Crop Enterprise Research Articles

Effect of Bio-fortified Vitamin A Cassava on Poverty Status of Farming Households in Nigeria, Evidence from Oyo State.

ABSTRACT Profitable farming is a prime target of all farmers regardless of the scale of production adopted and the veritable opportunity to attain the threshold of bumper harvest is not unconnected with the adoption of new technology. Bio-fortified vitamin A cassava remains the best option for farmers to experience improvement in cassava performance in both the quality and quantity terms and they are encouraged to adopt it in order to improve their households’ welfare. The survey was launched to investigate the effect of bio-fortified vitamin A cassava on the poverty status of the farming households in Nigeria using Oyo State as a case study. A Multistage sampling technique was used to sample a total of 186 cassava farmers comprising 92 adopters and 94 non-adopters of bio-fortified vitamin A cassava variety using copies of well-structured questionnaires. Parametric tools used were descriptive statistics and probit regression for socioeconomic characteristics and adoption status analysis. The socioeconomic results showed that both the adopters and non-adopters were in the productive ages of 42 years and 59 years respectively. The majorities of farmers in the two categories were married and had formal education. Years of experience possessed by them were 11 years and 18 years while both groups were members of associations. Poverty classification result showed 41.3% of adopters being poor while 83.0% of non-adopters were poor. Marital status (2.1271<p=0.05), education (1.1510; p<0.1), seasonal income (0.0757; p=0.05) and poverty status (I.6019; p<0.1) had influence on the farmers’ adoption status while lack of credit was voted highest among the factors militating against adoption of bio-fortified vitamin A cassava. It is therefore recommended that stakeholders in the crop enterprise should make frantic efforts in providing credit and other basic inputs that will enhance improved vitamin A adoption.

Comparative Analysis of Resource Use Efficiency of Cereal Crop Enterprises in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State

This study examines the resource use efficiency in cereal crop enterprise production in Dutsin-Ma Local Government Area of Katsina State. The two cereal crops selected were Millet enterprise and sorghum enterprise. Data for the study was collected from 80 Millet farmers and 80 sorghum farmers randomly selected in five villages. The data collection was from October to December 2022 cropping season. Production function analysis which incorporates the conventional neoclassical test of economic and technical efficiencies was used as the analytical technique. Profitability analysis was also used to determine the profitable enterprise. Findings revealed that for Sorghum production fertilizer input was optimally utilized by the farmers while other inputs seeds, labor, and farm size were overused. On the other hand in Millet production, all the inputs seed, labor, fertilizer, and farm size were over-utilized. The profitability analysis revealed that the Sorghum enterprise was the most profitable with a mean net farm income value of ₦138,000 per hectare while Millet had a net farm income of ₦63,000/ha. The results show that there is a need for farmers to be advised on the appropriate allocation of resources to boost efficiency and output. This would mean using less seed input, labor, and farm size for Sorghum production, while for Millet production less of all the inputs should be used.

Economic Evaluation of Cost and Returns of Potato Crop towards Livelihood Security of Farmers in the Nalanda District of Bihar

"India is the world’s second – larger producer of veggies, after China. The primary vegetable grown in Nalanda is the potato. The goal of the current analysis was to analysis potato farming costs and returns using various cost models. The study was carried out in Bihar sarif and Noor Sharai block, which were chosen due to their high potato production and area. Number of farmers in each category based on probability proportional to size (PPS). Cost of cultivation of potato on the sample farms in Nalanda district of Bihar. Production is generally considered to be a function of area and yield. The selection of crop enterprise to be chosen in the farm and the location and distribution of resources within it depend to a great extent on the yield of the crop, its price and the cost of the inputs used for its production. These measurements for potatoes were developed as a result of taking into account the cost of cultivation and returns on various production aspects when choosing a crop. Per hectare, on an average ` 92552.03 was spent on potato. In the medium farm category, ` 100166 was spent on farming the highest. Followed by small farms ` 92867 and marginal farms ` 84623.09. The cost of various components of cultivation such as tubers (seeds) is the highest (22.95%) in the variable cost, followed by (19.46 per cent) Human labour. The remaining significant factor included the fertilizer (8.82 per cent), irrigation charge 7.77 per cent, machine charge 6.49 per cent, plant protection 3.79 per cent, manure 3.06 per cent, depreciation rate 1.62 per cent and land revenue 0.24 per cent and the percentage of rental value of own land includes cost of fixed cost (21.61 per cent), interest on fixed capital 2.95 per cent and interest on working capital 1.23 per cent."

