Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme Research Articles

Temporal Water Balance Analysis in Different Climatic Scenarios in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to examine water availability in different climatic scenarios in Oyo State. The data used comprised of rainfall and temperature records. The spans of the data used vary from one station to the other: 38-year data for Ibadan and 37-year for Ogbomoso stations, both collected from NIMET Office, Ilorin while 11-year also collected from the Office of Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP) Headquarters at Shaki were available for Shaki Station. Evapotranspiration data for the three stations were empirically generated while water balance model was computed using MATLAB R2007a version in order to determine the respective water availability and the regression analysis was used to determine rainfall trends. The results showed that rainfall amounts vary from year to year and also increasing trends in the three stations over the period examined. It was also discovered that in all the periods investigated across the stations, Ibadan has 81.58%, Shaki, 81.81% and Ogbomoso, 56.80% as wet years indicating that there is abundant water resources in Oyo State. It is recommended that strategies be put in place to exploit excess rainwater for various purposes especially by increasing the capacity of water reservoirs and dams across the State for development of pipe borne water network and also, for irrigation farming during dry spells. Further investigation is recommended on water balance and its implications for agricultural practice in the study area.

Location and distance of farmers to agricultural extension service: implication for agricultural development in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study investigated the location and distance covered by farmers to agricultural extension service/unit among farmers in Oyo state. Furthermore, it tried to look at the implication on farmers’ agricultural production. A multistage random sampling procedure was used to select 320 farmers from four agricultural zones (Ibadan/Ibarapa, Ogbomoso, Oyo and Saki) of Oyo State Agricultural Development programme (OYSADEP). Farmers were selected from 8 local government areas and from 124 villages. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyse the results from the study. Findings revealed that agricultural extension agents were within the reach of farmers as 79.1% of the farmers indicated that agricultural extension agents were the major source of agricultural information and also provided advisory service (77.8%). The mean distance covered by farmers to extension units was 17.8km but bad road network (77.5%) and low extension-farmer ratio (64.1%) were some of the major constraints identified by farmers as affecting extension service delivery. Regression analysis between distance of farmers to extension and other production incentives show a positive relationship (p<0.00) on income alone. Therefore, it is recommended that the government improve road conditions and also invest funds to support the Agricultural development Programme (ADP) system. Keywords: Location, distance, extension service/unit, agricultural production

Utilization of Agro-meteorological Services among Arable Crop Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study assessed arable crop farmers’ utilization of agro-meteorological services in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling procedure was employed for this study. Oyo State was stratified into rainforest and savannah. One local government each was randomly selected from each of the vegetation zones, which were Iddo and Ogbomoso north. List of arable crop farmers was obtained from the selected LGAs from where 02% and 03% of the population were randomly selected to give a total sample size of 167 respondents. Data were presented with descriptive and analysed inferential statistical tools: Chi-square and PPMC. The results reveal that the majority of respondents were males (83.6%), Christians (62.5%) and had formal education (79.0%). About 36.2% were between 50 and 59 years and 65.8% had a farm size of 1-5 acres. Maize and cassava were the most cultivated crops, Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP) was the only communication channel used. More than half (66.4%) of the farmers were aware of seasonal rainfall prediction, untimely access to information was the most severe constraint (1.23) and the used of agro-meteorological service was slightly above average (54.6%). Farm size (r=0.162) and family size (r=0.309: p≤0.05) were significantly related to utilization of agro-meteorological services. The scale of agro-meteorological service utilisation requires deliberate agro-meteorological extension education services and timely delivery of a gro-meteorological information to farmers.

Labour Shortage Effects on Stress Level of Employees in Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP)

Stress occurs when the demands placed on employees in an organization outweigh their technical, physical, educational and professional capabilities to meet such demands. If this goes unchecked, it can affect the health and job performance of employees and the overall objective of organziation may become unattainable.This study was conducted to assess the effects of labour shortage on stress level of employees in OYSADEP, Oyo State. Out of the four zones in Oyo State, two zones namelyOgbomosho and Ibadan/Ibarapa zones were randomly selected. The total population of employees in two zones was 74 which constituted the sample for the study. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentage and means while inferential statistics such as Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used to analyze the data. The result indicated that more than half (51.4%) of the employees were male, 85.1% were married with a mean age of 41 years. Most of the employees (91.9%) had tertiary education with 5 years and above years of experience. The results indicated the problem associated with labour shortage. Rewards of employees were low as compared to the risk of the job they were doing ( =3.35), the limited number of employees were being stressed due to labour shortage ( =3.01), and inadequate strength of staff was affecting the success of the organization ( =2.85). The result also reveals the stress level of employees. Stress effect on staff was affecting their work ( =2.80) and the nature of their job was such that they desired to quit if they had alternative ( =2.70). Chi-square analysis revealed that only working experience (χ2=11.740, df=4, P less than 0.05) had a significant relationship with employees stress level. There was also a significant correlation between employees perception of labour shortage and their stress level. The study concluded that due to the problem of labour shortage in OYSADEP the stress associated with the job was high as compared to the pay. It is therefore recommended that management of OYSADEP should employ more staff to reduce the stress on the existing employees of the organization.

