not transport cowpea, they probably sold their cowpea at farm gate market or sold to representative agents. the study revealed that 25.2% of the marketers transport their cowpea to the market using motorcycle while 67.6% used lorries (tucks) for transporting their product 3.6% of the sampled marketers used other means of transportation for transporting their products. also majority 74.1% of the sampled rural, semi-urban and urban marketers used the seasonal road link while 22% used dry season roads and 3.6% used no motor able roads in the study area. the average distance covered by the rural marketers to reach the market was 63.84km while semi-urban marketers covered 9.12km to reach the market and urban marketers covered 21.1km to reach the market. the average cost of transportation paid by the rural marketers was n76,437.5 naira while semi-urban marketers paid an average amount of transportation of n9986.74 naira and the urban marketers paid an average amount of n43,951.35 naira to the markets. presents the distribution of cowpea marketers according to the marketing channels and distribution in the study areas. the results show that 25.2% of the sampled marketers from rural, semi-urban and urban markets belongs to category of wholesalers. 64% were retailers while 10.8% of the marketers were assemblers. table 3. distribution of sampled marketers according to the sources of transportation of cowpea in the study area variables rural semi-urban urban freq % mean freq % mean freq % mean transport to market yes 120 86.3 120 86.3 120 86.3 no 15 10.8 15 10.8 15 10.8 type of transport use motor cycle 35 25.2 35 25.2 35 25.2 lorries (trucks 94 67.6 94 67.6 94 67.6 others 5 3.6 5 3.6 5 3.6 type of road link all seasonal road 103 74.1 103 74.1 103 74.1 dry season road 31 22.3 31 22.3 31 22.3 no motor able road 5 3.6 5 3.6 5 3.6 others distance to market 63.84 9.12 21.11 cost of transportation 76,437.50 9,986.74 43951.35 category of market operators wholesalers 35 25.2 35 25.2 35 25.2 retailers 89 64.0 89 64.0 89 64.0 assemblers 15 10.8 15 10.8 15 10.8 source: field survey (2021) the channels of cowpea marketing and distribution in the study area table 4 presents the distribution of cowpea marketers according to the marketing channels and distribution in the study areas. the results show that 25.2% of the sampled marketers from rural, semi-urban and urban markets belongs to category of wholesalers. 64% were retailers while 10.8% of the marketers were assemblers. the level of entry to the market by marketers show that 5% of the sampled marketers were retailers in rural market while 55.4% and 26.6% of the rural and urban marketers entered as retailers into the market 1.4%, 4.3% and 3.6% were wholesalers at all market levels respectively and 3.6% entered as a commission agent. the study further show that the current status of the marketers in all the markets revealed that 8.6%, 44.6% and 15.1% were retailers while 3.6% were wholesalers in the rural market markets 15.1% and 10.1% were wholesalers in the semi-urban and urban market respectively. about 10.1% of the sampled marketers were operating in rural markets 33.1%were operating in semi-urban market and 56.8% marketers operates in the urban markets. more so 18.7% of the rural and urban marketers are operating as wholesale marketers while 18%, 67.6% were operating as assemblers 13.7% operates as retailers in all the types of market. table 7 show that 12.2% purchased their cowpea at harvest in the rural market while 39.6% and 21.6% of the semi-urban and urban marketers purchases their cowpea at harvest. the study also revealed that 7.2%, 18% and 4.3% of the sampled marketers in rural, semi-urban and urban markets purchased their cowpea after harvest respectively. about 21.6%, 59.7% and 23.2% of the sampled marketers in all markets purchased their cowpea from farmers while 1.4% and 2.9% of the marketers purchase their cowpea from commission agents respectively. 10.4%, 44.6% and 12.2% of the sampled marketers in rural, semi-urban and urban areas used mudu as the type of measurement while 1.4%, 12.2% used 50kg bags and 2.2%, 1.4% and 4.3% used 80kg as the type of measurement respectively in the study areas. 10.8%, 11.5 sold their cowpea directly to retailers while 6.5%, 46.2% and 5.85% of the marketers in rural, semi-urban and urban market sold their cowpea to wholesalers 3.6% sold to commission agent’s consumers respectively. anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 28 table 4. distribution of cowpea marketers according to the marketing channels and distribution in the study areas variables rural semi-urban urban frequency % frequency % frequency % category of market operator wholesaler 35 25.2 35 25.2 35 25.2 retailer 89 64.0 89 64.0 89 64.0 assembler 15 10.8 15 10.8 15 10.8 level of entry retailer 7 5.0 77 55.4 38 26.6 wholesaler 2 1.4 6 4.3 12 8.6 assembler 18 12.9 4 2.9 commission agent 5 3.6 type of measurement mudu 27 19.4 62 44.6 17 12.2 bags 50kg 2 1.4 17 12.2 2 1.4 80kg 3 2.2 2 1.4 6 4.3 100kg 12 8.6 others 2 1.4 type of market rural 14 10.1 semi-urban 46 33.1 urban 79 56.8 level of operation whole sale 26 18.7 26 18.7 26 18.7 assembler 94 67.6 94 67.6 94 67.6 retailer 19 13.7 19 13.7 19 13.7 period of purchase at harvest 17 12.2 55 39.6 30 21.6 after harvest 10 7.2 25 18.0 6 4.3 others 5 3.6 3 2.2 4 2.9 factors influencing the choice of the type of market rural, semi-urban and urban markets table 5 presents the results of the maximum likelihood estimates of the multinomial logit regression model for the factors influencing the choice of the type of market by the marketers in the study areas. the results show that age of the marketers influences the cowpea marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban market negatively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect of the age of marketers 1.79 and 1.67 implies that a unit change in the age of marketer by 1 year will result in the decrease in the probability or likelihood of the marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban market by 1.79% and 1.67% respectively. this could be as a result of old age or because the variation in price in rural market, semiurban and urban market is not much to cover the cost of transporting the cowpea to these markets therefore the marketer will prefer to sell his product at the nearby market. household size influences the choice of semiurban and urban market positively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect of household size 2.90 and 1.19 implies that a unit change in the household size by i person will result in the increase in the probability of the cowpea marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban market by 2.9 % and 1.19% respectively. education level of the marketers influences the choice of semi –urban and urban market negatively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect of the education level -8.24 an d -6.96 implies that a unit increase in the level of education of the marketers will results in the decrease in the probability of the cowpea marketers to choose semi-urban and urban markets by 8.24% and 6.96% accordingly. educated marketers may first find out about the price of the commodity in each market before going to the market this could be that the price of the cowpea in the semiurban and urban market would not be able to cover the costs of purchase and the required profit. this is in line with (ali et al., 2019) who reported that marketers or farmers who had a higher level of education could have better skills in marketing, especially the formal marketing systems in urban areas. therefore, an increase in the level of education, exposes a farmer to be profit oriented and struggle to lower the transactional costs of marketing. marketing experience was also negative and was statistically significant at (p< 0.05). the marginal effect of marketing experience -2.28 and -2.05 signifies that a unit increase in the marketing experience will result in the decrease in the probability of the marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban market respectively by 2.28% and 2.05% probability levels. market price influence the cowpea marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban markets positively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect 7.39 and 5.24 of the market price implies that a unit increase in the price of cowpea in these markets will result in the increase in the probability or likelihood of the marketers to sale their cowpea at semi-urban and urban market price by 7.39% and 5.24% respectively. price is a determining factor for profit making in marketing when the price is favorable marketers may decide to carry their products to the market. this is in line with the findings of ddungu et al. (2015) who posited that prices of the agricultural commodities found in different markets locations are majorly influenced by the nature of its seasonality in production, fluctuations in the production output and the general economic environment within a country. this king of price variability becomes a common phenomenon in agricultural outputs due to stochastic nature of the products. cost of transportation influences the marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban markets positively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect of the cost of transportation 3.04 and 2.70 implying that a unit change in the cost of transportation will results in the increase in the probability of the marketers to sale at semi-urban and urban market. this is contrary to the apriori expectation but this could be as a result of the better price offered by the markets anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 29 that could cover all the expenses involved. if the semi-urban and urban market offers better price, marketers will not hesitate to carry their goods to the market because of the increase in transportation fair. the diagnostic statistics revealed that the lr chi square value was 135.21, the log likelihood value was -60.035 and statistically significant at p<0.01 with pseudo r2 value of 0.529. this shows that the model was strong and correctly specified. table 5. maximum likelihood estimates of the multinomial logit model for factors influencing the choice of rural, semiurban and urban market variable semiurban market urban market coefficient standard error marginal effect coefficients standard err0r marginal effect sex -0.412 1.052 0.000 0.412 1.052 0.000 age 0.115* 0.044 -1.79e -0.115* 0.044 -1.67e marital status 0.775 0.734 -0.000 -0.775 0.734 -0.000 household size -0.676* 0.257 2.90e 0.675* 0.257 2.19e education level 1.214* 0.429 -8.24e -1.213* 0.429 -6.96e market experience 0.212** 0.116 -2.28e -0.212** 0.117 -2.05e market price -0.000* 0.001 7.39e 0.000* 0.000 5.24e distance to market 0.005 0.011 1.38e -0.005# 0.010 1.93e cost of transportation -0.003* 0.002 3.04e 0.003* 0.001 2.70e incurable cost -0.001# 0.000 5.94e 0.000 0.000# 5.50e constant -1.329 2.737 1.329762 2.737 lr chi2(20) 135.21 prob> chi2 0.0000 log likelihood -60.035 pseudo r2 0.529 * significant at p<0.01 ** significant at p<0.05 *** significant at p<0.1 source: field survey (2021) constraints being encountered in the marketing of cowpea in the study area table 6 presents the results of the analysis of the constraints encountered in the course of marketing cowpea by the operators in the study area. the results show that majority 51.8% of the cowpea marketers opined that damages to cowpea caused by rodents was severe while 23% and 21.2% said the damage caused by rodents was moderately severe and least severe respectively. the mea value of 2.66 from a 5 point likert scale with standard deviation of 0.888 was statistically significant. also 20.1% and 41.0% of the sampled cowpea marketers agree that inadequate security was the most severe and more severe constraints faced by marketers in the study area with mean value of 3.58 on a 5 point likert scale of measurement and was statistically highly significant. tabl4 also depicts that 66.9%, of the sampled cowpea marketers were facing a most severe challenge of lack of fund to carry out their marketing activities, funds is the most important and necessary ingredient for conducting any business the mean value of lack of fund on a five point likert scale of measurement was 4.19 with standard deviation of 1.02 and was highly and statistically significant constraint encountered by the market operators in the study area, this is consistent with katanga et al. (2016) who opine that capital increases the performance of marketers . the results also revealed majority 69.8% of the respondents expressed their concern that bad roads are the most severe constraints hindering the success of marketing operation in the study area, the mean value of bad roads on five 5 point likert scale was 4.38 with standard deviation of 1.03 this implies that bad roads are the most highly significant constraint encountered by the market operators in the study area. 17.3% and 66.2% of the sampled cowpea marketers opined that electricity supply was more severe and severe constraints encountered by the marketers respectively and was statistically significant with mean value of 3.5 on five 5 point likert scale and a standard deviation of 0.73. more so the study also observed that 24.5% and 55.5% of the sampled cowpea marketers identified rainfall as the most severe and severe constraint in cowpea marketing respectively, the mean value of rainfall on the scale of measurement was 3.06 with the standard deviation of 1.02 and was statistically significant. the other significant constraint encountered by the cowpea markers was high price of the commodity, 23.7% and 45.3% of the sampled cowpea marketers opined that high price of the cowpea was another major constraint encountered in the course of marketing cowpea in the study area with mean value of 3.52 and standard deviation of 1.02 and was statistically significant. high price could reduce the profit level that could be gain by marketers when all incurred costs are added together. this finding is consistent with the findings of kaka et al. (2020) and ali et al. (2019). table 6. results of the analysis of constraints encountered by the cowpea marketers in the study area constraints most severe more severe severe moderately severe least severe mean std dev freq % freq % freq % freq % freq % loss 4 2.9 9 6.5 56 40.3 70 50.4 1.647 0.842 rodents 2 1.4 16 11.5 72 51.8 32 23.0 17 21.2 2.669* 0.888 inadequate security 28 20.1 57 41.0 28 20.1 20 14.4 6 4.3 3.583 1.096 market leadership 11 7.9 26 18.7 36 25.9 11 7.9 55 39.6 2.475 1.379 customers 35 24 17.3 49 35.3 27 19.4 2.568 1.149 weevil 10 7.2 5 3.6 49 35.3 56 40.3 19 13.7 2.504 1.017 lack of fund 93 66.9 11 7.9 11 7.9 17 12.2 7 5.0 4.194 1.017 anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 30 too much charges 4 2.9 4 2.9 28 20.1 71 51.1 32 23.0 2.115 0.893 poor storage facilities 17 12.2 9 6.5 58 41.7 55 39.6 1.914 0.974 bad roads 97 69.8 12 8.6 16 11.5 14 10.1 4.381 1.038 lack of electricity 4 2.9 24 17.3 92 66.2 14 10.1 5 3.6 3.511 0.7300 rainfall 34 24.5 18 12.9 77 55.4 5 3.6 5 3.6 3.0576 1.017 high price 33 23.7 25 18.0 63 45.3 17 12.2 1 .7 3.5180 1.009 source: field survey (2021) conclusions based on the findings from this research the study therefore concludes that most of the marketers operating in all markets were young marketers, cowpea marketing in the study area is profitable but the marketers were not efficient in allocating their resources for achieving optimum profit, comparatively cowpea marketing is more profitable at rural market than semiurban and urban market, the factors influencing the choice of market type either rural market, semi-urban market or urban market includes age, household size, education marketing experience, market price, and cost of transportation to the market. the following constraints were encountered by the cowpea marketers in the study area, rodents, inadequate security, market leadership, customers, and bad roads, lack of electricity, rainfall, and high cost of cowpea. based on the results of the findings emanating from this study the following recommendations are made  extension agents should be made available to train and in lighten the cowpea marketers about the cowpea marketing in order to make gain and more profit from their enterprises,  storage facilities should be provided in the markets at all levels so that marketers would store their products safely in order to sell it with a good price in the future,  credit facilities should be provided to the marketers to increase their capacity either through government or nongovernmental organizations or microfinance banks or institutions,  good roads and other infrastructural facilities should be made available specially to link the rural markets in the rural areas and easy transportation to the city,  security personnel should be provided to secure the markets at all levels. author contributions: conceptualization, l.a., e.s.e., f.o.a., a.k.c. and j.s.a.; methodology, l.a. and f.o.a.; software, l.a.; validation, j.s.a., a.k.c. and j.s.a.; formal analysis, l.a., e.s.e., f.o.a., a.k.c. and j.s.a.; investigation, j.s.a., f.o.a; resources, e.s.e., f.o.a.; a.k.c.; data curation, l.a.; writing – original draft preparation, l.a., e.s.e., f.o.a., a.k.c. and j.s.a; writing – review & editing, l.a., e.s.e., f.o.a., a.k.c. and j.s.a.; visualization, j.s.a.; supervision, l.a., e.s.e.; project administration, l.a. and j.s.a.; funding acquisition, l.a., e.s.e., f.o.a., a.k.c. and j.s.a.. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references abah, d., & tor, i. e. (2012). cost and returns of cowpea enterprise in lafia local government of nasarawa state, nigeria. production agriculture and technology, 8(2), 59-67. akpan, s. b., udoh, e. j., & udo, u. j. (2014). monthly price analysis of cowpea (beans) and maize in akwa ibom state, southern nigeria. international journal of food and agricultural economics (ijfaec), 2(1128-2016-92039), 65-86. alabi, o. y., aziza, e., & omoloye, a. a. (2012). preliminary evaluation of selected cowpea varieties for resistance to cowpea aphid, aphis craccivora. nigerian journal of ecology, 12, 45-55. alabi, o. o., oladele, a. o., & maharazu, i. (2020). profitability analysis and marketing efficiency of soyabean (glycine max) value chain among actors in abuja, nigeria. sarhad journal of agriculture, 36(4), 1010-1019. ali, o., zacharias, t. n., & tyodzua, a. (2019). socio-economic and market analysis of gari in benue state nigeria. journal of research in humanities and social science, 7(9), 25-33. coker, a.a.a., ibrahim, f. d., ibeziako, u. n. (2018). effect of household demographics on the technical efficiency of cowpea farmers: evidence from stochastic frontier analysis in nigeria. russian journal of agricultural and socio-economic sciences, 91(7), 366-375. https://doi.org/10.18551/rjoas.2018-01.23 ddungu, s. p., ekere, w., bisikwa, j., kawooya, r., kalule, d. o., & biruma, m. (2015). marketing and market integration of cowpea (vigna unguiculata l. walp) in uganda. journal of development and agricultural economics, 7(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.5897/jdae2014.0577 gaya, h. i. m., tahir, a. d., danladi, h., & tanimu, b. (2020). analysis of structure and performance of cowpea marketing in maiduguri metropolitan council and jere lga of borno state, nigeria. journal of agricultural economics, environment and social sciences, 6(2), 81-88. retrieved from https://doi.org/10.18551/rjoas.2018-01.23 anthony et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 20-31 31 http://jaeess.com.ng/index.php/jaeess/article/view/68 girei, a. a., dire, b., salihu, m., & iliya, m. m. (2013). assessment of problems affecting the structure, conduct and performance of cowpea marketing in yola north and yola south local government areas in adamawa state, nigeria. british journal of marketing studies, 1(4), 41-50. international monetary fund (imf). (2010). supporting a balanced global recovery. katanga, y. n., hussain, i., wudil, a. h., & haruna, u. (2016). analysis of cowpea marketing channel in kiyawa local government area of jigawa state, nigeria. international journal of agricultural policy and research, 4(9), 157201. kaka, y., sahabi, h., auwal, a. g., & umar, h. s. (2020). analysis of cowpea marketing and price trends in selected markets of argungu local government area, kebbi state, nigeria. equity journal of science and technology, 7(2), 125-125. mohammed, u. s. & mohammed, f. k. (2014). profitability analysis of cowpea production in rural areas of zaria local government area of kaduna state, nigeria. international journal of development and sustainability, 3(9), 19191926. narels. (2020). national agricultural extension and research liaison services. national population commission (npc). (2006). nigeria national census: population distribution by sex, state, lgas and senatorial district: 2006 census priority tables (vol. 3). retrieved from http://www.population.gov.ng/index.php/publication/140-popn-distri-by-sex-state-jgas-and-senatorial-distr-2006 olukosi, j. o., & erhabor, p. o. (2005). introduction to farm management economics: principles and applications. agitab publishers limited, zaria, kaduna, nigeria, pp77 – 83. onyemauwa, c. s. (2010). marketing margin and efficiency of watermelon marketing in niger delta area of nigeria. agricultural tropical et sub-tropical, 43, 196-201. polaski, s. (2008). rising food prices, poverty, and the doha round. washington, dc: carnegie endowment for international peace. principles and application. living book series. abuja: g.m publications; 2013 premjit, s. (2013). agricultural marketing management. gene-tech books. new delhi, india. pp 128 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. http://www.population.gov.ng/index.php/publication/140-popn-distri-by-sex-state-jgas-and-senatorial-distrhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 17 agricultural studies aijas vol 9 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa assessment of the operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies in south east nigeria ogochukwu gabriella onah (a)1 chukwuma otum ume (b) kelvin nnaemeka nwangwu (c) emmanuel ejiofor omeje (d) chizoba obianuju oranu (e) (a) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ogochi.onah@unn.edu.ng (b) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: chukwuma.ume@unn.edu.ng (c) lecturer ii, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: nnaemeka.nwangwu@unn.edu.ng (d) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ejiofor.omeje@unn.edu.ng (e) lecturer i, department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: chizoba.oranu@unn.edu.ng a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 14th january 2024 reviewed & revised: 15th january to 30th april 2024 accepted: 4th may 2024 published: 11th may 2024 keywords: farmers, cooperatives, operational performance, southeast nigeria jel classification codes: o13 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t to uncover the constraints and entry points for improving the operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies in southeast nigeria forms the motivation for this study. farmers' cooperatives have enormous potential to support economic growth at the rural and regional levels, building on the spirit of teamwork that is already common among the rural people. a decent number of qualities differentiate cooperative associations from other different entities. these comprise open and voluntary enrollment. cooperative social orders are available to all citizenry with common interests. this study analyzed responses from two hundred and forty respondents selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. frequency, mean, likert scale and ordered logit regression model were used for the analysis. the perception of members of farmers' cooperative societies on their operational performance showed that the cooperatives in the area performed well in terms of members' access to training, participation during decision-making, voting during elections, and leaders' emergence through the democratic process. the ordered logit regression result of the socioeconomic factors to the operational performance of the farmers' cooperatives showed that membership strength, age of the cooperatives, access to free input, access to training, and access to infrastructural facilities were statistically significant and positively related to farmers' cooperatives level of operational performance. thus, the study recommends that cooperative societies supply their members' goods and services for improved income and savings investment, improved productivity, and bargaining power through maximum utilization of economies of scale and cost and risk sharing. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction group organizations contribute significantly to economic growth and development by empowering poor people and creating jobs (poppe et al., 2021). they facilitate financial inclusion and social protection, critical elements in reducing restiveness in society (yamusa & adefila, 2014). this is particularly important given the level of restiveness in nigerian society. farming and farmer organizations are even strategically more critical in this regard, especially in the area of financial inclusion, job creation, poverty reduction and social protection (anigbogu et al., 2016) the international cooperative alliance (ica) defines a cooperative as an autonomous association of persons unified voluntarily to meet their everyday economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise (ica, 2009). in this light, cooperative societies function based on the values of selfhelp, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. in contrast, the cooperative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others (ica, 2009). in particular, farmers' cooperative societies (fcss) provide a veritable platform to improve the living conditions 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-9883-2109 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.314 to cite this article: onah, o. g., ume, c. o., nwangwu, k. n., omeje, e. e., & oranu, c. o. (2024). assessment of the operational performance of farmers’ cooperative societies in south east nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 9(1), 17–26. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.314 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.314 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9883-2109 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2033-0560 https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0374-5071 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1448-7003 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4293-3816 onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 18 of farmers through increased agricultural production and productivity in sub-saharan africa (ssa). according to omotesho (2008), cooperative societies are the most effective vehicles for efficiently mobilizing production resources for accelerated rural development. they allow for the harnessing and pooling of millions of smallholder farmers' resources to enable them to enjoy the advantages of economies of scale (onugu & abdulahi, 2012). farmers can realize scale economies in bulk acquisition and hence enter into more stable trade agreements with suppliers or processors by forming cooperatives (afolami et al., 2012). furthermore, dimelu et al. (2014) noted that most government and non-governmental organizations, including donor agencies, encourage and promote the formation of cooperative societies as a prerequisite for farmers' access to agricultural support services. however, managing cooperatives remains crucial for sustaining income generation and social security in communities (masuku et al., 2016; breitenbach & brandao, 2021). poor performance of cooperatives could be attributed to poor governance structure, membership cohesion and satisfaction, limited advocacy and communication skills, and financial constraints that make it impossible for cooperatives to function effectively and optimally to better their members' living conditions. thus, there is an urgent need to assess the existing farmers' cooperative groups to provide the required tools and evidence for its improvement and policy in nigeria. when fully sustained, the farmers' cooperative groups in nigeria will provide a veritable platform for reducing poverty (ige & ojo, 2023), especially among rural poor farmers who are generally described as the poorest and most vulnerable segment of society. there is little empirical evidence on the operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies to make way for easy policy formulation. most studies in this area have tended to ignore the organization's structure and state of governance, which will enhance such issues as a cohesive and optimal performance of the societies (liu et al., 2023). this is particularly important to enhance the longevity and sustainability of cooperatives in nigeria and reduce proliferation for political and state aid reasons. the study, therefore, evaluated the operational performance of the farmers' cooperative societies from the view and perspective of the members, as well as determine the socioeconomic factors affecting the operational performance of the farmers' cooperatives. literature review contextualization of operational performance the performance of fcs can be evaluated by different standards and with different perspectives. the choice of criteria for evaluating the performance of any organization, including farmers' cooperatives, is a contextual issue that depends mainly on the nature of the organization in question (onwuchekwam, 1985); different authors have their claims on cooperative performance; holmén (1994) describes how donors’ expectations on cooperatives are unrealistic and how cooperatives often fail to address the development problems that donors want them to target. consequently, holmén argued that an evaluation of cooperative performance should start with discussing what cooperatives can and cannot do. it is argued that the members' expectations are vital to understanding the cooperative goals and that the criteria for evaluation should be formulated as "the extent to which a cooperative satisfies the basic interests that motivated the members to join the cooperative" (onwuchekwam, 1985). therefore, operational performance is contextualized in this study based on the activities of the fcss geared towards realizing the goals and aspirations of the members (jamro et al., 2021; jabessa et al., 2023; kebede et al., 2024). figure 1 presents a conceptual framework that suggests three essential vintage points for understanding a cooperative's operational performance.  first is the level to which members are involved in cooperative meetings and gatherings  second is the level of participation of the members in decision-making as well as voting during elections  finally, the level at which the members contribute financially and use the cooperative as the avenue for transacting in terms of a collective purchase of inputs and sales of produce. figure 1. criteria for accessing the operational performance of a cooperative society members of a farmers' cooperative society (fcs) f in a n cia l co m m itm en t p a rticip a tio n in d ecisio n m a k in g meeting attendance operational performance onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 19 the assumption is that cooperatives that fulfil these three criteria reflect the extent to which a cooperative satisfies the primary interests that motivate the members to join the cooperative. kassali and adeyemo (2007) found that cooperative societies operated in a competitive environment and engaged in development and poverty alleviation projects, while membership and the number of services provided to members were some of the determinants of cooperative performance. this study evaluated the performance of farmers' cooperatives through their operational performance ability as a yardstick to assess their contributions to members' welfare and the development of local communities as required by cooperative law. a cooperative society promotes autonomy and a democratic process in its operations, where members are key players in setting policies and decision-making. this is a unique feature of cooperative society that determines the involvement or participation of members in cooperative operations, which is a significant factor in cooperative performance. the participation of members is essential for the success of any cooperative society, irrespective of type, as it helps achieve cooperative objectives. therefore, farmers' cooperatives must achieve their objectives to be viewed as performing optimally; however, achieving these objectives depends on several factors. the international cooperative alliance (ica, 2009) states three core principles associated with cooperative operations: openness, democratic control and management of capital. openness means cooperative members must ensure transparency in all establishments and operational practices. subsequently, democratic control dismisses sole proprietorship in cooperative planning and decision-making processes and management of capital encourages proper cooperative budgeting and discourages wastefulness in cooperative funds during operational periods. the ica also maintains that the implementation of these principles helps in ensuring that the cooperatives' pre-set objectives have a holistic benefit to all members of the cooperative, extinguishing one member's service and also considering meeting the needs of all members while maximizing cooperative profits (department of trade and industry, 2012). based on the preceding, we portray operational performance as a reflection of the state of governance in cooperative operations. in that regard, cooperative societies are democratic institutions with all members having an equal vote; they meet and decide on all issues. empirically, we determine operational performance based on the level of member participation in decision-making and voting during elections, the average member commitment in payment of dues, selling produce through cooperatives and buying products from cooperative society, and more broadly based on the perception of farmers' cooperative societies towards their operational performance. materials and methods the study area was the east region of nigeria, made up of five states: abia, anambra, ebonyi, enugu and imo, with latitudes 4°30'and 7°00'n and longitudes 5°30' and 9°30'e (national population commission, 2006). the study population comprised registered farmers' cooperative societies in the region. a multistage sampling technique was adopted for the selection of respondents. in the first stage, three states, anambra, ebonyi, and enugu, were randomly selected from the five states in the region. in the second stage, two agricultural zones were purposively selected from each state because of the high concentration of farmers' cooperative societies. this gave a total of six agricultural zones. these agricultural zones were anambra and onitsha (anambra state), ebonyi central and ebonyi south (ebonyi state), and awgu and nsukka (enugu state). in the third stage, two local government areas (lgas) were randomly selected from each of the selected agricultural zones, making twelve lgas. these local government areas were anambra east and ayamelum from anambra; ihiala and ogbaru from onisha; ishielu and ikwo from ebonyi central; afikpo south and ohaozara from ebonyi south; awgu and aninri from awgu and igbo-entity and uzo-want from nsukka agricultural zones. a random sampling was used to select twenty farmers' cooperative societies from a list of farmers' cooperative societies (fcss) in each lga supplied by the lga cooperative officer. this study used two hundred and forty farmers' cooperative societies. using a set of usingtested and validated questions, names collected data. descriptive statistics and ordered logit models were used to analyze the data. the instrument elicited information on the operational activities and performance of the cooperative society, such as cooperative meetings, training organized for members and committees, services rendered to members, members' participation/patronage, members' participation during decision-making, members' commitment in payment of dues, members' participation in voting during the election and how cooperative leaders emerged, was accessed on 4 point – likert – type scale of very high (vh) = 4, high (h) = 3, low (l) = 2, very low (vl) = 1. variables with mean scores < 2.5 were ranked "not performing, and mean scores of≥ 2.5 were considered performing. the ordered logit model determined the factors affecting the farmers' cooperatives' operational performance. this is because the dependent variable (level of operational performance) is structured of an ordinal nature, derived through a likert rating scale, which required the respondents to indicate the extent of the cooperative' operational performance under three categories: high = 3, medium and low=1. for each of these cooperative societies, the number of indicators that passed the scale was counted as indicating performance level in such area (these formed the dependent variables of the ordered logit). the ordered logit model is given as y* = ß’x + ɛi, where y* is the underlying latent variable that indexes the level of the cooperative's operational performance; ß is a vector of parameters to be estimated while x is a vector of explanatory variables and ɛ is the stochastic error term. the latent variable exhibits itself in ordinal categories coded as 1, 2, 3,….j. the response of category j is thus observed when the underlying continuous response falls in the jth interval as: y = 1 if 0 > y* ≤ ∂1 y = 2 if ∂1 > y* ≤ ∂2 y = 3 if ∂2 > y* ≤ ∂3 onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 20 . . . = j if ∂j-1 ≤ y* this is a form of censoring, with the ∂'s unknown parameters to be estimated with ß the hypothesized factors affecting the operational performance of the farmers' cooperatives include; x1 = the amount of money saved by the cooperatives (n), x2 = the membership strength of the cooperative (the number of people in a cooperative), x3 = the age of the cooperative society ( in years), x4 = the total shareholdings of the cooperative (naira), x5 = access to free input by the cooperative (access=1; no access = 0), x6 = access to training by the cooperative (access=1; no access = 0), and x7 = access to infrastructural facilities (access=1; no access = 0). results operational performance of farmers’ cooperative societies we assessed the operational performance of the surveyed cooperative societies based on the following criteria: i) percentage of the group members' attendance at meetings, ii) member participation in decision-making and voting. iii) average member commitment in payment of dues, selling produce through and buying products from society, iv) perception of farmers' cooperative societies towards their operational performance in the study area. this section presents the results based on the 240 surveyed cooperative societies. attendance of meetings by members meeting attendance reflects the level of integration and commitment by the members themselves. table 1 shows the percentage attendance per meeting by members. it was shown that farmers' cooperatives with membership sizes ten and below had, on average, a 48.75% level of attendance. cooperatives between the 1120, 2130, and 31 and above memberships had, on average, 26.67%, 19.17%, and 5.42% persons, respectively, attending meetings each time. this result does not indicate high participation of members in attendance to meetings. table 1. average attendance at meetings cooperative size(membership) frequency % meeting attendance 10 117 48.75 11-20 64 26.67 21-30 46 19.17 31 and above 13 5.42 member participation in decision making cooperative societies are democratic institutions. all members have an equal vote. they meet and make decisions together on all issues. figure 2 shows the level of members' participation in the decision-making process and voting during the election of their executives. figure 2. member participation in decision-making and voting during elections it showed that 95% and 84.58% of cooperatives indicated that their members participated in decision-making and voted during the election of their leaders, respectively. this indicates the depth of the democratic process, membership control, and ownership of cooperative affairs as required by cooperative law. democracy is known to improve members' trust and commitment to cooperative operations. commitment to financial matters the third criterion investigated was the level of commitment of cooperative membership to regular payment of dues in the cooperatives. table 2 showed that those whose membership size was 10, 11-20, 21-30, and 31 and above had 7, 12, 20, and 33 persons, respectively, committed to payment of dues. the result in table 2 suggests that members are not committed to 0 20 40 60 80 100 participated in decision making participated in voting during election yes no onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 21 payment of dues as required. table 2 further reveals members' commitment to buying and selling their products through cooperation (patronage). table 2. member commitments in payment of dues, selling, and buying through fcs variable frequency mean percentage average members committed to paying dues/contributions by cooperative size. 10 64 7 26.6 11-20 117 12 48.74 21-30 46 20 19.16 31 and above 13 33 5.41 average members that sell their products through cooperatives by cooperative size 10 64 4 26.6 11-20 117 4 48.74 21-30 46 8 19.16 31 and above 13 11 5.41 average members that buy produce from cooperatives by cooperative size 10 64 5 26.6 11-20 117 6 48.74 21-30 46 12 19.16 31 and above 13 25 5.41 table 2 shows that cooperatives with a membership size of 10, 11-20, 21-30, and 31 and above have, on average, 4, 4, 8, and 11 persons, respectively, committed to selling their agricultural produce through their cooperative society. also, cooperative membership sizes of 10, 11-20, 21-30, and 31 and above had, on average, 5, 6, 12, and 25 persons buying their products from their cooperatives. the result in table 2 showed very poor patronage by members. however, interestingly, the result showed that the level of commitment to dues payment, as well as the level of sales and purchases through the cooperative societies, increases with an increase in the membership size of the cooperative societies. perception of cooperative societies towards their operational performance the perception of farmers' cooperative societies regarding their operational performance was investigated using a 4-point likert scale. the majority of the respondents indicated that their cooperatives did not perform their operational functions with average scores: members do not attend meetings (2.39), members are satisfied with the benefits they get from the cooperative (2.06), members are committed to payment of dues as required (2.13), members buy produce from the cooperative (2.37), and members sell their produce through the cooperative (2.14). the result in table 4 showed that members do not participate nor are committed to the critical operational activities of cooperatives, which are stated by cooperative principles to be among the factors determining good governance in cooperative operations. it showed that members needed to be more committed to meeting attendance. this result corroborates the findings by garandi (2018), who reported a strong relationship between cooperative members' attendance at meetings and performance. his report showed that most respondents (72%) rated poor meeting attendance as the most challenging habit of members of cooperatives affecting their performance in the study area. dues payment by members could have been more encouraging. most farmers' cooperative members join and remain in the societies to gain benefits from government agricultural assistance (franks & mc gloin, 2007). this was also evident in the result of this study, as shown in table 2, where the attitude of members' dues payment was deplorable. members are not interested in committing their resources to the cooperative movement, which is against the cooperative principle of economic participation of members, perhaps due to a lack of trust in the leadership, lack of honesty, transparency and poor orientation of the cooperative group. these findings agree with garandi's (2018) report. buying from and selling through cooperatives by members is evidence of the participation of members, which is crucial to the performance of the cooperative society and is pertinent to their goal attainment. agrawal et al. (2002) noted that members' participation in cooperative activities, both in quantity and quality, can improve the perception and control members exert on the cooperative performance. they further stated that members' investment through their share capital, patronage, and other social activities could be at various levels, and it is expected that each of these will have differing effects on cooperative performance and control. in a related study, olabisi and petronilla (2011) reported that members' patronizing cooperative businesses positively correlates with cooperative performance realization. the cooperatives that indicated to have performed their operational functions include members and committees having access to training (2.59), members participating during decision-making (2.70), members voting during meetings (3.27), and leaders emerging through election (2.62). table 3. perception of farmers’ cooperative societies towards their operational performance in the study area (n=240) s/n perception vh x4 h x3 l x2 vl x1 total mean remark 1 members are committed to attending meetings 42(168) 58(174) 91(182) 49(49) 573 2.39 np onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 22 2 members are satisfied with the benefits they get from cooperative 34(136) 41(123) 73(144) 92(92) 495 2.06 np 3 members and committees have access to training 33(132) 90(270) 102(204) 15(15) 621 2.59 p 4 members participate in decision-making 89(356) 40(120) 62(124) 49(49) 649 2.70 p 5 members are committed to paying dues as required 29(116) 42(126) 102(204) 67(67) 513 2.13 np 6 members vote during elections 120(480) 81(243) 25(50) 14(14) 787 3.27 p 7 members buy produce from a cooperative 24(96) 57(171) 142(284) 17(17) 568 2.37 np 8 members sell their produce through cooperative 20(80) 41(123) 132(264) 47(47) 514 2.14 np 9 leaders emerge through the democratic process(election) 59(224) 61(183) 101(202) 19(19) 628 2.62 p total number of cooperatives = 240; total mean =22.27; grand mean = 2.47. figures in parenthesis are nominal likert values multiplied by their frequencies/ weight p = performing; np = not performing factors affecting the operational performance the ordered logit regression result is presented in table 4. the table shows the estimates of the parameters of ordered logit regression on the factors affecting the operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies. the explanatory power of the factors, as reflected by pseudo r2, was (57%). this shows that about 57% of the variation in the levels of operational performance is explained by the explanatory variables included in the model. the “/cut” parameters are the estimated thresholds µ1, µ2, and µ3. these reflect the ancillary parameters used to estimate probabilities for the independent variable values (1, 2, and 3) with the following values: -1.360, 0.961, and 3.260. the model proves robust through a chi-square of 98.88 with 7 degrees of freedom. prob> chi2 (0.0000) indicates that the variables included in the model are jointly statistically significant. the model seems to have behaved well in terms of consistency with prior expectations regarding the relationship between the dependent and explanatory variables. the results showed that the cooperative societies' membership strength, the cooperative's age, access to free input, access to training, and access to infrastructural facilities were statistically significant determinants of operational performance. other significant variables include the educational status of the top manager (the top manager is usually referred to as the chairperson), whether the cooperative is government-established or non-government-established, the experience of the top manager, ownership of a corporate bank account, and support from ngos. the membership strength of the farmers' cooperative societies refers to the number of farmers in the cooperative society. this was an ordinal variable where cooperative societies with less than ten members were assigned the value 1, memberships between 11 to 20 were assigned 2, and memberships of 21-30 were assigned 3. in contrast, cooperatives with a membership of 31 and above were assigned 4. the result of the logit model showed that membership strength was positively and significantly related to their level of operational performance at a 10% probability level. in other words, population size was correlated to the operational performance of farmers' cooperatives. this implies that cooperative societies with many members perform better than those with fewer members. a positive relationship between membership strength and cooperative performance was also reported by adefila (2012). table 4. ordered logit regression coef. std. err. z – value amount of savings 5.51e-07 4.29e-07 1.28 membership strength .0346 .017630 1.96 * age of the cooperative .0503 .0302367 1.67* total shareholding 2.67e-07 4.59e-07 0.58 access to free input 2.086 .293102 7.12*** access to training .7254 .282490 2.57** access to infrastructural facilities .6262 .198855 3.15*** gender of the top manager 5.241 1.52415 1.24 educational status of the top manager 2.332 0.01101 1.95* age of the top manager 0.057 1.55214 1.001 government established .0054 0.54125 5.14*** experience of the top manager 1.524 0.00024 3.59*** ownership of corporate bank account 0.071 0.10852 2.054** location (urban = 1; rural = 0) 2.521 2.21012 0.251 supported by ngos 0.217 0.52186 3.529*** cut1 ∂1 cut2 ∂2 cut3 ∂3 statistics: no. of observations = -1.3609 .961723.2609 240 98.88 .666112 .670212 .686093 onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 23 lr chi2(7) = prob> chi2 = pseudo r2 = 0.0000 0.57 note: *, **, and *** indicate significant at 10%, 5%, and 1% respectively the age of the cooperative was captured as a continuous variable representing the number of years from the formation of the cooperative society. the result of the logistic regression shows that the age of the cooperative society had a positive relationship with the level of operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies and was significant at the 10% level of probability, implying that the level of operational performance of cooperatives was dependent on the cooperative year of existence. access to training and free input had a positive and significant relationship with the level of operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies. while access to free input was significant at a 1% probability level, access to training by the farmers' cooperative societies was significant at a 5% probability level. this implies that cooperatives' operational performance level depended on cooperatives having access to free input and training from government or nongovernmental organizations. similarly, access to infrastructural facilities had a positive relationship with the level of operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies. it was significant at a 1% level of probability, implying that the level of operational performance of cooperatives was dependent on cooperatives having access to infrastructural facilities. infrastructural facilities include road networks to meeting places and meeting venues' availability. however, the result from table 4 suggests that the cooperative societies' location does have minimal performance. this means that the operational performance of the cooperative societies is independent of whether the cooperative is located in an urban or rural setting. the result also suggests corporate bank account ownership significantly affects cooperative societies' operational performance. this means that cooperatives that are more included in the community financial system appear to have better operational performance. the socioeconomic characteristics of the top manager showed that the top manager's educational status and experience were the two factors that determined the cooperative's operational performance. the top manager here represents the elected president of the cooperative society. however, the top managers' age and gender do not significantly affect operational performance. discussions in rural and agrarian economies, group belongingness and cooperative formation are crucial as essential services, such as electric power, irrigation facilities, extension knowledge, and even insurance services, can be secured through cooperatives (ndifon et al., 2012). belonging to a cooperative society can directly benefit farmers, including low-cost credit, supplies and equipment for farm and household needs, and marketing products (ndifon et al., 2012). therefore, in everyday life, cooperatives can benefit farmers in many ways. however, the operational performance of a cooperative is critical if the benefits and goals of a cooperative are to be harnessed. this study focused on three criteria for judging the operational performance of a farmer cooperative society. these three factors are the level of participation of its members in meetings and other gatherings, their level of participation in voting and day-to-day decision-making activities, including elections, and the member commitment in financial matters such as contribution in payment of dues and transacting through the cooperative societies. our findings showed a low level of performance in meeting attendance among members of the regional cooperative societies surveyed. however, interestingly, when the membership is smaller, the attendance rate at meetings is higher compared to cooperative societies with larger memberships. this shows that small cooperative groups might be a more effective way of engaging farmers. it may be easy to reach out and know when a member is not present, which is why the level of engagement appears to be higher among cooperatives with smaller membership sizes. however, beyond attendance of meetings, a more important criterion is the level of engagement of the membership in making decisions within the cooperatives. according to fici (2013), one of the fundamentals of a cooperative society is opening and inclusiveness. in other words, one way to measure the operational performance of any cooperative will be to determine how the members of the cooperative society are involved in making day-to-day decisions. based on this criterion, one can submit that the cooperative society in the study area has a high operational performance. over 80% of the members make regular decisions in the cooperatives and vote for the leaders. this is a good performance when contrasted with reports on the operational performance of cooperatives in other developing economies, such as the northern province of sri lanka, where membership involved was perceived to be low (mangaleswaran & alfred, 2014). in terms of financial involvement, it was surprising to observe that only about 30% of the members either contribute financially to the success of the society or are involved in transacting through the cooperative. this is a low performance as one of the essential goals of a cooperative society is to assist their group purchase and sales of their products to maximize profit (mahazril‘aini et al., 2012). this result, however, does not corroborate the findings of dimelu et al. (2014), who reported that 100% of rice farmers' cooperative members in enugu state are committed to payment of dues. the contrary findings from this study might be explained by the fact that most farmers are smallholders engaged in self-provisioning and the excess they directly dispose of at the market. unlike rice farming, a primary commercial production in the area, it will readily benefit from group purchases of inputs and sales of products. furthermore, this could also be attributed to a lack of trust by members in their cooperatives, perhaps due to poor leadership or poor orientation regarding cooperative movement. membership participation in cooperative economic activities is compulsory and one of the unique attributes of any true cooperative. a cooperative can only be autonomous if onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 24 its members contribute to financing the cooperative businesses rather than depend wholly on external financing. there was also the challenge of very poor patronage by members of their cooperatives. this could be due to a lack of trust/ fear of not getting patronage refunds from cooperatives or a lack of members' knowledge of the importance of patronage to cooperative sustainability. patronage by members is essential to a cooperative movement as a democratic organization that should be owned, used, and controlled by members. in a related study, olabisi and petronilla (2011) reported a positive relationship between membership patronage and performance realization. in general, the perception of the cooperatives based on the likert scale rating confirms that the operational performance of the farmers' cooperative societies is only high when assessed based on members participating during decision-making and members voting during elections. this suggests that efforts to enhance the operational efficiency of the cooperatives should be directed at encouraging membership attendance at meetings and making financial contributions. the result of the logit model provides two broad perspectives on understanding the factors that determine the operational efficiency of the farmers' cooperatives societies. the first is the characteristics of cooperative societies. here, we showed that factors such as membership strength, the age of the cooperative, and the level of access to training, inputs, and infrastructure are important when analyzing the operational efficiency of a cooperative society. a cooperative's year of existence improves experience, enhancing skill acquisition and use of input to expand production for higher output. okoli (2018) reported a positive and significant relationship between farming experience and the extent of organic waste use for urban farming. adefila (2012) also reported a positive relationship between cooperative performance and cooperative years of existence. this study also observed that cooperatives with more members performed better than those with lower membership. this correlates with the findings of this study, which showed that cooperatives with large memberships have a higher involvement of members in decision-making and financial contributions. access mechanisms of cooperative societies are essential for their continuous operation (wanyama et al., 2008). based on the available data employed in this study, access to free input had a positive relationship with the level of operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies. it was significant at a 1% probability level, implying that cooperatives' operational performance level depended on cooperatives having access to free input from government or non-governmental organizations. this is plausible because the farmers will be more incentivized to engage with a cooperative society where they perceive that it can be a vehicle for accessing palliatives from the government of ngos. the importance of farmers' cooperatives' access to production inputs cannot be overemphasized, as it has been one of the most important motives for some of them joining different types of cooperatives. external assistance in the form of inputs is a factor that can improve the performance of cooperative societies as it encourages them to perform many of their functions for their members. similarly, cooperative education/ training is important in enhancing strong and better-performing cooperative societies. it is essential to train and educate cooperative members to improve their capacity to bring optimum results and promote the sustainability of their business organizations (anania & rwekaza, 2016; hussain, 2014). paulo and gratian (2018) noted that providing education and training enables the implementation of daily activities to enhance the operational performance of cooperatives. by forming cooperatives, the farmers can be easily reached by extension agents and field officers responsible for teaching them how to improve their performance. finally, regarding access to infrastructural facilities, the study observed a positive relationship with the level of operational performance of farmers' cooperative societies. this implies that the level of operational performance of cooperatives was dependent on cooperatives having access to infrastructural facilities. the results are consistent with the research by muthyalu (2013), who reported that infrastructural factors significantly influence farmers' cooperatives. in a related study, tewodros (2017) also reported a positive relationship between access to infrastructural facilities and cooperative performance. most members might be unable to access the meeting place due to a bad road network or simply because the meeting venues are in bad shape. sometimes, it was observed that many of these cooperatives meet under the trees, making it difficult to have a good number turned up, especially during the rainy seasons. turning now to the personal attributes of the leadership, we found that the top leader's experience and the top leader's educational status positively determine operational performance. a leader with experience in cooperative organization must actively engage the members and give them a sense of belonging. this finding suggests the need to ensure that at least the top managers of these cooperatives are trained to pilot the affairs of the cooperatives effectively. experience and education go hand in glove. our finding shows that, just like the experience of the top manager, the educational status of the top manager also improves the operational efficiency of the farmers' cooperative societies. this means that even though the cooperatives are democratic, there is a need for the members to appoint those who have the experience and training to pilot the affairs of the society. apart from the personal attributes of the top leaders and the cooperatives themselves, the influence of external bodies such as government ownership and ngo support will also play a significant role in determining the operational efficiency of the cooperative societies. our finding suggests that cooperatives established by the government or with government influence had better operational efficiency. this is also the case with cooperatives that receive financial or knowledge support from non-governmental organizations. this shows that external influences are necessary to compel farmers' cooperatives to engage their members and carry everyone along actively. conclusions farmers' cooperative societies perceived that members wanted more from their cooperatives. also, members lacked the required commitment and participation in their membership obligations for the optimum realization of operational performance, such as members' commitment to attendance meetings, members' commitment to payment of dues as required, members buying produce from cooperatives, and members selling their produce through cooperatives. the socioeconomic factors, membership strength, age of the cooperatives, access to free input, access to training, and access to infrastructural onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 25 facilities were statistically significant and positively related to farmers' cooperatives' level of operational performance. it is evident that farmers' cooperatives are still a viable means of poverty alleviation among poor farmers; hence, the need to encourage good governance, members' commitment/participation, and government support to enhance their operational performance and achieve their objectives. therefore, the study recommends that cooperative promotion offices, non-governmental organizations (ngos), secondary cooperatives (unions), and primary cooperatives themselves prioritize upgrading the conceptual, technical, and managerial skills of management committees and members through short-term and long-term training programs. this will ensure transparency, accountability, commitment, and willingness of members. the result suggests that several socioeconomic factors are essential in achieving farmers' cooperative's optimum performance. there should be increased equity capital by the cooperative through the formulation of mechanisms that promote members' savings and buying of additional shares. moreover, governments and other financial institutions should arrange for long-term financial credit, working capital management, record keeping and documentation systems. author contributions: conceptualization, o.g.o., c.o.u., k.n.n., e.e.o. and c.o.o.; methodology, o.g.o.; software, o.g.o.; validation, o.g.o., c.o.u., k.n.n., e.e.o. and c.o.o.; investigation, o.g.o., c.o.u., k.n.n., e.e.o. and c.o.o.; resources, o.g.o.; data curation, o.g.o.; writing – original draft preparation, o.g.o., c.o.u., k.n.n., e.e.o. and c.o.o.; writing – review & editing, o.g.o., c.o.u., k.n.n., e.e.o. and c.o.o.; visualization, o.g.o.; supervision, o.g.o.; project administration, o.g.o.; funding acquisition, o.g.o., c.o.u., k.n.n., e.e.o. and c.o.o. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study because the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgements: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available upon request from the corresponding author. due to restrictions, they are not publicly available. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adefila, j. o. (2012). spatial assessment of farmers’ cooperative organizations in agricultural development in gurara area of niger state, nigeria. journal of ecology and the natural environment, 4(2), 51-57. afolami, c. a., obayelu, a. e., agbonlahor, m. u., & lawal-adebowale, o. a. (2012). socioeconomic analysis of rice farmers and effects of group formation on rice production in ekiti and ogun states of south-west nigeria. journal of agricultural science, 4(4), 233-244. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v4n4p233 agrawal, r., raju, k. v., reddy, k. p., srinivasan, r. & sriram, m. s. (2002). member-funds and cooperative performance? journal of rural development. 22(1), 1–17. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/5113465_member-funds_and_cooperative_performance anania, p. & rwekaza, g. c. (2016). the determinants of success in agricultural marketing cooperatives in tanzania: the experience from mwekasungu, mruwia and uru north njari agricultural marketing cooperatives in moshi district. european journal of research in social sciences, 4(3), 62-75. anigbogu, t. u., taiwo, a. o. & nwachukwu, o. f. (2016). performance assessment of farmers multipurpose cooperative societies (fmcs) in marketing of members farm produce in benue state of nigeria. cogent social sciences, 2, 18. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2016.1219211 breitenbach, r., & brandão, j. b. (2021). factors that contribute to satisfaction in cooperator-cooperative relationships. land use policy, 105, 105432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105432 department of trade and industry (2012). the dti integrated strategy on the development and promotion of cooperatives. dimelu, m. u., enwelu, i. a., attah, c. p., & emodi, a. i. (2014). enhancing the performance of farmers' cooperatives in the rice innovation system in enugu state, nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 18(2), 206-219. https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v18i2.21 fici, a. (2013). cooperative identity and the law. european business law review, 24(1), 37 – 64. https://doi.org/10.54648/eulr2013002 franks, j. r., & mc gloin, a. (2007). environmental cooperatives as instruments for delivering across-farm environmental and rural policy objectives: lessons for the uk. journal of rural studies, 23(4), 472–489. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2007.03.002 garandi, i. d. (2018). assessing the factors hindering the effectives performance of cooperatives societies in mubi metropolis, adamawa state, nigeria. international journal of scientific and research publications, 8(8), 183193. https://doi.org/10.29322/ijsrp.8.8.2018.p8024 holmén, h. (1994). "cooperatives and the environmental challenge – what can local organizations do?” in holmén & jirström (ed.) ground level development: ngos, cooperatives and local organizations in the third world, lund: lund university. hussain, m. s. (2014). the role of cooperative organizations in rural community development in nigeria.prospects and challenges, academic research international, 5(3), 189-974. ica (2009). international cooperative alliance. retrieved from http://www.ica.coop http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2016.1219211 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2021.105432 https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v18i2.21 https://doi.org/10.54648/eulr2013002 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrurstud.2007.03.002 onah et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 17-26 26 ige, a. o., & ojo, t. o. (2023). does agricultural cooperative membership impact poverty level of cocoa farmers in southwestern nigeria?. african geographical review, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2023.2218344 jamro, m. m.-u.-r., abbasi, z. a., & chandio, a. s. (2021). determination of fruit development stages and production of dates in khairpur sindh pakistan. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 3(2), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v3i2.1190 jabessa, t., tesfaye, g., & bekele, k. (2023). evaluation of genotypes with environmental interactions of lablab (purpureus l.) and it’s dry matter yields stability in the midland of guji zone, southern oromia, ethiopia. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 8(1), 34-43. https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v8i1.2169 kebede, b., bobo, t., & korji, d. (2024). pre-extension demonstration of shiro type field pea technologies in the highlands of guji zone, oromia regional state, ethiopia. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 9(1), 1-6.https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v9i1.2185 kassali, r. , & adeyemo, r. (2007). structure-conduct-performance of rural cooperatives in osun state, nigeria. bowen journal of agriculture, 4(1),10-21. https://doi.org/10.4314/bja.v4i1.41926 liu, z., qu, j., wu, x., niu, x. & feng, s. (2023). improving member satisfaction with cooperatives: the role of participation in governance. annals of public and cooperative economics/ early view. https://doi.org/10.1111/apce.12456 mahazril‘aini, y., hafizah, h. a. k., & zuraini, y. (2012). factors affecting cooperatives’ performance in relation to strategic planning and members’ participation. procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 65, 100-105. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.098 mangaleswaran, t., & alfred, m. (2014). financial and operational performance of cooperatives in northern province. jaffna university international research conference. http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/838 masuku, t. a., masuku, m. b., & mutangira, j. p. b. (2016). performance of multi-purpose cooperatives in the shiselweni region of swaziland. international journal of sustainable agricultural research, 3(4), 58-71. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.70/2016.3.4/70.4.58.71 muthyalu, m. (2013). analyze the performance of multipurpose cooperatives in input and out agricultural marketing in adwa woreda, tigray region, ethiopia. ifsmrc aijrm, 2, 14–15. national population commission (2006). nigerian population: facts and figures. federal republic of nigeria, abuja. ndifon, h. m., agube, e. i., & odok, g. n. (2012). sustainability of agricultural cooperative societies in nigeria: the case of south-south zone, nigeria. mediterranean journal of social sciences, 3(2), 19-19. okoli, e. (2018). assessment of the contribution of cooperative societies in the development of the youth: a case study of selected cooperative societies in dunukofia local government area, anambra state, nigeria. phd thesis submitted to the dept. of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka. omotesho, o. a. (2008). “global food crises and national food security: strategic options for nigeria". paper presented at the 2008 annual conference of the development finance department of central bank of nigeria (cbn), held at orchid hotel, asaba, delta state, 5th-8th october. onugu, c. u. & abdulahi, t. o. (2012). the performance of agricultural cooperative societies under the national programme on food security in enugu state, nigeria. eview of public administration and management, 1(2), 61 88. ttps://doi.org/10.4172/2315-7844.1000105 onwuchekwa, c. i. (1985). agricultural cooperatives and problems of transition: a study of organizational development problems in rural development, stockholm. university of stockholm department of business administration. paulo, a., & gratian, c. r. (2018). cooperative education and training as a means to improve performance in cooperative societies. umerianz journal of social science, 1(2), 39-50. poppe, k., vrolijk, h. & dijk, r. v. (2021). design of a system for information transfer to reduce administrative burdens in the agrifood sector. nt. j. food system dynamics, 12(4), 301-313. ttp://dx.doi.org/10.18461/ijfsd.v12i4.92 olabisi, a., & petronilla, o. i. (2011). effect of members’ participation on cooperativeperformance: a study of selected multipurposecooperative societies (mcs) in awka south lga of anambrastate, nigeria. international journal of multi-disciplinary research, 4, 117-126. tewodros, b. a. (2017). assessment of factors affecting performance of agricultural cooperatives in wheat market: the case of gedebhasasa district, ethiopia. african journal of business management. 1(16), 393-414. ttp://dx.doi.org/10.5897/ajbm2017.8293 wanyama, f. o., develtere, p., & pollet, i. (2008). encountering the evidence: cooperatives and poverty reduction in africa. working papers on social and cooperative entrepreneurship wp-sce, 08-02. yamusa, i., & adefila, j. o. (2014). farmers’ cooperatives and agricultural development in kwali area council, federal capital territory abuja, nigeria. international journal of humanities and social science, 4(1), 161-169. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. his open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.1080/19376812.2023.2218344 https://doi.org/10.4314/bja.v4i1.41926 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.11.098 http://repo.lib.jfn.ac.lk/ujrr/handle/123456789/838 http://dx.doi.org/10.18461/ijfsd.v12i4.92 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 1 agricultural studies aijas vol 10 no 1 (2025) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa understanding the role of home gardens in household food supply in times of shocks and uncertainty: evidence from covid-19 lockdown in nigeria chizoba obianuju oranu (a)1 kehinde paul adeosun (b) tochukwu georgina umeonuora (c) kenechukwu nwakwudo (d) (a) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: chizoba.oranu@unn.edu.ng (b) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: paul.adeosun@unn.edu.ng (c) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: tochukwu.mbani@unn.edu.ng (d) economics and environment, soas university of london, uk; e-mail: knwakwudosj@jesuits-anw.org a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received:18th may 2024 reviewed & revised: 18th may to 30th september 2024 accepted: 1st october 2024 published: 27th january 2025 keywords: home garden, food supply, food security, covid-19 jel classification codes: q18, q56, i31, o15, r11 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t home gardening has continued to gain increased interest among researchers because of its role in promoting household food security and strengthening local agrifood systems, particularly in developing countries like nigeria. in times of shocks like the covid-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted food supply chains, it offers significant potential to drive sustainable household food supply. however, its potential to fully support household food supply in nigeria remains underutilized. this study analyzes the role of home gardens in food supply among households during the covid-19 lockdown, using crosssectional data from 140 university staff members randomly selected. the data were collected via an online survey during the covid-19 lockdown and analyzed using a probit model. the result shows that most respondents owned a home garden. however, only 52 percent of the home gardeners obtained food from the garden during the covid-19 lockdown. socio-demographic characteristics such as gender and age were inversely related to ownership of a home garden, while household size, house location and education showed a positive and significant relationship. the food crops grown in the home gardens were mainly vegetables, cassava (manihot esculenta) and maize (zea mays). the primary reason for owning a home garden was the access to organic food and vegetables. the findings of this study suggest that home gardens offer the potential to sustain household food supply in times of food shocks and uncertainty. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction home gardening has continued to gain increased interest among researchers because of its role in promoting household food security and strengthening local agrifood systems (lal, 2020). the effects of food price volatility and global food shocks can also be potentially reduced by intensifying food production in home gardens (kumareswaran & jayasinghe, 2022). furthermore, home gardening is a crucial component of local food systems and agricultural landscapes. building a resilient and sustainable food system in developing countries already facing high food insecurity and poverty levels is pertinent. it is a promising approach for reducing household food insecurity and increasing food production. this is because the home garden provides direct access to food for households, typically daily, and ensures household food security by producing a variety of healthy foods all year round. additionally, its relevance increases during periods of food shocks, with some households establishing home food gardens mainly to address food crises (katz, 2020; music et al., 2022). for instance, the covid-19 pandemic disrupted household food supply, increasing the uptake of home garden food among households (montefrio, 2020). during the covid-19 lockdown, the food systems in most developing countries were greatly threatened due to the restrictions on transportation that interfered with the logistics of food supply from rural to urban areas (wetaya, 2020). countries with unstable food systems, such as nigeria, experienced increased effects due to pre-existing vulnerabilities, including poor infrastructure, high levels of poverty, and dependence on imported food. the covid-19 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0002-4293-3816 © 2025 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v10i1.326 to cite this article: oranu, c. o., adeosun, k. p., umeonuora, t. g., & nwakwudo, k. (2025). understanding the role of home gardens in household food supply in times of shocks and uncertainty: evidence from covid-19 lockdown in nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 10(1), 1-8. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v10i1.326 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v10i1.326 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4293-3816 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8061-5851 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4193-6636 https://orcid.org/0009-0000-8649-2437 oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 2 lockdown restrictions began in april 2020 as a precautionary measure to slow the spread of the virus in nigeria (haider, et al., 2020). this led to a ban on social gatherings and the closure of schools, businesses, markets, shops and religious centres. the lockdown raised concerns about the disruption of food supply, given that the covid-19 outbreak came unexpectedly and most households were not adequately prepared to store sufficient food to serve during the lockdown. hence, the covid19 lockdown further exacerbated the risk of food insecurity, hunger and malnutrition among households (lal, 2020). this led to a considerable focus on home gardens for food supply to cushion food shocks and improve household food and nutrition security (chandran & podikunju, 2021). the ability of home gardens to supply households with a wide range of nutritious and healthy foods such as fruits, legumes, root crops and vegetables, coffee, flowers (both for sales and ornamentals), medicines, spices and tea leaves supports enhanced household food security. besides, it is also a source of income, strengthens social relations, promotes physical exercise and provides environmental support (darly et al., 2021). despite the growing evidence of the benefits of home gardening, it has yet to gain widespread, especially in urban areas. although the covid-19 pandemic lockdown has increased the proliferation of home gardens due to a shortage of food supply, many households are yet to understand the importance of home gardening in promoting household food security (montefrio, 2020; music et al., 2022). there is also a paucity of studies on the adequacy of food supply from home gardens during the covid-19 lockdown in the nigerian context. therefore, this study analyses the food supplies from home gardening under the covid-19 lockdown in nigeria, giving empirical evidence from households in a university community. the study answers the following questions: do farmers’ socio-demographic factors influence owning a home garden? was the home garden able to supply food during the covid-19 lockdown to those with home gardens? was the food supply from the home garden to the household during the covid-19 lockdown sufficient? specifically, we describe the sociodemographic characteristics of home gardeners, food grown and food supply from home gardens during the covid-19 pandemic. we analyze factors influencing owning a home garden using a probit model. our result suggests that sociodemographic characteristics such as age, gender, household size, house location and education have a relationship with ownership of home gardens. the results further show that 52 percent of farmers who owned home gardens obtained food from the garden during the covid-19 lockdown, though at a minimal level. the rest of the paper has three sections. the next section focuses on the material and methods, the third on the results and discussions, and the last on concluding and drawing policy implications from the research. literature review home gardening has long been recognized as a key component of household food security and the local food system. they provide immediate access to fresh produce, diversify diets, and contribute to local food systems. landon-lane (2004) defined home gardening as a system of farming that integrates several physical, social, and economic functions on the land surrounding the family's home to supplement the supply of nutritious food at the household level in the study area. several studies have shown the importance of home gardening in promoting household food security. for instance, musotsi et al. (2008), machida (2019), rammohan et al. (2019), castañeda-navarrete (2021), issahaku et al. (2023), and gwacela et al. (2024) noted that higher nutritional outcomes and more food diversity in households are associated with home gardens. it helps improve the eating habits and consciousness of nutritious food among younger children (libman, 2007). contrarily, du toit et al. (2022) suggest that home gardens do not necessarily improve household food security. furthermore, home gardens also serve as safety nets during food crises and shocks (galhena et al., 2013; montefrio, 2020; mead et al., 2023). the covid-19 lockdown disrupted household food supply in nigeria, as in most developed countries (lal, 2020). in response to the disruptions in food supply, households turned to home gardening to supplement their food supply (paganini et al., 2020; music et al., 2022; wu et al., 2023). however, there is limited empirical research on the efficiency of food supply from home gardens during the covid-19 lockdown in nigeria. materials and methods the study was conducted in the university of nigeria, nsukka (unn) community in south eastern nigeria. the university is at 6051’24’n and 7023’45’e, with a land mass of approximately 871 hectares on the hilly savannah in nsukka and about 80 kilometres north of enugu (national population commission, npc, 2006). the university has 530 senior and 62 junior staff housing units. the university staff living in staff quarters can access land around their homes. the data for the study was collected from the university staff between april 2020 and june 2020 during the covid-19 lockdown via an online survey. it is important to note that the covid-19 lockdown in nigeria lasted from 30th march to 4th of may. google forms were randomly distributed to the university community members through social media platforms (whatsapp) and emails. a total of 140 responses were received at the end of the survey. data collected include food crops grown in the home garden, food supply from the home garden during the covid-19 lockdown, reasons for having a home garden, and respondents' socioeconomic characteristics. the probit model analysed factors influencing the decision to own a home garden. the probit model constrains the estimated probabilities to be between 0 and 1. in specifying the probit model, the dependent variable, y, takes the value of 1 if the home garden supplied food during the covid-19 lockdown and zero if otherwise. the latent model is presented as follows: 𝑌𝑖 = 𝑋𝑖𝛽 + 𝜀𝑖 (1) 𝑌𝑖= 1 if 𝑌𝑖 > 0 otherwise = 0 oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 3 where, 𝑌 𝑖𝑠 binary outcome (1 if the home garden was able to supply food during the covid-19 lockdown and 0 otherwise), 𝛽and 𝑋𝑖 are the parameter estimates and explanatory variables, respectively. the error term 𝜀𝑖is assumed to be normally distributed. probit analysis is based on the cumulative normal probability distribution (ghozali & ratmono, 2013). the probability of having a home garden is specified in (2), where φ represents the cumulative distribution. the conditional probability is specified as, 𝑃(𝑌 = 1|𝑋1, 𝑋2………….𝑋𝑛) = φ(𝛽0 + 𝛽1 + 𝑋1 + 𝛽2𝑋2 + … . . 𝛽𝑘𝑋𝑘 = φ(𝑋𝑖 ′𝛽) (2) the relationship between the explanatory variables and the outcome variables is interpreted using the marginal effect, which accounts for the partial change in the probability. the marginal effect associated with continuous explanatory variables xk on the probability p (yi = 1| x), holding the other variables constant, can be derived as follows: 𝛿𝑃𝑖 𝛿𝑋𝑖𝑘 = φ(𝑋𝑖 ′𝛽)𝛽𝑘 (3) where; φ represents the probability density function of a standard normal variable. the marginal effects on dummy variables are estimated differently from continuous variables. discrete changes in the predicted probabilities constitute an alternative to the marginal effects when evaluating the influence of a dummy variable. such an effect can be derived from the following: ∆= 𝛷(𝑥𝛽, 𝐷 = 1) − (�̈� 𝛽, 𝐷 = 0) (4) where 𝑥 and �̈� are explanatory variables, 𝛽 is the parameter to be estimated and φ is the cumulative standard normal distribution function. it is assumed that the conditional probability has a normal distribution. results and discussions socioeconomic characteristics of respondents table 1 represents the respondents' socioeconomic characteristics. the results show that most respondents are male (61 percent), while 39 percent are female. the average age, household size, and household expenditure are 46 years, 6, and 76600 naira, respectively. table 1. socioeconomic characteristics of the respondent socioeconomic characteristics description measurement mean s.d percentage (%) sex sex of respondent dummy male = 1 female = 0 0.607 0.490 61 39 age age of the respondent years 46 8.4 household size number of persons living in a household continuous 6 2.14 household expenditure household monthly expenditure (naira) continuous 76600 75557.1 54527.4 staff category category of staff in the university dummy teaching staff =1 non-teaching staff = 0 0.707 0.457 70 30 education academic qualification of the respondent dummy phd degree = 1 no phd degree = 0 0.564 0.497 56 44 marital status marital status of the respondent dummy married = 1 not married =0 0.910 0.291 90.71 9.29 labour labour used in the home garden family labour – 1 hired labour 0 59.8 40.2 home garden if the respondent owns a home garden dummy yes = 1 no = 0 0.578 0.496 58 42 approximately 70 per cent of the respondents were teaching staff of the university, while 30 percent were the nonteaching staff. the majority (56 percent) of the staff interviewed had a phd (doctor of philosophy), while 44 percent had lower degrees (masters's degree, bachelor's degree, and diploma). this is expected, given that respondents are working in oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 4 an academic institution. most respondents were married (91 percent), while 9 percent were unmarried. family labour is mostly (60 percent) used in the garden, while 40 percent used hired labour. furthermore, about 58 percent of the respondents owned a home garden, while 42 percent did not have one. distribution of food crops grown by respondents in the home garden the food crops grown in the home garden include fruits (41%), vegetables (93.3%), maize (30%), cocoyam (13.3%), cassava (46.7%), cowpea (3.8%), yam (17.3%), potatoes (10.7%), and pigeon peas (2.5%), as represented in table 2. this is in line with adebisi et al. (2019) study that showed that the common food crops grown in the home gardens were aloe vera, black beans, cassava, cocoyam, cucumber, garden egg, ginger, maize, melon, potato, tomato, three-leaf yam, okra pepper and yam. the results also showed that vegetables were mainly grown in the home gardens, which is crucial for household food and nutritious security. the findings of lal (2020) also showed that vegetables are mainly grown in home gardens. kegler et al. (2020) also noted that home gardening was consistently linked to increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. table 2. the food grown by respondents in the home garden food crops grown by respondents percentage vegetables 93.3 maize (zea mays) 30 cassava (manihot esculenta) 46.7 yam (dioscorea alata) 17.3 potatoes (ipomoea batatas) 10.7 cocoyam (xanthosoma sagittifolium) 13.3 fruits 41 cowpea (vigna unguiculata) 3.8 pigeon pea (cajanu cajan) 2.5 source: online survey 2020 some of the fruits grown include pawpaw (carica papaya), mango (mangifera indica), cashew (anacardiun occidentale), plantain (musa paradisiaca), orange (citrus sinensis), oil palm (elaeis guineensis), soursap (annona muricata), moringa (moringa olefera), banana (musa sapientum), african star apple (chrysophyllum albidum), african pear/plum (dacryodes edulis), guava (psidium guajava), coconut (cocos nucifera), avocado (persea americana), cucumber (cucumis sativus), breadfruit (artocarpus altilis), lemon (citrus limon) and cashew (anacardium occidentale). vegetables grown include fluted pumpkin leaf (telfairia occidentalis), scent leaf (ocimum gratissimum), green (amaranthus hybridus), bitter leaf (vernonia amygdalina), water leaf (talinum triangulare), jute leaves (corchorus olitorius), wild spinach (gnetum africanum), lemon grass (cymbopogon citratus), tomatoes (solanum lycopersicum), pepper (capsicum annuum), okra (abelmoschus esculentus), and garden egg (solanum melongena). the diverse food grown in the home gardens shows that it not only has the potential to promote household food security but can contribute significantly to household diet diversity (rammohan et al., 2019; ogutu et al., 2023). ownership of home garden and its influencing factors while a greater percentage of the respondents (58%) owned a home garden, 42 percent did not have a home garden. the respondent gave several motives for having a home garden. these include engaging in leisure and recreational activities (5%), maintaining a clean compound for preventing the spread of grasses and weeds that can attract snakes (7.5%), obtaining organic and healthy food (70%) (with healthy food defined as produce grown without any inorganic inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, herbicides, etc.), cultivating vegetables (5%), ensuring an adequate food supply (13.75%), and passing down indigenous knowledge of agricultural practices to their children (1.25%). access to organic and healthy food was the major reason for owning a home garden. basha et al. (2015) and lamonaca et al. (2022) also noted that organic food is predominantly preferred due to health-related concerns. conversely, among the households without home gardens, 8 percent stated it was not worthwhile. this could be attributed to a lack of knowledge of the many benefits of growing a home garden (al-mayahi et al., 2019). according to rammohan et al. (2019), home gardens are critical in promoting food security and diet diversity. an additional 8 percent indicated that their schedules are highly demanding, leaving them with insufficient time for tending to a home garden. meanwhile, 24 percent stated that maintaining a garden is burdensome. the majority, 60 percent, noted the lack of available land as the primary impediment to owning a home garden. notably, there is an uneven land distribution among respondents, especially those living on university campuses. additionally, some respondents use the available land for constructing infrastructure such as car garages, which reduces or eliminates the possibility of having a home garden. the probit model's result gave a log likelihood of -53.397 and a pseudo r-square of 0.44. the lr chi2(8) is 83.82, and a prob > chi2 of 0.0000. furthermore, the receiver operating characteristic (roc) curve was computed and presented in figure 1 to assess the model's predictive power. the roc represents the relationship between sensitivity and specificity, comparing the actual response values to the fitted values. oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 5 figure 1. receiver operating characteristic (roc) curve the region containing values ranging from 0 to 1 is called the concordance index (c index). a c-index value of 0.5 indicates a model's absence of predictive power, whereas a value approaching 1 signifies exceptional predictive power. the area under the curve is 0.9064, indicating that the model has predictive power. the results of the probit model are presented in table 3. table 3. factors influencing ownership of a home garden variable definition measurement coefficient marginal effects (dy/dx) marital status marital status of the respondent dummy (married =1, not married =0) 0.303 (0.519) 0.065 (0.111) age (years) age of the respondent categorical (years) 36 – 45 46 – 55 56 – 65 -0.497 (0.480) -1.225** (0.533) -1.631** 0.592 0.089 (0.083) 0.229 ** (0.087) 0.313*** (0.098) sex sex of the respondent dummy (male =1, female = 0) -0.606** (0.313) -0.131** (0.066) household size number of persons living in a household continuous 0.229*** (0.088) 0.049*** (0.017) home location location of residence of the respondent dummy (on-campus residence – 1 off-campus residence 0) 2.088*** (0.362) 0.449 *** (0.050) education academic qualification of the respondent dummy phd holder -1 non-phd holder 0 0.573** (0.306) 0.123** (0.064) *** p<.01, ** p<.05, * p<.1 (in parentheses are the se -standard error) the marginal effects show that age, gender, household size, house location, and education significantly affect owning a home garden. the respondents in the age range of 46 to 65 years have a significant and negative relationship with ownership of home gardens. the marginal effect results show that the chances of owning a home garden decrease by about 9 percent for individuals between the ages of 46 and 65. this implies that older respondents are less inclined to own a home garden. this may be due to respondents' reliance on family labour as the primary source of labour for the garden. basarir et al. (2022) also showed that a lack of ability to maintain the home garden has an inverse relationship with ownership of the home garden. however, this is contrary to the findings of mao et al. (2020) and zheng et al. (2022), which showed in their studies that older individuals are more inclined to have a home garden, especially as older individuals are more healthconscious with their eating habits. furthermore, the results show that males have a lower probability of owning a home garden than females. mdiya and mdoda (2021) also showed that women are predominantly involved in home gardens. the household size shows a positive and significant relationship with the home garden. an increase in household size increases the probability of owning a home garden by 5 percent. this is consistent with the findings of onomu et al. (2022), which state that larger households are likely to own a home garden. this may also result from larger households' increased food demand and labour availability. regarding respondents' residence, residing on the university campus increases the chances of having a home garden by 45 percent. this is in line with the findings of schupp et al. (2016), which state that the residence of a household significantly affects the ownership of a home garden. the respondents' education also showed a positive relationship with home gardens. this implies that earning a phd increases the chances of owning a home garden by approximately 12 percent. basarir et al. (2022) also showed that holding an msc/phd degree increases the likelihood of having a home garden. the proportion of household food from the home garden during the covid-19 lockdown a respondent is considered to have a food supply during covid-19 if any form of food was obtained within the perimeter of their home during the covid-19 lockdown. the results show that only about 52 percent of those who owned a home garden agreed that their garden could provide food during the covid-19 lockdown. however, 48 percent could not obtain oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 6 food from the home garden, as shown in figure 3. the inability to access food from their home garden during the covid19 lockdown may be attributed to the lack of preparedness for the lockdown, which came unexpectedly. in addition, a challenge that emerged during the pandemic was the coinciding of the implementation of lockdown measures and the beginning of the planting season rather than the harvest season. as such, residents were unable to obtain food from their home gardens in a period when crops were supposed to be cultivated. in nigeria, the rainy season typically occurs from april to october, while the dry season extends from november to march (odekunle, 2004). figure 2. food supply from the home garden during the covid-19 lockdown the distribution of the proportion of food supply from the home garden during the covid-19 lockdown on a scale of one to ten (1 – 10) is presented in figure 3. the respondents were asked about the proportion of food supplied from the home garden during the covid-19 lockdown on a scale of 1 – 10 (ascending order). approximately 11 percent chose zero, which implies that the home garden did not supply any food during the covid-19 lockdown. another, 28 percent chose one, 25 percent chose two, 11 percent chose three, 11 percent chose four, 7 percent chose five and 7 percent chose six. figure 3. the proportion of food supply from a home garden in a range of 0-10 (ascending order) none of the respondents chose seven, eight, nine or ten, indicating that the home garden supplies food to households during the covid-19 lockdown, but the supply was minimal. that notwithstanding, despite the unexpected implementation of the lockdown just before the beginning of the planting season, the home garden was able to supply some food to households. therefore, by strategically timing and adequately preparing, the home garden has the potential to provide households with an ample supply of food. mead et al. (2023) and lal (2020) also noted that home gardens have the potential to supply food to households and reduce food insecurity. additionally, 51.2 percent of respondents practicing home gardening wished they had expanded their home garden before the pandemic and hoped to expand it in the next planting season. conclusions the study analyzed the role of home gardens in household food supply during the covid-19 lockdown. home garden supplied food to more home gardeners during the covid-19 lockdown. however, the food supply from home gardens was limited due to the lockdown at the start of the planting season. home gardening was primarily motivated by the desire to 52 48 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 able to obtain food from home garden unable to obtain food from home garden percentage of respondents 11 28 25 11 11 7 7 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 percentage of respodents p ro p o rt io n o f fo o d s u p p l f ro m h o m e g ar d e n oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 7 access organic food and vegetables. socio-demographic factors also influence home garden ownership. the study highlights the importance of home gardens in enhancing household food security and building resilient food systems. therefore, given the multifaceted benefits of home gardens, this study suggests the need for increased awareness and sensitization on the importance of home gardens in building sustainable local food systems and resilience to food shocks. this is particularly critical in developing countries, where food insecurity and vulnerability to climate change impacts are prevalent. author contributions: conceptualization, c.o.o., k.p.a., t.g.u. and k.n.; methodology, c.o.o.; software, c.o.o.; validation, c.o.o.; formal analysis, c.o.o.; investigation, c.o.o.; resources, c.o.o.; data curation, c.o.o.; writing – original draft preparation, c.o.o., k.p.a., t.g.u. and k.n.; writing – review & editing, c.o.o., k.p.a., t.g.u. and k.n.; visualization, c.o.o.; supervision, c.o.o.; project administration, c.o.o.; funding acquisition, c.o.o., k.p.a., t.g.u. and k.n. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references adebisi, l. o., jimoh, o., asuquo, j., osasona, k. k., & ojediran, e. o. (2019). effect of contract farming on poultry farming households’ food security in osun state, nigeria. agro-science, 18(1), 45–49. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/as.v18i1.7 al-mayahi, a., al-ismaily, s., gibreel, t., kacimov, a., & al-maktoumi, a. (2019). home gardening in muscat, oman: gardeners’ practices, perceptions and motivations. urban forestry & urban greening, 38, 286-294. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.01.011 basarir, a., al mansouri, n. m., & ahmed, z. f. (2022). householder’s attitude, preferences, and willingness to have home garden at time of pandemics. horticulturae, 8(1), 56. https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8010056 basha, m. b., mason, c., shamsudin, m. f., hussain, h. i., & salem, m. a. (2015). consumers' attitude towards organic food. procedia economics and finance, 31, 444-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(15)01219-8 castañeda-navarrete, j. (2021). home garden diversity and food security in southern mexico. food security, 13(3), 669-683. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01148 chandran, v., & podikunju, b. (2021). constraints experienced by homestead vegetable growers in kollam district. indian journal of extension education, 57(1), 32-37. retrieved from https://iseeiari.org/journalpdf/ijee_57_1/ijee_57_1_6.pdf darly, s., feuillet, t., & laforêt, c. (2021). home gardening and the social divide of suburban space: methodological proposal for the spatial analysis of a social practice in the greater paris urban area. sustainability, 13(6), 3243. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063243 du toit, m. j., rendón, o., cologna, v., cilliers, s. s., & dallimer, m. (2022). why home gardens fail in enhancing food security and dietary diversity. frontiers in ecology and evolution, 10, 804523. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.804523 landon-lane, c. (2004). diversifying rural incomes through home gardens. rome: food and agriculture organization (fao). retrieved from https://eastafricaschoolserver.org/content/_public/local%20topics/comoros/agriculture%20for%20islands/garden%20and%20soil/livelih ood%20grow%20in%20gardens.pdf galhena, d. h., freed, r., & maredia, k. m. (2013). home gardens: a promising approach to enhance household food security and wellbeing. agriculture & food security, 2(8), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-2-8 ghozali, i., & ratmono, d. (2013). multivariate analysis and econometrics theory, concepts, and applications with eviews 8. diponegoro university publishing agency semarang. gwacela, m., ngidi, m. s. c., hlatshwayo, s. i., & ojo, t. o. (2024). analysis of the contribution of home gardens to household food security in limpopo province, south africa. sustainability, 16(6), 2525. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062525 haider, n., osman, a. y., gadzekpo, a., akipede, g. o., asogun, d., ansumana, r., lessells, r. j., khan, p., hamid, m. a., yeboah-manu, d., mboera, l., shayo, e. h., mmbaga, b. t., urassa, m., musoke, d., kapata, n., ferrand, r. a., kapata, p., stigler, f., czypionka, t., zumla, a., kock, r., & mccoy, d. (2020). lockdown measures in response to covid-19 in nine sub-saharan african countries. bmj global health, 5(10), e003319. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2020-003319 issahaku, g., kornher, l., saiful islam, a. h. m., & abdul-rahaman, a. (2023). heterogeneous impacts of home-gardening on household food and nutrition security in rwanda. food security, 15(3), 731-750. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-023-01344 katz, h. (2020). crisis gardening: addressing barriers to home gardening during the covid-19 pandemic. the australian food network: melbourne, australia, 1-47. https://sustain.org.au/articles/crisis-gardening-addressing-barriers-to-home-gardening-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ kegler, m. c., prakash, r., hermstad, a., williamson, d., anderson, k., & haardörfer, r. (2020). home gardening and associations with fruit and vegetable intake and bmi. public health nutrition, 23(18), 3417-3422. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980020001329 kumareswaran, k., & jayasinghe, g. y. (2022). a systematic review on ensuring the global food security and covid-19 pandemic resilient food systems: towards accomplishing sustainable development goals targets. discover sustainability, 3(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00096-5 lal, r. (2020). home gardening and urban agriculture for advancing food and nutritional security in response to the covid-19 pandemic. food security, 12(4), 871-876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01058-3 lamonaca, e., cafarelli, b., calculli, c., & tricase, c. (2022). consumer perception of attributes of organic food in italy: a cub model study. heliyon, 8(3). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09007 libman, k. (2007). growing youth growing food: how vegetable gardening influences young people's food consciousness and eating habits. applied environmental education and communication, 6(1), 87-95. https://doi.org/10.1080/15330150701319388 machida, d. (2019). relationship between community or home gardening and health of the elderly: a web-based cross-sectional survey in japan. international journal of environmental research and public health, 16(8), 1389. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081389 mao, y., imara, i. d., natawiguna, i. m. p. d., pratiwi, p. i., oka, t., & furuya, k. (2020, may). a comparison of young generation’s perception regarding home garden in an urban area: a case study of indonesia and japan. in iop conference series: earth and environmental science 501(1), 012025. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/501/1/012025 mead, b. r., davies, j. a., falagán, n., kourmpetli, s., liu, l., & hardman, c. a. (2023). growing your own in times of crisis: the role of home food growing in perceived food insecurity and well-being during the early covid-19 lockdown. emerald open research, 1(6). https://doi.org/10.1108/eor-06-2023-0009 mdiya, l., & mdoda, l. (2021). socio-economic factors affecting home gardens as a livelihood strategy in rural areas of the eastern cape province, south africa. south african journal of agricultural extension, 49(3), 1-15. https://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2021/v49n3a12823 montefrio, m. j. f. (2020). interrogating the “productive” home gardener in a time of pandemic lockdown in the philippines. food and foodways, 28(3), 216-225. https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/07409710.2020.1790142 https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/as.v18i1.7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2019.01.011 https://doi.org/10.3390/horticulturae8010056 https://doi.org/10.1016/s2212-5671(15)01219-8 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01148 https://iseeiari.org/journalpdf/ijee_57_1/ijee_57_1_6.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/su13063243 https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.804523 https://doi.org/10.1186/2048-7010-2-8 https://doi.org/10.3390/su16062525 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-023-01344 https://sustain.org.au/articles/crisis-gardening-addressing-barriers-to-home-gardening-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/ https://doi.org/10.1017/s1368980020001329 https://doi.org/10.1007/s43621-022-00096-5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-020-01058-3 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e09007 https://doi.org/10.1080/15330150701319388 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16081389 https://doi.org/10.1108/eor-06-2023-0009 https://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2021/v49n3a12823 oranu et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 1-8 8 music, j., mullins, l., charlebois, s., large, c., & mayhew, k. (2022). seeds and the city: a review of municipal home food gardening programs in canada in response to the covid-19 pandemic. humanities and social sciences communications, 9(1), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599022-01301-6 musotsi, a. a., sigot, a. j., & onyango, m. o. a. (2008). the role of home gardening in household food security in butere division of western kenya. african journal of food, agriculture, nutrition and development, 8(4), 375-390. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajfand.v8i4.19199 national population commission (npc) (2006). final results of 2006 census. official gazette. abuja, nigeria. odekunle, t. o. (2004). rainfall and the length of the growing season in nigeria. international journal of climatology: a journal of the royal meteorological society, 24(4), 467-479. https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1012 ogutu, s. o., mockshell, j., garrett, j., labarta, r., ritter, t., martey, e., swamikannu, n., gotor, e., & gonzalez, c. (2023). home gardens, household nutrition and income in rural farm households in odisha, india. journal of agricultural economics, 74, 744–763. available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12525 onomu, a. r., aliber, m., tarivunga, a., chinyamurindi, w. t., & megbowon, e. t. (2022). drivers of home garden growth beyond food security and income: lessons from south africa. international journal of development and sustainability, 11, 114-165. retrieved from https://isdsnet.com/ijds-v11n5-01.pdf paganini, n., adinata, k., buthelezi, n., harris, d., lemke, s., luis, a., koppelin, j., karriem, a., ncube, f., aguirre, e. n., ramba, t., raimundo, i., sulejmanovic, n., swanby, h., tevera, d., & stöber, s. (2020). growing and eating food during the covid-19 pandemic: farmers’ perspectives on local food system resilience to shocks in southern africa and indonesia. sustainability, 12(20), 8556. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208556 rammohan, a., pritchard, b., & dibley, m. (2019). home gardens as a predictor of enhanced dietary diversity and food security in rural myanmar. bmc public health, 19(1), 13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7440-7 schupp, j. l., som castellano, r. l., sharp, j. s., & bean, m. (2016). exploring barriers to home gardening in ohio households. local environment, 21(6), 752–767. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2015.1017807 wetaya, r. (2020). urban agriculture thriving in east africa during covid-19. cornell alliance for science. retrieved from https://allianceforscience.cornell.edu/blog/2020/08/urban-agriculture-thriving-in-east-africa-duringcovid-19/. accessed 28.08.20. wu, c. f., trac, l. v. t., chen, s. h., menakanit, a., le, q. t., tu, h. m., & chen, c. c. (2023). enhancing human resilience beyond covid-19-related stress: public responses to multi-benefits of home gardening. scientific reports, 13(1), 10534. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37426-0 zheng, h., akita, n., & zhang, f. (2022). study of residents’ willingness to construct community gardens in the post-epidemic era investigation from wuhan. international review for spatial planning and sustainable development, 10(3), 33-49. https://doi.org/10.14246/irspsd.10.3_33 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01301-6 https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01301-6 http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajfand.v8i4.19199 https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-9552.12525 https://isdsnet.com/ijds-v11n5-01.pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208556 https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-7440-7 https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2015.1017807 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-37426-0 https://doi.org/10.14246/irspsd.10.3_33 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 7 agricultural studies aijas vol 9 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa growth performance and lipid profile of archachatina marginata (giant african land snail) fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits based diets kenechi celestina umezinwa (a)1 chioma jane aniekwe (b) foleng harriet ndofor (c) (a) student, department of animal science, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: kenechiumezinwa@gmail.com (b) student, department of animal science, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: chiomaaniekwe0267@gmail.com (c) professor, department of animal science, university of nigeria, nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: harriet.ndoforfoleng@unn.edu.ng a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received:11th january 2024 reviewed & revised:12th january to 29th april 2024 accepted:30th april 2024 published:5th may 2024 keywords: archachatina marginata, growth performance, lipid profile, eggplant fruits jel classification codes: o13 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t the performance of african giant land snails (archachatina marginata) fed ripe eggplant fruits was studied using eighty-four (84) juvenile (four months old) archachatina marginata for eight (8) weeks. the study evaluated the snails' growth performance and lipid profile (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein and triglycerides). the snails were divided into four treatment groups, with twenty-one (21) snails per group in a completely randomized design (crd). treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4 had varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits at 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% inclusion levels respectively. isocaloric and isonitrogenous feeds and water were provided ad libitum, while other management practices were strictly adhered to. the results showed no significant differences (p>0.05) in growth performance across treatments. the results also revealed that total cholesterol decreased (p<0.05) significantly as the levels of ripe eggplant fruits increased across treatments. there were no significant differences (p>0.05) in low-density lipoprotein and triglycerides, while high-density lipoprotein differed (p<0.05) significantly across treatments. the result also showed a linear increase in high-density lipoprotein ("good" cholesterol) as the levels of ripe eggplant fruits increased across treatments. therefore, a 15% inclusion level of ripe eggplant fruits in the diet of archachatina marginata reduces total cholesterol levels and increases high-density lipoprotein without any adverse effect on growth. the study recommends using ripe eggplant fruits to formulate diets for animals with high cholesterol content and high levels of low-density lipoprotein in their meat. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction archachatina marginata, a micro livestock, is part of the african giant land snails (agls) group and is equally known as big black snails. snail farming is an eco-friendly practice that requires minimal skills and investment (ani et al., 2014). like other species, the well-being and reproduction of agls heavily rely on housing and the quality of their diet. however, human-induced factors such as deforestation are causing a rapid decline in wild snail populations (raimi & temitayo, 2020), potentially leading to their extinction if this trend persists (omolara & olaleye, 2010). babalola (2018) says snail meat is delicious and boasts high nutritional and medicinal value. with a crude protein content of approximately 19%, it competes favourably with other animal protein sources (nyameasem & borketey-la, 2014). additionally, it matches well with essential amino acids found in poultry eggs and flesh and is abundant in potassium, phosphorus, essential amino acids, vitamin c, and b complex (afolabi, 2013). medically, its low-fat content makes it suitable for individuals with heart-related conditions, as it is low in cholesterol (babalola et al., 2015; das & ingole, 2023). furthermore, snail meat is a good source of iron, aiding in reducing anaemia caused by iron deficiency. despite the evident advantages of snail products, intensive snail farming remains an overlooked sector in african nations like nigeria, unlike in countries such as the united states of america and australia (miegoue et al., 2019), where snail farming is a thriving industry, offering opportunities to numerous farmers. this neglect of intensified snail production 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0003-9195-6699 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.313 to cite this article: umezinwa, k. c., aniekwe, c. j., & ndofor, f. h. (2024). growth performance and lipid profile of archachatina marginata (giant african land snail) fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits based diets . american international journal of agricultural studies, 9(1), 7–16. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.313 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.313 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9195-6699 https://orcid.org/0009-0003-0218-3074 https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5888-8354 umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 8 in nigeria may stem from more information, knowledge, and skills needed for domestication and commercial snail farming. therefore, prioritizing the domestication and commercialization of snails is crucial for preserving snails and their health benefits and ensuring a consistent supply of snail meat throughout the year. nigerians need to focus on domesticating and commercializing snails to meet the recommended animal protein intake set by the food and agriculture organization (afolabi, 2013; jimoh & akinola, 2020). feeding is crucial in all livestock production endeavours, including snail farming. despite the need for comprehensive information on the quality of feed for snails in nigeria (babalola, 2018), snail farmers persistently strive to provide balanced diets. snails naturally consume a variety of items present in their environment. research indicates that snails thrive on single-source forage or concentrate feed or a combination of forage and formulated diets (okon et al., 2012). additionally, some farmers have achieved satisfactory results by feeding snails conventional feeds, primarily plant-based materials like leaves, shoots, and fruits (felici et al., 2020). in a highly managed snail farm, all snails, regardless of their growth stage, receive both external feed and a formulated mix containing proteins, carbohydrates, minerals, and vitamins necessary for optimal growth. while nigerians engaged in commercial snail production primarily rely on formulated commercial feeds, these feeds are often costly. research has shown that snails thrive on compounded or formulated diets (nyameasem & borketey-la, 2014). however, due to the high expense associated with these diets, there is a necessity for further research and exploration of alternative, non-conventional feed ingredients (jamro et al., 2021; jabessa et al., 2023; kebede et al., 2024). in this context, eggplant fruits and leaves could serve as alternative food sources for snails (cobbinah et al., 2008), although there needs to be more information regarding the performance of snails fed on them. eggplants (solanum melongena) are members of the solanaceae family and are economically significant vegetables cultivated in various countries (silva et al., 2020). they are widely distributed across tropical, subtropical, and mediterranean regions because they prefer long, warm weather conditions for optimal growth (dias, 2012). known for their high moisture content and low caloric value (kandoliya et al., 2015), eggplants are also considered valuable sources of antioxidants and essential phytonutrients. the soluble sugar content ranges from 2.7 to 5.0g per 100g (ghadsingh & mandge, 2012). according to kandoliya et al. (2015), the protein content varies from 0.66% to 1.28% depending on the variety, along with the presence of ascorbic acid, a vital antioxidant, high anthocyanin content, and low glycoalkaloid content. eggplant fruits are recognized as nutritious, offering various health benefits. additionally, studies have shown significant decreases in the blood levels of low-density lipoproteins and total cholesterol in human volunteers who consumed eggplant powder (dias, 2012). therefore, this study focuses on checking the growth performance of archachatina marginata fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diets. the experiment also analyses the snail meat to ascertain the lipid profile of the experimental animals when this plant byproduct is included in their diet to limit the waste of eggplant fruits when harvested without a ready market for sale. the broad objective of this study was to check the growth performance and lipid profile of archachatina marginata fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diet. the specific objectives of the study include:  to evaluate the growth performance, feed intake, and mortality rate of archachatina marginata, they were fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diets.  to check the lipid profile of archachatina marginata meat fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diets. literature review the giant african land snail, known scientifically as archachatina marginata, is commonly encountered in the west african coast's forests. it is the most sought-after snail species in nigeria due to its notable size, reaching lengths of up to 20 cm and weighing as much as 500g (okafor-elenwo et al., 2021). in contrast to other members of the archachatina genus, its shell exhibits a less pronounced point. compared to other varieties, the shell of archachatina marginata is broader towards the rear. these snails typically display a grey hue, with a head darker than their body. their thick shells showcase a mottled black, brown, and white pattern. upon reaching maturity, they measure between 11 to 19 cm in length and weigh 150 to 800 grams. it takes them approximately 18 to 24 months to get full size. because of its roots in the african rainforest, archachatina marginata is ideally suited for snail farming in nigeria. this species flourishes in environments with temperatures ranging from 25 to 30°c and a consistent relative humidity of 75 to 95% throughout the year; otherwise, the snails will enter a state of hibernation or dormancy. during dormancy, a white calcareous layer seals off the snail's shell to prevent water loss from the body. the structured tasks in raising snails are similar to those in traditional livestock farming, such as poultry, pigs, fish, cattle, and goats. any distinctions that arise are typically related to specific methods or treatments rather than core principles. site selection is crucial, with a preference for a location near the farmer's home for the snailery. suppose proximity to the farmer's residence is not feasible. in that case, the farmer with an established farmland can opt for a site within the farm, reasonably close to the service centre, where existing security measures can easily encompass the snailery (akintomide, 2004). this helps to deter harmful pests, predators, and potential theft. the chosen site should ideally feature a level surface with fertile, loamy soil. snails are naturally inclined to roam and often stray beyond boundaries, especially in favourable environments. small-scale farmers raise snails in various makeshift structures such as pits, plastic containers, earthen pots, enclosures crafted from palm fronds and bamboo, and rectangular enclosures built from cement or clay blocks. additionally, arrangements like stacks of tyres with covers, hutch boxes, and trench pens are suitable for housing snails. farmers should initially excavate a layer of loamy soil to a depth of around 12 cm before introducing the snails when using plastic containers or earthen pots. cane, strips of palm fronds, baskets, and large clay pots can be positioned on a stable or concrete surface and placed in shaded areas. fill them with loamy soil to a depth of 15 cm. the author also suggests covering these enclosures umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 9 with framed wire net lids to promote ventilation, prevent snail escape, and deter pests. additionally, small perforations should be made at the bottom of the cage or basket to facilitate drainage and avoid water logging, as snails do not thrive in overly damp conditions. however, for large-scale or commercial snail farming, factors like wind speed and direction, soil composition, temperature, and humidity should be carefully considered before constructing a standardized snail housing facility, as noted by akintomide (2004). various housing options, such as cage pens, sand enclosures, concrete pens, and trench pens, are suitable for snail farming. according to akintomide (2004), selecting breeding stock should prioritize characteristics like fecundity, hatchability, and growth potential. utilizing the giant land snails, achatina achatina, and archachatina marginata is more cost-effective. these species can be acquired from research institutes, other snail farmers or dealers, and local markets. it is advisable to procure fully-grown, sexually mature, and active snails weighing 150-250g, capable of promptly producing eggs after introduction. akinyemi et al. (2007) emphasize that choosing superior or desired traits in breeding stock ensures economically viable snail production. the african giant land snail is predominantly favoured in snail farming. typically, snails consume approximately 3-4% of their body weight in feed daily (jimoh & akinola, 2020). like other animals, the growth of snails varies depending on their diet. aa is a significant and beneficial correlation between the feed's nutrient content and snail growth. therefore, it is essential to provide a balanced diet comprising the right proportions of carbohydrates, fats and oils, proteins, minerals (especially calcium), vitamins, and a sufficient water supply. newly hatched snails are typically nourished with powdered formulated feed, soft leaves, ripe fruits, mashed food, or a blend of these options. however, they tend to favour powdered formulated feed during this delicate stage. snail diet commonly includes lime supplementation, which is crucial for shell development. lime is essential before reaching sexual maturity to prime the snails for egg production and shell strengthening. additionally, it aids in repairing shell damage resulting from accidents or egg-laying activities. a study by jimoh and akinola (2020) investigated the reproductive performance of laying snails (archachatina marginata) when fed a diet comprising roughages and various concentrate mixes. the research highlighted the necessity for further studies into using compounded rations for snails to address the scarcity of fruits, tubers, and leaves during the dry season. the experiment's findings suggested that the concentrate ratio is crucial for achieving optimal reproductive output in snails compared to roughages. providing adequate feed, supplemented with vitamins, calcium, minerals, and water during the dry season, can interrupt the aestivation cycle and increase productivity while reducing drug wastage and inhibiting bacterial growth over time. omolara and olaleye (2010) studied the performance, carcass analysis, and sensory evaluation of cooked juvenile african giant snails (snails) fed exclusively on pawpaw leaves, whole lettuce, lettuce waste, and cabbage waste. the findings indicated that snails of archachatina marginata could effectively utilize lettuce and cabbage waste as sole feed ingredients, thereby enhancing the animal protein supply in nigeria. moreover, the various dietary treatments did not significantly affect the sensory evaluation of the snails. in a separate study, eke et al. (2010) investigated the impact of crude oil fractions on the lipid profile of achatina achatina. the researchers concluded that crude oil fractions induce alterations in the fatty acid composition of the snails, thereby affecting their nutritional values. nyameasem and borketey-la (2014) researched the impact of formulated diets on the growth and reproductive performance of the west african giant snail (achatina achatina). the study compared the performance of snails-fed traditional snail feeds with those fed compounded diets. their findings indicated that achatina achatina readily consumed and responded positively to compounded diets. snails fed compounded diets exhibited notable improvements in growth and reproduction compared to those fed a diet solely consisting of pawpaw fruits. the broiler starter diet also appeared to promote growth in juvenile and adult snails, while layer mash favoured reproductive performance. in another study, ozougwu and ene (2014) investigated the effects of crude oil fractions on the lipid profile of achatina achatina. their findings revealed that an increase in the concentration of crude oil fractions significantly decreased the lipid profile of achatina achatina. babalola et al. (2015) conducted a study on the growth performance of growing snails (archachatina marginata) fed milk leaf (euphorbia heterophylla) supplemented with calcium from three different sources (eggshell, oyster shell, and bone meal). the experiment concluded that eggshells are the most effective calcium source for growing snails when fed a basal diet of milk leaf, based on overall performance. oyster shells can be utilized as an alternative in the absence of eggshells. however, the suitability of bone meal as a calcium source for snail performance is questionable, and milk leaf should only be fed to snails with a calcium supplement. in a separate study, oketoobo et al. (2021) compared the growth performance of snails fed a formulated diet with three selected edible vegetables. their findings suggested that snails fed these vegetables and fruits exhibited favourable growth performance comparable to those fed a formulated feed. consequently, these feeding materials can be conveniently utilized for snail rearing. eggplant, also known as aubergine in europe and brinjal in south asia, is a popular vegetable crop cultivated in many countries across subtropical, tropical, and mediterranean regions due to its requirement for a prolonged period of warm weather to yield good harvests. consequently, it is a staple in numerous tropical and subtropical nations (feleafel, 2005). recognized as a dietary vegetable, eggplant is valued for its high moisture content and low caloric value. dias (2012) concurred, noting that various eggplant varieties exhibit estimated soluble sugar levels ranging from 0.154 to 2.40 μg.mg-1 dry weight. these significant sugar components play crucial roles in human health by providing energy and participating in numerous biochemical reactions unrelated to energy metabolism. moreover, these carbohydrates may act as substrates for synthesizing aromatic amino acids and phenolic compounds via the shikimic acid pathway, potentially enhancing the phenolic and antioxidant capabilities of the same variety. the protein found in eggplant fruits contributes significantly to their nutritional value. this protein content suggests that consuming eggplant can aid in hormone production, regulating various bodily functions such as growth, repair, and tissue maintenance. protein levels range from 0.66% to 1.28%. eggplants are an excellent source of dietary fibre, supporting digestion and manganese and contributing to bone health. umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 10 additionally, it provides significant amounts of molybdenum, which aids enzyme function, and potassium, which supports heart health. eggplant also offers vitamin k and magnesium for bone health, copper, vitamin c, vitamin b6, folate, and niacin for heart health. research indicates that eggplant can effectively aid in reducing high blood cholesterol levels. studies conducted by dias (2012) demonstrated a notable decrease in the blood levels of low-density lipoproteins and total cholesterol in human volunteers who consumed eggplant powder. eggplant phenolics have been shown to possess inhibitory effects on key enzymes relevant to type 2 diabetes and hypertension. in addition to being rich in vitamins and minerals, eggplant contains essential phytochemicals with antioxidant properties. these phytochemicals include phenolic compounds like caffeine and chlorogenic acid and flavonoids like nasunin. nasunin, also known as delphinidin-3(coumaroylrutinoside)-5-glucoside, is the predominant phytochemical in eggplant. however, it is worth noting that toxic or anti-nutritional components have been reported in eggplant forage (okereke, 2015). these anti-nutritional factors pose a significant challenge in fully realizing the nutritional benefits of eggplant forage. despite their presence in substantial amounts, these anti-nutritional factors have been found to play significant roles in the nutritional quality of food. eke et al. (2010) state that a comprehensive understanding of lipid biochemistry is crucial for comprehending the significance of different unsaturated fatty acids in nutrition and health. lipids represent a chemically diverse group of biological substances composed of non-polar groups. they are soluble organic compounds that can only be extracted from cells using organic solvents and possess a higher caloric value than carbohydrates. besides their insulator function, essential fatty acids are vital for maintaining healthy skin. lecithins, for instance, serve both metabolic and structural roles. lipid biochemistry knowledge also sheds light on the significance of various unsaturated fatty acids in nutrition and health. furthermore, lipids play pivotal roles in human nutrition; fats and oils are many organisms' primary stored energy sources, while phospholipids and sterols are major structural components of biological membranes. other lipids, although present in smaller quantities, are essential as enzyme co-factors, electron carriers, highly absorbent pigments, hormones, and intracellular messengers. lipids possess higher caloric values compared to carbohydrates. fat deposits within the body are insulation and provide protective cushioning for organs. essential fatty acids play a crucial role in maintaining healthy skin. lipids are vital dietary components due to their high energy content, fat-soluble vitamins, and essential fatty acids in natural food fats. fat is an efficient energy source within the body, directly and potentially when stored in adipose tissue. it acts as a thermal insulator and facilitates the rapid transmission of nerve impulses along myelinated nerves, given the highfat content of nerve tissue. lipoproteins, combinations of fat and protein, are essential cellular components found in cell membranes and mitochondria within the cytoplasm and serve as vehicles for lipid transport in the bloodstream. understanding lipid biochemistry is crucial for comprehending biomedical topics such as obesity, atherosclerosis, and the roles of various polyunsaturated fatty acids in nutrition and health. the term "lipid profile" refers to the assessment of various lipid parameters, typically including total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (hdl) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (ldl) cholesterol, and triglycerides. adults without additional risk factors for heart disease should undergo fasting lipid profile testing once every five years. routine lipid profile testing is not necessary for adolescents and children; however, it is recommended for individuals at heightened risk of developing heart disease later in life. the significance of some components of lipid profile testing is outlined below. total cholesterol (tc): cholesterol, a type of fat, is present in human blood and can be synthesized by the body or obtained from dietary sources, particularly animal products. while cholesterol is essential for cellular health, elevated levels are directly associated with an increased risk of heart and vascular diseases, including coronary artery disease. high-density lipoprotein (hdl): hdl is a lipoprotein composed of fat and protein in the bloodstream. it is often referred to as "good" cholesterol because it aids in removing excess cholesterol from the blood and transporting it to the liver (das & ingole, 2023). higher hdl levels correlate with a reduced risk of heart and vascular diseases. low-density lipoprotein (ldl): ldl, like hdl, is a lipoprotein consisting of both fat and protein in the bloodstream. it is commonly called "bad" cholesterol because it collects cholesterol from the blood and transports it to cells (das & ingole, 2023). elevated levels of ldl are associated with an increased risk of heart and vascular diseases. triglycerides (tg): triglycerides are a form of fat present in the bloodstream. the level of this fat in the blood is influenced by dietary factors such as sugar, fat, or alcohol intake. however, it can also be elevated due to factors such as obesity, thyroid or liver disease, and genetic conditions. elevated triglyceride levels are associated with an increased risk of heart and vascular diseases. materials and methods study area the research occurred at the snail unit of the department of animal science teaching and research farm, university of nigeria, nsukka. nsukka is situated in the derived savannah region, with coordinates ranging from latitude 7 to 12.510 north and an altitude of 447m above sea level. the climate in the study area is typically tropical, characterized by relative humidity levels between 65% and 80%. the average daily minimum temperature ranges from 22 to 24.7°c, while the average maximum temperature ranges from 33 to 37°c. annual rainfall in the region falls between 1680 to 1700mm (ozor et al., 2015). duration of study: the study will last for eight weeks. experimental animals: eighty-four juvenile archachatina marginata were used for the study and were procured from a snail farm in ibadan, oyo state. umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 11 materials used twelve plastic baskets were used. sandy loam soil, procured from the nearby university farm, was also used. the soil was sterilized and put into different baskets labelled accordingly. acclimatization the snails were consistently fed the control diet for two weeks to establish their condition before being fed the treatment ration. the acclimatized snails were then divided into four treatment groups, each with three replicates and seven snails per treatment. procurement and processing of the eggplant fruits the eggplant fruits were obtained from the department of crop science farm, university of nigeria, nsukka. they were sun-dried, ground, and used for diet formulation. table 1. proximate composition of ripe eggplant fruits parameters protein (%) moisture (%) fat (%) ash (%) fibre (%) carbohydrate (%) 16.068 6.118 1.866 2.847 2.367 70.734 16.060 6.127 1.871 2.841 2.361 70.740 16.067 6.124 1.875 2.846 2.365 70.723 average 16.065 6.123 1.871 2.845 2.364 70.732 experimental diets four diets were formulated using maize, wheat offal, soya bean meal, palm kernel cake, fish meal, lysine, methionine, lime, bone meal and ripe eggplant fruits. hence, the table below shows the combination of ingredients for the different experimental diets used for the experiment. table 2. experimental diets ingredients t1-control (0% ripe eggplant) t2-treatment2 (5% ripe eggplant) t3-treatment3 (10% ripe eggplant) t4-treatment4 (15% ripe eggplant) maize 20.734 18.714 16.694 14.677 wheat offal 20.734 18.714 16.694 14.677 soya bean meal 17.511 17.175 16.839 16.501 palm kernel cake 30.019 29.443 28.867 28.287 fish meal 2.502 2.454 2.406 2.357 lysine 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.250 methionine 0.250 0.250 0.250 0.250 lime 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 bone meal 4.000 4.000 4.000 4.000 eggplant fruits 0.000 5.000 10.000 15.000 total 100.000 100.000 100.000 100.000 table 3. proximate composition of experimental diets t1 t2 t3 t4 crude protein 20.000 20.000 20.000 20.000 moisture content 10.369 9.896 8.593 9.289 ash 3.000 4.500 3.250 4.000 fibre 7.348 6.967 6.607 6.263 nitrogen free extract 59.283 58.637 61.550 60.448 energy (me), (kcal/kg) 2.233 2.100 2.033 1.843 laboratory analysis the nutrient composition of the dried, ground eggplant fruits was determined through proximate analysis following the protocols outlined by the association of analytical chemists (aoac, 2005). additionally, the lipid profile of the snail meat was assessed using the enzymatic endpoint method developed by allain et al. (1974). this method significantly advances cholesterol determination, replacing traditional chemical saponification with enzymatic saponification for more accurate results. experimental design for the experiment, 84 juvenile archachatina marginata snails, aged four months with an average body weight of 92.730, were utilized. a completely randomized design consisted of four distinct dietary treatments comprising 21 snails. each treatment was replicated three times, with seven snails per replicate. t0 = control diet t1 =control diet + 5.0% ripped eggplant fruit umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 12 t2 = control diet + 10% ripped eggplant fruit t3= control diet + 15% ripped eggplant fruit. experimental model below is the model for completely randomized design. xij =u + ti + eij xij= measurement taken (this means j observation of the i factor) u= population mean ti= treatment effect eij=residual error. statistical analysis the collected data underwent analysis of variance (anova) within a completely randomized design (crd) framework using the statistical package for the social sciences (spss). anova was performed for each parameter, with the different treatments as the factors. significant differences among means were determined using duncan's new multiple-range test within the same software package. data collected/measured data were gathered concerning growth parameters, including body weight, shell length, and shell circumference. additionally, feed intake was recorded, and weight gain and feed conversion ratio were computed. furthermore, lipid profile analysis was conducted in the laboratory. growth performance/ feeding feed intake: feed intake was measured by providing the experimental animals with 10g of feed daily, which was weighed before being supplied. the remaining feed was weighed the following day, and feed intake was calculated by determining the difference between the leftover feed and the quantity initially provided. body weight: the snails were weighed daily using a sensitive scale, and the weight gain was calculated by comparing two consecutive weigh-ins. shell length and circumference: shell length and circumference were measured using venier callipers and taken daily. feed conversion ratio: the feed conversion ratio was calculated based on the feed consumed compared to the weight gain ratio. fcr (feed consumed: weight gain) = 𝐹𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑑 𝑊𝑒𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑔𝑎𝑖𝑛 lipid profile:  triglycerides  high-density lipoprotein  low-density lipoprotein  total cholesterol results growth performance and feeding table 4. growth performance and feeding of archachatina marginata fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diets parameters t1 (control) t2 (5%) t3 t4 (10%) (15%) adfi (g) initial body weight (g) final body weight (g) daily weight gain (g) feed conversion ratio initial shell length (g) final shell length (g) dslg (g) isc (g) fsc (g) dscg (g) % mortality 1.11±0.12 92.53±3.47 99.58±0.83 0.50±0.19 2.64±0.68 10.09±0.05 10.30±0.05 0.01±0.01 14.28±0.30 14.33±0.35 0.00±0.00 6.25±6.25 1.08±0.11 91.81±3.47 97.13±0.64 0.38±0.19 3.94±2.22 9.56±0.29 9.96±0.09 0.03±0.02 14.45±0.40 14.91±0.09 0.03±0.02 12.5±0.00 1.42±0.34 1.24±0.16 93.19±0.88 93.39±1.32 96.88±0.38 96.88±0.13 0.26±0.09 0.25±0.10 6.60±3.53 5.73±1.79 9.85±0.19 10.12±0.01 10.29±0.14 12.81±2.49 0.03±0.00 0.19±0.18 14.66±0.13 14.58±0.03 14.78±0.13 15.37±0.15 0.01±0.00 0.06±0.01 18.75±6.25 18.75±6.25 umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 13 adfi= average daily feed intake dslg = daily shell length gain isc = initial shell circumference fsc = final shell circumference scg = shell circumference gain dscg = daily shell circumference gain the results obtained for the growth performance of juvenile archachatina marginata, fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diets, are presented in table 6. there were no notable differences in the mean daily feed intake among juvenile snails in treatments t1, t2, t3, and t4. however, t3 exhibited the highest consumption with a daily feed intake of 1.42g, while t2 displayed the lowest consumption at 1.08g. similarly, there were no significant variances in the mean daily weight gain; however, a decreasing trend in weight gain was observed as the level of ripe eggplant fruits added increased. specifically, t1 demonstrated the highest daily weight gain of 0.50g, while t4 exhibited the lowest daily weight gain at 0.25g. there was no appreciable difference in the shell gain of snails on the t1, t2, t3, and t4 diets, but the values of the shell length gain ranged between 0.19 and 0.01. the shell length of those on t4 had the highest gain (12.81±2.49), while that of t1 was the least (10.30±0.05). the shell circumference gain result ranges from 0.06 to 0.00. the increase was insignificant, but t1 had the highest increase. the analysis of feed conversion ratio did not show a significant difference, but the results ranged from 6.60 to 2.64. lipid profile table 5. lipid profile of archachatina marginata fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diet parameters t1 (control) t2 (5%) t3 t4 (10%) (15%) total cholesterol low-density lipoprotein high-density lipoprotein triglycerides 83.00±1.00a 26.00±8.00 12.00±2.00b 101.00±7.00 65.00±1.00b 61.50±0.80bc 59.00±1.00c 9.00±1.00 1250±1.80 14.00±2.00 46.50±4.50a 42.80±0.80a 40.50±1.80a 96.50±2.80 88.00±4.00 84.00±4.00 this means that the rows followed by different letters are significantly different (p≤ 0.05). table 5 presents the findings from the lipid profile analysis of archachatina marginata, which were fed varying levels of ripe eggplant fruits in their diets. a notable disparity was observed in total cholesterol levels, with significant variations (p<0.05) noted. specifically, total cholesterol values were 83.00, 65.00, 61.50, and 59.00 for t1, t2, t3, and t4 respectively. conversely, there was no significant contrast in low-density lipoprotein levels, ranging from 26.00 to 9.00, with t1 recording the highest value (26.00) and t2 the lowest (9.00). high-density lipoprotein exhibited a statistically significant difference, while no significant variance was found in triglyceride levels. discussions growth performance and feeding the results obtained showed that there were no significant differences among treatments (p<0 05). however, looking at the initial and final body weight and weight gain, it was observed that the initial and final body weight showed a slight increase. also, from the weight gain result obtained, it was observed that t1 (0% ripe eggplant fruits) recorded the highest weight gain. there were also slight increases from the initial to the final shell length and from the initial to the final shell circumference, positively correlated to an increase in body weight. however, these increases in growth parameters were not statistically significant (p>0.05). this finding appears to contradict the results presented by nyameasem and borketey-la (2014) and jimoh and akinola (2020), who investigated the impact of formulated diets on the growth and reproductive abilities of the west african giant snail (achatina achatina). their studies compared the performance of snails fed conventional snail feeds with compounded feeds. they concluded that achatina achatina could consume and positively respond to compounded diets. in this study, snails fed compounded diets, including ripped eggplant fruits, exhibited no significant improvements in growth performance. this could result from the ripped eggplant fruits in the formulated diet or poor management practices during the experimental period. looking at the management practices adopted during this experimental period, the snails were obtained from reputable commercial farms in oyo state, and the acclimatization period was followed correctly. during this acclimatization period, there was a gradual shift from sole forage diets to compounded diets and feeds were provided daily. however, it is worth noting that these snails were acquired during the dry season when the environmental temperature was exceptionally high. this could have impacted their performance since snails typically thrive in moist environments. as stated by cobbinah et al. (2008), "without expensive artificial means of climate control, umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 14 snail farming is restricted to the humid tropical forest zone which offers a constant temperature, high relative humidity, preferably no dry season, and constant day/night rhythm throughout the year" (cobbinah et al., 2008). feeding is another vital management practice that positively or negatively affects any animal production venture. omolara and olaleye (2010) reported that conventional snail feeds are mainly of plant origin. in contrast, nyameasem and borketey-la's (2014) research stated that they can also perform maximally on formulated diets. ani et al. (2013) reported that decreasing the crude protein level of snail diets to less than 18% crude protein would significantly reduce their growth performance, while nyameasem and borketey-la (2014) concluded that juvenile snails fed broiler starter (19.7% cp) perform best compared to others fed with unripe pawpaw fruits and other forms of formulated diets. therefore, while formulating the diet for this research, the aim was to formulate the four different diets with 20% cp. therefore, the differences recorded in weight gain are not a result of differences in the crude protein content of the different diets, although the differences were not statistically significant. the reason for the non-significant result obtained in the case of this experiment, even though formulated diets were used, could also be due to the inclusion of the ripe eggplant fruits in the diets. this is because the result showed that the higher the ripe eggplant fruits added to the snail diets, the lesser the weight gain, although the differences in the weight were insignificant (p<0.05). there is also sparse information in the literature about any compound in ripe eggplant fruits that can adversely affect the growth of snails, but okereke (2015) reported some toxic factors or anti-nutritional factors present in eggplant forage. these anti-nutritional factors (anfs) interfere with metabolic processes and the availability of nutrients. hence, the probability of traces of these anti-nutritional factors in eggplant fruits cannot be ruled out since they have been reported to be present in eggplant forages and other feedstuffs of plant origin. also, the proximate analysis of ripe eggplant fruits showed an average protein content of 16.065% crude protein. this crude protein value is less than 18%, and ani et al. (2013) reported that decreasing the crude protein level to less than 18% crude protein would significantly reduce the growth performance of snails. hence, using ripe eggplant fruits as the sole diet for snails is only advisable when used with other feed ingredients that are protein sources for diet formulation. findings from the study conducted by elizabeth and zira (2009) revealed that fresh eggplant fruits are nutritionally composed of water (92.5%), protein (1%), fat (0.3%), and carbohydrates (6%). additionally, they contain varying amounts (between 30 and 50%) of iron (fe), fibre, potassium (k), manganese (mn), copper (cu), and vitamins such as thiamin (vitamin b1), b6, folate, magnesium (mg), sodium (na), and niacin. consequently, disparities exist in the nutritional makeup between ripe and fresh (unripe) eggplant fruits. even though there were occasional deaths during the acclimatization period, the percentage mortality when the experimental diets were introduced ranged from 6.25 to 18.75 (t1 to t4, respectively). this showed a direct relationship with increased ripe eggplant fruits added. the higher the ripe eggplant fruits added, the more the mortality. therefore, the rate of mortality could be traceable to dietary effects. this could also be due to traces of anti-nutritional factors in ripe eggplant fruits since okereke (2015) reported many of these anti-nutritional factors are present in eggplant forages. lipid profile the lipid profile analysis revealed that the control group (0% ripe eggplant fruits) exhibited the highest cholesterol level compared to the other treatments. specifically, there was a gradual reduction in cholesterol levels corresponding to the increase in eggplant fruits used in feed formulation. it is important to highlight that while cholesterol is essential for cellular health, excessive levels are directly associated with the risk of heart and vascular diseases. excessive cholesterol can lead to coronary artery disease (das & ingole, 2023). therefore, these findings align with dias (2012), who noted a considerable reduction in total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein levels in human volunteers consuming eggplant powder. however, while this experiment demonstrated a decrease in low-density lipoprotein, it did not reach statistical significance (p<0.05). low-density lipoprotein, commonly called "bad" cholesterol (das & ingole, 2023), transports cholesterol from the blood to the cells. elevated ldl levels are associated with an increased risk of heart and vascular diseases. dias (2012) elaborated on phenolic compounds in eggplants, emphasizing that chlorogenic acid is their primary phenolic compound. chlorogenic acid is one of the most effective free scavengers in plant tissues. the benefits of chlorogenic acid include anti-mutagenic (anti-cancer), anti-microbial, anti-low-density lipoprotein (bad cholesterol), and antiviral properties. the findings also indicated a noteworthy increase in high-density lipoprotein (p<0.05). high-density lipoprotein, often called the "good" cholesterol (das & ingole, 2023), is crucial in eliminating excess cholesterol from the bloodstream and transporting it to the liver. elevated levels of hdl are associated with a reduced risk of heart and vascular diseases. furthermore, the results demonstrated that incorporating 5% ripe eggplant fruits into the diets of the experimental animals yielded the highest value of high-density lipoprotein. although there was a decrease in triglyceride levels due to treatment with eggplant fruits, this decrease did not reach statistical significance (p<0.05). conclusions from the result obtained, there was no significant increase in the growth performance of archachatina marginata by adding varying levels of eggplant fruits to their diets. the result also showed a significant reduction in total cholesterol and increased high-density lipoprotein. the study recommends the use of ripe eggplant fruits for the formulation of a diet for animals with high cholesterol content and high levels of low-density lipoprotein in their meat is advisable. care should be taken to embark only on snail production experiments during the peak of the dry season if there are standard constructions to simulate an artificial damp environment for the snails. villagers should also be enlightened about commercial snail farming so they do not harvest the snails while searching for wild snails. umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 15 author contributions: conceptualization, k.c.u., c.j.a. and f.h.n.; methodology, k.c.u.; software, k.c.u.; validation, k.c.u.; formal analysis, k.c.u., c.j.a. and f.h.n.; investigation, k.c.u.; resources, k.c.u.; data curation, k.c.u.; writing – original draft preparation, k.c.u., c.j.a. and f.h.n.; writing – review & editing, k.c.u., c.j.a. and f.h.n.; visualization, k.c.u.; supervision, k.c.u.; project administration, k.c.u.; funding acquisition, k.c.u., c.j.a. and f.h.n. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study due to the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgements: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references afolabi, j. a. (2013). snail farming as an environment-friendly and viable enterprise in ondo state, nigeria. journal of human ecology, 42(3), 289-293. https://doi.org/10.1080/09709274.2013.11906603 akintomide, o. (2004). tropical snail farming. ibadan: oakman ventures. retrieved from https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=3288115 akinyemi, a. f., ojo, s. o., & akintomide, t. o. (2007). tropical snail farming. abeokuta. 2nd edition, oak ventures, ibadan. nigeria. 110 pages. isbn 978-36640-1-x. retrieved from https://rnrs.ui.edu.ng/ojo-samson-publication allain, c. c., poon, l. s., chan, c. s., richmond, w., & fu, p. c. (1974). enzymatic determination of total serum cholesterol. us national library of medicine, national institute of health. retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4818200/ ani, a. o., ogbu, c. c., & ugwuowo, l. c. (2013). growth performance of african giant land snail (achatinaachatina) fed varying dietary protein and energy levels. agricultural and food sciences. retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/growth-performance-of-african-giant-land-snailfed-ani-ogbu/b7686be4ba9c732bebf0b2c35aeb7a2585cd8b14 aoac (2005). official methods of analysis. 18th edition, aoac international, rockvile. retrieved from https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=2589470 babalola, o. o., oyewusi, p. a., & adeleke, b. n. (2015). performance of growing snails (archachatinamarginata) fed milk leaf (euphorbia heterophylla) supplemented with calcium from three sources (egg shell, oyester shell and bone meal). european journal of agriculture and forestry research, 3(3), 28-33. bablola, o. o. (2018). comparative evaluation of lettuce wastes, pawpaw leaves, whole lettuce and cabbage wastes as a sole feed ingredient for growing archachatinamarginata snails. agricultural research 7, 83–88 https://doi.org/10.1007/s40003-018-0289-7 cobbinah, j. r., vink, a. & onwuka, b. (2008). snail farming production, processing and marketing. agromisia foundation, wageningen, 78-82. das, p., & ingole, n. (2023). lipoproteins and their effects on the cardiovascular system. cureus, 15(11), e48865. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.48865 dias, j. s. (2012). nutritional quality and health benefits of vegetables: a review. food and nutrition sciences, 3(10) 1354–1374. https://doi.org/10.4236/fns.2012.310179 eke, f. n., ikele, b. c., ekechukwu, n. e., eyo, j. e., & ene, c. m. (2010). studies on the effects of crude oil fraction on the lipid profile of achatinaachatina. j. sci engr. tech, 17(3), 9744-9749. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233818005 elizabeth, s., & zira, d. (2009). awareness and effectiveness of vegetable technology information packages by vegetable farmers in adamawa state, nigeria. african journal of agricultural research, 4(2), 65–70. feleafel, m. n. (2005). response of growth, yield and quality of eggplant to varying nitrogen rates and their application systems. j. agric. & env. sci, 4(1), 122-136. felici, a., bilandžić, n., magi, g. e., iaffaldano, n., fiordelmondo, e., doti, g., & roncarati, a. (2020). evaluation of long sea snail hinia reticulata (gastropod) from the middle adriatic sea as a possible alternative for human consumption. foods, 9(7), 905. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods9070905 ghadsingh, p. g., & mandge, s. v. (2012). nutritional spoilage of tomato and brinjal fruits due to postharvest fungi. curr bot, 3(4), 10-12. jimoh, o. a., & akinola, m. o. (2020). reproductive performance of laying snails (archachatinamarginata) fed on roughages and different concentrate mixes. bull natl res cent 44, 118. https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-00378w jamro, m. m.-u.-r., abbasi, z. a., & chandio, a. s. (2021). determination of fruit development stages and production of dates in khairpur sindh pakistan. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 3(2), 21-27. https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v3i2.1190 jabessa, t., tesfaye, g., & bekele, k. (2023). evaluation of genotypes with environmental interactions of lablab (purpureus l.) and it’s dry matter yields stability in the midland of guji zone, southern oromia, ethiopia. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 8(1), 34-43. https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v8i1.2169 kebede, b., bobo, t., & korji, d. (2024). pre-extension demonstration of shiro type field pea technologies in the highlands of guji zone, oromia regional state, ethiopia. bangladesh journal of multidisciplinary scientific research, 9(1), 1-6.https://doi.org/10.46281/bjmsr.v9i1.2185 https://doi.org/10.1080/09709274.2013.11906603 https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=3288115 https://rnrs.ui.edu.ng/ojo-samson-publication https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/growth-performance-of-african-giant-land-snail-fed-ani-ogbu/b7686be4ba9c732bebf0b2c35aeb7a2585cd8b14 https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/growth-performance-of-african-giant-land-snail-fed-ani-ogbu/b7686be4ba9c732bebf0b2c35aeb7a2585cd8b14 https://www.scirp.org/reference/referencespapers?referenceid=2589470 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233818005 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-00378-w https://doi.org/10.1186/s42269-020-00378-w umezinwa et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 7-16 16 kandoliya, u. k., bajaniya, v. k., bhadja, n. k., bodar, n. p., & golakiya, b. a. (2015). antioxidant and nutritional components of eggplant (solanum et al.) fruit grown in saurastra region. int. j. curr. microbiol. appl. sci, 4(2), 806-813. miegoue, e., kuietche, h. m., tendonkeng, f., & lemoufouet, j. (2019). nkwete philemon azemafac and etienne tedonkeng pamo. 2019. snail production system in fako division, south west region-cameroon. international journal of recent innovations in academic research, 3(1), 1-14. nyameasem, j. k., & borketey-la, e. b. (2014). effect of formulated diets on growth and reproductive performance of the west african giant snail (achatina achatina). journal of agricultural and biological science, 9(1), 1-6. omolara, b. o., & olaleye, a. a. (2010). performance, carcass analysis and sensory evaluation of cooked meat of snailets of african giant land snail (archachatina marginata) fed pawpaw leaves, whole lettuce, lettuce waste and cabbage waste as sole feed ingredient. african journal of agricultural research, 5(17), 2386-2391. okafor-elenwo, e. j., otote, o. p., & izevbuwa, o. e. (2021). the food diversity and choices of archachatina marginata raised in concrete trench pens, journal of bioresource management, 8(1), 22-28. https://doi.org/10.35691/jbm.1202.0162 okereke, i. j. (2015). effect of ensiling eggplant (solanummelongena l.) forage on intake and nutrient digestibility by yankasa rams. department of animal science, ahmadu bello university, zaria. retrieved from https://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/items/95bc4c5a-c249-4043-b7ae-a095c68d4c7c/full oketoobo, e. a., ubiaru, j. u., adedokun, o. o., & akinsola, k. l. (2021). performance of snails (archachatina marginata) fed with two different leaf materials and poultry top-starter feed. nigerian journal of animal science and technology (njast), 4(2), 43-49. retrieved from http://www.njast.com.ng/index.php/home/article/view/145 okon, b., ibon, l. a., nsa, e. e., & ubua, j. a. (2012). reproductive and growth traits of parents and f1 hatchings of achatina achatina (l.) snails under mixed feeding regime with graded levels of swamp taro cocoyam (cyrtosperma chamissonis) and pawpaw leaves (carica papaya). journal of agricultural science, 4(11), 289-298. http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v4n11p289 ozor, n., ozioko, r., & acheampong, e. (2015). rural-urban interdependence in food systems in nsukka local government area of enugu state, nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 19(2), 157-183. http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jae.v19i2.14 ozougwu, v. e. o., & ene, c. m. (2014). studies on the effect of crude oil fractions on the lipid profile of achatina achatina. international journal of current microbiology and applied sciences, 3(2), 662-669. raimi, c. o., & temitayo, o. r. (2020). effect of different feeds on growth performance of archachatina marginata. nigerian journal of animal science, 22(2), 222-227. retrieved from https://www.ajol.info/index.php/tjas/article/view/200533 silva, g. f. p., pereira, e., melgar, b., stojković, d., sokovic, m., calhelha, r. c., ... & barros, l. (2020). eggplant fruit (solanum melongena l.) and bio-residues as a source of nutrients, bioactive compounds, and food colorants, using innovative food technologies. applied sciences, 11(1), 151. https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11010151 publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.35691/jbm.1202.0162 https://kubanni.abu.edu.ng/items/95bc4c5a-c249-4043-b7ae-a095c68d4c7c/full http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jas.v4n11p289 https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/app11010151 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 35 agricultural studies aijas vol 9 no 1 (2024) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa mitigating postharvest losses in cucumber production: x-raying the causes, drivers, and coping mechanisms among smallholders ikenna charles ukwuaba (a) oluchi mary ndigwe (b) angela chidimma igweh (c)1 ejiofor emmanuel omeje (d) ifeyinwa cynthia ukwuaba (e) (a) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ikenna.ukwuaba@unn.edu.ng (b) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria nsukka; nigeria; e-mail: mary.ndigwe.242308@unn.edu.ng (c) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: angela.igweh@unn.edu.ng (d) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ejiofor.omeje@unn.edu.ng (e) department of agricultural economics, university of nigeria nsukka, nigeria; e-mail: ifeyinwaofoleta@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 28th october 2024 reviewed & revised: 28th october 2024 to 26th december 2024 accepted: 27th december 2024 published: 31st december 2024 keywords: postharvest losses, mitigation, pest, economic loss, food insecurity, cucumber. jel classification codes: q1, q12, q13, q18 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t food losses resulting from poor post-harvest management hamper achieving the sustainable development goal of zero hunger and improved food security in most developing countries. there is thus a need to understand the underlying causes and factors influencing postharvest losses among farmers to reduce postharvest losses. the study examined the primary and secondary causes of postharvest losses, the extent of postharvest losses, the drivers, and the mitigation strategies. a multistage sampling procedure was used in the selection of 200 respondents. primary data was collected with the aid of a structured questionnaire. the data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and ordinary least square regression. the results of the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers indicated that the majority (54.0%) were female, with mean age, education, household size, and monthly income of 45.15 years, 11.88 years, six persons, and ₦129,400 ($180.57), respectively. the major primary and secondary causes of postharvest losses were pathogens and pests (89%) and poor road networks (x̄ = 4.5), respectively. about 41% reported a postharvest loss of between 21% and 50% of cucumber. the drivers of postharvest losses were off-farm income, harvest time after maturity, household size, the quantity of cucumber produced, and market distance. the major mitigation strategies devised by the respondents to reduce postharvest losses include timely harvesting, improved handling and transportation techniques, and adopting improved pest and disease management practices. the findings of this study suggest that improving road networks, especially those connecting farmers to the markets, would significantly reduce post-harvest losses. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction cucumber is an edible fruit produced and consumed globally for its nutritional, health, and economic benefits (adeoye & balogun, 2016; onuwa et al., 2023). nutritionally, cucumbers are rich in fiber, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and vitamins a, c, and k (chakraborty & rayalu, 2021). it supports antimicrobial and antifungal activities, aids detoxification, hydration, and anti-inflammatory effects on the skin (akhtar et al., 2020; chakraborty & rayalu, 2021). it is also instrumental in treating diabetes, reducing cancer risk (tuama & mohammed, 2019), and other health benefits such as aiding digestion, wound healing, weight loss, and reducing blood pressure and eye puffiness. economically, studies on cucumber production have shown that the crop has high economic significance; it is a profitable venture for small-scale farmers with the highest benefit-cost ratio (adeoye & balogun, 2016; onuwa et al., 2023). similarly, onuwa et al. (2023) and adeoye and balogun (2016) posited that cucumber production in areas where the soil is suitable and favourable climatic conditions can support farmers' earnings at regular intervals. hence, increased cucumber production can catalyze farmers' income and welfare, enhance food security, and achieve zero hunger in sub-saharan africa (ssa). however, the realization of zero hunger, the second goal of the united nations sustainable goals, and food security are under threat in ssa due to the high level of waste resulting from postharvest losses. while improvements at the farm level to increase on-farm yields are 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0009-0007-8008-9920 © 2024 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.320 to cite this article: ukwuaba, i. c., ndigwe, o. m., igweh, a. c., omeje, e. e., & ukwuaba, i. c. (2024). mitigating postharvest losses in cucumber production: x-raying the causes, drivers, and coping mechanisms among smallholders. american international journal of agricultural studies, 9(1), 35–45. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.320 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v9i1.320 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3534-9785 https://orcid.org/0009-0002-7456-2842 https://orcid.org/0009-0007-8008-9920 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1448-7003 https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4827-9112 ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 36 generally effective and contribute to higher supply (sheahan & barrett, 2017), they do little to improve profitability as a result of postharvest losses. consequently, an increase in yields has not translated to significant benefits for smallholder farmers, mainly due to postharvest losses. thus, to end global hunger and food insecurity, especially in developing countries, it has become imperative to significantly reduce the ugly trend and ensure that food wastage is reduced to the barest minimum. globally, food waste and loss are estimated at around one-third of all the food produced in the world (fao, 2019), with most losses happening by far in developing countries. it is estimated that over 40% of annual perishable crops, such as fruits and vegetables produced in the region, are lost before they reach the final consumers due to poor handling and storage (sheahan & barrett, 2017). these losses are costly and have essential implications economically, socially, and environmentally, such as loss of farmer income resulting in poverty in some cases, intensified food insecurity, and environmental externalities, which, combined with others, ultimately lead to economic stagnation (ogundele, 2022). postharvest losses can thus be defined as quantitative or qualitative measurable food loss occurring shortly after harvest until it reaches the final consumer or any other utilizable points (hodges et al., 2011). quantitative losses are assessed by evaluating the reduction in the physical quantity of food commodities over some time and space. conversely, qualitative losses are assessed regarding the decline in nutritional content, aesthetic attributes, viability, and overall nutritional properties of food commodities (falola et al., 2023; sheahan & barrett, 2017). according to ishangulyyev et al. (2019) and ogundele (2022), such losses can occur due to environmental, technological, social, economic, or managerial causes; they can happen anywhere in the food supply chain – from production, processing, and storage to marketing/distribution. however, the cost of post-harvest losses is higher for perishable crops like fruits and vegetables like tomatoes, mangoes, and cucumbers. empirical studies estimated that postharvest losses for fruits and vegetables could exceed 40% in nigeria, leading to enormous financial losses among farmers and the country (obanubi et al., 2021). postharvest losses have a more severe and far-reaching effect than just waste of farm produce, especially in developing countries that have yet to attain self-sufficiency in food production. postharvest losses indicate an inefficient food-functioning system (chikez et al., 2023), and the causes of these losses could be classified into primary, secondary, or tertiary factors (sugri et al., 2021). globally, integrated and innovative approaches have been established to facilitate the efforts to ensure sustainable food production and consumption. in nigeria, the nigerian stored products research institute (nspri) was established, and one of the targets was to research and enhance postharvest management of farm produce to meet appropriate standards of local consumption and export. despite these efforts, the problems of postharvest losses continue to persist and worsen. the perishable nature of most agricultural produce, especially vegetables and fruits, makes it prone to high post-harvest losses. cucumber is one of the highly perishable crops characterized by its high moisture content and lack of refrigeration capability. this predisposes the crop to rapid deterioration, leading to significant potential for losses if not managed properly. thus, in transporting harvested cucumbers from places of production to consumption, a significant proportion of the farm produce is lost. in nigeria, cucumber is consumed in all regions but is produced mainly in the northern region. the southern regions, including enugu state, have recorded increased cucumber production. cucumber productivity in nigeria is relatively low and unranked compared to other vegetables like tomatoes and citrus. thus, little attention is paid to the crop, especially its postharvest management. along the cucumber value chain, freshly harvested cucumbers encounter qualitative and quantitative losses, which have implications for marketing and price, especially given the perfectly competitive nature of the agricultural market. since over 60% of nigerians are engaged in agriculture, devising practical solutions to mitigate post-harvest losses is crucial for advancing sustainable development in this sector. the output of this study is an indication of the primary causes and drivers of post-harvest losses among small-scale cucumber farmers, and this will serve as a guide to policymakers in devising effective measures to reduce postharvest losses among farmers and boost overall food security the main result from this study shows the primary and secondary causes of post-harvest losses and the factors that drive post-harvest losses among small-scale cucumber farmers. it further highlights the coping strategies adopted by cucumber farmers to mitigate post-harvest losses. the article is presented in various sections. it follows with a brief review of related literature that have conducted various studies on post-harvest losses globally. the next section presents the methodology adopted for achieving the study objectives which includes a description of the study area, method of sampling survey participants, and statistical tools employed for analyzing data. the results are presented tabularly and extensively discussed in subsequent sections. this is finally followed by the concluding section and appropriate recommendations based on the research findings. literature review across the globe, several studies have been done on postharvest management and the effect and intensity of postharvest losses of various crops. studies by akaagerger et al. (2023) examined the effect of x-rays and charcoal cooler bins on shelflife extension for cucumbers. in other studies, hodges et al. (2011) and aidoo et al. (2014) found that postharvest losses negatively impacted farmers, consumers, and the economy in diverse ways. these studies emphasized the need to reduce postharvest losses as it would enhance the pathway to food security and sustainable development. this is supported by other research reiterating that minimizing postharvest losses translates to increased levels of farmers' income and savings (mlambo et al., 2017; shee et al., 2019). the irregular patterns of post-harvest losses also negatively affect food security (balana et al., 2022; kikulwe et al., 2018), reducing the income for farmers, increasing prices for consumers, and declining food security level (ibrahim et al., 2022; okadonye et al., 2022). with the tremendous adverse effects of postharvest losses on economic and food security, ssa must spend an estimated $940 billion by 2050 to end hunger (porciello et al., 2020). this ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 37 is 47% of the designated money for forming functional postharvest technologies (sugri et al., 2021). despite the efforts from governments to increase farmers' profit margins and food security by drastically reducing postharvest losses, there is a need for policies that focus on understanding the determinants of postharvest losses (falola et al., 2023). to bridge this gap, this study identified the causes and extent of postharvest losses, assessed drivers of these postharvest losses, and investigated the coping mechanisms adopted by smallholder cucumber farmers. the findings are expected to inform policies that will help to improve the understanding of the postharvest challenges faced by smallholder farmers in the region and enable the promulgation and adoption of measures that will minimize postharvest losses, increase the economic viability of cucumber production, alleviate the poverty of farmers, and increase the income levels of small-scale farmers in enugu state. based on this premise, the study intends to assess the primary and secondary causes, determine the drivers of postharvest losses among small-scale cucumber farmers and identify the coping strategies adopted by cucumber farmers to mitigate post-harvest losses. materials and methods study area the study was conducted in enugu state, one of nigeria's five states in the southeastern region. it has a total land area of 8,022.95 km2 and an estimated population of over three million (national population commission, 2006). enugu state has a high production potential for cucumbers (okafor & yaduma, 2021). however, postharvest losses remain a significant challenge in the area, threatening food security and reducing farmers’ income and sustainability of the enterprise (ozioko et al., 2019) sampling procedure the study adopted a multistage sampling procedure in the selection of respondents. in the first stage, five out of the six agricultural zones (azs) in the state were purposively selected based on their agrarian nature. in the second stage, one local government area was also purposively selected from each of the selected azs due to the concentration of cucumber farmers. similarly, in stage three, two communities with high cucumber production were purposively selected, giving ten communities. in the final stage, 20 cucumber farmers were randomly selected from the list of cucumber farmers in each of the ten communities, giving 200 respondents for the study. data collection data was collected using structured questionnaires. the questionnaires were designed to capture information on the farmers' socio-economic characteristics, postharvest losses, drivers of postharvest losses, and mitigation strategies. data on their socioeconomic characteristics such as age, sex, farming experience, level of education, and number of agricultural extension visits per annum. we also collected information on the quantity of cucumber harvested, the quantity sold, and the quantity lost. data on the possible socioeconomic and institutional drivers and the various mitigation strategies employed to reduce the magnitude of postharvest losses were also obtained. econometric estimation the collected data were analysed using descriptive statistical tools such as frequency, percentage, mean, likert scale rating, and inferential statistical tools like the ordinary least square regression model. ordinary least square regression model the ordinary least square regression (ols) model was used to determine the drivers of postharvest losses among cucumber farmers. the model is specified as follows: y = β0 + β1x1 + β2x2 + β3x3 + β4x4 + β5x5 + β6x6 + … + β14x14+ ε ……………………… (1) where: y = postharvest losses (kg) x1 = sex (male=1, female=0) x2 = age (years) x3 = farming experience (years) x4 = extension contacts (no of contacts in a year) x5 = household size (no of persons living in a household) x6 = access to credit (access =1, no = 0) x7 = distance to market (km) x8 = cooperative membership (yes =1, no = 0) x9 = quantity produced (kg) x10 = farm size (ha) x11 = monthly income (naira) x12 = time of harvest after maturity (days) x13 = off-farm income (yes =1, no = 0) x14 = ownership of transport facility (yes =1, no = 0) ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 38 β0 = intercept β1-β14 = coefficients ε = error term likert scale rating model a 5-point likert scale was employed to determine the causes of postharvest losses. the causal items were designated as very high, high, moderate, low, and very low, corresponding to 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1, respectively. this was ranked using a weighted mean (x). the mean score (ms) of the respondents based on the four 5-point scale was obtained thus: σfx 𝑛 = 5+4+3+2+1x 5 = 3.0. ……………………………………………………………. (2) a 3.0 cut-off point using the interval scale of 0.05 was adopted. therefore, any item with a mean score (ms) less than 3.05 (i.e., ms < 3.05) was considered as a weak factor and thus not significant, while mean values above 3.05 (i.e., ms > 3.05) were regarded significant and thus was rated as major causes of post-harvest losses. results table 1. socioeconomic characteristics of small-scale cucumber farmers table 2. primary causes of post-harvest losses in cucumber production socio-economic characteristics freq. per. (%) mean sex female 108 54.0 male 92 46.0 age 20-40 72 36.0 41-60 114 57.0 45.45 61-100 14 7.0 household size 3-5 92 46.0 6-8 86 43.0 6.21 9-12 33 11.0 years in formal education primary school 16 8.0 secondary school 148 74.0 11.88 tertiary education 54 18.0 years of farming experience 2-10 126 63.0 11-19 38 23.0 20-28 10 5.0 10.43 29-37 33 11.0 monthly income from cucumber farming (₦) ≤ 50000 98 49.0 51000-150000 58 29.0 151000-250000 14 7.0 251000-350000 14 7.0 ≥35100016 8.0 129,400 source of farm labor family 81 27.0 hired 88 44.0 both 58 29.0 cooperative membership no 130 65.0 yes 70 35.0 source of credit none 130 65.0 commercial banks 8 4.0 cooperative society 36 18.0 microfinance bank 4 2.0 friends 8 4.0 personal savings 14 7.0 extension visits never 152 76.0 once 16 8.0 0.4 twice 32 16.0 variables frequency percent (%) have you experienced post-harvest losses? yes no 200 100.0 causes of post-harvest losses ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 39 table 3. psychometric scale of the secondary causes of postharvest losses in cucumber production table 4. extent of post-harvest losses among small-scale cucumber farmers postharvest loss frequency percentage (%) ≤ 20 % yes 132 66.0 no 68 34.0 21-50 % yes 81 40.5 no 119 59.5 ≥50 % yes 54 27.0 no 146 73.0 table 5. ols regression on the drivers of post-harvest losses table 6. strategies for mitigating post-harvest losses harvesting at incorrect maturity 144 72.0 poor handling and storage 72 86.0 pathogens and pest 178 89.0 ethylene sensitivity 56 28.0 temperature and humidity (water loss) 132 66.0 mechanical damage 152 76.0 variables mean standard deviation secondary causes poor road network 4.5200 0.75852 lack of proper storage facilities 3.3900 1.36252 market-related issues (lack of demand due to high prices) 3.3500 1.29002 financial constraints 3.9100 1.34911 inadequate knowledge of post-harvest management 3.2300 1.21319 climate-related factors 4.0800 1.06059 insufficient market info and opportunities 3.0000 1.26331 poor extension services 2.7400 1.26826 long distance to markets 3.2700 1.34731 cucumber variety cultivated 2.1400 1.03494 variables coefficient t-value sig. (constant) 1.136 0.339 0.735 age -.033 -0.717 0.475 sex 1.046 1.368 0.175 household size 0.690 2.880 0.005*** years in formal education 0.094 0.363 0.717 farming experience -0.042 -0.502 0.617 farm size -3.457 -1.373 0.173 monthly income -8.203e-6 -1.311 0.193 off farm income 5.055e-5 2.647 0.010*** quantity of cucumber produced 0.002 2.420 0.018** market distance 14.522 -3.539 0.001*** cooperative membership -3.716 2.204 0.030** credit access -1.132 -0.710 0.480 extension service -0.726 -0.597 0.552 time of harvest after maturity 0.991 3.069 0.003*** r2 0.424 adj. r2 0.330 f-value 4.477 0.001*** variables frequency percentage (%) timely harvesting 200 100.0 improved handling and suitable transportation 196 98.0 use of appropriate storage facilities 126 63.0 pest and disease management practices 196 98.0 market diversification 134 67.0 postharvest management training 58 29.0 value addition and processing 54 27.0 contract farming 48 24.0 sorting and grading 178 89.0 regular inspections and monitoring of harvested cucumbers 192 96.0 timely marketing and distribution 192 96.0 ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 40 discussions table 1 shows the socioeconomic characteristics distribution of respondents. the table shows that the majority (54.0%) of the respondents were females, underscoring women's significant role in cucumber production. this suggests that both genders actively participate in agricultural activities, contributing to potential gender equality and economic empowerment in cucumber farming. this study contradicts that of okwuokenye and petu-ibikunle (2021), which reported that 82.98% of the cucumber farmers were males. the result on age indicates that the majority of the farmers fell within the age range of 41-60 years (57%), with the mean age of the respondents as 45.45 years. similar findings were made by okwuokenye and petu-ibikunle (2021), who observed that the cucumber farmers had an average age of 44.56 years. this indicates that most farmers in the study area are young and active, thus possessing the energy needed for efficient production and management after harvest. the mean household size was about six persons, indicating readily available household labor for cucumber farming, thus reducing production and post-production costs (achoja & obadaya, 2019). a higher level of formal education has been linked with higher technology adoption (onuwa et al., 2023; ukwuaba & ileka, 2024); thus, the result on education level, which shows that the majority (74%) obtained secondary education, indicates a high literate level. this contrasts with the findings of adepoju (2014) but agrees with the findings of ukwuaba et al. (2018). thus, given the literacy level, the respondents will be more inclined to adopt modern farming techniques, technological advancements, and sustainable practices to reduce postharvest losses. the average farming experience of respondents was 10.43 years. thus, it can be deduced that the farmers have accumulated a substantial amount of practical knowledge and skills related to cucumber farming that could enable them to reduce the number of losses incurred after harvest. cucumber farming is highly lucrative (onuwa et al., 2023) and substantially contributes to household income and improved welfare. findings from this study revealed that the average income from cucumber farming was ₦129,400 ($180.57). sources of labor were majorly hired labor (44%). this contrasted with the finding of abdullah et al. (2019), which asserts that smallholder farmers predominantly rely on family labor for their farming activities. additionally, the majority (65%) of farmers were not members of cooperatives, and only about 35% of respondents had access to credit. the significant sources of credit were cooperative societies (36%) and personal savings (14%). only about 12% of respondents had access to credit from formal financial institutions like commercial and microfinance banks. this could significantly affect production activities as credit is essential to any business. lack of access to credit could limit farming activities and expansion to increase farm output (falola et al., 2023). concerning extension visits, the result shows that the majority (76%) of the respondents had no contact with extension agents, with an average number of visits of 0.4. this aligns with the findings of asadu et al. (2018) and is strong evidence that extension service delivery in the state of enugu is weak. the lack of extension visits indicates a gap in knowledge dissemination and technology transfer, which could be addressed to enhance productivity and reduce postharvest losses. table 2 presents the results of the primary causes of post-harvest losses in cucumber production among the respondents. before identifying the primary causes, the farmers' experience of postharvest losses indicates that all (100%) have experienced postharvest losses. postharvest losses' major causes were pest and pathogens infestation (89%) and poor handling and storage (86%). mechanical damage (76%), harvesting at pre-maturity (72%), and water loss (66%) were also identified as primary causes by a significant proportion of respondents. in comparison, only about 28% of respondents attributed the losses to ethylene sensitivity. similarly, anyoha et al. (2023), elik et al. (2019), and kitinoja et al. (2019a) highlighted proper handling and storage, pest and pathogen infestation, and untimely harvesting as significant causes of postharvest losses of different agricultural produce. pest and disease infestation could occur during or after production. cucumber insect pest’s because direct damage and could be vectors for various viral diseases. thus, it is crucial to identify them before infestation to reduce yield losses. most pathogens of vegetable crops like cucumber occur before harvest but continue to wreak havoc on the crop until harvest. cucumbers are perishable and require special handling and storage attention. however, most small-scale farmers lack adequate storage and processing facilities and thus encounter significant losses after harvest due to their unavailability (falola et al., 2023; sugri et al., 2021). this study also identified mechanical damage to cucumbers as a significant cause of losses. this damage often manifests through external and internal malhandling of cell tissue structure. in a related study, adewoyin et al. (2022) also agreed that mechanical damage is one of the major causes of postharvest loss in fruit. this suggests that careful handling and transportation are required to prevent physical damage to crops, and investing in appropriate transportation methods to reduce the risk of mechanical damage is imperative. pre-maturity harvest was also identified as a primary cause of losses. this reason for pre-maturity harvest may include poor timing, lack of proper training, and inadequate extension services with the farmers. in some areas, farmers who encounter conflicts, sit-at-home protests, and theft often harvest produce before full maturity for fear of losing all produce. this contrasts with the findings of falola et al. (2023), as untimely harvest was adjudged to have minimal impact on postharvest losses. the majority (66%) of respondents agreed that increased temperature and humidity contribute significantly to postharvest losses of cucumber and the impact of this factor on water loss and overall cucumber quality. this was also reported to be one of the causes of postharvest losses highlighted in a study by al-amin et al. (2021). when fruits are exposed to hot weather conditions and subsequently stored, they lose their water content, resulting in a loss of turgidity and subsequent shrinkage. a lower percentage (28%) of respondents identified ethylene sensitivity as a cause of losses. ethylene accelerates the ripening process of cucumbers, and it is essential to avoid storing cucumbers with other crops that emit ethylene gas (adewoyin et al., 2022). most cucumber farmers are knowledgeable about this, and thus, it is unlikely that they would store cucumbers under such circumstances. consequently, it has a limited effect on causing postharvest cucumber losses. ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 41 table 3 presents the secondary causes of postharvest losses in cucumber production. most of these secondary causes are related to logistic or technical issues and are often beyond farmers' control. the poor road transportation network was the most significant secondary cause of postharvest losses (x̄ = 4.5). this indicates that farmers recognize the impact of inadequate road infrastructure on timely transportation to markets, which can lead to reduced market access. this is in agreement with the study by sourav et al. (2024) and sule (2019), which highlights the importance of adequate road networks (from areas of production to consumption) and the detrimental effect it has on the quality and quantity of crop output if not adequately addressed. climate-related factors (x̄ = 4.0), such as temperature, rainfall, and humidity, were also significant causes of postharvest losses. this suggests that these climatic variables reduce the quality and shelf life of harvested cucumbers. this aligns with a study by akanwa and okoli (2021), which reports that climate change has resulted in warmer temperatures, contributing to heightened high-temperature levels, more prevalent pests, and increased disease occurrences. financial constraint (x̄ =3.9) also significantly contributed to postharvest losses. this is in line with the study by anyoha et al. (2023), which also showed that inadequate finance is a significant cause of postharvest loss. this suggests that financing is critical in preserving the shelf life of agricultural produce. adequate financing increases their capacity to adopt improved postharvest management practices and invest in necessary infrastructure, innovations, and technologies to reduce postharvest losses. market-related issues (x̄ =3.3), deficient demand for cucumber due to increased prices, were identified as one of the secondary causes of postharvest losses. this is in line with the findings by aminu et al. (2020), which revealed that customer’s low demand was perceived as a highly severe cause of postharvest loss. in addition to pricing, other factors, such as poor quality, poor accessibility, and unfavorable market dynamics, were other market factors that could also influence postharvest losses negatively. inadequate knowledge of postharvest management (x̄ =3.2) and inadequate storage facilities (x̄ =3.30) were also perceived by the producers as secondary causes of postharvest losses in nigeria. these results align with those of sugri et al. (2021), adewoyin et al. (2022), and falola et al. (2023). in contrast, insufficient market information (x̄ =3.0) and cucumber variety cultivated (x̄ =2.14) were identified as insignificant secondary causal agents of postharvest losses. this suggests that producers are beginning to close the gap in information regarding cucumber market information, opportunities, and varieties. the results are in contradiction to the findings of egwuonwu (2020) and falola et al. (2023). the result in table 4 provides insights into the extent of post-harvest losses experienced by respondents in the study. the responses are categorised based on the level of losses experienced by the respondents. the table reveals that most respondents (66%) reported post-harvest losses ranging between 1-20%, 40.5% lost 21-50%, and 27% lost over 50% of cucumbers after harvest. the high level of phl could be linked to pests and diseases, poor handling, mechanical damage, and poor infrastructure to preserve the shelf life. this suggests that postharvest loss has negatively impacted the farmers’ income and welfare and contributed to food insecurity in the study area. this supports the conclusions drawn by aysel et al. (2019), which indicated that fruit and vegetable loss could reach as high as 50% and signifies huge income loss to the farmers. table 5 shows the drivers of postharvest loss of cucumber. the coefficient of determination (r2) value of 0.424 implies that the independent variables explain about 42 % of the variability in the postharvest losses. the regression result showed that off-farm income, the quantity of cucumber produced, harvest time after maturity, household size, and market distance positively and significantly influenced postharvest losses. in contrast, cooperative membership negatively and significantly influenced postharvest losses. the coefficient of the household size, which was statistically significant at 1% (p<0.01) indicated that a high household size experienced higher levels of postharvest losses. this could result from resource competition, inefficient allocation of resources, and poor handling practices. for instance, household needs are higher in large households, and this may involve the diversion of resources, such as money needed to improve postharvest management, to other household needs. this contradicts the findings of falola et al. (2023), who reported that the household size of the farmers negatively affected postharvest losses in onion production. off-farm income was positive and significant at 5 % (p<0.05) indicating that off-farm income results in higher postharvest losses. this could result from diverting attention to off-farm activities, leading to less attention to effective postharvest management. the quantity of cucumber produced was positively significant at 5% (p<0.05). this implies that an increase in production leads to an increase in postharvest losses. increased production is expected to lead to an increased output, which, if not managed effectively, would lead to significant postharvest losses. this agrees with the findings of kulwijila (2021) and, lately, aidoo et al. (2014), who found that postharvest losses increase as production increases. the result further shows that distance to market was significantly positive at 1% (p<0.001), suggesting that reducing market distance would significantly reduce postharvest losses. cucumbers are highly perishable and susceptible to mechanical damage, especially during transportation. the inadequate access road to the farm settlements where cucumber is produced makes its translocation very challenging and causes unnecessary delays in the market. this could predispose the cucumbers to more significant losses. this aligns with the findings of sani et al. (2023), who stated that congestion and build-up of heat during transportation could worsen as a result of poor road networks and long distances travelled, thereby leading to mechanical damage like bruising and softening. cooperative membership was negatively significant at 5% (p<0.05). this implies that membership of cooperatives reduces postharvest losses. this could result from benefits from membership, such as access to credit, improved information on postharvest management practices, and pooled resources to collectively invest in infrastructures targeted at reducing postharvest losses. the harvest time after maturity was positively significant at 1% (p<0.01>), thus implying that the longer the harvest after maturity, the greater the postharvest losses. cucumbers not harvested long after maturity could be more vulnerable to infestations by pests and pathogens. since cucumber is best consumed fresh, delayed harvesting after maturity would lead to over-ripening, ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 42 loss of taste, loss of nutrients, and generally, reduced quality. as a result, the crop becomes more fragile and may quickly lose its morphological value during postharvest handlings. the findings presented in table 6 highlight the multifaceted strategies adopted by the producers to mitigate postharvest losses. the result indicates that all respondents (100%) have good knowledge of the imports of cucumbers harvested at the right stage of maturity. supporting this, adeola (2020) identified delay in harvesting as one of the causes of post-harvest losses. harvesting cucumber at the optimal stage leads to maximum quality, taste, and nutritional value while extending its shelf life. this practice aligns with the principle that timely harvest reduces post-harvest losses. proper postharvest handling and transportation techniques were adopted by 98% of the respondents to minimize physical damage and bruising, prevent spoilage, and extend its marketable life. in line with these techniques, elik et al. (2019) emphasized the need for proper postharvest handling due to its vulnerability to mechanical damage, especially during transportation. the result also showed that 63% of respondents used appropriate and suitable storage facilities to mitigate postharvest losses. storage facilities with controlled temperature and humidity conditions help slow down the deterioration process of cucumbers, thereby preventing spoilage and preserving their market value. this finding is supported by ibrahim et al. (2022), who reported modern storage facilities as an effective strategy to reduce post-harvest losses. this also agrees with the study that adequate transportation would reduce congestion and heat build-up that could facilitate spoiling, which is also essential in the postharvest process. this study identified that 98% of respondents recognized the importance of pest and disease management practices as an effective strategy for reducing postharvest losses. this means that appropriate prevention and control measures can significantly reduce spoilage. this aligns with urugo et al. (2024) that farmers adopted a diversification strategy to cope with the challenges of postharvest losses on perishable crops. sixty-seven percent of the respondents also adopted a market diversification strategy to mitigate postharvest losses. this is in line with the study by aminu et al. (2020), which reported diversification as the most employed mitigation strategy for dealing with postharvest issues. diversifying the market outlets allows farmers to spread their risk and ensure that even if one market experiences oversupply or unfavorable conditions, others may still provide an avenue for selling cucumbers at a reasonable price. however, traversing different markets may have severe cost implications. capacity building in the form of training on postharvest management was adopted by 29% of respondents. according to sule (2019), training programs in post-harvest loss management are essential and significant elements in efforts to combat food insecurity by reducing postharvest losses. however, adopting this strategy by a smaller group suggests a potential gap in the extension agents' knowledge dissemination and outreach efforts. value-addition and transformation of farm produce can reduce waste and extend the shelf-life of the produce, leading to higher economic returns for farmers. this would, however, involve financial investment in processing and packaging infrastructures, which may not be available for small-scale farmers. to this effect, only about 27% of the farmers adopted this strategy. this shows that very few respondents see this as a viable strategy or that other challenges, such as lack of access roads to other markets, further constrain the strategy. contract farming was adopted as a coping strategy by 24% of respondents. contract farming arrangements provide a degree of market predictability, which may contribute to reduced losses by ensuring a market for the produce before harvest. the reason for the adoption by a few respondents could be that not all farmers have access to such arrangements or may prefer more independent strategies. also, 89% of the respondents adopted the practice of sorting and grading cucumbers. this ensures that the best quality is not mixed up with spoilt products, helps separate cucumbers based on quality, size, and appearance, and reduces the likelihood of spoilage. this aligns with kitinoja et al.'s (2019b) findings, which also identified sorting and grading as a veritable strategy to mitigate post-harvest loss. similarly, 96% adopted regular inspections and monitoring of harvested cucumbers to ensure prompt identification of potential issues, enabling corrective actions to be taken before losses escalate. also, most (96%) farmers adopted timely marketing and distribution as a crucial strategy. similarly, yusuf (2020) identified the importance of adequate market access and transportation to ensure effective and timely marketing to significantly reduce the risk of over-ripening, spoilage, and quality deterioration. conclusions the cucumber farmers in enugu state, nigeria, are losing a large chunk of their potential revenue due to high postharvest losses. this study thus evaluates the causes of post-harvest losses among cucumber farmers and the factors contributing to these losses. findings from this study revealed that post-harvest losses could result from primary and secondary causes such as pest and disease infestation, mechanical damages, poor road networks, and unfavorable climate conditions. this suggests that while farmers could control most primary factors through mitigation strategies adopted, most secondary factors are beyond the farmer’s control. household size, off-farm income, quantity of cucumber produced, cooperative membership, harvest time after maturity, and market distance were the significant factors influencing postharvest losses in cucumber production. to significantly reduce the adverse effect on their income, the farmers employed diverse coping strategies such as timely harvesting and marketing, improved handling and suitable transportation means, suitable storage facilities, and proper pest and disease management to manage and mitigate the impact of postharvest losses on their livelihood. based on these findings, farmers are encouraged to form and join cooperatives to easily access the benefits that could accrue from membership, such as access to information, training, and acquisition of technologies that enhance postharvest management of farm produce. the government must allocate funds to improve road transportation systems and networks connecting farming areas to markets to reduce the distance to market and improve market access. this would facilitate the movement of fresh crop produce from rural production areas to numerous areas of consumption. finally, farmers are encouraged to ensure that farm produce is harvested at maturity. this is especially important for perishable crops like cucumber, which may overripe and lose quality as they mature. ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 43 overall, the study has identified the extent of post-harvest losses among small-scale farmers and the factors that drive these losses. this information would facilitate the enactment of policies that would curb this menace affecting farmers’ income and food security. the study is not without limitations as challenges were encountered in collecting data from various cucumber farmers around the state. however, this was overcome by mobilizing enumerators to facilitate data collection, especially in rural areas. due to budget constraints, the study could only cover a limited geographic concentration, further studies can adopt a larger concentration from different geographic regions across the country. additionally, further studies could also consider analyzing the disaggregated postharvest losses among male and female cucumber farmers given the relatively lower access to resources by females which could lead to higher losses. author contributions: conceptualization, i.c.u. and o.m.n.; methodology, i.c.u, o.m.n. and a.c.i., data collection, o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.a.c.; formal analysis, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u., investigation, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u.; resources, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u.; data curation, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u.; writing – original draft preparation, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u.; writing – review & editing, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u, visualization, i.c.u. and i.a.c.; supervision, i.c.u. and e.e.o.; project administration, i.a.c., e.e.o., o.m.n., i.c.u. and i.c.u. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study because the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest references abdullah, f., rabbi, f., ahamad, r., ali, s., chandio, a. a., ahmad, w., ilyas, a., & din, i. u. (2019). determinants of commercialization and its impact on the welfare of smallholder rice farmers by using heckman’s two-stage approach. journal of the saudi society of agricultural sciences, 18(2), 224–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2017.06.001 achoja, f. o., & obadaya, o. (2019). backyard orchard ownership: implications for rural poverty alleviation and food security management in nigeria. ksu j. agric. nat. 22(2), 456-464. https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.546913 adeola, e. h. (2020). a post-harvest management practices among rice farmers in imo state nigeria. european journal of biology and biotechnology, 1(4), 1-6. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbio.2020.1.4.32 adeoye, i., & balogun, o. (2016). profitability and efficiency of cucumber production among smallholder farmers in oyo state, nigeria. journal of agricultural sciences, belgrade, 61, 387-398. https://doi.org/10.2298/jas1604387a adepoju, a. o. (2014). postharvest losses and welfare of tomato farmers in ogbomosho, osun state, nigeria. journal of stored product and postharvest research, 5(2), 8–13. https://doi.org/10.5897/jsppr2014.0160. adewoyin, o., ibidapo, a., babatola, l., fayose, f., ekeocha, a., & apata, t. (2022). indigenous and improved postharvest handling methods and processing of fruits. intech open. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102668 aidoo, r., danfoku, r. a., & mensah, j. o. (2014). determinants of postharvest losses in tomato production in the offinso north district of ghana. journal of development and agricultural economics, 6(8), 338-344. https://doi.org/10.5897/jdae2013.0545 akaagerger, n. b., ngongiah, i. k., tyovenda, a. a., mbinkong, s. r., songwe, k. b., & chetgho, r. k. (2023). postharvest shelf-life extension of cucumber (cucumis sativus) and irish potato (solanum tuberosum) using x-rays in benue state, nigeria. algerian journal of engineering and technology, 8(1), 36-42. akanwa, a. o., & okoli, u. b. (2021). climatic risks on fruit quality, health, and livelihoods: a nigerian case of rural women in fruit farming business. sustainable intensification for agroecosystem services and management, 657709. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3207-5_18 akhtar, p., ahmad, i., jameela, a., ashfaque, m., & begum, z. (2020). energising effectiveness of cucumber (khayarain) for health. a review article. journal of emerging technologies and innovative research, 7(11), 906–917. http://www.jetir.org/papers/jetir2011118.pdf al-amin, j. a., suleiman, a. i., & collins, e. e. (2021). accelerating postharvest food loss reduction in nigeria through developing a pilot-scale vacuum cooling and storage system. journal of biology, agriculture and healthcare, 11(20), 13-31. https://doi.org/10.7176/jbah/11-20-03 aminu, f. o., balogun, e. o. s., & ojo, o. o. (2020). analysis of post-harvest losses in orange in lagos metropolitan markets, nigeria. nigerian journal of horticultural science, 25(1), 143-151. anyoha, n. p. o., udemba, c., ogbonnaya, a., & okoroma, e. (2023). causes of cassava post-harvest losses among farmers in imo state, nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 27(2), 73-79. https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v27i2.7 asadu, a. n., ozioko, r. i., & dimelu, m. u. (2018). climate change information source and indigenous adaptation strategies of cucumber farmers in enugu state, nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 22(2), 136-146. https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v22i2.12 aysel, e., yanik, d. k., istanbullu, y., guzelsoy, n. a., yavuz, a., & gogus, f. (2019). strategies to reduce post-harvest losses for fruits and vegetables. international journal of scientific and technological research, 5(3), 29-39, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jssas.2017.06.001 https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.546913 https://doi.org/10.24018/ejbio.2020.1.4.32 https://doi.org/10.2298/jas1604387a https://doi.org/10.5897/jsppr2014.0160 https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.102668 https://doi.org/10.5897/jdae2013.0545 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-3207-5_18 http://www.jetir.org/papers/jetir2011118.pdf https://doi.org/10.7176/jbah/11-20-03 https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v27i2.7 https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v22i2.12 ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 44 balana, b. b., aghadi, n. c., & ogunniyi, a. i. (2022). improving livelihoods through postharvest loss management: evidence from nigeria," food security: the science, sociology, and economics of food production and access to food, springer; the international society for plant pathology, 14(1), 249-265. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571021-01196-2 chakraborty, s., & rayalu, s. (2021). health beneficial effects of cucumber. in book: studies on cucumber (cucumis sativus l.). https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.960533 chikez, h., maier, d., olafsson, s., & sonka, s. (2023). identifying the critical drivers of mango, tomato, and maize postharvest losses (phl) in low-income countries and predicting their impact. agriculture, 13(10), 1912. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13101912 egwuonwu, h. a. (2020). factors influencing post-harvest losses among vegetable farmers in mbaitoli local government area in imo state. asian journal of agricultural and horticultural research, 7(1), 22-28. https://doi.org/10.9734/ajahr/2020/v7i130086 elik, a., yanik, d. k., istanbullu, y., guzelsoy, n. a., yavuz, a., & gogus, f. (2019). strategies to reduce post-harvest losses for fruits and vegetables. international journal of scientific and technological research, 5(3), 29-39. falola, a., mukaila, r., uddin-ii, r. o., ajewole, c. o., & gbadebo, w. (2023). postharvest losses in onion: causes and determinants. ksü j. agri nat, 26(2), 346-354. https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.1091225 fao. (2019). the state of food and agriculture 2019: moving forward on food loss and waste reduction. food and agriculture organization of the united nations. hodges, r. j., buzby, j. c., & bennett, b. (2011). postharvest losses and waste in developed and less developed countries: opportunities to improve resource use. the journal of agricultural science, 149, 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021859610000936 ibrahim, h. i., ibrahim, h. y., adeola, s. s., & ojoko, e. a. (2022). postharvest loss and food security: a case study of major food crops in katsina state, nigeria. fudma journal of agriculture and agricultural technology, 8(1), 393-403. ishangulyyev, r., kim, s., & lee, s. h. (2019). understanding food loss and waste-why are we losing and wasting food? foods, 8(8), 297. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8080297 kikulwe, e. m., okurut, s., ajambo, s., nowakunda, k., stoian, d., & naziri, d. (2018). postharvest losses and their determinants: a challenge to creating a sustainable cooking banana value chain in uganda. sustainability, 10(7), 2381. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072381 kitinoja, l., dandago, m. a., & abdullahi, n. (2019a). post-harvest loss assessment of maize (zea mays) along its value chain in nigeria. journal of stored products and post-harvest research, 10(1), 13-19. https://doi.org/10.5897/jsppr2018.0275 kitinoja, l., odeyemi, o., dubey, n., musanase, s., & gill, g. (2019b). commodity system assessment studies on the postharvest handling and marketing of tomatoes in nigeria, rwanda and maharashtra, india. journal of horticulture and post-harvest research, 2, 1-14. https://.doi.org/10.22077/jhpr.2019.2060.1040 kulwijila, m. (2021). socio-economic determinants of post-harvest losses in the grape value chain in dodoma municipality and chamwino district, tanzania. african journal of economic review, 9(2), 288-305. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.315802 mlambo, s., mvumi, b. m., stathers, t. e., mubayiwa, m., & nyabako, t. (2017). field efficacy of hermetic and other maize grain storage options under smallholder farm management. crop protection, 98, 198–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro2017. 04.001 national population commission. (2006). population figures of enugu state’s l.g.a, enugu state; www.npc.org.ng (accessed on 20 february 2018). obanubi, m., okoruwa, a., morris, s., nordhagen, s., djimeu, w. e., & yalch, t. (2021). business opportunities to reduce post-harvest loss of nutritious foods: modelling the return on investment of field-ready technologies in nigeria. global alliance for improved nutrition (gain). working paper #16. geneva, switzerland, https://doi.org/10.36072/wp.16 ogundele, f. (2022). post-harvest losses and food security in nigeria: an empirical review. african journal of agriculture and food science, 5(3), 77-89, https://doi.org/10.52589/ajafs-c0442z7j okadonye, e. o., idyorough, a. e., lawrence, i. a. (2022). the effects of postharvest losses of rice on the income of rice farmers in makurdi local government area of benue state nigeria. in book: current perspectives in agriculture and food science, 1, 94–110. https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/cpafs/v1/5004a okafor, b. n., & yaduma, j. j. (2021). soil and agronomic management for cucumber production in nigeria. in book: studies on cucumber (cucumis sativus l. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96087 okwuokenye, g. f., & petu-ibikunle, a. m. (2021). assessment of adoption of agrochemicals by cucumber farmers in selected local government areas in kaduna state, nigeria. adan journal of agriculture, 2(1), 59-69. https://doi.org/10.36108/adanja/1202.20.0160 onuwa, g. c., alamanjo, c., & wuyep, g. (2023). analysis of profitability and cucumber productivity among smallholder farmers. food and agri economics review, 3(2), 40-43. https://doi.org/10.26480/faer.02.2023.40.43 ozioko, r. i., enwelu, i. a., ukwuani, r. a., & chiemela, v. n. (2019). post-harvest losses among tomato farmers in nsukka and udi local government areas of enugu state, nigeria. proceedings of the 24 th annual conference of the agricultural extension society of nigeria, 7-10 april, abuja. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jae.v24i1.33s https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01196-2 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-021-01196-2 https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.960533 https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture13101912 https://doi.org/10.9734/ajahr/2020/v7i130086 https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.1091225 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021859610000936 https://doi.org/10.3390/foods8080297 https://doi.org/10.3390/su10072381 https://doi.org/10.5897/jsppr2018.0275 https://.doi.org/10.22077/jhpr.2019.2060.1040 https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.315802 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cropro2017.%2004.001 http://www.npc.org.ng/ https://doi.org/10.36072/wp.16 https://doi.org/10.52589/ajafs-c0442z7j https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/cpafs/v1/5004a https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.96087 https://doi.org/10.36108/adanja/1202.20.0160 https://doi.org/10.26480/faer.02.2023.40.43 https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/jae.v24i1.33s ukwuaba et al., american international journal of agricultural studies 9(1) (2024), 35-45 45 porciello, j., tufan, h. a., njuki, j., winters, p., mabaya, e., & coffman, r. (2020). averting hunger in sub-saharan africa requires data and synthesis. nature, 584(7819), 37-40. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02281-w sani, m. h., kadau, r., sani, r. m., & danwanka, h. a. (2023). analysis of socio-economic characteristics and postharvest loss storage facilities used by vegetable crops value chain actors in adamawa state, nigeria. nigerian journal of agriculture and agricultural technology, 3(1), 210-229. https://doi.org/10.59331/njaat.v3i1.471 sheahan, m., & barrett, c. b. (2017). review: food loss and waste in sub-saharan africa. food policy, 70, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.03.012 shee, a., mayanja, s., simba, e., stathers, t., bechoff, a., & bennett, b. (2019). determinants of postharvest losses along smallholder producers’ maize and sweet potato value chains: an ordered probit analysis. food security, 11, 1101– 1120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00949-4 sourav, d., subhasis, b., & sabyasachi, b. (2024). managing postharvest losses of vegetables and fruits: a methodological review. recent advances in food, nutrition & agriculture 15(2), 138–162. https://doi.org/10.2174/012772574x280698231221203313 sugri, i., abubakari, m., owusu, r. k., & bidzakin, j. k. (2021). postharvest losses and mitigating technologies: evidence from upper east region of ghana. sustainable futures, 3, 100048 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2021.100048 sule, b. a. (2019). curbing post-harvest losses: the plight of onion farmers in nigeria. feed the future innovation lab for food security policy research briefs 303594, michigan state university, department of agricultural, food, and resource economics, feed the future innovation lab for food security (fsp). https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.303594 tuama, a. a., & mohammed, a. a. (2019). phytochemical screening and in vitro antibacterial and anticancer activities of the aqueous extract of cucumis sativus. saudi journal of biological sciences, 26(3), 600-604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2018.07.012 ukwuaba, i. c., & ileka, c. m. (2024). determinants of the extent of use of climate-smart agricultural practices by farm households in southeast nigeria. european modern studies journal, 8(2) 43-56. https://doi.org/1010.59573/emsj.8(2).2024.5 ukwuaba, i. c., agbo, f. u., & adeosun, k. p. (2018). socio-economic and institutional determinants of watermelon marketing in enugu state nigeria. journal of agricultural extension, 22(3), 161-173. https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v22i3.16 urugo, m. m., yohannis, e., teka, t. a., gemede, h. f., tola, y. b., forsido, s. f., tessema, a., suraj, m., & abdu, j. (2024). addressing post-harvest losses through agro-processing for sustainable development in ethiopia. journal of agriculture and food research, 18, 101316, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101316 yusuf, i. e. (2020). the impact of road transport on tomato production and marketing in nigeria. journal of nigeria transport history, 1(2), 1-18. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2024 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02281-w https://doi.org/10.59331/njaat.v3i1.471 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2017.03.012 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12571-019-00949-4 https://doi.org/10.2174/012772574x280698231221203313 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sftr.2021.100048 https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.303594 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2018.07.012 https://doi.org/1010.59573/emsj.8(2).2024.5 https://doi.org/10.4314/jae.v22i3.16 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jafr.2024.101316 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 41 agricultural studies aijas vol 7 no 1 (2023) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa concept of seed deterioration: reason, factors, changes during deterioration and preventive measures to overcome seed degradation anish choudhury (a)1 sanjoy kumar bordolui (b) (a) research scholar, department of seed science and technology, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india, e-mail: tutun9593@gmail.com (b) assistant professor, department of seed science and technology, bidhan chandra krishi viswavidyalaya, mohanpur 741252, nadia, west bengal, india, e-mail: sanjoy_bordolui@rediffmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received: 31st january 2023 revised: 26th march 2023 accepted: 27th june 2023 published: 31st july 2023 keywords: cell death, deterioration, ros, seed ageing. jel classification codes: q1, q2, n5 a b s t r a c t seed deterioration is when a seed loses its vigor and eventually loses viability. seed viability is an important trait that directly influences seedling emergence and crop yield. the rate of seed deterioration varies on several factors. our main aims were to express the methods for testing seed deterioration, factors influencing seed aging, stages of seed deterioration, changes associated with seed deterioration, practical approaches to overcome seed deterioration, and the role of reactive oxygen species during seed aging. from this investigation, it can be concluded that high temperatures and high relative humidity can hasten the degradation of seeds. an increase in the loss of seed leachate, a drop in respiration rates and atp production, a loss of enzyme activity, and organelle structural breakdown are often seen as changes as seeds age. various factors can cause seed aging, but the main cause is probably oxidative damage brought on by free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ros). protein oxidation, lipid peroxidation, chromosomal abnormalities, and dna damage can all be induced by ros, which can have critical interactions with any macromolecule of biological significance. in the early stages of imbibition, some repairs may occur, and seeds will lose their viability within a short period. seed deterioration can be retrieved through different priming and exogenous application of plant growth regulators. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction seed deterioration means the loss of viability and vigor due to the effect of aging as well as adverse environmental factors, particularly higher temperature, relative air humidity, and oxygen/carbon dioxide ratio during pre-harvest (field weathering), harvest (handling) and post-harvest (storage) periods (kapoor et al., 2010; farhadi et al., 2012). it also refers to deteriorative changes occurring with time that increase the seed's vulnerability to external challenges and decrease the ability of the seed to survive. when a seed is exposed to more external stressors, degenerative changes become more pronounced and reduce the seed's capacity for survival. according to kapoor et al. (2011), the process is cumulative, irreversible, degenerative, and inexorable. for many commercially produced crops in agriculture, seeds are a fundamental form of plant propagation. furthermore, seeds can be the main focus of initiatives aimed at environmental restoration and help ensure the longterm maintenance of genetic diversity (baskin & baskin, 2020). all seeds will eventually lose their viability as they age and perish, a process known as seed degeneration or aging (ebone et al., 2019), even when stored under ideal conditions. it has been estimated that 25% of seeds lose their viability annually, which can give rise to billions of dollars of economic losses (mcdonald & nelson, 1986). seed aging can be described as irreversible, cumulative, and inexorable (mcdonald, 1999). as a result, the emergence of seedlings may be delayed, and their ability to withstand environmental stress during germination and the early stages of growth may be reduced. the delay in germination in somewhat old seeds is connected to the ability of seeds to make certain repairs during the early stages of imbibition (xu et al., 2020; kumari et al., 2017). however, substantial damage would eventually exceed a seed's capacity to heal itself as it ages, and the seed would lose its 1corresponding author: orcid id:0000-0002-3710-0748 © 2023 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.291 to cite this article: choudhury, a., & bordolui, s. k. (2023). concept of seed deterioration: reason, factors, changes during deterioration and preventive measures to overcome seed degradation. american international journal of agricultural studies, 7(1). https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.291 https://doi.org/10.46545/aijas.v7i1.291 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3710-0748 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2087-2968 choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 42 ability to be viable (bewley et al., 2013; ray & bordolui, 2022). in general, cool, dry storage can extend the viability of stored orthodox seeds, whereas high temperatures and high relative humidity can hasten the deterioration of seeds (ellis & hong, 2006). the research on seed aging has been conducted using two broad methods. in the first, seeds are stored for several years under natural conditions. however, because this requires a long time to reveal changes in the seeds, artificial aging conditions can also be used, such as several days of storage at high temperatures and high relative humidity (pournik et al., 2019); such treatment is also referred to as 'accelerated aging' or 'controlled deterioration treatment' which could simulate the biochemical and molecular events taking place during the natural aging of seeds (rajjouet al., 2008). our comprehension of seed aging has substantially benefited from the studies conducted by numerous authors. according to some research, a number of processes, including lipid peroxidation (oenel et al., 2017), protein carbonylation (rajjou et al., 2008; li et al., 2017), and programmed cell death (hu et al., 2012), are causally linked to the degeneration of seeds. on the other hand, aging denotes a complex biological phenomenon linked to various biochemical, molecular, metabolic, and physiological processes (ebone et al., 2019). however, the primary objectives of this review are to know (1) methods for testing seed deterioration, (2) factors influencing seed aging; (3) stages of seed deterioration, (4) changes associated with seed deterioration; (5) the roles of reactive oxygen species during seed aging and (6) practical approaches to overcome seed deterioration the quality of seed can be determined by several factors during the product phase in the field before harvesting, during harvesting, threshing, drying, cleaning, grading, packaging, storehouse, transport, and sowing. these factors include extreme temperatures during development, changes in humidity conditions including failure and redundant rains at development, riding, factory nutrition scarcities, circumstance of pests and conditions, indecorous running, drying, and storehouse (cavatassi et al., 2010). seed aging or deterioration is a natural process that results from the commerce of cytological, physiological, biochemical, and physical changes in seed, causing a reduction in vigor and germination and ultimately leading to the loss of viability. thus, testing the quality of seeds stored for different lengths of time is important to determine the effect of aging on seed quality (finch-savage & bassel, 2016). seed deterioration is to be retrieved by different seed treatments before storing and mid-term storing. literature review ranganathan and groot (2023) reported that the basic deterioration processes that lead to a drop in seed viability contrastingly vary between desiccation asleep (orthodox) and desiccation-sensitive seeds (recalcitrant). orthodox seeds which suffer development drying are bestowed with defensive mechanisms which guard the seeds against deterioration. they include the accumulation of antioxidants, non-reducing sugars, defensive proteins similar to late embryogenesis abundant proteins, heat-shock proteins, lipocalins, hormones, and chemical protectants (raffinose family oligosaccharides, flavonoids, lignins, vitamin e). the nuclear dna is packed thick, and chlorophyll is degraded. still, with low humidity content and a glassy state of cytoplasm, reactive oxygen species generated due to the presence of oxygen in the storehouse atmosphere may beget the aging of the seed. as the seed humidity content increases, mitochondrial respiration gets activated, leading to an increased product of reactive oxygen species owing to hamstrung mitochondrial exertion. the reactive oxygen species lead to the oxidation of essential motes similar to dna, rna, proteins, and lipids. further, mitochondrial membranes also oxidize, reducing aerobic respiration eventuality. when the damage is not substantial, orthodox seeds can repair the molecular damages accumulated during storehousing, enabling the seeds to overcome the damages and extend their life incompletely. this includes activating cell membranes, dna, rna, proteins, and mitochondria as the seeds imbibe water. zhang et al. (2021) suggested that during seed aging, constantly observed changes include membrane damage and the destruction of organelle structure, an increase in the loss of seed leachate, diminishments of respiratory rates and atp product, and a loss of enzymatic exertion. these marvels could be interrelated and reflect the general breakdown in the cellular association. numerous processes can affect seed aging; likely, oxidative damage caused by free revolutionaries and reactive oxygen species (ros) is primarily responsible. ros can have vital relations with any macromolecule of natural interest that affect damage to colorful cellular factors caused by protein damage, lipid peroxidation, chromosomal abnormalities, and dna lesions. further, ros may also beget programmed cell death by converting the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores and the release of cytochrome c. some repairs can do in the early stages of imbibition, but form processes fail if sufficient damage has been caused to critical functional factors. as a result, a given seed will lose its viability and ultimately fail to germinate fairly quickly. materials and methods seed vigor tests are designed to determine how the seed lot will perform under stress. it is the opposite of a germination test, where the seed is grown under optimum conditions. as a consequence, there are various techniques to determine its assessment, including those that directly or indirectly evaluate the current seed metabolic state to establish a relationship with seedling emergence and storability; those tests include (i) electrical conductivity, (ii) tetrazolium, (iii) vital coloring test (iv) enzyme activity test (v) x-ray photography test (vi) ferric chloride test (vii) accelerated ageing (viii) cold test and (ix) germination test that evaluate the seed deterioration. electric conductivity electrical conductivity (ec) is a promising vigor test classified as a biochemical test. ec test aims to indirectly evaluate the extent of damage caused to cell membranes resulting from seed deterioration (mohammadi et al., 2011). the genotype, seed integrity, size, moisture content, soaking period, and temperature affect electrical conductivity results (de carvalho et al., 2009). the ec is based on the fact that seeds, when soaked in water, exude ions, sugars, and other metabolites, from the choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 43 start of the soaking period, due to changes in the integrity of the cell membranes, as a function of the water amount and of the level of seed deterioration. in deteriorated seeds, the repair mechanism is absent or inefficient, or the membranes are completely damaged, thus permitting the leaching of larger electrolyte amounts. a seed ample of 2-5 grams is weighed and surface sterilized with 0.1% hgcl2 for 5-10 minutes. the sample is washed thoroughly in distilled water. the clean seeds are immersed in 100 ml water at 25±1°c for 10-12 hours. after this, the seeds are removed with clean forceps. the steep water left is decanted and is termed leachate. the conductivity meter is warmed for about 30 minutes before testing. first, the conductance of distilled water is measured in a beaker. the electrode is then cleaned with tissue paper, and the conductance of the leachate is read. the electrode is thoroughly washed using a wash bottle and wiped with clean tissue paper before reusing. while recording the conductance, the lower bulb of the electrode should be fully immersed in the leachate. to get the leachate's ec, the distilled water reading is subtracted from the sample reading. the value is then corrected for the temperature and multiplied by the cell constant factor. the reading is expressed as ms m-1 of seed. the lower the value of ec, the greater the seed vigor. figure 1. assessing the efficiency of electrical conductivity (ec) test tetrazolium test the tetrazolium chloride (tz) test is considered the quick germination test. the tz test can give an early and quick snapshot of seed viability but still needs to replace the more comprehensive seed germination test (vermaet al., 2013). the test is useful for processing, handling, storing, and marketing. large quantities of seed in a short time, testing dormant seed lots, vigor rating of the seed lots, and diagnosing the cause of seed deterioration. tz is a biochemical test that differentiates live from dead seeds based on the activity of the respiration enzymes in seeds. upon seed hydration, the activity of dehydrogenase enzymes increases, resulting in the release of hydrogen ions, which reduces the colorless tetrazolium salt solution (2, 3, 5-triphenyl tetrazolium chloride) into a chemical compound called formazan. formazan stains living cells (respiring) red, while dead cells (not respiring) remain colorless. the viability of seeds is interpreted according to the staining pattern of seed tissues (filho, 2015). figure 2. viable seeds turn into red color vital coloring test the principle of this method is the differential coloration of life against dead tissue when exhibited to such dyes as sulphuric acid, indigo carmine, and aniline dyes. these dyes stain the dead tissue and the live tissue leftovers unstained. this method is particularly useful for determining the viability of tree seeds. enzyme activity test these methods measure enzyme activity (such as lipase, amylase, diastase, catalase, peroxidase, and dehydrogenase) of imbibed seeds to indicate their viability. number of red-stained seeds viability % = x 100 total number of seeds choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 44 x-ray photography test this is generally used to test the viability of forest seeds. bacl2 penetrates the dead cells but does not penetrate the living cells because of their semi-permeability. thus dead parts of the embryo and endosperm are contrast areas in x-ray photography. steps: soak the seeds in water for 16hrs. drain excess water soak 20% to 30% bacl2 for an hour after drying, seeds are radiographed using soft x-rays. ferric chloride test mechanically injured areas of legume seeds turn black when placed in the ferric chloride solution. a ferric chloride (fecl3) solution is prepared by adding four parts water to one part fecl3. two replicates in a petri-dish, each 100 seeds, are commonly immersed in the fecl3 solution. after five minutes, black staining seeds exhibiting mechanical damage are separated from those remaining seeds. accelerated ageing accelerated aging is a technique of seed vigor testing initially developed for testing the storage potential of seeds. subsequently, the test has been evaluated to indicate seed vigor in various crops (powell & matthews, 1981). the principle of the method is based on the artificial acceleration of the deterioration rate of the seeds by exposing them to high temperature (40 to 450c) and relative humidity (greater than 95%) levels (tekrony, 2005), which are considered the most prominent environmental factors for the intensity and velocity of deterioration. in this situation, low-quality seeds deteriorate more rapidly than vigorous ones, presenting a differentiated decrease in viability. an environment of 41 to 430c temperature for 24 to 72 h is considered applicable for many species in aa (hampton et al., 1992; matthews, 1993). figure 3. the accelerated aging technique of the seed vigor test cold test it was developed to evaluate the physiological potential of corn seeds, seeking to stimulate adverse soil conditions (excessive water, low temperatures, and presence of fungi in the soil) that frequently occur during the sowing season in the us corn belt. loeffler et al. (1985) suggested another procedure by using a germination paper towel without soil, known as the cold test without soil. this procedure was sensitive enough to detect drying damage in corn seeds and provide greater reproducibility of results due to the simplicity of the method. therefore, the cold test seeks to evaluate the effects of a combination of low temperature, microorganism action, and high substrate moisture by identifying differences in physiological potential among seed lots (caseiro & marcosfilho, 2002). germination test it is an analytical procedure to evaluate seed germination under standardized favorable conditions. standard germination testing includes temperature, moisture, light, dormancy breaking, and germination counting standard of seeds. figure 4. seedlings after germination choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 45 results and discussions results of factors influencing seed ageing genetic factors genetic factors undoubtedly influence seed quality. seeds from various genera, species, cultivars, or individual plants frequently exhibit variances in their ability to be stored under the same conditions (raoet al., 2017). some seeds, such as lactuca sativa and allium cepa, have a limited shelf life by nature. in contrast, pisium sativum and triticum aestivum seeds have a substantially longer shelf life when kept in the right storage circumstances (mira et al., 2015). eighteen crop species were stored dry at room temperature and 50.5% relative humidity for 1-26 years, and nagel and borner (2010) compared the germination/viability of the crops. according to nagel and borner (2010), it took all seeds five to seven years to lose their viability, but it took phaseolus vulgaris and vicia sativa more than twenty years. these species-specific variations have been linked to some biochemical factors, including the concentrations of tocopherols, lipocalins, and antioxidant polyphenols, positively correlated with seed storage behaviors (sano et al., 2016). additionally, it has been noted that seeds with physical dormancy, such as several species of the fabaceae and nelumbonaceae, typically have a longer lifespan than seeds of other species (baskin & baskin, 2020). nelumbo nucifera seeds, for instance, have been found to endure for 1300 years (copeland & mcdonald, 2012). this species-specific genetic variable associated with the outer seed coat's resistance to gases and liquids may also help maintain seed viability (harrington, 1972). maturational and harvest conditions seed viability is influenced by seed maturity during harvest or shedding (rao et al., 2017). in the same seed lot, mature seeds withstand storage far better than immature seeds (copeland & mcdonald, 2012). however, delayed harvest can also cause the aging process to occur in the field, especially when there is a high seed moisture content, which reduces the viability of subsequent storage (bewley et al., 2013). the most suitable time for storage is after seeds have attained physiological maturity or have reached their maximum dry weight. relative humidity and temperature the two environmental factors that directly impact seed degeneration are relative humidity (rh) and temperature (rajjou et al., 2008). the level of water vapor surrounding the seeds and the moisture content of the seeds are in equilibrium throughout storage. hence the rh has a direct impact on this. according to copeland and mcdonald (2012) and baskin and baskin (2020), the real seed moisture content during dry storage is typically 5–10%. according to rao et al. (2017), an increase in relative humidity causes an increase in seed moisture content, which in turn causes an increase in seed aging. according to harrington (1972), seed viability was maintained at a 5-14% moisture level. however, for every 1% rise in seed moisture content above 14%, seed viability falls by 50%. when a seed's moisture content exceeds 14%, respiration is accelerated, and fungi speed up the loss of seed viability (ellis & hong, 2006). although, seeds may develop a glassy condition when their moisture content falls below 6%, giving their cytoplasm a high viscosity and low molecular mobility, which inhibits enzymatic metabolism (murthy et al., 2003). the viability of seeds decreased as the storage temperature increased, even when seeds were kept at low moisture content. according to hartmann-filho et al. (2016), rising temperatures speed up chemical reactions in seeds, which starts the early phases of seed degeneration. in addition, even when the relative humidity is kept constant, warmer air offers the seed more readily available water than cold air (copeland & mcdonald, 2012). harrington (1972) also reported that seed viability decreased by 50% for each 50c to increase the temperature range of 0–50 ◦c. when temperatures fall below 00c, some biochemical reactions related to the deterioration of seeds will not occur, and an additional temperature decrease will moderately affect seed viability extension (harrington, 1972). discussions of different stages of seed deterioration various stages and factors affecting seed deterioration: generally, seed deterioration pattern is taken into consideration in three stages, i.e. (a) during the pre-harvest or field weathering stage, (b) during the harvesting and post-harvest stage, and (c) during the storage period. pre-harvest or field weathering stage the physiological quality of seeds depends on the weather conditions before harvesting (padua et al., 2009). field weathering is called seed quality, vigor, and viability deterioration due to high relative humidity and high temperature during the post-maturation and pre-harvest periods (bhatia et al., 2010). the period between the physiological maturity of the crop and harvesting is considered weather-prone. high rainfall, elevated temperature, r.h., and prolonged photoperiod are preharvest factors that cause seed quality loss following physiological maturity. however, moisture on seeds during ripening appears to exert a major influence on the predisposition of seeds to weathering. adverse environmental conditions during numbers normal seedlings germination % = x 100 total number of seeds choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 46 seed filling and maturation result in forced seed maturation, associated with low yields, leading to a significant decrease in quality and an extensive reduction in crop productivity (padua et al., 2009). after physiological maturity, if the seeds are retained on the mother plant, seeds will deteriorate, and physiological changes in the seed may lead to the formation of rigid or colored seeds (khatun et al., 2009). delayed harvesting beyond physiological maturity and exposure to field weather further aggravates the loss of seed quality. weathering-induced seed damage lowers the seed germ's inability and becomes prone to mechanical damage and infection. seed deterioration during harvesting and post-harvesting stage harvest and post-harvest handling of seeds include harvesting, threshing, machinery processing, seed collection, storing, transporting, drying, and marketing which greatly influences seed quality and viability. better seed quality may only be achieved if proper post-harvest handling is performed. over-drying of seeds increases the chance of mechanical damage and injuries in the form of physical damage or fracturing of essential seed parts. physical seed damage is also exhibited as the splitting of the cotyledon and shattered and broken seeds. broken seed coats permit early entry and easy access for harmful microflora, making the seed vulnerable to fungal attack and reducing storage potential (shelar, 2008). deterioration during the storage period the storability of seeds is mainly a genetically regulated character. it is influenced by the quality of the seed at the time of storage, the pre-storage history of the seed (environmental factors during preand post-harvest stages), moisture content of seed or ambient relative humidity, the temperature of the storage environment, duration of storage and biotic agents (khatun et al., 2009; chakraborty et al., 2020). storage life of seeds doubled with each 1% (within 5 to 14% seed moisture content) reduction in seed moisture or each 5ºc (within 0 to 50 ºc) reduction in temperature (harrington, 1972). the seeds rich in lipids have limited longevity due to their specific chemical composition, leading to loss of germination ability and viability. the main external factors causing seed deterioration during storage are high temperature, r.h., and o2/co2 concentration, which increase the respiration rate causing seeds to deteriorate more rapidly (kapoor et al., 2010) and therefore, the possibility of regulating these factors makes the basis for longer seed storage (mohammadi et al., 2011; ray & bordolui, 2020). however, these environmental conditions are very difficult to maintain during storage, and damage to seed during storage is inevitable (balesevic-tubic et al., 2005). discussions of changes associated with seed deterioration like morphological changes, ultra structural changes, biochemical changes, genetic changes, and physiological changes morphological changes a change in seed coat color is observed in deteriorated seeds. darkening of the seed coat in deteriorating clover, groundnut, and soybean seeds have been reported. such color changes are presumably due to oxidative reactions in the seed coat, accelerated under high temperature and relative humidity conditions. alterations in seed morphology frequently occur together with seed aging. as seen in brassica napus and linum usitatissimum (sano et al., 2016), the color of the seed coat can indicate the degree of seed degradation. according to copeland and mcdonald (2012), the seed coats of degrading seeds of arachis hypogaea, glycine max, and three different trifolium spp. have darkened. researchers have noted additional morphological changes in old seeds in addition to the impact on the seed coat. after five years of storage, nonviable seeds of citrullus lanatus and cucumis melo showed a considerable rise in internal air space, and each nonviable seed carried a tiny, typically formed embryo (ahmed et al., 2019). ultra-structural changes after being stored or after accelerated aging, seeds lose their ability to germinate, and this is related to structural changes in different organelles (smith & berjak, 1995). according to reports, the first organelles to sustain damage during seed aging are the mitochondria, the site of cellular energy synthesis and material metabolism (wang et al., 2012). the outer membrane and cristae of aged embryos' mitochondria are noticeably distorted during seed aging, from becoming disorganized to virtually missing (bailly, 2004). wang et al. (2015) classified the mitochondria of ulmuspumila seeds into four types: punctiform, vermiform, gigantic, and diffuse. numerous punctiform mitochondria were consistently distributed throughout the cytoplasm of young seeds. the mitochondria grew longer and grouped as the seed grew older. the mitochondria accumulated on the cell membrane and dispersed as seeds lost viability (wang et al., 2015). smith and berjak (1995) specified additional ultra-structural alterations, aside from mitochondria, that are consistently linked to seed aging. these alterations include golgi bodies and endoplasmic reticulum fragmentation or disappearance, lipid droplets fusing to form larger or irregular bodies, the membranes of protein bodies and vacuoles dissolving, the plasma membrane deteriorating and contracting away from the cell wall, and disintegration. the process of seed deterioration could be responsible for following ultra-structural changes in the seed. cell membranes  withdrawal of plasma lemma and coalescence of lipid bodies influence cell membrane integrity.  formation of free radical.  loss of cell membrane integrity.  leads to the release of different seed leachates. choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 47 mitochondria  mitochondria become permanently swollen and lose their natural swelling contracting ability.  reduction of dehydrogenase activity.  hampered in nadh and fadh enzyme formation.  ultimately formations of atp become hampered.  it leads to loss of function and eventual fragmentation.  decrease in the respiration rates of seeds. ribosomes  associated with degradation of function in deteriorating seeds in the dissociation of the ribosome.  evidence indicates that the dissociation of polyribosomes occurs before the attachment of performed mrna occurs, leading to protein synthesis in germinating seeds.  