An Economic Analysis of Wheat Cultivation in North-Karnataka, India

Wheat is an important cereal crop in India as half of the population depends on wheat for food. The average wheat sown area of the country is 30.38 ha in the last five years from 2017-2022. The present paper was designed to study the cost of cultivation and return structure of wheat cultivation in Karnataka which comes under the peninsular zone where the total wheat cultivating area is 1.60 million ha. The study was undertaken in three major wheat-growing districts of Karnataka i.e., Belagavi, Vijayapura and Dharwad. The multistage random sampling method was followed for the selection of districts and farmers. The primary data was collected from 90 farmers (30 farmers from each district) and analyzed using tabular analysis. The results of the study revealed that per hectare total cost of cultivation of wheat at an aggregate level was ₹ 35,076.37 in which the share of the variable cost was 59.86 per cent and the fixed cost was 40.14 per cent. Among the variable costs, human labour cost was highest (21.95%) per hectare and in fixed cost, the rental value of land (34.63%) was highest. The gross return and net return obtained by the farmer were ₹ 54,786.56 and ₹ 19,710.18 and the return per rupee of expenditure was found to be 1.55 indicating that wheat is a profitable crop enterprise. However, the cost of production per quintal was found ₹ 1,869.60 and the profits obtained were ₹1,008.27 per quintal. Lack of labour and high cost of labour was the major problem in wheat cultivation. Hence, boosting up the mechanization may help to reduce the cost of cultivation. Using custom hiring centres and farmer producer organization approaches would better augment the mechanization in the wheat economy.

Adoption of Improved Cassava Varieties in Uganda: What Does Agricultural Extension Do?

Agricultural production, especially by smallholder farmers, is often hampered byinsufficient knowledge about better farm inputs or farming practices, low adoption toimproved agricultural technologies, or low diffusion of agricultural innovations by theinventing institutions. This paper examines the role of agricultural extension to theadoption of improved cassava varieties in Uganda. We indicate for agricultural extensionusing the farmers’ reported accessibility to agricultural extension from extension workersabout such improved varieties. We use probit with selection equation on data collectedfrom eight (8) districts in Northern Uganda. Our main results indicate a higherprobability of adopting improved cassava varieties when farmers access agriculturalextension services; and also document farmers’ distrust to improved cassava varieties asa crop enterprise that can guarantee their households with food security. From a policyperspective, our results suggest that the design and content of agricultural extensionservices are important to leverage the extent of the adoption of modern agriculturaltechnologies. Specifically, improving the performance of the cassava crop enterpriserequires enhanced investment in diffusing innovations in the enterprise.JEL Classification: O12, O13, O33, Q16

Farm-based factors shaping crop enterprise diversification among maize small-holder farmers in Kalulushi District of Zambia

This study examined the factors shaping crop enterprise diversification among small-holder maize farmers in the Kalulushi District of Zambia. Having high crop enterprise diversification promotion among small-holder maize recently as a household food security and farm enterprise risk absorption strategy across Zambia, questions have arisen on factors encouraging or negating farmer responses since maize production has remained dominant, particularly under rain-fed systems. The study used primary data from a sample of 150 farmers. Data included the crop enterprise diversification index as the dependent variable, whereas the farming practice, farm size, the maize subsistence index, cooperative dependence, distance to the central market, weighted maize selling price, dependence on government purchases, planting period and source of financing for farming are the independent variables. Empirical results revealed that crop enterprise diversification increased with an increase in distance from the market, conservation farming practice, subsistence level, weighted maize selling price, and alternative financing. However, it decreased with an increase in farm size and dependence on government purchases. Cooperative dependence and planting period were not found to affect crop enterprise diversification. The study recommends streamlining crop enterprise diversification with distance from the market, farming practice, level of subsistence, weighted maize selling price, alternative financing, farm size and dependence on government purchases.