Stress coping strategies among agricultural extension agents in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study examined the coping strategies used by extension agents A total of seventy 72agricultural extension agents were randomly sampled out of 288 agricultural extension agents from the four zones (Saki, Oyo, Ogbomosho, and Ibadan) in the Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP). A questionnaire was used for data collection while the data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Out of 11 job stressors, the predominant job stressors carried out by the extension agentswere farmers field visitation with ( x =4.80),training of farmers ( x = 4.76) and establishment of SPAT (small plot adoption techniques)( x =4.59) Reading newspaper, magazine or book ( x =1.77) and discussing work situation with spouse or close friends ( x = 1.5) were the major coping strategies used in overcoming job stress while negative coping strategies such as becoming aggressive recorded low mean score of 0.34. There was strong relationship between some job stressors and coping strategies employed by workers. Employees should have control over work flow to reduce work stress and increase work efficiency. Keywords: Extension agentswork stress, stressors and copying strategies

Distribution of Bacteria Load in Fish Tissues, Pond Water and Sediment in Oyo State, Nigeria

Consumption of fresh fish especially is increasing on daily basis based in Nigeria; meanwhile Fish has been reported to capable of harbouring pathogenic bacteria and the level of its prevalence depending on many factors. The load of bacteria may results to diseases and cause biological and economical losses. The study investigated the total bacterial and enterobacterecea count in water, pond sediment, fish flesh, liver, kidney, intestine and gill from fish farms across large, medium, and small scale farms in the zone.The study was carried out in Oyo State, using Oyo state into agro-ecological segment by Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYADEP). Farms in each zones were sub-grouped into Large, Medium and Small scales using stratified method. A total number of thirty-six (36) farms (5 Large, Medium and Small scales farms) were selected. Water (in a plastic bottles), soil, and fish (in a sterile polythene) samples were collected aseptically and examined for bacteria load.The total viable count (TVC) and total enterobacteriacea (TEB) were expressed in mean (cfu/g) and Log10CFU/g.The mean data were compared using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Duncan Multiple Range Test.The results show that water samples from Ogbomosho zone had highest TVC and TEB and 5.73±0.29 Log10cfu/ml and 5.25±0.31 Log10cfu/mlrespectively. Evaluation of pond sediment shows that Ibadan/Ibarapa zone had highest TVC (5.89±0.26Log10cfu/g)and TEB and (5.53±0.25Log10cfu/g). Fish from Ogbomosho zone had highest TVC in gill (128.04±51.57cfu/g), liver (78.22±33.93cfu/g), kidney (66.07±31.01cfu/g), intestine (98.81±52.36cfu/g), skin (232.67±77.62cfu/g) and spleen (31.70±25.25cfu/g) while Saki zone had highest TVC in flesh (41.56±21.13cfu/g). TEB were highest in fish from Ogbomosho zone in gill (72.67±43.9cfu/g 5), kidney (45.04±29.14cfu/g), intestine (54.44±39.74), skin (110.41±65.41cfu/cm2) and spleen (31.70±25.25cfu/g) while TEB were highest in liver (35.82±17.81cfu/g) from fish from Ogbomosho zone and flesh from fish from Saki zone (21.19±12.16cfu/g). Fish from most of agro-ecological zone of Oyo State are contaminated with enterobacteria higher than the recommended values opining consumer health risk therefore, effort should be put in place to prevent culture system contamination throughout the value production chain