protein synthesis retarded. biochemical changes some important enzymes, such as those involved in atp generation, amylase, cytochrome c oxidase, carboxylase, dehydrogenases, dna polymerase, dna ligase, esterase, lipoxygenase, phosphatases, proteinases, and proteases, are rendered inactive as seeds degenerate (walters & engels, 1998). as enzyme activity declines, this can diminish seed respiratory potential, affecting the synthesis of atp and the amount of food available to the sprouting seed (xin et al., 2014). the seed's overall degree of metabolic activity is reflected in the respiratory rate. the respiratory quotient (rq), which measures the amount of co2 produced as the seed uses oxygen, maybe a reasonably sensitive indicator of degradation. in degraded seeds, a relatively high rq (1.5 or higher) has been observed, possibly due to increased co2 evolution, decreased oxygen consumption, or both (wang et al., 2014). seed deterioration has been attributed to various biophysical and biochemical changes in seed components, such as the loss of enzymatic activities, the loss of membrane integrity, the accumulation of toxic substances, and genetic alterations. loss of enzyme activity  the breakdown of food reserves occurs due to the biosynthesis of new tissue during germination.  various critical enzymes are inactivated when seeds deteriorate, such as atp synthesis, amylase, cytochromeoxidase, carboxylase, dehydrogenases, dna polymerase, dna ligase, esterase, lipoxygenase, phosphatases, proteinases, protease, which have been correlated with seed deterioration (walters & engels, 1998). reduced respiration  respiration is associated with the breaking down food reserves by a large group of enzymes.  as seeds deteriorate, respiration becomes progressively weaker, ultimately leading to germination loss.  the rq (respiratory quotient) value of deteriorated seed is high due to more co2 release and less uptake of o2. lipid peroxidation  lipid peroxidation refers to the oxidative degradation of lipids. it is the process whereby free radicals steal electrons from the lipids in cell membranes, resulting in cell damage.  lipid peroxidation and associated free radical oxidative stresses are considered to be major contributors to seed deterioration.  loss of membrane structure and increased leakiness of oxygen is responsible for damaging plant tissues in inhibiting chloroplast development, seed viability, and root growth. degradation of food reserves:  studies with radioactive amino acids in many seed species have shown that seed deterioration is associated with reduced capacity for protein synthesis (anderson, 1977).  parallely, the amylase activity is also increased. a sharp decrease in protein content in aged seeds of maize will lead to a drastic increase in the total free amino acids. similarly, lipid content also decreased. genetic changes seed quality is dependent on genetic factors. under the same storage conditions, seeds of different genera, species, cultivars, or individual plants often show differences in their storability (rao et al., 2017). the process of seed deterioration could be related to the following genetical changes  slower seedling growth.  dna is degraded and fails to produce mrna, which results in no enzyme formation causing a reduction in germination.  during storage, stored mrna may be degraded, which ultimately causes seed deterioration. choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 48 physiological changes the process of seed deterioration could be associated with the following physiological changes  delayed germination.  increase in abnormal seedlings.  reduce the speed of germination.  low vigor index.  reduced seedling growth. discussions on the role of reactive oxygen species (ros) during seed ageing production of reactive oxygen species (ros) and breakdown of antioxidative systems reactive oxygen species is one of the by-products of aerobic respiration (bailly, 2004). low levels of ros in seeds act as crucial signal molecules for seed germination, dormancy reduction, and pathogen defense (apel & hirt, 2004). however, if seeds are stored for a lengthy period or under improper settings, ros levels may cumulatively rise (bailly, 2004). the most significant element influencing seed aging has typically been an increase in ros; ros causes oxidative damage to lipids, proteins, and dna, finally resulting in a loss of viability (waszczak et al., 2018). the primary source of ros is the mitochondrial respiratory electron-transport chain (etc), specifically complexes i and iii (fig. 1). according to moller et al. (2020), superoxide radicals are created as a result of electron leakage in the transport chain. these radicals are then effortlessly transformed into hydrogen peroxide (h2o2) by mitochondrial sod. finally, hydroxyl radicals (oh), which are extremely active and poisonous, are created when transitional metals combine with h2o2 in the fenton or haber-weiss reactions (imlay, 2003). furthermore, in dry seeds with low metabolic and enzymatic activity, the auto-oxidation of lipids produces ros, which is then trapped inside the seed tissues (mcdonald, 1999). to battle these free radicals and neutralize their negative effects, aging seeds have evolved a variety of defensive mechanisms or antioxidative systems (fig. 1). cat, sod, guaiacol peroxidase (gpx), ascorbate-glutathione (asa-gsh) cycles of enzymes, as well as nonenzymatic mechanisms like -tocopherol (vitamin e), ascorbic acid (vitamin c), polyphenolics, flavonoids, and carotenes are some examples of these mechanisms (cheng et al., 2020). superoxide dismutase, which exists in three different forms in plants (mn-sod in the mitochondrial matrix, fe-sod in the chloroplasts, and cu-zn sod in the cytosol, chloroplasts, and possibly the extracellular space), dismutates superoxide radicals into h2o2 and can thereby prevent the formation of oh, which is involved in lipid peroxidation (imlay, 2003). apx, mdhar, dhar, and gr are all components of the asa-gsh cycles, which can be used to eliminate hydrogen peroxide (bailly, 2004). the regeneration of potent antioxidants like vitamin c, vitamin e, and glutathione (gsh) is also aided by the enzymes of as a-gsh (fig. 1). lipid peroxidation produces lipid peroxyl radicals (loo), which are lipid-free radicals that can be neutralized by vitamin e to produce the corresponding nonradical lipid product and -tocopherol radicals. scavengers like vitamin c can efficiently resist ros. in the meantime, the antioxidant form of vitamin e can be renewed by reducing -tocopherol radicals. the excessive production of ros and an impaired antioxidant system during seed deterioration will cause some physiological imbalances in the seed, which will ultimately cause a loss of viability and germinability (oenel et al., 2017). these physiological imbalances will result in lipid peroxidation, protein carbonylation, and genetic damage. according to research, most genes involved in oxidative stress were down-regulated when pisum sativum seeds were artificially aged for 15 days at 50 c and 60% rh (chen et al., 2013). similar results were also observed in seeds of zea mays (su et al., 2018). figure 5. major reactions that generate and eliminate reactive oxygen species (ros) during seed deterioration. apx, ascorbate peroxidase; asa, ascorbic acid; cat, catalase; dha, dehydroascorbate; dhar, dehydroascorbate reductase; gpx, glutathione peroxidase; gr, glutathione reductase; gsh, reduced glutathione; gssg, oxidized glutathione; mdha, monodehydroascorbate; mdhar, mono dihydro ascorbate reductase; nadp+, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate; nadph, reduced form of nadp+; sod, superoxide dismutase. source (zhang et al. (2021) lipid peroxidation the disintegration of the plasma membrane, predominantly brought on by lipid peroxidation, is one significant process that occurs when seeds deteriorate (ebone et al., 2019). increased levels of ros attack polyunsaturated fatty acids in membrane phospholipids as seeds deteriorate, changing membrane permeability and causing membrane destruction by breaking down long-chain fatty acids into smaller compounds (oenel et al., 2017). choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 49 lipid peroxidation is an automatic process that, once it begins, self-replicates and accelerates (fig. 5). the general mechanism has traditionally been broken down into three steps: reaction one initiates the process, reactions 2-4 propagate it, and reactions 5 and 6 terminate it (apel & hirt, 2004). aldehydes, ketones, alkanes, carboxylic acids, and polymerization products are a few examples of the generally stable, lipid-soluble chemicals that are the end products of lipid peroxidation (min et al., 2017). these substances can easily pass through cellular membranes after diffusing from the point of production (oenel et al., 2017). additionally, these products are frequently highly reactive and impact the cell's extracellular matrix and other cellular elements (bhattacharjee, 2019). malondialdehyde (mda), one of the reactive aldehydes, is frequently utilized as a sign of lipid peroxidation. protein oxidation, which can be mediated by the mda and result in protein fragmentation, modification, aggregation, and conformational changes, will eventually impact how proteins function (ebone et al., 2019).ultimately result in modifications to how proteins operate (ebone et al., 2019). the mda concentrations increased 57.5% and 64.23%, respectively, when compared to controls when seeds of glycine max were accelerated aged at 42 c, 99% rh for three and seven days; this showed lipid peroxidation had resulted in membrane damage (min et al., 2017). on the other hand, lipoxygenase can potentially catalyze lipid peroxidation by using phospholipid membrane components as substrates (ebone et al., 2019). however, these aldehydes become the most active when the seed moisture level exceeds 14% (copeland & mcdonald, 2012). as a result, lipid peroxidation can occur in different ways under different situations during rapid aging (lipoxygenase) and long-term storage (autoxidation) (bailly, 2004). three lox-related genes that are overexpressed in rice seeds can speed up the breakdown of membrane integrity, whereas reduced lox-related gene expression can boost seed vigor while the seeds are being stored (gayen et al., 2015). figure 6. free radical chain reactions (a) and conceptual model (b) of lipid peroxidation process. the interaction of ros and other free radicals with polyunsaturated fatty acids (pufa) in membrane phospholipids (rh) usually initiates the process of lipid peroxidation and results in the formation of lipid radicals (r⋅) (reaction 1); the r⋅ can react with available o2 to generate lipid peroxyl radicals (roo⋅) (reaction 2) that, in turn, can attack another lipid molecule to generate lipid hydroperoxide (rooh) (reaction 3) and thereby propagate the chain reaction. the unstable rooh degrades and breaks down, which leads to the production of other radical species (e.g., ro⋅ and roo⋅), which then propagate additional lipid peroxidation; these may also produce several aldehydic end-products, including 4-hydroxy-2, 3-nonenal (hne) and malonyl dialdehyde (mda) (reaction 4); this chain reaction terminates when a roo⋅ or r⋅ reacts with a similar radical to form nonradical products (adduct) (reactions 5 and 6). as a result, long-chain fatty acids break down into smaller compounds, and the membranes lose their integrity (b). source: zhang et al. (2021) protein carbonylation proteins can be modified and damaged by elevated ros levels during seed aging, some of which are irreversible and can cause protein damage, aggregation, and degradation (moller et al., 2020). carbonylation is the most well-studied irreversible protein oxidation during seed degeneration (moller et al., 2020). the level of protein carboxylation increased with treatment time. it significantly correlated with ros content when non-dormant seeds of arabidopsis thaliana were held at 40 c and 85% rh (i.e., accelerated aging) (rajjou et al., 2008). carbonyl groups can be incorporated into proteins through direct metal-catalyzed oxidation of some amino acids (e.g., arginine, lysine, proline, and threonine residues (satour et al., 2018) or indirectly by reactions between nucleophilic centers within those amino acids with reactive carbonyl species (rcs) that are derived from lipid peroxidation, such as hne and mda (smakowska et al., 2014). protein functions may be slowed down by carbonylation. carbonylated cellular proteins may undergo proteasomedependent degradation, or they may organize into similar aggregates, such as combinations of highly carbonylated proteins with high molecular weights that have been unfolded or damaged (hohn et al., 2013), to prevent the accumulation of those toxic products. this reduces or eliminates the targeted protein catalytic activities (winger et al., 2007). in plant cells, carbonylated proteins can be detected in some cellular compartments, including the cytosol, peroxisomes, and mitochondria (li et al., 2017). complexes i and iii of the mitochondrial electron transport system are particularly vulnerable to carbonylation and oxidation than other cellular compartments since mitochondria are the primary organelles that create ros (li et al., 2017). hne-adduction and carbonylation have been used to modify some proteins in etc (winger et al., 2007). after further analysis of protein spots with deeper carbonylation, it was discovered that carbonylated proteins were primarily concentrated in the tca cycle (malate dehydrogenase), glycolysis (photo glycerate mutase, pyruvate choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 50 decarboxylase, triose phosphate isomerase), atp synthesis (atp synthase subunit alpha), mitochondrial processing (mitochondrial-processing peptidase subunit alpha), intra this kind of evidence suggests that protein carbonylation will lead to the protein's loss of integrity and function, the inactivation of the tca cycle, etc enzymes, and eventually seed death (chen et al., 2019). genetic damage additionally, genetic damage can result from increased levels of ros during seed aging. genetic deterioration is cited as the main reason for seed aging by harrington (1972). after a certain amount of chromosomal damage, including dna strand breaks, dna methylation, and aberrant gene expression, has been accumulated during seed aging, the ability of the seed to germinate is lost (harrington, 1972). for instance, all variable seeds from oryza sativa and pisum sativum that were aged at 45 °c showed a decrease in the mitotic index and an increase in the frequency of chromosomal damage; in addition, an increase in storage time led to an increase in dna damage (dantas et al., 2019). according to cheah and osborne (1978), the main cause of chromosome aberrations was the accumulation of dna lesions, such as base modifications and single or double-strand breaks. according to sano et al. (2016), ros, particularly oh, are typically the primary cause of dna strand breaks by directly inducing desaturation of deoxyribose units or generating covalent changes of bases. one significant alteration that can occur is guanine hydroxylation at the c-8 position, which yields 8-hydroxy-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-ohdg) (sano et al., 2016). additionally, 8-ohdg has the potential to cause mutations because it can mis-pair with either adenine (a) or cytosine (c), causing a transversion of gc to ta during dna replication (sano et al., 2016). germination depends on proper translation and transcription since dna alterations may disrupt these processes. in this context, this kind of dna damage may be linked to a loss of viability (sano et al., 2016). the single-stranded structure of rna makes it more susceptible to oxidation than dna, which may cause rna to break down. according to fleming et al. (2017), as glycine max's germinability decreased, so did the incorporation of different radioactive rna precursors into all the major types of rna. additionally, the processing of rna precursors into the ribosomal subunits' 18 s and 25 s rna may have been delayed. additional research using electrophoresis to study rna degradation revealed that 23 s and 13 s rrna, two small and fast kinds of rna, were generated due to the progressive decay of 25 s and 18 s rrna. following hydration, the nonviable s. cereale embryos did not convert radioactive amino acids from an external source into protein. breakdown of the repair system seeds can minimize damage to biological molecules and cellular structures since they have strong healing mechanisms. the speed and capacity of a seed to repair itself are closely related to performance during germination and the establishment of young seedlings. once seed imbibition occurs, the repair of cellular structures can facilitate the ability of seeds to recover from damage that occurs during dormancy prior to the beginning of germination (long et al., 2015). however, the molecular mechanisms of rna repair have yet to be fully understood, as they have not received as much attention in earlier studies on seed aging as dna and protein repair have (sano et al., 2016). base excision repair (ber) is a method for repairing dna base damage or single-stranded dna breaks (sano et al., 2016). the dna glycosylase enzymes that repair various cell products typically start the ber pathway by creating abasic or apurinic/apyrimidinic (ap) sites. after the damaged site is removed, dna synthesis takes place to fill the gap in the dna sequence. atogg1, a dna glycosylase/apurinic/apyrimidinic (ap) lyase found in arabidopsis, takes part in base excision repair, eliminating 8-oxodg from dna. increased seed resilience to accelerated aging will result from overexpression of this gene, and the 8-oxog content of transgenic seeds will decline, which indicates its involvement in the repair of damage to dna and the high level of germination ability of the seeds during abiotic stress (chen et al., 2012). due to the extreme cytotoxicity of double-strand breaks, dna damage is either directly produced by ros or indirectly generated by the ber process in products. based on the activity of dna ligases, the dsbs are repaired by homologous recombination (hr) or non-homologous end joining (nhej). according to a waterworthet al. (2010) study, an arabidopsis mutant with a dna ligase iv deficiency exhibited notable responsiveness to controlled seed aging. the nonenzymatic conversion of l-aspartyl residues into l-iso aspartyl residues is one instance of how protein can be harmed during dry storage. however, this harm can be repaired by the protein l-iso aspartyl methyltransferase (pimt), particularly during seed growth and imbibition (mudgett et al., 1997). although seeds contain a variety of repair mechanisms to deal with ros damage, damage eventually builds up in dna, rna, and proteins necessary for seed germination after a protracted period of storage or accelerated aging therapy. seeds that have sustained irreparable damage will no longer be viable and will not germinate (xu et al., 2020). programmed cell death plants use programmed cell death as a controlled strategy for cell suicide in response to internal and external stimuli (biswas et al., 2020). the initial focus of pcd research was on animal cells. however, it has since been noted that pcd is also involved in some plant life processes, including pollen tube burst during fertilization, lateral and adventitious root emergence, and seed development and germination (van hautegemet al., 2015). according to hu et al. (2012) (fig. 6), pcd events may also be related to the loss of seed viability that occurs with seed aging. by facilitating the opening of mitochondrial membrane permeability transition pores (mptps), which in turn causes the release of cyt c from intermembrane spaces of mitochondria into the cytoplasm, excessive ros production from mitochondria during seed aging may induce pcd (wang et al., 2015). high cyt c levels in the cytoplasm have been found to start the caspase and downstream proteolytic cascade in animal cells, which is thought to be the main execution switch for pcd. the nucleus will be invaded choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 51 by activated caspase-like enzymes, which will cause the characteristic nuclear alterations associated with pcd, including dna breakage, chromatin condensation, and nucleus disruption (nigam et al., 2019). damaged seeds of triticum aestivum (li et al., 2018), pisum sativum (kranner et al., 2011), secale cereal, and ulmuspumila (hu et al., 2012) have been shown to contain a dna ladder. it is crucial that although dna laddering can show that a certain pattern of dna fragmentation exists, it can be challenging to show this pattern electrophoretically in extracts when only some of the cells are fragmenting (song et al., 2007). as a result, not all species, such as glycine max, participate in dna laddering during seed deterioration (song et al., 2007). it is possible to study pcd in individuals using in situ observations, such as the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (tdt)-mediated dutp nick end labeling (tunel) assay. tunel-positive nuclei increased with accelerated aging time, indicating that dna fragmentation had taken place. due to this, it may be possible to detect dna fragmentation using a combination of the tunel assay and isolated dna electrophoresis (song et al., 2007). figure 7. schematic representation of ros-dependent signaling involved in programmed cell death. increased reactive oxygen species (ros) production from mitochondria may trigger ca2+ influx from the endoplasmic reticulum (er), and cytoplasm enters the mitochondrial matrix through voltage-dependent anion channels (vdac) or calcium uniporter (mcu). high levels of ca2+ in the mitochondrial stimulate respiratory chain (i and iii) activity, leading to higher amounts of ros, which can further lead to the increased release of ca2+. further, the increased ros and ca2+ load in mitochondria will promote the opening of mitochondrial permeability transition pores (mptps); which span the inner (imm) and outer mitochondrial membranes (omm) and are mainly composed of cyclophilin d (d) adenine nucleotide translocator (ant), and vdac; the prolonged opening of mptp leads to a significant increase in the permeability of the imm to solutes with molecular masses <1500 da, as a consequence of the charge difference between the mitochondrial matrix and the cytosol (mitochondrial membrane potential, δψm). subsequently, mitochondria swell irreversibly, causing rupturing the omm while releasing cytochrome c (cyt c) from inter-membrane space to the cytoplasm; high cyt c levels will initiate the activity of caspase-like enzymes, which will enter the nucleus, resulting in typical pcd changes such as dna fragmentation and disruption of the nucleus. source: zhang et al. (2021) figure 8. conceptual model of the role of reactive oxygen species (ros) during seed aging. mptp, mitochondrial permeability transition pore. source: zhang et al. (2021) choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 52 discussions of practical approaches to overcome seed deterioration, improve seed performance and its longevity some practical and effective approaches can help different kinds of seeds to withstand deterioration. seed priming seed priming is a controlled hydration technique where seeds are partly hydrated to allow metabolic events to occur without germination and are then re-dried to permit routine handling (bradford, 1986). primed seeds usually have higher and synchronized germination (farooq et al., 2009) owing to simply a reduction in the lag time of imbibition taking place (brocklehurstand, 2008), build-up of germination-enhancing metabolites (farooq et al., 2006), metabolic repair during imbibition (bray et al., 1989) and osmotic adjustment (bradford, 1986). priming of seeds has been reported to reverse some of the aging-induced deteriorative events and thus improve seed performance (taylor et al., 1998) through repairing the age-related cellular and sub-cellular damage (proteins, rna, and dna) of low-vigor seeds that might have accumulated during seed development (koehler et al., 1997). many seed priming treatments have been used to reduce the damage of aging and invigorate their performance in many crops (farooq et al., 2009). priming appears to reverse the detrimental effects of seed deterioration by increasing the activities of free radical scavenging enzymes such as catalase, peroxidase, and glyoxysomal enzymes such as isocitrate lyase and malate synthase as well as by counteracting the effects of lipid peroxidation. activation of dna replication and enhancement of rna and protein synthesis following priming has also been reported. furthermore, the atp levels have been found to increase during priming. addition of plant growth regulators the exogenous application of plant growth regulators like ga3, kinetin, aba, and indole-3-butyric acid prior to storage has been found to retard seed deterioration and maintain seed vigor and germination. conclusions seed deterioration is the loss of seed quality (vigor and viability), resulting in poor seed germination and seedling establishment. a crucial part of seed quality during crop production is seed vitality, a key quality characteristic of seeds. even under ideal storage circumstances, all seeds will eventually lose viability, which causes a significant loss for species that are vital commercially. it is known that various unique but interrelated variables affect seed viability. these include the environment for storage, particularly in terms of temperature and relative humidity, as well as the genetic, maturational, and harvest factors. there are several sources of loss in seed quality during pre-harvest (field weathering), harvest (handling), and post-harvest (storage) periods. the deterioration lowers the seed morphological structure, causing damage to genetic material, physiological quality, ultra-structural damage, and biochemical activity such as loss of seed protection capacity, lipid peroxidation, and consumption of reserves, ultimately accelerating the deterioration process. many factors can contribute to seed deterioration; however, oxidation damage caused by free radicals and ros is the main reason. by breaking down lipids and releasing by-products, such as reactive aldehydes that can harm proteins and nucleic acids, ros can trigger the peroxidation of lipids by reacting with polyunsaturated fatty acids in membrane phospholipids. they can significantly change and impact protein activity when interacting with it, leading to functional inactivation and metabolic malfunction of the protein. through their interactions with dna, ros have the potential to cause strand breakage and the production of adducts, including 8-hydroxy-deoxy-guanidine (8-ohdg). these actions might be connected and paint a broad picture of how cellular organization has broken down. however, many concerns about how ros affects seed aging need to be studied. for instance, new research has indicated that ros may cause pcd by causing a change in the permeability of the mitochondrial membrane and releasing cyt c. however, no pcd and ros sensing signal transduction genes have yet been identified. furthermore, it is yet to be discovered how to control the synthesis and activity of redox buffers or antioxidants, given the interactions and crosstalk between ros and other signaling systems. several controlled seed hydration techniques (seed priming) and exogenous application of plant growth regulators can be applied to improve seeds' seed quality (viability and vigor) and germination potential. author contributions: conceptualization, a.c. and s.k.b.; methodology, a.c.; software, a.c.; validation, s.k.b.; formal analysis, a.c. and s.k.b.; investigation, a.c.; resources, a.c. and s.k.b.; data curation, a.c.; writing – original draft preparation, a.c. and s.k.b.; writing – review & editing, a.c.; visualization, a.c.; supervision, s.k.b.; project administration, a.c.; funding acquisition, a.c. and s.k.b. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study because the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable. informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references ahmed, m.r., yasmin, j., collins, w., lohumi, s., & cho, b.k., 2019. assessment of the morphological structure of watermelon and muskmelon seeds as related to viability. j. biosyst. eng. 44, 77-86. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853019-00018-w http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42853-019-00018-w http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s42853-019-00018-w choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 53 apel, k., & hirt, h. (2004). reactive oxygen species: metabolism, oxidative stress, and signal transduction. annu. rev. plant biol. 55, 373-399. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.55.031903.141701 bailly, c. (2004).active oxygen species and antioxidants in seed biology. seed sci. res. 14, 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1079/ssr2004159 balesevic-tubic, s., maleneiae, d., tatic, m., & miladinovic, j. (2005). influence of aging process on biochemical changes in the sunflower seed. helia, 28, 107-114. https://doi.org/10.2298/hel0542107b baskin, c. c., & baskin, j. m. (2020).breaking seed dormancy during dry storage: a useful tool or major problem for successful restoration via direct seeding.plants.9, 636. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants9050636 bewley, j. d., bradford, k. j., hilhorst, h.w.m., & nonogaki, h. (2013). in: seeds: physiology of development, germination and dormancy, third ed. springer–verlag, new york. https://doi.org/10.10007/978-1-4614-4693-4 bhatia, v.s yadav, s., jumrani, k., & guruprasad, k.n. (2010). field deterioration of biochemical changes during seed deterioration in aged seeds of rice (oryza et al.), america journal of plant physiology, 6, 28-35. https://doi.org/10.3923/ajpp.2011.28.35 bhattacharjee, s. (2019). ros in aging and senescence. in: bhattacharjee, s. (ed.), reactive oxygen species in plant biology. springer–verlag, new delhi, pp. 65–79. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3941-3_3 biswas, m.s., terada, r., & mano, j. (2020). inactivation of carbonyl-detoxifying enzymes by h2o2 is a trigger to increase carbonyl load for initiating programmed cell death in plants. antioxidants 9, 141. https://doi.org/10.3390/antiox9020141 bradford, k.j. (1986). manipulation of seed water relations via osmotic priming to improve germination under stress conditions.horticultural science, 21, 1105–1112. https://doi.org/10.21273/hortsci.21.5.1105 bray, c.m., davison, p.a., ashraf, m., &taylor, r.m. (1989). biochemical changes during osmopriming of leek seeds. annals of botany, pp. 63, 185–193. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a087722 brock-lehurst, p. a., & dearman j. (2008). interaction between seed priming treatments and nine seed lots of carrot, celery and onion.iiseedling emergence and plant growth.annals of applied biology, 102, 583–593. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7348.1983.tb02729.x. caseiro, r.f., & marcos-filho, j. (2002). procedures for cold test in maize seeds: prechilling and position of substrate inside the cold room. revista brasileira de sementes, 24, 6-11. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0101-31222002000100002 cavatassi, r., lipper, l., & narloch, u. (2010). modern variety adoption and risk management in drought-prone areas: insights from the sorghum farmers of eastern ethiopia. agric econ. 42:279–292 chakraborty, a., bordolui, s.k., nandi, d., & mahato, m.k. (2020). seed deterioration pattern of some china aster during storage. int. j. curr. microbiol. app. sci., 9(03), 1499-1506. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.903.175 chen, b., yin, g., james, w., zhang, z., xia, x. & he, j. (2019). composition of mitochondrial complex i during the critical node of seed aging in oryzasativa.j. plant physiol., 236, 7–14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2019.02.008 chen, h., chu, p.y., zhou, y., li, y., liu, j., & ding, y. (2012). overexpression of atogg1, a dna glycosylase/ap lyase, enhances seed longevity and abiotic stress tolerance in arabidopsis. j. exp. bot. 63, 4107–4121. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ers093 chen, h., osuna, d., colville, l., lorenzo, o., graeber, k., & kuester, h. (2013). transcriptome-wide mapping of pea seed aging reveals a pivotal role for genes related to oxidative stress and programmed cell death. plos one, 8, e78471. https://doi.org/10.1371/annotation/f8467b75-4eef-4c44-ad20-eee34c784a66 cheng, h., ma, x., jia, s., li, m., & mao, p. (2020).transcriptomic analysis reveals the changes in energy production and the asa-gsh cycle in oat embryos during seed aging. plant physiol. biochem. 153, 40-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2020.03.054 copeland, l.o., & mc donald, m.f. (2012). in: principles of seed science and technology, fourth ed. springer science & business media, new york, ny. retrieved from https://books.google.co.in/books/about/principles_of_seed_science_and_technolog.html?id=ttwvco19awec &redir_esc=y dantas, a.f., fascineli, m.l., solange, c.b.r., jos´ep´adua, j.g., gimenes, m.a., & grisolia, c.k. (2019). loss of genetic integrity in artificially aged seed lots of rice (oryza satival.) and common bean (phaseolus vulgaris l.). mutat. res. gen. tox. en.846, 403080. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mrgentox.2019.07.008 de carvalho, l.f., sediyama, c.s. reis, m.s., dias d.c.f.s., & moreira, m.a. (2009). influence of soaking temperature of soybean seeds in the electric conductivity test to evaluate physiological quality. revista brasileira sementes, 31, 9-17. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0101-31222009000100001 ebone, l.a., caverzan, a., & chavarria, g. (2019).physiologic alterations in orthodox seeds due to deterioration processes.plant physiol. biochem. 145, 34-42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2019.10.028 ellis, r.h. & hong, t.d. (2006). temperature sensitivity of the low-moisture-content limit to negative seed longevitymoisture content relationships in hermetic storage.ann. bot., 97, 785–791. https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcl035 farhadi, r., rahmani, m.r., salehi, b.m., & sadeghi, m. (2012).the effect of artificial aging on germination components and seedling growth of basil (ocimum basilica l.) seeds. journal of agriculture and food technology, 2, 69-72. retrieved from https://www.textroad.com/pdf/jaft/j.%20agric.%20food.%20tech.,%202(4)69-72,%202012.pdf farooq, m., basra, s.m.a., & rehman h. (2006). seed priming enhances the emergence, yield, and quality of direct-seeded rice. international rice research notes, 31, 42-44. https://doi.org/10.3860/irrn.v31i2.1132 farooq, m., basra, s.m.a., wahid, a., ahmad, n., & saleem, b.a. (2009).improving the drought tolerance in rice (oryza sativa l.) by exogenous application of salicylic acid.journal of agronomy and crop science, 195, 237-246. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-037x.2009.00365.x https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.arplant.55.031903.141701 https://doi.org/10.1079/ssr2004159 http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/ajpp.2011.28.35 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-81-322-3941-3_3 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7348.1983.tb02729.x https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/ers093 https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcl035 https://www.textroad.com/pdf/jaft/j.%20agric.%20food.%20tech.,%202(4)69-72,%202012.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.3860/irrn.v31i2.1132 choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 54 filho j.m. (2015). seed vigor testing: an overview of the past, present and future perspective. scientia agricola (piracicaba brazil), 72, 363-374. https://doi.org/10.1590/0103-9016-2015-0007 finch-savage, w.e., & bassel, g.w. (2016). seed vigor and crop establishment: extending performance beyond adaptation. j. exp. bot. 67:567–591. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv490 fleming, m.b., richards, c.m., & walters, c. (2017). the decline in rna integrity of dry-stored soybean seeds correlates with loss of germination potential. j. exp. bot. 68, 2219–2230. https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erx100 hampton, j.g. johnstone, k.a., & eua-upon, v. (1992). bulk conductivity test variables for mungbean, soybean, and french bean seed lots. seed science and technology, 20, 677–686. retrieved from https://worldveg.tind.io/record/20004?ln=en harrington, j.f. (1972). seed storage and longevity. in: kozlowski, t.t. (ed.), seed biology, vol. iii. academic press, new york, 145–245. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-395605-7.50009-0 hartmann-filho, c.p., goneli, a.l.d., masetto, t.e., martins, e.a.s., & oba, g.c. (2016).the effect of drying temperatures and storage of seeds on the growth of soybean seedlings. j. seed sci. 38, 287–295. https://doi.org/10.1590/23171545v38n4161866 hohn, a., konig, j., & grune, t. (2013). protein oxidation in aging and the removal of oxidized proteins. j. proteomics. 92, 132-159. doi: 10.1016/j.jprot.2013.01.004 hu, d., ma, g., wang, q., yao, j., wang, y., & pritchard, h.w. (2012). spatial and temporal nature of reactive oxygen species production and programmed cell death in elm (ulmus pumila l.) seeds during controlled deterioration. plant cell environ. 35, 2045-2059. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2012.02535.x imlay, j.a. (2003). pathways of oxidative damage. annu. rev. microbiol. 57, 395–418. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090938 kapoor, n., arya, a., siddiqui, m.a., amir, a., & kumar, h. (2010).seed deterioration in chickpea (cicer arietinum l.) under accelerated aging.asian journal of plant science, 9(3), 158–162. https://doi.org/10.3923/ajps.2010.158.162 kapoor, n., arya, a., siddiqui, m.a., kumar, h., & amir, a. (2011). physiology and biochemical changes during seed deterioration in aged seeds of rice (oryza sativa l.). america journal of plant physiology, 6(1), 28–35. https://doi.org/10.3923/ajpp.2011.28.35 khatun, a., kabir, g., & bhuiyan, m.a.h. (2009).effect of harvesting stages on the seed quality of lentil (lens culinaris l.) during storage, bangladesh journal of agricultural research, 34, 565-576. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v34i4.5833 koehler, k.h., voigt, b., spittler, h., & schelenz, m. (1997).biochemical events after priming and osmo conditioning of seeds. pp: 531-536. in: basic and applied aspects of seed biology. (eds. ellis, r.h., m. black, a.j. murdoch, and t.d. hong). springer, new york, isbn: 978-94-010-6410-1. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-5716-2_58 kranner, i., chen, h., pritchard, h.w., pearce, s.r., & birti´c, s. (2011). inter-nucleosomal dna fragmentation and loss of rna integrity during seed aging.plant growth regul, 63, 63–72. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10725-010-9512-7 kumari, p., bordolui, s.k., & sadhukhan, r. (2017). seed quality deterioration of some winter flowers during storage.journal of crop and weed, 13(1), 164-169.doi: https://www.cropandweed.com/archives/2017/vol13issue1/13-1-31.pdf li, c., li, c., wang, b., zhang, r., fu, k., gale, w.j., & li, c. (2018). programmed cell death in wheat (triticum aestivum l.) endosperm cells is affected by drought stress. protoplasma255, 1039–1052. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-0181203-7 li, y., wang, y., xue, h., pritchard, h.w., & wang, x. (2017). changes in the mitochondrial protein profile due to ros eruption during the aging of elm (ulmus pumila l.) seeds. plant physiol. biochem. 114, 72–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.02.023 loeffler, n.l., meier, j.l. & burris, j.s. (1985).comparison of two cold test procedures for use in maize-drying studies. seed science and technology, 13, 653-658. long, r.l., gorecki, m.j., renton, m., scott, j.k., colville, l., & goggin, d.e. (2015). the ecophysiology of seed persistence: a mechanistic view of the journey to germination or demise. biol. rev. 90, 31–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12095 matthews, s. (1993). aging tests as a basis for the evaluation of seed quality. actahorticulturae, 362, 251-262. https://doi.org/10.17660/actahortic.1994.362.31 mcdonald, m.b. & nelson, c.j. (1986).physiology of seed deterioration.cssa species publication no. 11. crop science society of america, wi, usa. https://doi.org/10.2135/cssaspecpub11 mcdonald, m.b. (1999). seed deterioration: physiology, repair, and assessment. seed sci. technol. 27(1), 177– 237. https://eurekamag.com/research/011/333/011333465.php mira, s., estrelles, e., & gonz´alez-benito, m.e. (2015).effect of water content and temperature on seed longevity of seven brassicaceae species after 5 years of storage.plant biol. 17, 153–162. https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12183 mohammadi, h, soltani, a., sadeghipour, h.r. &zeinali, e. (2011). effects of seed aging on subsequent seed reserve utilization and seedling growth in soybean. international journal of plant production, 5, 65-70. https://doi.org/10.22069/ijpp.2012.720 mohammadi, h., soltani, a. sadeghipour, h.r., & zeinali, e. (2011). electrical aging on subsequent seed reserve utilization and seedling growth in soybean. international journal of plant production, 5, 65-70. https://doi.org/10.22069/ijpp.2012.720 https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erv490 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1545v38n4161866 http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1545v38n4161866 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jprot.2013.01.004 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3040.2012.02535.x https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.micro.57.030502.090938 https://doi.org/10.3923/ajps.2010.158.162 http://dx.doi.org/10.3923/ajpp.2011.28.35 http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v34i4.5833 https://www.cropandweed.com/archives/2017/vol13issue1/13-1-31.pdf https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-018-1203-7 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00709-018-1203-7 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2017.02.023 https://doi.org/10.1111/brv.12095 https://doi.org/10.17660/actahortic.1994.362.31 https://doi.org/10.1111/plb.12183 https://doi.org/10.22069/ijpp.2012.720 https://ijpp.gau.ac.ir/?_action=article&au=3511&_au=h.++mohammadi https://ijpp.gau.ac.ir/?_action=article&au=3008&_au=a.++soltani https://ijpp.gau.ac.ir/?_action=article&au=3313&_au=h.r.++sadeghipour https://ijpp.gau.ac.ir/?_action=article&au=3512&_au=e.++zeinali https://doi.org/10.22069/ijpp.2012.720 choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 55 moller, i.m., igamberdiev, a.u., bykova, n.v., finkemeier, i., rasmusson, a.g. & schwarzlander, m. (2020). matrix redox physiology governs the regulation of plant mitochondrial metabolism through posttranslational protein modifications. plant cell.32, 573-594. https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00535 mudgett, m.b., lowenson, j.d., & clarke, s. (1997). protein repair l-iso aspartyl methyltransferase in plants (phylogenetic distribution and the accumulation of substrate proteins in aged barley seeds. plant physiol. 115, 1481–1489. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.115.4.1481 nagel, m., & borner, a. (2010).the longevity of crop seeds stored under ambient conditions.seed sci. res. 20, 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0960258509990213 oenel, a., fekete, a., krischke, m., faul, s.c., gresser, g. & havaux, m. (2017). enzymatic and non–enzymatic mechanisms contribute to lipid oxidation during seed aging. plant cell physiol. 58, 925-933. https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcx036 padua, g.p., frança-neto, j.b., carvalho, m.l.m., krzyzanowski, f.c., & guimaraes, r.m. (2009). incidence of green soybean seeds as a function of environmental stresses during seed maturation. revista brasileira de sementes, 31, 150-159. https://doi.org/10.1590/s0101-31222009000300017 pournik, s., abbasi-rostami, m., sadeghipour, h.r., & ghaderi-far, f. (2019). true lipases, besides phospholipases, contribute to walnut kernel viability loss during controlled deterioration and natural aging. environ. exp. bot. 164, 71–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.04.016 powell, a.a., & matthews, s. (1981). evaluation of controlled deterioration, a new vigor test for small seeded vegetables.seed science and technology, 9, 633–640. retrieved from https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/evaluation-of-controlled-deterioration%2c-a-new-test-powellmatthews/40f63fa72b4cc2af6515f1d47a8574679920fa9e rajjou, l., lovigny, y., groot, s.p., belghazi, m., job, c., & job, d. (2008). proteome–wide characterization of seed aging in arabidopsis: a comparison between artificial and natural aging protocols. plant physiol. 148, 620-641. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.108.123141 ranganathan, u., & groot, s.p.c. (2023). seed longevity and deterioration. in: dadlani, m., yadava, d.k. (eds) seed science and technology. springer, singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5888-5_5 rao, n.k., dulloo, m.e., & engels, j.m. (2017).a review of factors that influence quality seed production for long-term conservation in gene banks. genet. resour. crop evol. 64, 1061-1074. retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10722-016-04259#:~:text=however%2c%20other%20attributes%20of%20seed,equally%20important%20to%20the%20genebanks ray, j., & bordolui s.k. (2020). seed storing potential of some marigold genotypes during storage.int. j. curr. microbiol. app. sci. 9(05), 2470-2486. https://doi.org/10.20546/ijcmas.2020.905.283 ray, j., & bordolui s.k. (2022).effect of seed treatments and storing period on physiological and biochemical parameters of tomato during storage. journal of crop and weed, 18(2), 230-239. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijpss/2022/v34i2031156 sano, n., rajjou, l., north, h.m., debeaujon, i., marion-poll, a., & seo, m. (2016).staying alive: molecular aspects of seed longevity. plant cell physiol. 57. 660-674. https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcv186 satour, p., youssef, c., chˆatelain, e., vu, b.l., teulat, b., & job, c. (2018). patterns of protein carbonylation during medicago truncatula seed maturation. plant cell environ. 41, 2183-2194. https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13194 shelar, v.r. (2008). role of mechanical damage in deterioration of soybean seed quality during storagea review. agricultural review, 29,177-184. retrieved from https://arccjournals.com/journal/agricultural-reviews/arcc2503 smakowska, e., czarna, m., & janska, h., (2014). mitochondrial atp-dependent proteases in protection against accumulation of carbonylated proteins.mitochondrion.19, 245-251. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2014.03.005 smith, m.t., & berjak, p. (1995). deteriorative changes associated with the loss of viability of stored desiccation-tolerant and desiccation-sensitive seeds. in: jaime, j., galili, g. (eds.), seed development and germination. marcel dekker inc., new york, pp. 701-746. https://doi.org/10.1201/9780203740071-26 song, s.q., tian, x., & fu, j.r., (2007). possible involvement of programmed cell death events during accelerated aging of glycine max axes. in: adkins, s.w., ashmore, s., navie, s.c. (eds.), seeds: biology, development and ecology. cabi int., wallingford, pp. 339-350. https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845931971.0071 su, x., xin, l., li, z., zheng, h., mao, j., & yang, q. (2018). physiology and transcriptome analyses reveal a protective effect of the radical scavenger melatonin in aging maize seeds. free radic. res. 52, 1094-1109. https://doi.org/10.1080/10715762.2018.1472378 taylor, a.g., allen, p.s., bennet, m.a., bradford, k.j., burris, j.s., & misra, m.k. (1998). seed enhancements. seed science and research, 8, 245–256. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0960258500004141 tekrony, d.m. (2005). accelerated aging tests: principles and procedures. seed technology, 27, 135-146. retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/23433228 van hautegem, t., waters, a.j., goodrich, j., & nowack, m.k. (2015). only in dying, life: programmed cell death during plant development. trends plant sci. 20, 102–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2014.10.003 verma, p., kaur, h., petla, b. p., rao, v., saxena, s. c. & majee, m. (2013). protein lisoaspartyl methyl transferase is differentially expressed in chickpeas and enhances seed vigor and longevity by reducing abnormal iso-aspartyl accumulation predominantly in seed nuclear proteins. plant physiology, 161, 1141-1157. https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.112.206243 walters, c. & engels, j. (1998).the effects of storing seeds under extremely dry conditions. seed sci. res. 8, 3–8. retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1105/tpc.19.00535 https://doi.org/10.1104%2fpp.115.4.1481 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0960258509990213 https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcx036 https://doi.org/10.1590/s0101-31222009000300017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.envexpbot.2019.04.016 https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.108.123141 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5888-5_5 https://doi.org/10.1093/pcp/pcv186 https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13194 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mito.2014.03.005 http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9780203740071-26 https://doi.org/10.1079/9781845931971.0071 https://doi.org/10.1080/10715762.2018.1472378 https://doi.org/10.1017/s0960258500004141 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tplants.2014.10.003 https://doi.org/10.1104/pp.112.206243 choudhury & bordolui, american international journal of agricultural studies 7(1) (2023), 41-56 56 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/236280373_the_effects_of_storing_seeds_under_extremely_dry_conditi ons wang, t., leskovar, d.i., & cobb, b.g. (2014). respiration during germination of diploid and triploid watermelon. seed sci. technol. 42, 313-321. https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2014.42.3.01 wang, w.q., cheng, h.y., moller, i.m., & song, s.q. (2012).the role of recovery of mitochondrial structure and function in desiccation tolerance of pea seeds.physiol. plantarum 144, 20-34. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.13993054.2011.01518.x wang, y., li, y., xue, h., pritchard, h.w., & wang, x. (2015).reactive oxygen species-provoked mitochondria-dependent cell death during aging of elm (ulmus pumila l.) seeds.plant j. 81, 438–452. https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.12737 waszczak, c., carmody, m. & kangasjarvi, j. (2018).reactive oxygen species in plant signaling.annu. rev. plantbiol. 69, 209-236. https://doi/10.1146/annurev-arplant-042817-040322 waterworth, w.m., masnavi, g., bhardwaj, r.m., jiang, q., bray, c.m., &west, c.e. (2010). a plant dna ligase is an important determinant of seed longevity. plant j. 63, 848-860. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313x.2010.04285.x winger, a.m., taylor, n.l., heazlewood, j.l., day, d.a., & millar, a.h. (2007). the cytotoxic lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxy-2-nonenal covalently modifies a selective range of proteins linked to respiratory function in plant mitochondria. j. biol. chem, 282, 37436–37447. https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.m702385200 xin, x., tian, q., yin, g., chen, x., zhang, j., & ng, s. (2014). reduced mitochondrial and ascorbate–glutathione activity after artificial aging in soybean seed. j. plant physiol. 171, 140–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2013.09.016 xu, l., xin, x., yin, g., zhou, j., zhou, y., & lu, x. (2020). timing for antioxidant-priming against rice seed aging: optimal only in the non-resistant stage. sci. rep. 10, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-70189-6 zhang, k., zhang, y., sun, j., meng, j., & tao, j. (2021). deterioration of orthodox seeds during aging: influencing factors, physiological alterations and the role of reactive oxygen species, plant physiology and biochemistry. 158, 475–485, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.plaphy.2020.11.031. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2023 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2014.42.3.01 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3054.2011.01518.x https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1399-3054.2011.01518.x https://doi.org/10.1111/tpj.12737 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-313x.2010.04285.x https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.m702385200 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jplph.2013.09.016 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-70189-6 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 29 agricultural studies aijas vol 10 no 1 (2025) p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x available online at www.acseusa.org journal homepage: https://www.acseusa.org/journal/index.php/aijas published by american center of science and education, usa gender differentials in farm level efficiency in rice production among smallholder rice farmers in federal capital territory, nigeria luka anthony (a)1 christiana amarachi ukaoha (b) (a)lecturer 1, department of agricultural economics, university of abuja, nigeria, e-mail: gqluka11@gmail.com (b)graduate assistant, department of food and resource economics, university of florida, usa; e-mail: christianaukaoha58@gmail.com a r t i c l e i n f o article history: received:18th may 2025 reviewed & revised: 18th may to 30th september 2025 accepted: 1st october 2024 published: 2nd october 2025 keywords: farm level efficiency rice, stochastic frontier, smallholder farmers, nigeria jel classification codes: q10, q18 peer-review model: external peer-review was done through double-blind method. a b s t r a c t farm-level efficiency plays a crucial role in achieving the expected agricultural productivity, which can lead to sustainability and food security for nigeria's growing population. however, smallholder rice farmers are producing at a level below their potential efficiency. this study evaluated gender differentials in farm-level efficiency in rice production among smallholder farmers in the federal capital territory, nigeria. this study employs a random sampling technique. the data were collected using well-structured questionnaires, which utilized cross-sectional data from 316 smallholder rice farmers. they were analyzed using a stochastic production frontier, stochastic cost frontier, and tobit regression model. the results show that the statistically significant factors influencing technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and economic efficiencies of rice production for male and female smallholder rice farmers were age (p<0.01), sex (p<0.05), household size (p<0.1), years schooling (p<0.05), nonfarm income (p<0.1), access to credit (p<0.01), extension contact (p<0.05), unit price (p<0.05) and price information (p<0.1), respectively. the average economic efficiency score index obtained by male and female smallholder rice farmers was 51.6% and 55.5%, respectively, and the pooled index was 54.6%. the findings of this study suggest that credit facilities should be made available to farmers at single digit rate to acquire farm inputs such as seed, fertilizer and agrochemicals timely, extension services should be provided to farmers to teach them the application of farm inputs appropriately, they should also be encouraged to join cooperative associations to have access to production resources easily and market their product collectively to earn higher profit, improve their welfare and livelihood. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). introduction rice (oryza sativa l) is very important crop in nigeria, it is used for preparation of local delicacies and dishes in our homes, and as a special food for ceremonies, and festivals contributing a significant proportion of the food requirements of nigerians (sanusi et al., 2022). however, the country has not been able to produce sufficient quantity to meet up with consumers’ demand for the past years, the production capacity of rice is low and below the national requirements in nigeria, though it is contributing significantly to the food security of the larger population. smallholder rice farmers mostly produced low output and are characterize by inefficient production, aging population and low technological know-how (aboaba, 2020). the production of rice in nigeria rose from 3.7 million metric tons in 2017 to 4.0 million metric tons in 2018, in spite the increase in rice production only 57 percent of the 6.7 million metric tons of rice consumed in nigeria per annum is produced locally resulting in a deficit of about 3 million metric tons, which is either smuggled or imported into the country. also in 2020 nigeria’s rice production was 4.89 million metric tonnes and rose to 5.0 million metric tonnes in 2021. in order to stimulate and increase local production, the government of nigeria banned importation of rice in 2019 into the country. from (2016–2019), nigeria’s cumulative aggregate agricultural imports between 2016 and 2019 stood at n3.35 trillion, four times higher than the agricultural export of n 803 billion within the same period. the term efficiency of a firm can be defined as its ability to produce the largest possible quantity of output from a given set of inputs. the modern theory of efficiency dates back to the pioneering work, who proposed that the efficiency of a firm has two components namely: 1corresponding author: orcid id: 0000-0001-8337-2341 © 2025 by the authors. hosting by acse. peer review under the responsibility of the american center of science and education, usa. https://doi.org/10.46545/rkcnbe25 to cite this article: anthony, l., & ukaoha, c. a. (2025). gender diffeentials in farm level efficiency in rice production among smallholder rice farmers in federal capital territory, nigeria. american international journal of agricultural studies, 10(1), 29-45. https://doi.org/10.46545/rkcnbe25 https://doi.org/10.46545/rkcnbe25 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) https://www.openaccess.nl/en https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8337-2341 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3358-2265 anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 30 technical and allocative efficiency and the combination of these two components provide a measure of total economic efficiency (overall efficiency). technical efficiency is the ability to produce a given level of output with a minimum quantity of inputs. it is measured either as input conserving oriented technical efficiency or output-expanding oriented technical efficiency (ifeanyichukwu et al., 2018). measurement of farm efficiency via frontier approach has been widely utilized and studied (ifeanyichukwu et al., 2018). the term frontier involves the concept of maximization in which the function sets a limit to the range of possible observations. the observation of points below the production frontier for firms producing below the maximum possible output can occur, but there cannot be any point above the production frontier given the available technology. deviations from the frontier are attributed to inefficiency. despite the contribution of agriculture to the economy, nigeria’s agricultural sector faces many challenges which impact on its productivity (aboaba, 2020). these include; poor land tenure system, low level of irrigation farming, climate change and land degradation. others are low technology, high production cost and poor distribution of inputs, limited financing, high post-harvest losses, poor access to markets and inadequate or low access to credit, despite the increasing importance of formal credit to farmers, rice farmers had limited access to credit facilities. study by and addison et al. (2016) showed that that the male and female headed households had differences in endowments (land rights, education) and differences access to technologies, factors of production, and support services. these differences in turn had implications for the productivity levels and adoption capacities of both types of farming households. gender differentials in relation to farm productivity in subsistence farming has been of special interest from the standpoint of public policy in developing countries, as the difference is often viewed from the angle of human capital theory and measurement of discrimination. gender differences in technical efficiency was not considered by the authors in the existing literatures in the country for male and female rice farmers, there exists a gap on differences in farm level efficiencies across male and female rice farmers. generally female farmers access to productive resources is inadequate and limited them could not have technical training in modern technologies, credit facilities, membership of cooperatives, and markets, resulting in low productivity and income inequality between themselves and their male counterparts addison et al. (2016). hence, bridging these existing gaps for women or female to have access to productive and financial facilities is a critical strategy for increasing productivity in the agricultural industry including rice sector. most studies on efficiency focus on technical efficiency (ebukiba et al., 2020); ifeanyichukwu et al., 2018) and profit efficiency abdulai, nkegbe, & donkoh, 2018; mabe, donkoh, & al-hassan, 2018). the inability of farmers to obtain the expected yields could be attributed to the low efficiency level of resource use tasila konja et al. (2019) which needs to be investigated. the demand for rice in nigeria has been on increase on daily basis while the supply is low leading to perpetual increase in price which is now beyond the capacity of a common man creating demand and supply gap. this study provides valuable feedback for policy initiatives to mitigate the gender gap in agricultural productivity as reported by (sadiq et al., 2021). hence, this study provided useful information for policy formulation regarding gender inclusion through estimating the identified gap in existing literatures by examining the differences in farm level efficiencies in rice production among male and female smallholder rice farmers in the federal capital territory, nigeria. the broad objective of this study is to analyze gender differential in farm level efficiencies in rice production among smallholder farmers in federal capital territory, nigeria. the specific objectives of this study is to estimate the gender differences in factors influencing technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and economic efficiency of rice production among smallholder rice farmers in the study area. the results show that factors influencing technical efficiency, allocative efficiency and economic efficiency were age of the farmers, sex, farming experience, household size, extension contact, price information and cooperative association. the results further revealed that average economic efficiency score index obtained by male and female smallholder rice farmers were 51.6% and 55.5% and pooled 54.6%, respectively. the paper has five sections section one is introduction, section two deals with literature review, section three focuses on materials and methods while section four presents the results and discussion and section five draws conclusion and suggested policy recommendations from the research. literature review gender is defined as a social construct that identifies the socially expected rights, responsibilities, privileges and obligations of males and females. gender role refers to the socially differentiated roles assigned to males and females (addison et al., 2016). evaluated gender analysis of resource use and efficiency in rice production in kogi state, nigeria. the result of the analysis revealed that access to productive resources among men and women farmers in the study area is generally low. yet, women access is lower compared to men. the study also, revealed that there is gap in decision making on productive resource between" men and women rice farmers: the factors that affects the technical efficiency includes sex, extension service, land capital and gender. evaluated gender gap in agricultural productivity in nigeria: a commodity level analysis. the mean pairwise comparisons was used to examine the extent of gender gap in agricultural productivity, access to inputs including other variables; non-parametric quantile regression technique was also applied in order to determine the relationship that exist between the use of inputs and gender gaps in total farm outputs. the finding revealed that gender there is a gap in farm output which was low with quantity harvested and quantity sold by male managed plots was marginally higher than female managed plots by 0.22% and 6.24% respectively. the gender gap in farm productivity are linked to farming experience which in longer in favour of men and there are labour market imperfection which is also biased against women farmers. a study conducted by danso-abbeam et al. (2020) on gender differentials in technical efficiency of ghanaian cocoa farms using two-stage double bootstrap data envelopment analysis (dea) procedure in order to estimate the technical efficiency level scores for male and female cocoa farm managers. the outcome of the analysis revealed that there exists a potential for male and female cocoa farm managers to increase output without changing the quantities of farm inputs used. they further applied the blinder-oaxaca (b-o) extended version decomposition approach, their findings suggested that the female plot managers are on high average less technically efficient when compared with their male anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 31 counterparts. the identified gap in technical efficiency between female and male farmers could be because of disparity in their resource endowments. the findings also indicate that differences in educational level attainment, participation in nonfarm activities, and farm size may contribute to the unexplained technical efficiency gap. materials and methods materials and methods this study was conducted in federal capital territory, nigeria. federal capital territory was created and carved out in 1976 from the kaduna, niger, kwara and plateau states. multi-stage sampling technique was adopted and employed for this study. the required sample size was determined by the formula and it is specified as follows; 𝑛 = 𝑧2. 𝑝. 𝑞 𝑒2 = 316 1 where; 𝑛 = sample size, z2= confidence level (α = 0.05); p = proportion of the population containing the major interest (29%), q = 1-p= 71% and e = error or precision level. hence, z = 1.96; (1.96)2. (0.29). (0.71) (0.05)2 = 316 2 this gives a sample size of 316 smallholder rice farmers in the study area. method of data analysis descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for analyzing the collected data from the field. the following analytical tools were employed and used to achieve the stated objectives of the study: stochastic frontier production function model this study applied stochastic frontier production function model developed by aigner et al. (1977) which is stated as follows 𝑌𝑖 = 𝑓(𝑋𝑖 , 𝛽)𝜖, 𝑖 = 1, … , 𝑁 3 where 𝜖 = 𝑣𝑖 − 𝑢𝑖 4 the stochastic frontier model is stated thus: 𝑌𝑖 = 𝐹(𝑋𝑖 , 𝛽) + 𝜖𝑖 5 𝑌𝑖 = 𝑓(𝑋1, 𝑋2, 𝑋3, 𝑋4, 𝑋5, 𝑋6, 𝑉 − 𝑈𝑖) 6 𝐿𝑛𝑌𝑖 = 𝛽0 + ∑ 𝛽𝑖 6 𝑖=1 𝐿𝑛𝑋𝑖 + ⋯ 𝛽𝑛𝐿𝑛𝑋𝑛 + 𝑉 − 𝑈𝑖 7 the explicit function is stated thus: 𝑌𝑖 = 𝛽0 + 𝛽1𝐿𝑛𝑋1 + 𝛽2𝐿𝑛𝑋2 + 𝛽3𝐿𝑛𝑋3 + 𝛽4𝑙𝑛𝑋4 + 𝛽5𝐿𝑛𝑋5 + 𝛽6𝐿𝑛𝑋6 + 𝑉𝑖−𝑈𝑖 8 where, 𝑌𝑖 = total output of rice (kg) 𝑋1= seed input (kg) 𝑋2 = farm size (hectares) 𝑋3 = quantity of organic fertilizer (kg) 𝑋4 = quantity of inorganic fertilizer (kg) 𝑋5 = agro-chemical input (litres) 𝑋6 = labour input (mandays) 𝛽0 = constant term 𝛽1 − 𝛽6 = regression coefficients the technical inefficiency component of the stochastic frontier model is stated thus: 𝑈𝑖 = 𝛼0 − 𝛼1𝑍1 − 𝛼2𝑍2 − 𝛼3𝑍3 − 𝛼4𝑍4 − 𝛼5𝑍5 − 𝛼6𝑍6 − 𝛼7𝑍7 − 𝛼8𝑍8 − 𝛼9𝑍9 − 𝛼10𝑍10 − 𝛼11𝑍11 9 where, 𝑈𝑖 = 𝑇𝑒𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐼𝑛𝑒𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑐𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑍1= sex (1, male; 0, otherwise) 𝑍2= age of rice farmers (years) 𝑍3= education level of the rice farmers (years spent schooling) 𝑍4= non-farm income (naira) 𝑍5= access to credit (1, access; 0, otherwise) 𝑍6= extension contact (number of contact per month) 𝑍7= farming experience (years) 𝑍8= unit price of rice per bag 𝑍9= price information dummy (1, access; 0, otherwise) 𝑍10= household size (number) 𝑍11= cooperative association (1, access; 0, otherwise) 𝛼0 = constant term anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 32 𝛼1 − 𝛼11 = regression coefficients vi = error term ui = measure of inefficiency stochastic cost frontier function ci = f(pi, γ ) exp(vi + ui ); i = 1, 2, … , n 10 𝐿𝑛𝐶𝑖 = γ 0 + ∑ γ 𝑖 6 𝑖=1 𝐿𝑛𝑃𝑖 + ⋯ γ 𝑛𝐿𝑛𝑃𝑛 + 𝑉 + 𝑈𝑖 11 the explicit form of the stochastic cost frontier function is specified as: lnci = γ0 + γ1lnp1 + γ2lnp2 + γ3lnp3 + γ4lnp4 + γ5lnp5 + γ6lnp6 + γ7lnp7 + vi + ui 12 where, ln = natural logarithm ci = total cost of rice production γ0 = intercept term γ1 − γ6 = partial regression coefficients (elasticities of production) p1 = cost of seed p2 = cost of land (rent) p3 = cost of organic fertilizer cow dung p4 = cost of inorganic fertilizer npk p5 = cost of agro-chemical input p6 = cost of labour input vi = two-sided idiosyncratic error term ui = non-negative error term (measure of inefficiency) assumed to be truncated below by zero. the allocative efficiency of individual farmers is defined in terms of the ratio of the predicted minimum cost (c i*) to observed cost (ci). allocative efficiency (ae) of farm-level is computed and obtained by using the relationship: ae = ci ∗ ci = exp(μi) 13 therefore, allocative efficiency is an inverse function of cost efficiency 1 𝐶𝐸 and so ranges between 0 and 1 as used by okello et al., (2019). the allocative inefficiency model is stated as follows: ui = α0 − α1 δ1 − α2 δ2 − α3 δ3 − α4 δ4 − α5 δ5 − α6 δ6 − α7 δ7 − α8 δ8 − α9 δ9 − α10 δ10 − α11 δ11 14 where: ui = allocative inefficiency component δ1 =sex of farmers dummy variable (1=male and 0 = female) δ2 =age of farmers (years) δ3 = educational level (number of years of formal education) δ4 = non-farm income (naira) δ5 = access to credit (amount borrowed in naira) δ6 = extension visit (number of visit per year) δ7 = farming experience (years) δ8 = unit price per bag (naira) δ9 = price information (dummy 1, yes; 0, otherwise) δ10 = household size (number of persons) δ11 = co-operative association (1, access; 0, otherwise) α0 = 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑝𝑡 α1 − α11 = parameters to be estimated economic efficiency model following haruna et al. (2021) the overall economic efficiency was estimated as: 𝐸𝐸𝑛 = 𝑇𝐸𝑛 x 𝐴𝐸𝑛 15 where, ee = economic efficiency (units) te = technical efficiency (units) ae = allocative efficiency (units) when ee=1, the firm is economically efficient and ee<1 means the firm is economically inefficient. tobit regression model (ml) the tobit regression model was used to evaluate the socioeconomic factors influencing economic efficiency among anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 33 smallholder rice farmers in the study area. following as also used by (aboaba, 2020; okello et al., 2019; danso-abbeam et al., 2020; kamau, 2019). the tobit model is specified as: 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑦∗ = 𝑋𝑖 + 𝜑𝑖+𝜀𝑖 16 the observed 𝑦𝑖 can be defined as: 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑦∗ 𝑖𝑓 𝑦∗ ≥ 𝜏 𝑦𝑖 = 𝜏𝑦 𝑖𝑓 𝑦∗ ≤ 𝜏 𝑖 = 1,2,3.4 … 𝑛 where: 𝑦𝑖 = refers to the observable which is a censored variable that measure economic efficiency among the smallholder rice farmers 𝑦∗ = this is the latent variable which indicates that economic efficiency may be directly observable or it may not be directly observable. therefore, economic efficiency was observed if 𝑦∗ ≥ 𝜏 and unobservable if 𝑦∗ ≤ 𝜏 𝑋𝑖 = these are the explanatory variables that are in the inefficiency model 𝜑𝑖 = these are parameters which was estimated 𝜀𝑖 = stochastic, error or disturbance term the formula becomes 1 𝑖𝑓 𝑦∗ ≥ 1 𝑦𝑖 = 𝑦∗𝑖𝑓 < 𝑦∗ < 1 0 𝑖𝑓 𝑦∗ ≤ 0 the values were only observed when they fall within the range of 0 and 1. any value below 0 and above 1 were termed as an unobserved latent or hidden variable. the tobit regression model is explicitly specified as follows: 𝐿𝑛𝑌𝑖 = γ 0 + ∑ φ 𝑖 11 𝑖=1 𝑋𝑖 + ⋯ φ 𝑛𝑋𝑛 + 𝜖𝑖 17 𝑌𝑖 = 𝜑0 + 𝜑1𝑋1 + 𝜑2𝑋2 + 𝜑3𝑋3 + 𝜑4𝑋4 + 𝜑5𝑋5 + 𝜑6𝑋6 + 𝜑7𝑋7 + 𝜑8𝑋8 + 𝜑9𝑋9 + 𝜑10𝑋10 +𝜑11𝑋11𝜖𝑖 18 where 𝑌𝑖 = (𝑦∗ > 0 if a farmer is economically efficient and if 𝑦∗ ≤ 0 if a farmer is economically not efficient) 𝜑1 = sex of the household head dummy (1, male; 0, otherwise) 𝜑2 = age of the farming household head (years) 𝜑3 = education level (number of years in school) 𝜑4 = non-farm income level of the household head (naira) 𝜑5 = access to credit dummy (1, yes; 0, otherwise) 𝜑6 = extension services (number of contact) 𝜑7 =farming experience (years) 𝜑8 = unit price per bag (naira) 𝜑9 = price information (1, yes; 0, otherwise) 𝜑10 = household size (number) 𝜑11 = cooperative association (1, yes; 0, otherwise) results gender differences in estimates of the factors influencing technical efficiency of rice production among male and female smallholder farmers. table 1 presents the results of the estimates of the parameters included in the stochastic frontier production function using maximum likelihood method of estimation. in the technical efficiency component, six (6) variables were included in the model, four (4) variables were statistically significant for male smallholder rice farmers they are: seed input, farm size, inorganic fertilizer and labour input. four variables were also significant for female rice farmers they were: seed input, farm size, inorganic fertilizer and labour input. the pooled data show that about four (4) variables were statistically significant which includes: farm size, inorganic fertilizer, agrochemical and labour input. the estimated coefficient of seed input influence total output of rice production for male smallholder farmers positively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05). seed input was also significant for female smallholder rice farmers (p<0.01). the coefficient of seed input for male smallholder rice farmers was (0.1266), for female rice farmers (0.1626). this implies that a percentage change in the quantity of seed input planted as results of more usage holding other variables constant will result in the increase in the total output of rice for male and female smallholder farmers by 12.6% and 16.3%, respectively. farmers with access to improved seed varieties stand a chance of having optimum yield per hectare. this result is consistent with the findings of aboaba (2020); okello et al. (2019) who reported positive relationships between the quantities of seed planted and the total output of rice. farm size influences the total output of rice for male and female smallholder farmers anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 34 positively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the pooled data show that farm size was also statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level. the coefficient of farm size for male rice farmers (0.4561), for female rice farmers (0.3698) and for the pooled data (0.4393) signifies that percentage change in farm size due to farm expansion will lead to 45.2% and 36.9% increase in total output of rice for male and female smallholder rice farmers and 43.9% increase in the total output of rice for the pooled sampled smallholder farmers respectively in the study area. this is because land is the primary factor for rice production, as land size increases output of rice will also increase in conformity with predicted apriority expectation. this is in line with the findings of yusuf (2022) who reported positive relationship between farm size and output of rice in kwara state, nigeria. addison et al. (2016) also reported positive association between output of rice with the farm size and suggested that farmers’ yield is sensitive to farm size in ahafo ano north district in ashanti region of ghana. inorganic organic fertilizer influences total output of rice for male and female smallholder farmers positively, the pooled sample further show that inorganic fertilizer has a positive influence on the total output of rice among smallholder farmers. the coefficient of inorganic fertilizer for male rice farmers (0.1148), and for female rice farmers (0.2345) and for pooled data (0.2152) were statistically significant at (p<0.10) for smallholder male rice farmers, (p<0.05) for female smallholder rice farmers, and (p<0.01) for pooled sampled respondents, respectively. this implies that a percentage change in the quantity of inorganic fertilizer applied to the rice farm by smallholder farmers will result in the increase in total output of rice by 11.5% for male smallholder farmers, 23.4% increase in the total output for female farmers and 21.5% for pooled sampled smallholder rice farmers respectively. inorganic fertilizer increases yield potential of rice when it is applied timely and appropriately as a result of additional nutrient added to the soil that could increase rice yield. this result corroborates with positive influence between inorganic fertilizer (chemical fertilizer) and output of rice. agrochemical influence total output of rice positively for male and negatively for female farmers, but it was not statistically significant. the pooled data shows that agrochemical influence total output of rice negatively among smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the coefficient of agrochemical for pooled sample data (-0.1581) implies that a percentage change in the quantity of agrochemical applied to rice farm will result in the decrease in the total output of rice by 15.8%. this could be as a result of improper application of agrochemical due to lack of technical know-how which could not give an effective result in controlling weeds, pests and diseases. this result is in consonance with yusuf (2022) who posited that there is a negative relationship between agrochemical and output of rice in kwara state nigeria. the results are contrary to the findings of gela et al. (2019) and aboaba (2020) who asserted that agrochemicals had positive and significant influence on total output of rice production in west gondar zone of ethiopia and ogun state, nigeria respectively. the result is also in conformity. labour input influence total output of rice for male and female farmers positively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the pooled sample also show that labour input had positive influence on total output of rice among sampled smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level. the coefficient of labour input for male was (0.4322), for female (0.3526), and for pooled sample (0.2654), this indicates that a percentage change in the labour input supply for rice production will result in the increase in total output of rice by 43.3% for male rice farmers, 35.3% for female rice farmers and 26.5% for pooled sample respectively. this is consistent with amaechina and eboh (2017) who reported that labour had positive influence on rice output in anambara state, nigeria. the results are also in line with findings of yusuf (2022) who found positive relationship between labour and output of rice. the technical inefficiency component revealed that out of eleven (11) variables that was included in the inefficiency model, eight (8) variables were statistically significant in influencing technical efficiency for male smallholder rice farmers, while seven (7) variables were statistically significant for female smallholder rice farmers, the pooled data show that eight (8) variables were statistically significant in influencing technical efficiency of rice production. the negative sign of the coefficients of the variables implies a decrease in the technical inefficiency or increase in technical efficiency of rice production among smallholder rice farmers in the study area. gender of the smallholder rice farmers influence technical inefficiency of rice production negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level, the coefficient of the pooled data (0.1472) signifies that a unit change in sex meaning a possibility of farmer being a male rice farmer will result in the increase in technical efficiency by 14.7% for male sampled smallholder rice farmers in the study area. this is in line with who reported that male farmers are more efficient than female counterparts. age of the sampled smallholder rice farmers influence technical inefficiency positively for male farmers and negatively for female farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) respectively. the pooled data revealed that age of the sampled smallholder rice farmers influence technical efficiency positively implying that a unit change in the age of female farmer will result in increase in the level of technical efficiency in rice production positively. the magnitude of the coefficient of the age of male farmers (1.3201), and female farmers (-0.01317) and for pooled data (0.0137) implies that a unit change in the age of the farmers will result in decrease in technical efficiency for male smallholder rice farmers by 132%, and increase in technical efficiency for female rice farmers by 1.3% and increase in technical efficiency by 1.4% for pooled data. this could occur as the male farmers become older they don’t take risk and adopt new innovation and technology thereby rendering them technically inefficient, this result show that younger farmers were more efficient because younger farmers adopt new technology and innovation easily. this conforms to the findings of yoezer (2023) who reported that younger farmers are more receptive, better knowledge and have management skills compared to the older rice farmers. this result is also in line with the findings of wijaya et al. (2022) who reported that age has negative influence on technical efficiency of rice production in east java just as in the case of female rice farmers, this could be so because as farmers grow older they accumulate experience and enables them to be familiar with soil management practices and appropriate resource allocation. years of schooling influence technical inefficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers negatively, and it was statistically significant at (p<0.10) and (p<0.01) respectively. the pooled data also revealed that number of years schooling influence technical inefficiency negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level. the magnitude of the coefficient of years schooling for smallholder male rice farmers (-0.0245), female rice farmers (-0.0505) and for pooled data (-0.1052). this anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 35 indicated that a unit change in the years of schooling for smallholder rice farmers will result in the increase in the technical inefficiency by 2.5% for male rice farmers, 5.1% for female rice farmers, and 10.5% for the pooled data. years schooling indicate more knowledge as years spent in school increases knowledge will also increase and the knowledgeable farmers adopt new innovation, takes more risks and also enables them to source for information regarding rice production which could make them technically efficient. this is in line with tasila konja et al. (2019) and aboaba (2020) who reported negative association of education with technical inefficiency meaning educated farmers are technically more efficient than those without education. access to credit influence technical inefficiency of rice production among smallholder farmers negatively for male and female farmers and likewise pooled data and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level for male rice farmers, and (p<0.01) for female farmers and also (p<0.01) for pooled sample respectively. the magnitude of the coefficient of access to credit for male rice farmers (-0.0548), for female rice farmers (-1.2832) and for polled data (-0.1026). this implies that a unit change in access to credit facilities by smallholder rice farmers will result in 5.5% increase in technical efficiency for male farmers, and 128.3% increase in technical efficiency for female rice farmers, while for pooled sample it leads to 10.25% increase in technical efficiency among the sampled smallholder farmers in the study area. this finding show that access to credit plays an important role in rice production, amount of credit access will enable the smallholder rice farmers to purchase farm inputs and all the necessary equipment required to improve rice production, which could increase technical efficiency among smallholder farmers. the results of this study is in consonance with ebukiba et al. (2020) and wijaya et al. (2022) who posited that as farmers has more access to credit will lead to accessibility of input easily which could increase output of rice thereby increasing technical efficiency among small scale farmers. extension contact influence technical inefficiency for male smallholder rice farmers negatively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) but not significant for female rice farmers, extension contact was statistically significant (p<0.01) for pooled sample data. the magnitude of the coefficient of the extension contact for male smallholder rice farmers was (0.4369) and for pooled sample (-0.1052), this implies that a unit change in extension contact will result in the increase in technical efficiency by 43.7% for male farmers, and 10.5% increase in technical efficiency for pooled sample in the study area. access to extension services equips smallholder rice farmers with knowledge on farm management practices that could lead to increase in their technical efficiency. this is in consonance with the findings of ismail and mahmud (2023) who asserted that farmers with access to extension services stand a chance of having higher technical efficiency than those without access to extension services in rice production. farming experience influence technical inefficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) and (p<0.05) respectively. the pooled sampled data also revealed that farming experience negatively influence technical efficiency and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the magnitude of the coefficient of farming experience for male and female farmers was (-0.0620) and (-0.5361) respectively and for pooled data (-0.0041), signifies that a unit change in the years of farming experience will result in 6.2% and 53.6% increase in technical efficiency or decrease in technical inefficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers respectively in the study area. the pooled data show that a unit increase years of farming experience will lead to 0.4% increase in technical efficiency among smallholder rice farmers. experience in rice farming enables farmers to accumulate knowledge on how to manage their rice farms well and also equips rice farmers with technical know-how on how to use the available resources effectively. this result is in conformity who reported that farmers with accumulated experience of rice farming tends to be more technically efficient than those farmers that has less farming experience in rice production unit price influence technical inefficiency among smallholder rice farmers negatively for both male and female rice farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) respectively. the pooled sample data show that unit price of rice was also statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the magnitude of the coefficient of unit price for sampled smallholder rice farmers was for male rice farmers (-0.5766), for female rice farmers (-0.0132), and for pooled sample was (-0.0686). this implies that a unit change in the unit price of rice per bag will result in the increase in the technical efficiency of rice production for male rice farmers by 57.7% and 1.3% for female rice farmers, and also the pooled sample show 6.9% increase in technical efficiency among smallholder rice farmers respectively. increase in unit price may increases farmers’ income, this could give them ability to have enough money or capital and capacity to purchase farm inputs like fertilizer, improve seed varieties, agrochemicals and even purchase farm machineries that could lead to increase in technical efficiency and maximize profit. unit price has influence on rice productivity in federal capital territory, nigeria. household size influence technical inefficiency of rice production negatively for male and female smallholder rice farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) and (p<0.10) probability levels respectively. the pooled data show that household size also influences technical inefficiency negatively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the magnitude of the coefficient of the household size for the sampled smallholder rice farmers were for male rice farmers (-0.4546), while for female rice farmers (-0.0048) and for the pooled sample data was (-0.3361). the implication of these is that a unit change in the number of household size will result in the increase in technical efficiency for male rice farmers by 45.5% and 0.5% for female rice farmers and 33.6% increase in technical efficiency for sampled pooled data. household with large number of persons has more supply of labour which reduce cost of hiring labour and have a chance of expanding their production capacity that could lead to increase in technical efficiency. this result is in conformity with the findings of yoezer (2023) and ebukiba et al. (2020) who found negative relationships between household size and technical efficiency, this could be due to fact that household with larger family size has the capacity to supply more resources in terms of household labour for rice output production. cooperative association influence technical inefficiency negatively in the study area but wasn’t significant for male rice farmers but it was statistically significant for female smallholder farmers at (p<0.01) probability level. the pooled sample also show that cooperative association was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the magnitude of the coefficient of cooperative association for female rice farmers was (-0.2351), while for pooled sample was (-0.1883), this implies that a unit change for being a member of cooperative association by female smallholder rice farmer will result in increase in technical efficiency in rice production by 23.5% and increase in technical efficiency for pooled sample by 18.8% anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 36 among the sampled rice farmers. cooperative association helps farmers to come together and market their farm produce, pull their resources together and purchase farm inputs in bulk at lower price rate. this result is consistent with the findings of wijaya et al. (2022) who reported that being a member of cooperative association will enable farmers to have access to price information and farm inputs at a lower cost because the farmers might purchase their inputs in bulk at a low price rate which could enable them to save cost and in turn make them technically efficient and maximize profit that could improve their welfare and livelihood. table 1. results of the maxi mum likelihood estimates of the stochastic frontier production function of rice farmers in the study area variable male farmers female farmers pooled sample total output coefficients std error zscore coefficients std error z-score coefficient std error z-score seed inputs 0.1266** 0.0625 2.03 0.1626*** 0.0159 10.25 -0.1119 0.0840 -1.33 farm size 0.4516*** 0.0889 5.09 0.3698*** 0.1318 2.81 0.4393*** 0.0779 5.64 organic fertilizer 0.0505 0.0763 0.66 -0.0243 0.1509 -0.16 -0.0202 0.0681 -0.30 inorganic fertilizer 0.1148* 0.0627 1.83 0.2345** 0.1137 2.06 0.2152*** 0.0631 3.41 agrochemical 0.0322 0.0904 0.36 -0.1742 0.1073 -1.62 -0.1582** 0.0710 -2.23 labour 0.4327*** 0.0812 5.33 0.3526*** 0.1167 3.02 0.2654*** 0.0455 5.83 constant 3.3108 0.5579 5.93 2.7570*** 0.7566 3.64 2.7104 0.4501 6.02 technical inefficiency model gender ----------------------------------.1472*** 0.0451 -3.26 age 1.3201*** 0.3793 3.48 -0.0132*** 0.0053 -2.49 0.0137*** 0.0035 -3.85 years schooling -0.0245* 0.0129 -1.90 -0.0505*** 0.0151 -3.33 -0.1052*** 0.0329 -3.19 non-farm income -0.0538 0.1552 -0.35 -0.0089 0.0189 -0.47 0.0064 0.0076 0.83 access to credit -0.0548** 0.0234 -2.34 -1.2832*** 0.4544 -2.82 -0.1025*** 0.0361 -2.84 extension contact -0.4369*** 0.0459 -9.50 0.0019*** 0.0032 0.59 -0.1052*** 0.0329 -3.19 farming experience -0.0620*** 0.01767 -3.51 -0.5361** 0.2570 -2.09 -0.0041** 0.0016 -2.43 unit price -0.5766*** 0.2320 -2.49 -0.0131*** 0.0053 -2.47 -0.0685** 0.0333 -2.06 price information -0.0373 0.0271 -1.38 0.0151 0.0194 0.78 0.0566 0.0355 1.60 household size -0.4546*** 0.0282 16.23 -0.0048* 0.0028 -1.69 -0.3361*** 0.0534 -6.29 coop association -0.1327 0.4444 -0.29 -0.2351*** 0.9527 -2.47 -0.1883*** 0.0359 -5.23 diagnostic statistics: log likelihood 5.6856 80.2339 18.8692 sigma square 0.1881 0.0477 0.0527 gama 0.4442 0.0866 0.5105 *significant at 10%, ** significant at 5%, *** significant at 1% probability levels source: computed from field survey data (2023) distribution of technical efficiency level differences of male and female smallholder rice farmers table 2 presents the summary statistics of technical efficiency scores of male and female smallholder rice farmers. about 19.2% of the male smallholder rice farmers, 19.4% of female smallholder rice farmers and 19.9% of the pooled sample has a technical efficiency score between 41% to 60 % efficiency levels. about 17% of the male rice farmers, 14.18% of the female rice farmers and 15.5% of the pooled sampled smallholder rice farmers attained 61% to 80% level of technical efficiency respectively. most of the smallholder rice male farmers (48.3%), female farmers (47.76%) and pooled sample (47.15%) obtained a technical efficiency score of 81-100% respectively. this implies that most farmers were technically efficient to certain level. the minimum technical efficiency score obtained by the smallholder rice male farmer was 0.018, female smallholder rice farmer was 0.115 and the pooled sampled smallholder rice farmers was 0.0158. the mean technical efficiency obtained by smallholder rice male farmers was 70.2%, while female rice farmers obtained mean technical efficiency of 68.9% and pooled sample of 69.7% leaving a gap of 29.8% for improvement for male rice farmers, 31.1% for female rice farmers and 30.3% for pooled sample, which need to be filled with the existing technology and innovation. the best performing smallholder rice male farmer had the maximum technical efficiency of 100% which is the maximum attainable technical efficiency when resources are utilized efficiently, while female rice farmer had 98.9% and the pooled sample of 100%. the higher technical efficiency scores for smallholder rice male farmer could be attributed to their higher anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 37 labour participation in rice production and larger farm size. this result is in line with the findings of addison et al. (2016) who reported that male farmers are more technically efficient than female rice farmers in ashanti region of ghana and ethiopia respectively. this distribution of technical efficiency among rice farmers in this study collaborates the findings of mabe et al. (2018); tasila konja et al. (2019) and abdulai et al. (2018) who reported similar finding on technical efficiency distribution. table 2. distribution of technically efficiency score among male and female rice farmers in the study area technical efficiency male farmers female farmers pooled sample score frequency percentage frequency percentage frequency percentage 0-0.2 10 5.49 8 5.97 24 7.59 0.21-0.4 18 9.9 17 12.69 31 9.81 0.41-0.6 35 19.23 26 19.40 63 19.94 0.61-0.8 31 17.03 19 14.18 49 15.51 0.81-1 88 48.35 64 47.76 149 47.15 minimum 0.0158 0.1152 0.0158 maximum 1.0791 0.9891 1.0791 mean te .7024 .6894 0.6968 source: computed from field survey data (2023) gender differences in factors influencing allocative efficiency of rice production among smallholder rice farmers the results of the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters of the stochastic cost frontier is presented in table 3. the cost of seed had positive coefficient and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability levels for both men and female rice farmers in influence total cost of rice production among smallholder farmers. the coefficient of cost of seed for male rice farmers was (0.2299), for female rice farmers was (0.1799) and for pooled sampled smallholder rice farmers was (0.2139). this implies that percentage change in the cost of seed input will result in the increase in the total cost of rice production among smallholder rice farmers by 22.9% for male farmers, 17.9% for female farmers and 21.4% for the pooled sample. seed inputs is very important in rice production it determines the quality of rice yield output, an increase in quantity of seed planted increases total cost of rice production. this is line with the findings of aboaba (2020) who reported positive influence of cost of seed on total cost of rice production in ogun state and abuja, nigeria. cost of land rent influence total cost of rice production positively for female rice farmers and for pooled sampled data and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level respectively. the coefficient for cost of land rent for female rice farmers was (0.2185) and for pooled sample data was (0.0711). this signifies that percentage change in the cost of land rent will result in the increase in the total cost of rice production by 21.9% for the female rice farmers, and 7.1% for the pooled sample data. this could be so because land is a vital resource that particularly used in rice production any increase in the rent of land will lead to increase in the total cost of production. this is in conformity with the findings of aboaba (2020); melese et al. (2019) and gela et al. (2019) who reported positive relationship between cost of land and cost of rice production. total output had a positive influence on the total cost of production for smallholder rice male farmer, and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the coefficient of total output was (0.3800). this implies that a percentage change in the total output of rice produced will result in the increase in total cost of rice production by for male farmers by 38%. this result is in line with who reported that as the quantity of total output increases more resources would have been purchased thereby increasing the total cost of production for male farmers in the study area. cost of organic fertilizer influence total cost of rice production among smallholder rice farmers positively for both male and female farmers, the pooled data also revealed that cost of organic fertilizer has a positive influence on the total cost of rice production. the coefficient of the cost of organic fertilizer for male rice farmers is (0.0935), female rice farmers (0.0884) and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability levels for male, female rice farmers and pooled sampled data respectively. this implies that percentage change in the cost of organic fertilizer will result in the increase in total cost of production for male farmers by 9.4%, for female rice farmers by 8.3%, and pooled sample by 8.8% respectively. this is in support of the findings who reported positive effect of organic fertilizer on total cost of rice production in adamawa state, nigeria. cost of inorganic fertilizer influence total cost of rice production for male and female smallholder rice farmers positively, and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability levels respectively. the pooled sample data also show that cost of inorganic fertilizer influence total cost of rice production positively and was also significant at (p<0.01). the coefficient of the cost of inorganic fertilizer for male smallholder rice farmers was (0.2221), for female smallholder rice farmers was (0.1336) and for pooled sample data was (0.1584). this implies that percentage change in the cost of inorganic fertilizer will result in the increase in the total cost of rice production for male smallholder rice farmers by 22.2%, for smallholder female farmers by 13.3%, and for pooled sample by 15.8% respectively. fertilizer play an important role in provision of required soil nutrient in rice production, as the quantity of fertilizer usage increases the cost will likewise increase and it will in turn result in the increase in the total cost of rice production. this result is consistent with the findings who posited that cost of inorganic fertilizer increases total cost of rice production. cost of agrochemical influence total cost of rice production positively for male and female smallholder rice farmers and also positively for the pooled sample data and it was statistically significant at (p< 0.01) probability level. the coefficient of the cost of agrochemical for male and female smallholder rice farmers were (0.1147) and (0.1321) respectively, and the coefficient of cost of agrochemical for the pooled sampled data was (0.1551). this implies that percentage change in the cost of agrochemical will lead to increase in the total cost of rice production among male and female farmers by 11.5% and 13.2% respectively. the result of the pooled sample data show that percentage change in the cost of agrochemical will result in 15.5% increase in the total cost of rice production among smallholder farmers. more https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23311932.2019.1651473 anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 38 usage of the quantity of the agrochemical in rice farm will result in the increase in the total cost of rice production. this finding is consistent with the finding of sadiq et al. (2021) who asserted that an increase in the cost of agrochemical variable results in the increase in the total cost of rice production. cost of labour input influence the total cost of rice production for male and female smallholder rice farmers positively. the pooled sampled data revealed that the cost of labour input influence total cost of rice production positively. cost of labour was statistically significant in influencing total cost of production for both male and female smallholder rice farmers and for the pooled sample data at (p<0.01) probability level. the coefficient