THE TREND IN FERTILIZER CONSUMPTION AND ITS IMPACT ON CROP OUTPUTS IN NIGERIA

The study analyzed the consumption trend of fertilizers (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and total/composite fertilizers) and examined its relationships with selected crop outputs from 1962 to 2019 in Nigeria. Time-series data were used and were sourced from the World Bank and Food and Agriculture Organization. The descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and Cobb Douglas production function were applied to analyze the data collected. The results revealed that fertilizer consumption over time exhibited a high level of volatility in Nigeria. The average consumption rate of 7.17 kg/ha for composite fertilizer was far below the minimum rate of 50kg/ha declared in Abuja in 2006 by African countries. Furthermore, the study established significant correlations between fertilizers and selected harvested land yields and crop outputs in the country. This implies that fertilizers can significantly regulate the outputs of crop enterprises in the country. The empirical results revealed that fertilizers were irrationally utilized in the majority of selected crop enterprises as their elasticities were either negative or greater than unity. Moreover, the decreasing return to scale was confirmed for each crop enterprise denoting decreasing contribution of fertilizer inputs to crop outputs growth in Nigeria. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the Nigeria government should work towards achieving the Abuja declaration on fertilizer use.

INVOLVEMENT OF YOUTH IN COMMERCIAL AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (YCAD): PANACEA TO AGRICULTURAL INNOVATION EFFECTIVENESS DURING EMERGENCIES IN AGRICsLTURAL COMMODITIES IN EKITI-STATE, NIGERIA

Over time, the government of Nigeria has embarked on various development programmes to improve the standard of living of the youths. Unfortunately, those programmes do fail. This study however, investigates to know what could be responsible for development programmes’ failure over time. The study specifically determined the level of involvement of youths in commercial agriculture and assessed the level of effectiveness of YCAD programme in the State. The programme trained their beneficiaries in four main agricultural enterprises (Arable crop, Poultry, Fisheries & Tree crops). Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 174 beneficiaries/respondents for the study. A validated interview schedule was used to collect data which were summarized with percentages, means and standard deviation while chi-square, correlation and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used to draw inferences. Results showed that the mean age of respondents was 37±5years, mean household size was 5±2 persons, mean year of formal education was 15±2 years and mean monthly income was ₦41,000±23,000. Results show that arable crop enterprises (47.7%) and poultry (27%) were the most preferred enterprises by the beneficiaries in the study area followed by tree crops enterprise (12.6%) and fisheries (12.6%) respectively. Results also showed that 68.7percent of the respondents indicated moderate level of involvement in Arable crop enterprise activities; 46.8percent indicated high level of involvement in poultry enterprise activities, 100percent indicated high level of involvement in tree crops and 95.5percent indicated high level of involvement in fisheries enterprise activities respectively. However, in the overall level of involvement of beneficiaries in YCAD activities, Results showed that half (50%) of the respondents indicated Moderate level of involvement. Further results show that the YCAD programme was highly effective among majority (69.5%) of the respondents. In addition, There was positive and significant relationship between the involvement in enterprise activities and effectiveness of the programme (r = 0.451; p ≤ 0.01), also, there was significance difference in the effectiveness of the programme across the four enterprises (F-value =16.374; p ≤ 0.01). This implies that the level of involvement in development programmes activities will influence its effectiveness. From this study, it was concluded that the level of involvement of the beneficiaries in various activities of YCAD programme influences its effectiveness.

