Baseline Survey on Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) Production in Southern Taraba State

Abstract

A baseline survey was carried out to assess sorghum production practices namely; years of production, cropping system, hectarages cultivated, identification of important pests, diseases and weed species infesting the crop and other cultural practices measures used by the farmers during sorghum cultivation in Taraba state. The study aimed at gathering information on the production status of sorghum in the state. Questionnaires were administered to 12 farmers carefully selected in 5 wards from each of the 5 Local Government areas sampled. This gave a total of 300 farmers. The survey shows that most of the farmers cultivate less than 3 ha of sorghum usually intercropped with maize or millet and most recently with groundnut. Striga hermonthica was identified to be the most destructive weed and one of the major limiting factor to sorghum production in the study area. It was also observed that most of the farmers produced sorghum without application of fertilizer and pesticide generally. In conclusion, there is urgent need to sensitize farmers in this part of the country on the need for the use of proper pesticides to control pests and diseases in sorghum, application of organic and inorganic fertilizers alongside the incorporation of crop residues to improve soil fertility for higher yield of sorghum in this survey area. Also there is need to sensitize them on the practice of cereal-legumes intercrop for sustainable crop production, instead of the commonly practiced cereal-cereal intercrop system. Moreso research effort on finding solutions to the challenges of striga hermonthica in sorghum is strongly advocated in the state. This will encourage the farmers to cultivate more hectarages of sorghum, to burst food security in the state