English

The study assessed household vulnerability to climate change and its effect on yam and cassava production in Oyo state, Nigeria. Primary and secondary data were used for the study. Data on yam and cassava yield between 1990 and 2009 were obtained from the Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) while data on climate variables between 1976 and 2010 were obtained from the Nigeria Institute of Meteorology, Oshodi. Primary data on the components of vulnerability that is adaptive capacity, sensitivity and exposure were also obtained from cassava and yam farmers using structured questionnaire to assess their vulnerability to climate change. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select 120 respondents across the three agro-ecological zones of the study area. This was done by purposively selecting five farm villages in each of the three agro-ecological zones in the study area and randomly selecting eight farmers from each of the villages. Trend, regression and principal component analytical tools were used to analyze data collected. The integrated vulnerability assessment approach was adopted using the vulnerability indicator. The result showed that the mean annual temperature and mean annual sunshine hour have been increasing by an average of 0.012oC (p<0.01) and 0.004 hours (p<0.01) per year respectively. This confirms the occurrence of global warming in the study area. The study revealed that sunshine hour significantly (p<0.05) affected yam yield. Household’s vulnerability to climate change in the three agro ecological zones as measured by the vulnerability index (VI) was found to be highest in the derived savannah (VI=-0.99) followed by the savannah (VI=0.46) and lowest in the rain forest (VI=0.53). The derived savannah zone recorded the highest vulnerability with a relatively low proportion of the population having access to quality home (2.5%), insecticide (30%), fertilizer (30%), improved seedlings (30%), road (15%), health services (15%), primary and secondary schools (15%), veterinary services (0.03%), food market (42.5%), and microfinance institutions (0.03%). The study recommended among others that crop-breeding researchers should work towards developing improved varieties of cassava and yam that can cope with future expected change in climate. Also, integrated rural development schemes aimed at increasing access to basic social amenities should be established by the government with the cooperation of the residents as this will improve adaptive capacity and thereby reduce vulnerability of farmers to climate change in the study area. Key words: Climate change, Vulnerability, Food, Crop production, Oyo State

Training Needs Assessment on the Use of Social Media among Extension Agents in Oyo State, Nigeria

Agricultural information exchange has been dominated by industrial media such as newspapers, television, and magazines for decades. However, social media as a form of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) method for harmonizing sustainable agriculture and natural resources provides broader agricultural community that eliminates physical distance. The study therefore examined training needs assessment on the use of social media among agricultural extension agents in Oyo State, Nigeria. All the 90 agricultural extension agents in Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP) were interviewed. This includes 35 from Ibadan|Ibarapa zone, 22 from Saki, 19 from Oyo and 14 from Ogbomosho zone. Result shows that the mean age of extension agents in Oyo State was 38±2 years, (98.8%) had one form of tertiary education or the other. Majority (72.0%) exhibited high need for training on the use of social media even when the result revealed that Facebook (47.6%) was mostly used social media among the agents. The result of inferential statistics shows that there was a significant relationship between education (X2 =10.142, p

Perception of corrupt practices among extension agents of Oyo State agricultural development programme (OYSADEP)

Corruption has been a perennial clog in the wheel of development of all the sectors of Nigeria economy, agriculture inclusive. Staffers of different establishments engage in some conducts tantamount to corruption advertently and in some instances, inadvertently. This study focused on the perception of some practices; that were considered corrupt, by agricultural Extension Agents (EA) of Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP). Simple random sampling was used to select 85 EAs (out of the total of 170) representing the sample size. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the respondents on their personal characteristics, awareness and perception of the different forms of corrupt practices. Descriptive statistics, (frequency counts, percentages and mean) were used to summarize the data. More (35.3%, 64.7% and 29.4%) were between 32and 36 years of age, male, and had crop production as their area of specialization, respectively. Most (88. 2%) of the respondents knew abuse of office as corrupt practice, while the least known (9.4%) corrupt practice was bureaucratic conflict of interest. So also, patronage was known by just 17.6% as a corrupt practice. Majority (55%) of the respondents perceived corruption as impeding development. There was no significant relationship between awareness of various forms of corruption and perception of different corruption related statements. Therefore, it could be inferred that there exist a fair virtue within staffers of EAs of OYSADEP, but they were not aware of the semantics used in describing the different forms of corrupt practices. Many of the different forms of corrupt practices were not known to be such, while those that were known were not so derided. Hence, high toleration for those practices was implied. The current war against corruption by the present administration in the country should be holistic in covering public officers in the agricultural sector, as well as ensure mass media orientation to enhance attitudinal change. Keywords : Bureaucratic conflict, Corrupt Practices, Extension Agents.