Profitability of various cropping patterns among arable crop farmers in Niger State, Nigeria

Descriptive Statistics and Net Farm Income model was used to analyze data collected from 120 Arable Farmers who adopted various cropping patterns in Niger State, Nigeria. The study specifically examined the socio-economic characteristics of arable farmers, profile the cropping patterns adopted, examined the profitability and highlighted the constraints to crop production among arable farmers in the study area. Results obtained from the study show that crop farming in the area is a male dominated. The mean age of farmers was 33years, 98.3% were married, 80.8% had one form of education or the other and 68.4% adopted a three-crop mix pattern in their crop production. Two and three crop mixes enterprise were profitable than sole cropping when gross income per ha was used as an index of profitability. Profitability was higher in single crop enterprise when returns/man day was used as an index but was higher in a two and three crop mix enterprise when net returns per ha was used as a measure of profitability. Bad roads, drought, theft of farm produce, poor extension per farm advisory services and lack of credit facilities respectively were the constraint to crop production. The study concludes that mixed cropping enterprises was more profitable than sole cropping. We recommend the promotion of mixed cropping among arable farmers for increased profitability and income to farm households, that the constraints identified be addressed by all concerned authorities so as to sustain crop production, reduce food insecurity and eradicate hunger and poverty among arable farmers in the area and Nigeria as a whole.

Transaction costs and inter-organizational relations between farmers and farm product buyers in Ghana

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an understanding of what motivates farmers to participate in inter-organizational relationships with farm product buyers. Interest in inter-organizational relationships in the Ghanaian agri-food sector has been stimulated in recent years by policies seeking to reduce farmers’ market risks while improving buyers’ access to commodity inputs. The decision of how to sell farm produce is an economic imperative for the farmer; therefore, the coexistence of spot markets and inter-organizational relationships suggests that the farmers who use them must be having some gains from them.Design/methodology/approachThis study employed binary logit regression using both qualitative and quantitative data and the transactions cost theory to understand the Ghanaian farmers’ motivation for participating in inter-organizational relationships.FindingsThis study found that a farmer having better information regarding product buyers’ needs was an important motivator for participation. The farmers’ certainty about the price they would get and the quantity they would sell were also major factors that motivated farmers’ participation. Again, the motivation to engage in inter-organizational relationships with processors was also influenced by the nature of the crop. Fruit farmers, for example, were 3.7 times more likely to participate in these relationships than non-fruit farmers.Research limitations/implicationsThis study considered analysis at the farmer level. However, some farmers produced multiple crops. This means that the farmers who participate in inter-organizational relations with buyers for one crop enterprise may be nonparticipant with the other crop(s). Future studies could target analysis at the crop level while accounting for the associated transactions costs.Originality/valueThis study explores how a combination of transaction costs theory and the different crops that farmers produce explains farmers’ decision to participate in inter-organizational relationships.

Drivers of Crop Diversification: Evidence from Smallholder Farmers in Delta State Nigeria

Smallholder farmers in southern Nigeria have relied on the cultivation of cassava, yam, maize and plantain for their livelihood for generations. However, with rising climate variability and soil degradation, many farmers are adopting crop diversification as a viable alternative to improve the productivity of their farmland by growing multiple crops. Therefore, this study was conducted to examine factors that influence crop diversification, and the intensity of crop diversification among small-scale farmers in Delta State. Data for the study were obtained from a random sample of 236 farmers. Crop diversification index (CDI) was used to measure crop diversity, while descriptive statistics, Heckman two-step model and t-test were used to analyse the data. The results showed that 62.3% of the farmers were female; farmers' average age was 51 years, while farm size ranged between 0.08 and 2.2 ha, with a mean of 0.84 ha. Significant differences existed in farming experience (p < 0.05), farm income and farm size (p < 0.01) between crop diversifiers and non-diversifiers. The Heckman model results indicated that age, farm size, credit access, extension contact and farm income had significant positive (p < 0.01) effects on farmers' diversification decision; while farm size, credit access, extension contact and attitude to risk exerted positive and significant influence on intensity of crop diversification by smallholder farmers. Arising from the findings, there is an urgent need for government to chart a new policy direction to revamp the ailing agricultural extension delivery system, a farmer-targeted micro-credit institutions and reforms in land rights to smallholder farmers to enhance timely access to agricultural land to promote crop enterprise diversification among farming households.