of cost of labour input for male smallholder rice farmers was (0.3637), for female smallholder rice farmers (0.1345) and for the pooled sample (0.3033). this signifies that percentage change in the cost of labour input will lead to increase in the total cost of rice production for male and female smallholder rice farmers by 36.4% and 13.5% respectively. the pooled sample data show an increase in total cost of rice production by 30.3%. employing more labour force in rice production by smallholder rice farmers will result in the increase in total cost of production. cost of labor is the highest cost involved in rice production due to different activities that is involved in the production process. this is in consonance with the findings of aboaba (2020) who corroborates that any increase in the cost of labour will result in the increase in the total cost of rice production in the study area. the results are in line with the findings who posited that crop production is relatively sensitive to labor as number of labor supply increases the cost will increase thereby resulting in the increase in total cost of production. the allocative inefficiency component show that sex of the female smallholder rice farmers influences allocative inefficiency negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05), the pooled sample was also statistically significant at (p<0.10) probability level. the pooled sample indicated the coefficient of gender influence (i.e) farmer being a male smallholder rice farmer will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency by 15.2%. this is in line with the findings who found that male farmers were efficient in cost allocation in rice production in gambia. age of the sampled smallholder rice farmers influence allocative inefficiency positively for male farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.10). age had negative coefficient for female rice farmers, the pooled sample also show that age influence allocative inefficiency positively. the coefficient of the age for male smallholder rice farmers (0.2050), for female rice farmers (-0.2102) and for pooled sampled data (0.2802), this signifies that a unit change in the age of the sampled smallholder farmers will result in the decrease in allocative efficiency for the male rice farmers by 20.5% and 21% increase in the allocative efficiency for the female smallholder rice farmers, the pooled sampled data show that age of the farmers will result in the decrease in the allocative efficiency of the smallholder rice farmer by 28.1% in the study area. this could be because the older farmer has less possibility of accepting modern approaches and adoption of technologies, young farmers are more cost efficient than older farmers because they are more knowledgeable, risk averse and more versatile in sourcing productive information regarding input prices. this is in line with who reported that an increase in age makes older farmers less cost efficient. years schooling of the sampled smallholder rice farmers influence allocative inefficiency negatively for both male and female smallholder rice farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.05). the pooled sample result show that years of schooling also influence allocative inefficiency of the smallholder rice farmers negatively meaning that a unit change in the years of schooling will result in the increase in allocative efficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers by 7% and 26.4%, respectively. the pooled sample result also indicated that a unit change in the years of schooling will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency by 22.4%. farmers with formal system of education are able to source, acquire, process and comprehend important productive information about input mix and production management practices which could increase their ability to make informed decisions to adopt technologies and innovations regarding rice production. this in line with abdul et al. (2017) and sadiq et al. (2021) who found negative relationship between years of schooling and allocative efficiency. formal education of farmers plays critical role in influencing the efficiency of rice production. nonfarm-income influence allocative inefficiency for male smallholder rice farmers negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.1) probability level. the pooled sample show that non-farm income also positively influence allocative inefficiency of the smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.10) probability level. the coefficient of the non-farm income for male smallholder rice farmers (-0.0649) and pooled (0.0555). this implies that a unit change in the non-farm income will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency for the male rice farmers by 6.5% and 5.5% decrease in the allocative efficiency for the pooled sampled farmers. farmers who were engage in off-farm activities has the ability to earn income and improved productive efficiency. this agrees with the finding of wakili and isa (2015) who found non-farm income to have negative influence on allocative efficiency and posited that farmers with non-farm income are more likely to adopt new innovation and technologies like improve seeds varieties, fertilizers and agrochemical than their counterparts. access to credit facilities influence allocative inefficiency negatively for male and female smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level. the pooled sample show that access to credit facilities influence allocative inefficiency of rice production negatively and was also statistically significant at (p<0.05). the coefficient of access to credit for male smallholder rice farmers (-0.2142), while for female smallholder rice farmers (-0.1535) and for pooled sample (-0.1486), this signifies that a unit change in the access to credit facilities will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency for male smallholder rice farmers by 21.4% and for female farmers by 15.4% and for pooled sample by 14.9%. this could occur because access to credit facilities could enable smallholder rice farmers to purchase their farm input at appropriate time when the prices are low enabling the farmers to allocate cost efficiently. this result is consistent with the findings of musa et al. (2015) and haile (2015) who asserted that farmers who has access to credit for rice production can afford the improved-yielding inputs such as improved seed varieties, fertilizers and labor saving inputs like herbicides. this could increase rice yield for farmers, reduce production cost that can translate into increase in productivity and profitability. extension contact influence allocative inefficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers negatively and was statistically significant at (p< 0.05) and (p<0.01) respectively. the pooled sample further show that extension contact had negative coefficient and was statistically significant at (p<0.1) probability level. the coefficient of the extension contact for smallholder male rice farmers (-0.0714), for female rice farmers (-0.5958) and for the pooled sample (-0.1223). anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 39 this implies that a unit change in the extension contact will result in 7.1% and 59.6% increase in the allocative efficiency for both male and female smallholder rice farmers, the pooled sample indicate 12.2% increase in the allocative efficiency for the sampled smallholder rice farmers in the study area. this could occur as a result or due to advices that the extension officers may proffer to the rice farmers on how to utilize production inputs such as inorganic fertilizer, agrochemical and improved seed varieties in order to avoid waste such that the farmers will not over utilize their available resources and as a result it may reduce cost of purchasing input among farmers and improve allocative efficiency. this result is consistent with the findings who found negative relationship between extension contact and allocative inefficiency. farming experience influence allocative inefficiency for the smallholder female rice farmers negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the pooled sample show that farming experience influence allocative inefficiency negatively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the coefficient of the farming experience for smallholder female rice farmers (-0.1925) and for pooled sample (-0.1486), this implies that a unit increase in the years of farming experience of the smallholder female rice farmers will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency by 19.3% and 14.9% increase in the allocative efficiency for the pooled sample in the study area. farmers who have been planting rice for so long of time will be able to predict accurately when to plant, the type of seed to plant and the amount of inputs to utilize in production season. experience accumulated over the years equips farmers with production knowledge that could make them effective in cost allocation in rice production, they will be able to purchase their inputs accordingly and avoid waste of resources that could lead to increase in cost of production and decrease profit and efficiency level. this is in consonance with yoezer (2023) who reported negative influence of farming experience on rice production inefficiency and explained that experienced farmers understand soil and water management and conservation practices more than farmers that are inexperienced in rice production which could lead to increase in their allocative efficiency. unit price of rice influence allocative inefficiency negatively for both male and female smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the pooled sample show that unit price had negative coefficient and was also significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the coefficient of the unit price for smallholder male rice farmers (-0.0713) and for smallholder female rice farmers (-0.1121), while for pooled sample (-0.0418), this implies that a unit increase in the unit price of rice per bag will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency of the male and female smallholder rice farmers by 7.1% and 11.2% respectively, and also 4.2% increase in allocative efficiency of smallholder rice farmers for pooled data in the study area. price of rice produce plays a vital role in the production process and is the major determinant of revenue, as price increases farmers profit will also increase thereby enabling the farmer to have enough funds to purchase production inputs. this conforms to the findings of khounthikoumane, chang, and lee (2021) who asserted that unit price or selling price has influence on revenue in rice production as the revenue increases farmers’ ability to allocate cost efficiently increases. household size influence allocative inefficiency negatively for male and female smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.01) and (p<0.10) respectively. the pooled sample smallholder rice farmers show that the household size was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the coefficient of household size for smallholder male rice farmers (-0.3846) for smallholder female rice farmers (-0.0037) and the pooled sample (-0.8362), this signifies that a unit change in the number of household size by one person will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency for smallholder male rice farmers by 38.5% and 0.4% for the smallholder female rice farmers. the pooled sample show that as household size increases by one unit it will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency of the smallholder rice farmers by 3.8%. larger household size supplies more labour for rice production and as a result the farmers will not pay for hired labour due to availability of family labour thereby leading to increase in the allocative efficiency of the smallholder rice farmers. this supports the findings of musa et al. (2015) who corroborates that most farmers depend on household supply of labour in order to increase rice production due to its availability, it is inexpensive and very easy to allocate for different farm activities more especially during the period of rice planting, weeding and harvesting season. cooperative association influence allocative inefficiency negatively for smallholder female rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.1). the pooled sample show that cooperative association had negative coefficient and was statistically significant at (p<0.05) probability level. the coefficient of the cooperative association for smallholder female rice farmers was (-0.2257) and for pooled sample (0.0918), this implies that a unit change in the possibility of the smallholder female rice farmers being a member of cooperative association will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency for female rice farmers by 22.5%, while for the pooled sample will result in the increase in the allocative efficiency by 9.2%. cooperative association helps farmers to pull their resources together in order to purchase production input in bulk at a lower price, this could lead to reduction in cost of production thereby leading to increase in allocative efficiency of the smallholder rice farmers in the study area. this result is in line with the findings of mwangi et al. (2020) and okello et al. (2019) who found cooperative membership to be significantly influencing allocative efficiency and posited that farmers who belong to cooperative association or farmers group can have access to production inputs, credit facilities, agricultural training and also linkage to product market and this could improve rice farmers productivity as a result of proper and efficient allocation of available resources. table 3. results of the maximum likelihood estimates of the stochastic cost frontier estimates of rice production in the study area items male farmers female farmers pooled sample variable coefficients std error zscore coefficients std error zscore coefficients std error z-score cost of seed 0.2299* ** 0.0258 8.91 0.1799*** 0.0294 6.12 0.2138*** 0.0242 8.82 total output 0.3800*** 0.0370 10.26 0.0257 0.0280 0.92 0.1713*** 0.0297 5.77 anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 40 cost of land rent 0.0069 0.0313 0.22 0.2185*** 0.0267 8.18 0.0711*** 0.0277 2.56 cost of organic fertilizer 0.0934*** 0.0346 2.70 0.0837*** 0.0266 3.14 0.0884*** 0.0284 3.11 cost of inorganic fertilizer 0.2221* ** 0.0371 5.98 0.1336*** 0.0259 5.15 0.15848*** 0.0272 5.81 agro-chemical 0.1147*** 0.0271 4.23 0.13209*** 0.0195 6.77 0.1551*** 0.1551 7.61 cost of labour 0.3635*** 0.0306 11.85 0.1345*** 0.1042 5.06 0.3303*** 0.0202 16.38 constant 0.6601 0.2892 2.28 1.3177*** 0.0951 5.55 0.7138*** 0.2297 3.11 allocative inefficiency sex ---- ---- --- ----- ----- ----- -0.1523*** 0.0432 -3.52 age 0.2050*** 0.0270 7.59 -0.2101*** 0.0429 4.90 0.2807*** 0.1033 2.72 years schooling -0.0708** 0.0328 -2.16 -0.2644** 0.12021 -2.20 -0.2244*** 0.0452 -4.97 non-farm income -0.0649* 0.0331 -1.96 -0.0420 0.0681 -0.62 0.0555* 0.0324 1.71 access to credit -0.2142*** 0.0314 -6.83 -0.1535*** 0.0495 -3.10 -0.1486** 0.0613 -2.42 extension contact -0.0713** 0.0313 -2.28 -0.5958*** 0.1042 -5.72 -0.1224* 0.0645 -1.90 farming experience 0.0018 0.0016 1.13 -0.1925** 0.0951 -2.02 -0.1486** 0.0612 -2.42 unit price -0.0713** 0.0313 -2.28 -0.1121** 0.0490 -2.29 -0.0918** 0.0418 -2.20 price information -0.0163 0.0324 -0.53 -0.0614 0.0674 -0.91 0.0090 0.0224 0.40 household size -.3846*** 0.0300 -12.81 -0.0036* 0.0021 -1.80 -0.1836*** 0.0384 -4.78 coop association -0.0155 0.0323 -0.49 -0.2257* 0.1155 -1.95 -0.0918 ** 0.0417 -2.20 diagnostic statistics log likelihood 103.57 1.4332 150.153 sigma square 0.0872 0.0559 0.01601 gama 0.0930 0.0226 *** significant at (p<0.01) , ** significant at (p<0.05) , * significant at (p<0.10) source: computed from field survey data (2023) differences in allocative efficiency scores index for male and female smallholder rice farmers in the study area table 4 shows the distribution of allocative efficiency score index for male and female smallholder rice farmers. the results show that about 32.4% of the sampled male and 14.2% of the female smallholder rice farmers attained the allocative efficiency score index between 0.41-0.60, the pooled results indicated that about 24.7% were within the ranges of 0.41-0.6. most (52.7%) of the male and majority (67.9%) of the female smallholder rice farmers attained 0.61-0.80 allocative efficiency score index, while pooled sample results revealed 59.2% of the sampled smallholder rice farmers were able to obtain allocative efficiency score index between 0.81-10. the minimum allocative efficiency score attained by male and female smallholder rice farmer was 0.001 and 0.017 respectively, the minimum allocative efficiency for pooled sample was 0.00. the maximum value of the allocative efficiency score index for male and female smallholder rice farmers were 1.0791 and 0.999 respectively, while the maximum allocative efficiency score index for the pooled sample was 1.0994. this implies that male farmers obtained 0.01% above the frontier while the pooled sample show that an individual smallholder rice farmers obtained allocative efficiency of 0.99% above the frontier indicating the male rice farmers wasted about 0.017 and 0.99% for pooled of the cost in rice production respectively. this result is in line with reported cost efficiency of 1.16. the mean allocative efficiency score index for both male and female smallholder rice farmers was 0.738 (73.8) and 0.798 (79.8%), the pooled sample show that the average allocative efficiency score index attained by sampled smallholder rice farmers was 0.765 (76.5%). this study shows that female smallholder rice farmers were more efficient in cost allocation but with a shortfall or gap of 20.2% inefficiency that needed to be filled to reach maximum cost allocative efficiency and perfection while male smallholder rice farmers had about 26.2% inefficiency level that need improvement to reach maximum cost allocation efficiency while the pooled sample show that there is a gap of 23.5% allocative inefficiency to attain optimum level of cost allocation, which needed to be met through adoption of modern technology or new innovation to reach maximum allocative efficiency and achieve optimum output for profit maximization by smallholder rice farmers in the study area. this result is in line with abdul et al. (2017); yenihebit et al. (2020) and aboaba (2020) who reported similar allocative efficiency. this is also in consonance with the findings of okello et al. (2019); and gela et al. (2019) who reported higher allocative efficiency of 86% and 75% among rice farmers in adamawa state, federal capital territory, nigeria and gulu and amuru districts of northern uganda. table 4. distribution of allocative efficiency scores among male and female rice farmers in the study area allocative efficiency male farmers female farmers pooled sample score frequency percentage frequency percentage frequency percentage 0-0.2 18 9.9 6 4.5 24 7.6 0.21-0.4 2 1.1 12 9.0 14 4.43 0.41-0.6 59 32.4 19 14.2 78 24.7 anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 41 0.61-0.8 7 3.8 6 4.5 13 4.11 0.81-1 96 52.7 91 67.9 187 59.2 minimum 0.001 0.017 0.001 maximum 1.09 0.999 1.099 mean ae 0.738 0.798 0.765 source: computed from field survey data (2021) factors influencing economic efficiency of rice production among male and female smallholder rice farmers the factors influencing economic efficiency using maximum likelihood estimates using tobit regression model is presented in table 5. the factors are shown below: gender of the household head for sampled smallholder rice farmers had positive influence on the economic efficiency and was statistically significant for the pooled data (p<0.10). the marginal effect of the pooled sample was (0.1393), this implies that if a farmer happened to be male farmers, will result in the probability of increase in the economic efficiency of the smallholder rice farmers by 13.9%. this is in line with the findings of melese et al. (2019) who report. ed positive influence of sex on rice production in ethiopia. age of the smallholder rice farmers has a negative influence on the level of economic efficiency for male rice farmers and has a positive influence for female smallholder rice farmers, while the pooled result show that age of the sampled smallholder rice farmers influences economic efficiency positively. age was statistically significant at (p<0.05) for male, and (p<0.01) for female rice farmers, and (p<0.10) for pooled sample. the marginal effect of the age for male and female smallholder rice farmers was (-0.3736), (0.1898) and pooled (0.0941) respectively. this implies that a unit change in age will result in the decrease in economic efficiency of the male smallholder rice farmers by 37.4%, and will result in the increase in the probability that the economic efficiency of the female smallholder rice farmers will increase by 18.9%, while the pooled results show that a unit change in the age of the sampled smallholder rice farmers will result in the increase in the probability that economic efficiency of the smallholder rice farmers will increase by 9.4% in the study area. the implication of this result is that younger male farmers were more economically efficient than the older male farmers, this could be because younger farmers are more energetic, risk averse and adopt new technology and innovation easily, while for female farmers the older farmers were more economically efficient than the younger ones this could happen because as they acquire more experience as a result of their age it could make them familiar with the farm management practices that might make them economically efficient than the younger female farmers, this could be so because most younger female farmers don’t own their own farm. this result is line with the findings of aboaba (2020) who asserted that age of the farmers had positive effect on economic efficiency of rice production. years schooling influence economic efficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers positively and was statistically significant at (p<0.05) for both male and female smallholder rice farmers respectively. the pooled sample show that years of schooling had positive influence on the economic efficiency of the smallholder rice farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect of the years of schooling for male rice farmers (0.1533), for the female rice farmers (0.0083) and for the pooled sample was (0.1687), this implies that a unit change in the years of schooling for the smallholder rice farmers will result in the increase in the probability of economic efficiency by 15.6% for male rice farmers, 0.8% for female rice farmers, and 16.9% for pooled sample respectively. farmers with formal education has the ability to acquire information on input mix that could increase their decision-making process on production practices, more educated farmers have the capacity to perceive, interpret and know how to respond to any new information regarding new method of production and adopt innovation and improve technologies like fertilizers, agrochemical and planting materials faster than their counterparts. this result confirms the finding of aboaba (2020); okello et al. (2019) and gela et al. (2019) who reported a positive influence of years of schooling between education and economic efficiency and posited that educated farmers are more economically efficient; it enables them to adopt new innovation in rice production. non-farm income had positive influence on economic efficiency for both male and female smallholder rice farmers, but it was only statistically significant for female smallholder rice farmers at (p<0.01). the estimated marginal effect for the sampled female smallholder rice farmers was (0.3268), which indicated that a unit change in the level of non-farm income will result in the likelihood of the increase in economic efficiency for the female smallholder rice farmers by 32.7%. non-farm income enables smallholder rice farmers to organize their farming activities properly by enabling them to have the capacity to purchase farm inputs at appropriate time which could make them economically efficient and maximize profit at optimum level of productivity. this result is contrary to the findings of melese et al. (2019) who reported that non-farm income had negative effect on economic efficiency that farmers which are engaged in non-farm income activities tends to allocate more of their time to non-farm income generating activities which could make them exhibit lower level of economic efficiency. access to credit influence economic efficiency positively for both male and female smallholder rice farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) and (p<0.05) respectively. the pooled sample result revealed that access to credit has positive influence on economic efficiency of the sampled smallholder rice farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.10) probability level. the marginal effect of the access to credit for male and female smallholder rice farmers was (0.2797) and (0.634) respectively. this signifies that a unit increase in the amount of credit accessed by the male and female smallholder rice farmers will result in the likelihood or probability of the economic efficiency for both male and female smallholder rice farmers to increase by 27.9% and 63.4% respectively. the marginal effect of access to credit for the pooled sample was (0.0829), which implies that a unit increase in the access to credit will lead to the likelihood or probability of the increase in the economic efficiency of the sampled smallholder rice farmers by 8.3%. access to credit enables rice farmers to acquire production inputs with ease and timely which could lead to increase in their economic efficiency. this is consistent with kamau (2019) who asserted that farmers that had access to credit for agricultural production has the ability to purchase improved yielding inputs such as improved seed varieties and agrochemicals which is labour saving like herbicides which can increase crop yield and reduce production costs that can anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 42 translate into increased productivity and profitability. musa et al. (2015) and haile (2015) also reported access to credit influencing economic efficiency positively. extension contacts influence economic efficiency of the male and female smallholder rice farmers positively and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) for both male and female smallholder rice farmers, while the pooled sample results show that extension contact has positive effect on the economic efficiency of the rice farmers and was statistically significant at (p<0.01) probability level. this result indicates that, smallholder farmers with more access to extension services during the cropping season were more economically efficient than those that had less number of extension contact during production period. the marginal effect of the extension contact for both male and female smallholder rice farmers were (0.2906) and (0.3091), while that of pooled sample was (0.1596), this implies that a unit change in the probability or likelihood of having access to extension services by smallholder rice farmers will result in the increase in economic efficiency of the male and female smallholder rice farmers by 29.1% and 30.9% respectively, while for the pooled sample will result in the increase in economic efficiency of the rice farmers by 15.9%. access to extension contact could expose rice farmers to better training on how to use their available resources adequately and other extension services like knowledge and skills on how to use agrochemicals, improved seed varieties and fertilizer application that could lead to increase in the farmers’ economic efficiency. this result is consistent with the findings of melese et al. (2019); mwangi et al. (2020) who reported positive influence of extension services on rice production in their respective study areas. farming experience influence economic efficiency negatively for male and positively for female smallholder farmers and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) and (p<0.10) probability level respectively. the marginal effect of the farming experience of the smallholder farmers for male (-0.0557), female farmers (0.3091), and the pooled result was (0.2432), this implies that a unit change in the years of farming experience of the smallholder rice farmers will result in the decrease in the likelihood or probability of the economic efficiency of the male smallholder rice farmers to decrease by 5.6%, while the economic efficiency of the female farmers will increase by 30.9%. the pooled result show that a unit change in the farming experience of the smallholder rice farmers will result in the increase in economic efficiency of the sample smallholder rice farmers by 24.3% in the study area. this could be because farmers acquire more experience over the years and could enable them to use farm inputs appropriately that might make them economically efficient. this result is in conformity with the findings of aboaba (2020) who asserted that farming experience has negative influence on economic efficiency in ogun state, nigeria. the results are also in line with posited that experienced rice farmers are not economically efficient. this could be true because experienced farmers might likely depend on their ideas and knowledge rather than adopting new innovation which could improve their productivity and efficiency. as shown in table 5 the coefficient of farming experience is positively related with economic efficiency, this confirms the finding of haruna et al. (2021) who found positive relationship between experience and economic efficiency in rice production in kogi state, nigeria and asserted that generally it is expected that productivity increases with accumulated years of experience and experienced farmers master production techniques and can avoid previous mistakes and they are more likely to take informed decisions in order to improve productivity and profitability that will in turn increase economic efficiency. unit price of rice had positive influence on economic efficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers positively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.05) and (p<0.01) respectively. the pooled sample also revealed that a unit price of rice per bag was statistically significant at (p<0.01). the marginal effect of the unit price for male (0.271), and female (0.040) and pooled sample (0.0232). this implies that a unit change in the unit price will lead to increase in the likelihood or probability of the economic efficiency of rice production to increase by 27.1% and 4% for male and female smallholder rice farmers respectively, while the pooled sample indicated that it will result in the increase in economic efficiency by 2.3% among smallholder rice farmers. price information influence economic efficiency for male smallholder rice farmers positively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.10) probability level. price information was not significant for female farmers and the pooled sample. the marginal effect of the price information for sampled male smallholder rice farmers was (0.1188), which signifies that a unit change in the access to price information by smallholder rice farmers will result in the in the likelihood or probability of the economic efficiency to increase by 11.9%. access to information enables farmers to acquire information about prices of output which could enable them to sale their product at appropriate time that could increase economic efficiency of the male smallholder rice farmers. household size as presented in table 5 influence economic efficiency positively for male smallholder rice farmers and negatively for female smallholder rice farmers, the pooled sample revealed that household size had positive influence on economic efficiency. the marginal effect of household size for male and female smallholder rice farmers were (0.0196) and (-0.3255) respectively. this implies that a unit change in the number of household size for male rice farmers will result in the increase in the likelihood or probability of the economic efficiency of rice production to increase by 1.9% and decrease in economic efficiency for female rice farmers by 32.6%. male farmers with larger household size has more supply of family labour for rice production but in the case of female smallholder rice farmers, household size has negative effect on the economic efficiency, this could be that larger household size could make the available resources to be diverted for children school fees, hospital bills and feeding that may affect economic efficiency of the female smallholder rice farmers. the marginal effect for the pooled sample was 0.1462, this means a unit change in the number of household size will result in the increase in the probability of the economic efficiency to increase by 14.6%. as household size increases there will be availability of labour supply which could make farmers not to source for hired labour and as a result there will be cost savings which could lead to increase in economic efficiency. this is in line with melese et al. (2019) who opined that a larger household size guarantees availability of family labor for farm operations to be accomplished in time in ethiopia, the results further agrees with the findings of okello et al. (2019) who reported that household size had negative relationship with farm efficiency level in uganda. the result is also in consonance with aboaba (2020) who posited that household size decreases economic efficiency of rice farmers in ogun state, nigeria. cooperative association influence economic efficiency of rice production for female smallholder rice farmers positively and it was statistically significant at (p<0.10) anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 43 probability level. the pooled sample results also show that cooperative association had positive influence on economic efficiency of rice production among smallholder rice farmers. the marginal effect of the cooperative association for female smallholder rice farmers and pooled results was 0.0826 and 0.1248 respectively. this connotes that a unit change in the possibility of the female rice farmers and pooled sample being a member of cooperative association will result in the increase in the likelihood or probability of the economic efficiency to increase by 8.3% and 12.5% in the study area. this is in line with the findings of yusuf (2022) who asserted that membership of farmers’ cooperative association has positive influence on rice production efficiency in patigi local government area of kwara state nigeria. table 5. maximum likelihood estimates of the tobit regression model of the factors influencing economic efficiency of rice production in the study area variable economic efficiency male farmers female farmers pooled sample coeffici ents std error tvalue me coeffici ents std error tvalue me coefficie nts std error tvalue me sex ----------- ---- ----- ----------- --- ----0.1122* 0.0665 1.69 0.1393 age -0.0050** 0.0022 -2.26 -0.3736 0.0787*** 0.0302 2.61 0.1898 -0.0233* 0.0124 -1.88 0.0941 years of schooling 0.5626** 0.2817 2.00 0.1533 1.1862** 0.5576 2.13 0.0083 0.3545*** 0.0609 5.82 0.1687 non-farm income 0.0127 0.0149 0.84 0.4131 1.0302*** 0.2738 3.76 0.3268 8.60e-0 7.22e-7 1.19 0.0126 access to credit 0.2797 *** 0.1005 2.78 0.2797 1.1448** 0.4915 2.33 0.0160 0.1906* 0.1141 1.67 0.0829 extension contact 0.0043* 0.0023 1.82 0.2906 0.6949* 0.3843 1.81 0.1634 0.1462*** 0.0332 4.40 0.1596 farming experience -0.2556** 0.1208 -2.12 0.0557 2.8334* 1.6149 1.75 0.3091 0.0608* 0.0320 1.90 0.2432 unit price 0.1953** 0.0949 2.06 0.2713 0.0528*** 0.0178 2.96 0.0404 0.6433*** 0.1778 3.62 0.0232 price information 0.2906* 0.1674 1.74 0.1188 -0.1193 0.2468 0.48 0.0276 0.0170 0.1251 0.14 -0.1906 household size 0.4131*** 0.1316 3.14 0.0196 -0.0083* 0.0049 -1.68 -0.3255 0.3140*** 0.0645 4.87 0.1462 coop association 0.0267 0.0474 0.56 0.0979 0.3229* 0.1722 1.88 0.0826 0.1879*** 0.0669 2.81 0.1248 sigma 0.2403 0.8692 0.890 log likelihood -38.138 -138.568 -328.88 prob >ch2 0.240 0.831 0.859 *significant at 10%, ** significant at 5%, *** significant at 1% probability levels source: computed from field survey data (2023) distribution of economic efficiency scores among male and female rice farmers the distribution of economic efficiency score level for male and female smallholder rice farmers is presented in table 6. the results also show that 14.8% of the male smallholder farmers and 20.9% of the female rice farmers had an economic efficiency between the ranges of 0.21-40, while 17.4% of the pooled sampled smallholder rice farmers were within the range of 0.21-0.40. about 37.9% of the sampled male smallholder rice farmers and 30.6% of the female smallholder rice farmers attained economic efficiency level of 0.4-0.60. about 34.8% of the pooled sampled smallholder rice farmers had economic efficiency within the ranges of 0.41-0.60 in the study area. the results further show that about 25.3%, 31.3% of the sampled male and female smallholder rice farmers attained economic efficiency score between 0.81-10, while the pooled sample revealed that 27.9% of the smallholder rice farmers had an economic efficiency within the ranges of 0.81-10. the maximum economic efficiency score attained by male and female rice farmers was 1.04 and 0.987 respectively and the pooled was 1.003. this implies that the best performing male rice farmer obtained economic efficiency 100.4% and the best performing female rice farmer attained economic efficiency of 98.7%, while pooled sample show that the best performing smallholder rice farmer attained 100%. the average economic efficiency level attained by the sampled smallholder rice farmers were male (0.516) 51.6%, female (0.555) 55.5%, and the pooled sample was (0.545) 54.5% in the study area. there exists an economic inefficiency gap of 49.5% for male rice farmers, 45.5% for female rice farmers, and 46.5% for pooled sample that need improvement to be filled up with existing technology to attain perfection in the level of economic efficiency among sampled smallholder rice farmers. this result is in line with the findings of okello et al. (2019) who reported 75% economic efficiency among rice farmers in gulu and amuru districts of northern uganda and haruna et al. (2021) who reported economic efficiency of 66% for male and 56% for female rice farmers in kogi state, nigeria and the results is contrary to the findings of aboaba (2020) who reported higher average economic efficiency of 94% for rice farmers in ogun state, nigeria. table 6. distribution of economic efficiency scores among male and female rice farmers in the study area economic efficiency male farmers female farmers pooled sample score frequency percentage frequency percentage frequency percentage 0-0.20 40 22.0 23 17.16 63 19.9 anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 44 0.21-0.40 27 14.8 28 20.9 55 17.4 0.41-0.60 44 24.2 21 15.7 65 20.6 0.61-0.80 25 13.7 20 14.9 45 14.2 0.81-1.00 46 25.3 42 31.3 88 27.9 minimum 0.001 0.008 0.008 maximum 1.041 0.987 1.003 mean ee 0.516 0.555 0.545 source: computed from field survey data (2023) conclusions this study evaluated gender differences in farm level efficiencies in rice production among smallholder rice farmers in federal capital territory, nigeria. generally, the farmers were efficient to certain level but there was a shortfall in obtaining the maximum farm level efficiency for both male and female rice farmers, male farmers were more efficient in technical efficiency while female farmers were more efficient in both allocative and economic efficiency. the study shows that the seed inputs, farm size, inorganic fertilizer, and labour input had relationship with technical efficiency. the mean technical efficiency score obtained by the male and female smallholder rice farmers was 70.2%, and 69.7% respectively. the socioeconomic factors that had significant relationship with technical inefficiencies for male and female smallholder farmers were: sex, age, years schooling, and access to credit, extension contact, farming experience, unit price, cooperative association and household size. the study further revealed that the significant factors influencing total cost of rice production for male smallholder farmers were: cost of seed, total output, cost of organic fertilizer, cost of inorganic fertilizer, cost of agrochemical, cost of land rent and cost of labour, the average allocative efficiency score obtained by smallholder rice farmers were 73.8% and 79.8% respectively. the socioeconomic factors influencing allocative efficiency for male and female smallholder rice farmers were sex, age, years schooling, access to credit, extension contact, farming experience, unit price, household size and cooperative association. the significant factors influencing economic efficiencies of the male and female smallholder rice farmers were: age, years schooling, access to credit, extension contact, farming experience, unit price, price information, nonfarm income, household size and cooperative association. the average economic efficiency score index obtained by male smallholder rice farmers was 51.6% while female smallholder farmers obtained 55.5%. there exists an economic inefficiency gap of 49.5% for male rice farmers, 45.5% for female rice farmers, and 46.5% for pooled sample that need improvement to be filled up with existing technology to attain perfection in the level of economic efficiency among sampled male and female smallholder rice farmers. theoretically, this study agreed with the theory of production which implies that more usage of farm inputs led to increase in total out of rice and generally leads to increase in farm level efficiency, efficient management of production resources could result to maximum profit. therefore, the study made the following policy recommendations: production inputs like improved seed varieties, inorganic fertilizer and agrochemical should be provided to male and female rice farmers by government of nigeria or non-governmental organizations at affordable price or subsidized rate and timely to increase productivity and minimize cost among rice producers that will enable them to maximize profit. credit facilities should be provided at single digit by government and financial institutions in order to enable farmers to purchase inputs at affordable price to earn more profit and improve their welfare and livelihood. extension services should be made available to farmers to teach them about the application of farm inputs appropriately and they should also be encouraged to join cooperative membership to have access to resources easily. training on additional source of non-farm income should be provided to female rice farmers to enable them to be financially independent to make them fully engaged in rice farming. in the course of this research work the researcher encountered difficulties in collecting data from the respondent due higher level of illiteracy among the smallholder farmers and lack of availability of research funds. further research should be conducted on resource use efficiency among smallholder farmers, how farm level efficiency affects family food security and livelihood. author contributions: conceptualization, l.a.; methodology, l.a.; software, l.a.; validation, l.a.; formal analysis, l.a.; investigation, l.a.; resources, l.a.; data curation, l.a.; writing – original draft preparation, l.a.; writing – review & editing, l.a.; visualization, l.a.; supervision, l.a.; project administration, l.a.; funding acquisition, l.a. authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript. institutional review board statement: ethical review and approval were waived for this study, due to that the research does not deal with vulnerable groups or sensitive issues. funding: the authors received no direct funding for this research. acknowledgments: not applicable informed consent statement: informed consent was obtained from all subjects involved in the study. data availability statement: the data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. the data are not publicly available due to restrictions. conflicts of interest: the authors declare no conflict of interest. references abdul, m., tashikalma, a. k., maurice, d. c., & shittu, f. m. (2017). analysis of cost efficiency of rainfed maize production in yola north and yola south local government areas of adamawa state, nigeria. global journal of agricultural sciences, 16(1), 65-71. https://doi.org/10.4314/gjass.v16i1.9 abdulai, s., nkegbe, p. k., & donkoh, s. a. (2018). assessing the technical efficiency of maize production in northern ghana: the data envelopment analysis approach. cogent food & agriculture, 4(1), 1512390. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2018.1512390 aboaba, k. (2020). economic efficiency of rice farming a stochastic frontier analysis approach. journal of agribusiness and rural development, 58(4), 423-435. http://dx.doi.org/10.17306/j.jard.2020.01377 addison, m., ohene-yankyera, k., & fredua-antoh, e. (2016). gender role, input use and technical efficiency among rice anthony & ukaoha, american international journal of agricultural studies 10(1) (2025), 29-45 45 farmers at ahafo ano north district in ashanti region of ghana. journal of food security, 4(2), 27-35. aigner, d., lovell, c. k., & schmidt, p. (1977). formulation and estimation of stochastic frontier production function models. journal of econometrics, 6(1), 21-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(77)90052-5 amaechina, e. c., & eboh, e. c. (2017). resource use efficiency in rice production in the lower anambra irrigation project, nigeria. journal of development and agricultural economics, 9(8), 234–242. danso-abbeam, g., baiyegunhi, l. j. s., & ojo, t. o. (2020). gender differentials in technical efficiency of ghanaian cocoa farms. heliyon, 6(5), e04012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04012 ebukiba, e. s., anthony, l., & adamu, s. m. (2020). economics and technical efficiency of maize production among small scale farmers in abuja, nigeria: stochastic frontier model approach. european journal of agriculture and food sciences, 2(6), 1-9. https://doi.org/10.24018/ejfood.2020.2.6.145 gela, a., haji, j., ketema, m., & abate, h. (2019). technical, allocative and economic efficiencies of small-scale sesame farmers: the case of west gondar zone, ethiopia. review of agricultural and applied economics (raae), 22(2), 10-17. haile, b. t. (2015). determinants of technical, allocative and economic efficiencies among onion producing farmers in irrigated agriculture: empirical evidence from kobo district, amhara region, ethiopia. african journal of agricultural research, 10(20), 2180-2189. haruna, e. o., felix, o. o., ameh, o. e., & gold, o. o. (2021). gender analysis in economic efficiency of rice farmers in kogi state, nigeria. international journal of agricultural economics, management and development, 9(2), 140-153. ismail, u. o., & mahmud, h. u. (2023). determinant factors of technical efficiency in yam production in moro lga, kwara state, nigeria. journal of agripreneurship and sustainable development, 6(2), 1-8. kamau, p. n. (2019). technical, economic and allocative efficiency among maize and rice farmers under different land-use systems in east african wetlands. unpublished msc. of science in agricultural economics of kenyatta university. khounthikoumane, s., chang, j. b., & lee, y. (2021). profit efficiency of rice farms in wet-season lowlands in champhone district, savannakhet province, lao pdr. agriculture, 11(7), 657. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture110706657 mabe, f. n., donkoh, s. a., & al-hassan, s. (2018). accounting for rice productivity heterogeneity in ghana: the two-step stochastic metafrontier approach. international journal of agricultural and biosystems engineering, 12(8), 223–232. melese, t., alemu, m., mitiku, a., & kedir, n. (2019). economic efficiency of smallholder farmers in rice production: the case of guraferda woreda, southern nations nationalities people’s region, ethiopia. international journal of agriculture innovations and research, 8(2), 151-167. musa, h. a., lemma, z., & endrias, g. (2015). measuring technical, economic and allocative efficiency of maize production in subsistence farming: evidence from the central rift valley of ethiopia. apstract: applied studies in agribusiness and commerce, 9(3), 63-74. https://doi.org/10.19041/apstract/2015/3/9 mwangi, b., macharia, i., & bett, e. (2020). analysis of economic efficiency among smallholder sorghum producers in kenya. j. dev. agric. econ, 12, 95-103. okello, d. m., bonabana-wabbi, j., & mugonola, b. (2019). farm level allocative efficiency of rice production in gulu and amuru districts, northern uganda. agricultural and food economics, 7(1), 19. sadiq, s. m., singh, p. i., & ahmad, m. m. (2021). productivity gap by gender among rice farmers in north-central nigeria. agricultural socio-economics journal, 21(2), 135-148. sanusi, s. o., alabi, o. o., & ebukiba, e. s. (2022). analysis on resource use efficiency of smallholder's rice production farmers in federal capital territory of nigeria: probit model approach. agrotech-food science, technology and environment, 1(1), 1-9. tasila konja, d., mabe, f. n., & alhassan, h. (2019). technical and resource-use-efficiency among smallholder rice farmers in northern ghana. cogent food & agriculture, 5(1), 1651473. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2019.1651473 ifeanyichukwu, u. s., ike, e. c., nnenna, e. o., & onochie, u. i. (2018). resource use efficiency of upland rice farmers in ivo local government area of ebonyi state. asian research journal of arts & social sciences, 7(2), 1-10. wakili, a. m., & isa, a. h. (2015). technical efficiency of small scale rice production in adamawa state, nigeria. in international conference on chemical, food and environment engineering (iccfee 15) jan. 1112, 2015 dubai (uae) pp. 20-25 wijaya, a., rifin, a., & hartoyo, s. (2022). determining technical and resource-use efficiency in rice production in east java. jurnal manajemen & agribisnis, 19(1), 48-48. yenihebit, n., abunyuwah, i., & ahiale, e. d. (2020). an efficiency assessment of irrigated tomato (solanum lycopersicum) production in the upper east region of ghana. journal of development and agricultural economics, 12(1), 1-8. yoezer, k. (2023). economic and technical efficiency of maize production in the eastern district of bhutan: stochastic frontier approach. asian journal of social sciences and economics, 19(2), 15-20. yusuf, t. m. (2022). profit efficiency of smallscale rice farms in patigi local government area of kwara state, nigeria. international journal of innovative research and advance studies, 9(1), 1-9. publisher’s note: acse stays neutral about jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. © 2025 by the authors. licensee acse, usa. this open-access article is distributed under the terms and conditions of the creative commons attribution (cc by) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). american international journal of agricultural studies (p-issn 2641-4155 e-issn 2641-418x) by acse is licensed under a creative commons attribution 4.0 international license. https://doi.org/10.1016/0304-4076(77)90052-5 http://ssbfnet.com/ojs/index.php/ijrbs http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/