Assessment of Agroforestry Practices by Farmers in Lagelu Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria

The study examined the Agroforestry practices among farmers in Lagelu local government area of Oyo state, Nigeria. Three of the four Zones of Oyo state ADP (Agricultural Development Programme): Olorunda, Lalupon and Oyedeji were purposively sampled for the study because of the dense population of trees and the predominance of agroforestry in the Zones. Five farmer’ groups were randomly sampled in each Zone and thirteen farmers were randomly selected in each of the farmer’ groups, giving a total of one hundred and ninety five respondents. Structured questionnaire and oral interviews were used to collect information from the respondents. Frequency counts, percentages, pie chart and bar chart were used to analyze the data. Majority of the respondents (66.2%) were males while (33.8%) were females. Mixed Farming which is a common farming system in the South West of Nigeria is predominant in the study area. Theobroma cacao (cocoa) 15.7% and Chrysophylum albidium (African Star apple) 14.9% took the lead among the tree species used in Agroforestry. The major constraint encountered by the farmers in practising agroforestry is limited access to land and lack of financial assistance. The problem of insufficient land and the consequential land fragmentation is reflected in small farm sizes and many farm locations. The study recommends that sufficient land should be made available for farming; farmers should be financially assisted in their farming enterprises with low interest loans. Extension education in the area of agrofrorestry should also be intensified.Key words: Agroforestry, farming systems, tree crops, extension education

Rural-urban price transmission and market integration of selected horticultural crops in Oyo state, Nigeria

The majority of agricultural markets in African countries are inefficient and poorly integrated. This study therefore assessed the level of market integration and the trend analysis of selected vegetable crops in Oyo State. It also identified the leading market between rural and urban markets in Oyo state. Secondary data on the prices of fresh tomato, onion, chilli pepper, sweet pepper, and fresh pepper (2003-2011) were obtained from Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme and were analysed using trend analyses, Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) test, Granger causality test and index of market concentration. Results showed that the prices of onion, chilli pepper and fresh pepper were non-stationary in their various level forms but stationary at first difference; while prices of fresh tomato and sweet pepper in urban markets were stationary at their level form at probability of 5% respectively. The indices of market concentration for onion, sweet pepper, fresh pepper, chilli pepper were less than one suggesting high short-run market integration, whereas fresh tomato achieved low short-run market integration. Further, urban markets were the leading markets for onion, chilli pepper and sweet pepper, while rural markets were the leading markets for fresh tomato and fresh pepper.

Effects of root and tuber expansion programme (rtep) on cassava nd yam farmers’ level of production in Oyo state, Nigeria

The economic and social situation in Africa is a matter of great concern, the daily lives of the majority of Africans living mainly in rural areas is marked by hunger and diseases. A great proportion of its people are deprived of basic necessities, especially food, access to health facilities, education and safe water. In other words, increase in agriculturalproduction has always been a concern for both government and nongovernmental organizations in Nigeria .This is because of the rapid increase in population of the nation. Thus, many agricultural programmes and technologies have been developed by the federal government to improve the efficiency of the agricultural sector in productionharvesting, processing, storage and marketing in order to proffer solution to the problem of hunger and poverty in the nation.Thus, this study examined the effect of Root and Tuber Expansion Programme (RTEP) on cassava and yam farmers’ level of production in Oyo state, as one of the participating states. Multistage sampling technique was used to select respondents from two participating zones in the study area for the study. Primary data were generated through the use of structured questionnaires /interview schedules. Questionnaires wereadministered on 120 respondents out of which 100 were used and this gives a response rate of 83.3%.Secondary data were also collected from technical reports, and publications from the Federal headquarters, RTEP, Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP), project coordinating unit (PCU) and other relevant establishments.Descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (Chi square, Pearson Moment Correlationtest and Analysis of variance) were used. The study reveals that majority of the respondents had formal education which is a great advantage, for their adoptionand production. Majority (84 %) are married, 23.0 percent had farm size of 7.1-10hec which indicates that they have capacity for enlargement/increase. The Result also shows that majority (70%) have more than 15years of experience in farming and this will have influence on their indigenous practices in farming. The result of chi square analysis shows that there is significant relationship between attitude and level of production of cassava and yam farmers(X2 =8.251, p=0.000).The study also shows that there is a significant difference between theconstraints faced by farmers and level of production of cassava and yam farmers (t=1.261, p=0.009). The analysis of the relationship between income and level of production of the respondents showed that there is asignificant relationship, but it was an inverse type of relationship(r =-0.517, p= 0.000).The analysis of variance showed that there is significant difference in the level of production of cassava and yam farmers before and during the programme. This study has some implication for agricultural extension in the area of the number of extension personnelavailable are no enough to cover the total number of farmers in the nation, and it also reveals the reason for high staff turn over in extension arm of ADP .This study has also helped in revealing the underlying problems in the implementation of agricultural programmes such as organizational principle ,political influence, lack of the beneficiaries input in the design and implementation. The result for the study showed that RTEP has contributed to the level of production of cassava and yam famers as well as their income level through processing and marketing of various value added product from cassava and yam which is also extending to other root and tuber crops. Nevertheless identified constraints to cassava and yam production ,processing, and marketing include labour, transportation, farm inputs, inadequate timely information to farmers, lackof access to fertilizer ,storage capacity, lack of incentives to farmers and capital .It is therefore recommended that effectives extension system ,and a well coordinated agricultural development programme should be pursued to achieve greater agricultural production, increased household income and poverty reduction.