Simulating Net Returns Among Enterprise Selection and Farm Program Choice Under Risk

Farm-level returns can provide a measure of a grower’s conviction for crop choice and farm program preference among alternative enterprise and farm program choices across varying levels of risk aversion. The objectives of this study were to incorporate stochastic efficiency with respect to a function as a means of ranking alternative crop enterprise selections among corn, cotton, rice, and soybeans and to include farm program choice between the Agricultural Risk Coverage county option program and the Price Loss Coverage program (PLC) on two representative farms in Louisiana, one located in Rapides County/Parish (central) and one located in Tensas County/Parish (northeast), for grower profitability. Using certainty equivalent (CE) values as proxies for grower risk premium, farm analysis examined those CE values for enterprise and farm program selection on the basis of grower net returns. In the absence of farm program enrollment, a corn/soybean/cotton rotation was preferable for both farms. When farm program payments were considered, cotton/corn/rice rotation would be more profitable for both farms under PLC for the grower across multiple levels of risk aversion. Crop choice and program election have an important place in the farm management decision. As market conditions change, growers are more able to tailor their farm program choice to mitigate the type of risk they deem more imminent (revenue versus price).

Constrained crop enterprise choices by smallholder farmers in semi-arid Zimbabwe

Smallholder irrigation schemes are critical in sustaining livelihoods of communities in the drier areas of Zimbabwe. The performance of these schemes as food and incomes safety nets has been questi...

Economics of production of Maize (Zea mays L.) in North Karnataka

Economics of production of maize has been studied using the randomly selected maize growers and primary data was collected from sample farmers by personal interview method with the help of pre-tested schedule. The data have been analyzed using simple tabular analysis. The results have revealed that the maize and cotton are the main crops in Kharif season and maize also grown in summer season. The findings of the study showed that among variable cost, the farm yard manure was highest per acre followed by human labour and machine labour were 22.03 per cent, 15.71 and 7.44 per cent respectively. In case of fixed cost, rental value on land was the highest cost incurred per acre of about 22.67 per cent. The cost of cultivation of maize was Rs.22165 per acre. The average yield obtained per acre of maize was found to be (22.84 q/acre) and that of by-product was (3.65t/acre) and value obtained from maize and its by-product worth ₹ 26,191.31 and ₹ 5,422 per acre, respectively. The gross returns and net returns obtained by the farmer was ₹ 31,613 and ₹ 9,447.98 per acre of maize cultivation and a return per rupee of expenditure was found to be 1.43 indicated that maize is a profitable crop enterprise.

Doubling farmers’ income in Delhi state: An introspection

The state of Delhi is fast growing in terms of urbanisation which is putting a lot of pressure on the agriculture sector of the state. The state is impacted due to fast declining area under agriculture and large urban population to meet the food requirement. In the past the policies were framed to enhance production but of late it is increase in income of the farmers that has become of prime importance. In this background the study was taken up to analyse the problems and prospects of agricultural sector of Delhi state and to suggest strategies for doubling the farmers’ income. Intensive primary survey and focus group discussions of 180 farm households were conducted for the study by using pre-tested questionnaire. A linear programming model was used for assessing the optimal crop enterprise combination. The study revealed that the reorientation of crop enterprise towards vegetables, fruits and flowers in combination with allied enterprises like apiary and dairy would enhance the farmers income up to 53% to 198% under various categories of farmers. Further, the availability of loans up to 40% of existing capital would augment the farm income to the tune of 110% to 251%.The study suggest that agriculture be declared as an enterprise which will help farmers to get benefit of government schemes. There exists huge scope for post-harvest processing and value addition of vegetables, wheat, rice, etc. The farmers need to be organised like FPO, SHGs, etc., so that their bargaining power is increased and farmers are able to realise better price for their farm products.

Community-based Organizations (CBOs) and Their Role in the Development of Women: A Case from Andhra Pradesh

In a development forum, there is a great need to look at the ground realities of organizations, especially in the context of the post-globalization scenario. Thereby comes the notion of ‘community’ from the donor’s point of view. The donors’ participation in the daily activities of the people, especially women, to make them earn their means of livelihoods poses questions which are of prime importance to have an academic engagement theoretically, empirically and otherwise. My study discusses the role of community-based organizations (CBOs) in implementing developmental programmes in rural areas across the country. It is noteworthy in the case of sericulture enterprise a large number of women are active at various levels, which further proved to be one of the important crop enterprise prevailing in the locality. This paper attempts to interrogate how women empowered themselves as a part of the CBOs. This could eventually lead to policymakers, government and other agencies to advise development programmes. The paper draws its analysis and inferences from a fieldwork carried out with the sericulturists of a village in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh in India.

Analysis of the gross margins and commercialization of manure and fertilizer based waterleaf (Talinum triangulare) farmers in Nigeria

Purpose. Waterleaf production is an emerging crop enterprise and is a reliable source of livelihood for many unemployed women around peri-urban centres and rural areas in the southern region of Nigeria. Its production is most hindered by low soil fertility caused by continuous cropping and increasing alternative land uses among others. In response to low soil fertility, Waterleaf farmers have resorted to the use of organic manure and or fertilizer to enrich the soil. In an attempt to develop an appropriate policy framework that would encourage sustained use of soil enhancing materials among small scale farmers, the study compared the economic performance of the organic manure-based and fertilizer based Waterleaf farmers in Uyo agricultural zone of Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. &#x0D; Methodology / approach. The study was conducted in the southern region of Nigeria. Waterleaf farmers were selected using random sampling and the data was obtained using a well-structured questionnaire. Inferential and descriptive statistics including multiple regression technique based on Ordinary Least Squares estimation technique were employed. &#x0D; Results. Empirical results showed that the following socioeconomic characteristics were statistically different between Waterleaf farmers using organic manure and those utilizing fertilizer: age, education, household size, years of membership in social organization, access to extension services, farm size, and farm income. The results further revealed that organic and fertilizer based Waterleaf farmers earned income (gross margin) that averaged at N17835.00 and N18783.12 respectively, for a single production cycle and it was statistically similar. The OLS result showed that education, farm income, and gender had a significant positive impact on the gross margin of organic manure users while stem cost household size, membership in social organization, labour cost and farm credit showed a significant negative effect. Also, farmers’ age, farm income, and household size showed a positive effect on the gross margin of fertilizer based farmers while education, marital status, stem cost social organization, labour cost, the quantity of Waterleaf stolen, gender and farm size showed a significant negative impact. The findings also revealed that the level of commercialization in organic manure farmers was higher and statistically different from fertilizer based farmers. Empirical results showed that farmers’ age, education, farming experience, farm size, and social capital formation have a positive influence on the level of commercialization of fertilizer based farmers while gender, household size, and a household dependent ratio showed a significant negative effect. On the other hand, education, gender, farm size and extension service have positive correlations with the level of commercialization of organic farmers while household size, household dependent ratio, and marital status have a negative impact.&#x0D; Originality / scientific novelty. The study has developed out of absolute necessity to sustain Waterleaf production as a means of livelihood for thousands of resource-poor farmers and unemployed women in the region. This is the first attempt to analyse the production performance of categories of Waterleaf farmers practising different soil management techniques in the region. The findings satisfied a priori expectations and reflected the extent of economic and environmental deterioration engulfing the small scale farmers in the region. &#x0D; Practical value / implications. The study has identified policy variables that will enable policymakers to develop a sustained policy framework that would enhance the use of manure and fertilizer by small scale farmers in the region. To further enhanced sustainability of Waterleaf enterprise, it is recommended that, adult education should be encouraged and extension services, strengthen as well as planned subsidies for fertilizer and other farm inputs for Waterleaf farmers in the region.

A survey of dairy cattle management, crop planning, and forages cost of production in Northern Italy

A survey regarding crop enterprise management, forages cost of production, dairy cattle management including reproductive management, housing, heat abatement, body condition scoring, nutrition, grouping strategies, and income over feed cost performance, was carried out from December 2016 to January 2018 on 50 dairy farms by the Department of Animal Science, Food and Nutrition of Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore (Piacenza, Italy). A total of 41 herds (82%) completed the survey. Average herd size was 327 ± 162 lactating cows with the average land size of 160 ± 94 ha per farm. Herds were located in the provinces of Cremona (17), Brescia (8), Mantova (7), Piacenza (5), Cuneo (4), Bergamo (3), Lodi (3), Torino (2), and Venezia (1). These farms sold 32.8 ± 2.01 kg of milk/day per cow, had an annual culling rate of 34.0 ± 4.00%, a calving interval of 14.16 ± 0.58 months., and a 21-days pregnancy rate of 17.05 ± 2.58%. Implementing effective management strategies to contrast the damage caused by Ostrinia nubilalis, Diabrotica spp. and Myocastor coypus were identified as the main crop enterprise challenges. Main forages cultivated were alfalfa and corn silage second seeding with a total cost of production of (€/ha) 1968 ± 362 and 2,581 ± 221, with an average yield of 9.61 ± 1.24 and 17.22 ± 2.46 ton of DM per hectare, respectively. Results of this study can provide useful benchmark or reference for dairy management practices, crops and dairy performances, forages production costs on very well-managed North Italian dairy farms at the present time.Highlightsbenchmarks for dairy farmsmanagement practices, economic and reproductive performancecost of production of forages in northern Italy

English

Solanum aethiopicum Shum group is a nutrient-rich and income-generating crop enterprise in various sub-Saharan Africa countries. Despite its importance, the development of its improved varieties has not been prioritized. Until now, no field-based descriptor development reference for the crop is available for testing candidate varieties for distinctiveness, uniformity and stability. The purpose of this study is to identify morphological variables that provide identity of S. aethiopicum Shum group accessions across environments. With ten accessions across three test locations, it was observed that the highly polymorphic morphological variables were majorly vegetative and a few reproductive ones. They include plant height at flowering, plant canopy breadth, plant branching, petiole color, petiole length, leaf blade length, leaf blade width, leaf lobbing, leaf tip angle, flowering time, style length, fruit position, fruit flesh density, fruits per inflorescence and fruit flavor. A static stability analysis, a common selection technique for obtaining consistence in performance of genotypes, showed that accessions varied in their interaction with environments for different descriptors. The most statically stable accessions were 184P and 163P while the least stables were 168P, 148, 141, and 137. The findings indicate the potential for identifying unique and stable varieties of S. aethiopicum Shum group for the processing of official release to farmers. Key words: Polymorphic morphological markers; static stability coefficient; field characterization; Solanum aethiopicum Shum; genotype by environment interaction.

English

In many parts of the world including Uganda climbing beans are mostly grown in highland areas where population density is high and land is limiting. The objective of this study was to contribute to understanding the current status of the factors affecting productivity of climbing beans among smallholder farmers in Uganda. Kisoro and Kabale districts in the South West were selected for the study. Primary data was collected based on 150 households selected randomly in each district in January and June, 2014. In both districts, climbing beans was ranked as a major crop enterprise for income (72.7%). Most of the interviewed households (84 and 92%) in Kisoro and Kabale respectively appreciated that the major advantage of climbing beans was suitability to areas with limited land. The study revealed practices that seem to integrate the different factors and the various components within each factor promoting ecological or interrelatedness in the production system. Lack of staking materials was ranked by the majority (Kisoro 45% and Kabale 59%) as the most important constraint. Common bean diseases (49%) and pests (45%) were highly ranked in Kisoro as compared to Kabale (13 and 22%). Labour scarcity was ranked by the majority of farmers in Kabale (49%) as compared to Kisoro (19%). Given the importance of climbing beans in the two districts, the study recommends their continued and sustainable intensification. Key words:&nbsp; Common bean, cropping system, ecological, food security, highlands, legume, staking. &nbsp