Socio-Economic Characteristics Of Snail Farmers, Consumers And Sellers In Selected Zones Of Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP)

The socio-economic characteristic of snail farmers in Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP) was evaluated in two out of the four zones that were available. The two zones selected were Ibadan/Ibarapa and Oyo zones, to determine the factors related to snail production, consumption and marketing in the state. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to obtain a representative sample of one hundred and twenty respondents of the Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADEP) comprising both farmers and consumers. A snowball sampling technique was used to obtain sixty (60) snail sellers each from the two selected markets, making 120 snail sellers. The data for this study were obtained through systematic sampling. Structured questionnaires and scheduled farm visits. Three sets of questionnaires were employed. The first set targeted the snail farmers, the second, consumers' consumption pattern while the third set of questionnaire targeted the sellers. The data were subjected to both descriptive and inferential statistical analysis (chi square and regression) after sorting and scoring. Most of the farmers (30.5%) were between 21 – 29 years of age, while most consumers (33.5%) are within the age group 30 – 39 years. Majority of the farmers and consumers were males (75.0% and 60.2% respectively). About twenty seven percent of the farmers (27.8%) had Higher National Diploma, 20.8% consumers had secondary education and 18.7% had the National Certificate of Education (NCE). Relationship between snail farmers' demographic characteristic and their production levels was significant (P < 0.05). While the relationship between snail consumers' demographic characteristic and their consumption levels showed no significant difference (P > 0.05). Distribution of number of snails in farmers' farms indicated that 34.7% had less than 300 snails on their farm while 31.9% had between 301 – 600 snails. Distribution of snail consumers according to their level of consumption in a month revealed that 68.1% of the snail consumers interviewed eat snails between 1 – 10 times in a month, whereas, very few (3.5%) eat snails up to 40 times in a month. From the list of 17 constraints, 10 were identified by snail farmers as factors limiting their levels of snail production. Likewise, out of the nine constraints listed as factors limiting snail consumption among respondents, seven were identified by snail consumers as factors limiting their levels of consumption. The snail sellers interviewed identified only seven out of the twelve factors listed as limiting snail marketing. High procurement cost from snail farmers (73.3%) was the major constraining factor. Based on the findings it can be concluded that most of the respondents were generally male except among snail marketers. All respondents were generally educated; only few of them did not have western education. It was recommended that timely and regular trainings, seminars, workshops on new findings about snail production should be conducted for snail farmers and other interested people. Keywords: Socio-economic characteristics, Snail farmers, Snail consumers, OYSADEPJournal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 4 (2) 2006: pp. 68-78

Price Transmission and Market Integration in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract: The paper tests the market integration of the main staple agricultural commodities in Oyo State. Monthly prices in covering a period of 8 years (1994–2001) were obtained from Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (OYSADP) and analysed using the Ravallion Model. The study also calculated the Indices of Market Concentration (IMC) to measure the degree of spatial market integration. The IMCs for cassava, yam, white maize and yellow maize were 0.3074, 0.0814, 0.02712 and 0.1648 respectively. The IMCs imply high short‐run market integration between the reference and rural markets. The market integration indices confirm that price changes in the urban markets (Bodija and Ilora) translated to changes in the price of cassava, yam, maize, yellow maize in rural markets (Akanran, Towobowo, Anko, Irepodun, Oje, Kajola, Akala and Aberu). It is concluded that agricultural commodity arbitrage is working. The degree of market integration can be enhanced by the provision of not only transport infrastructure but by provision of adequate formal marketing information and standardization of weights and measures in the system.

The Impact of Training and Visit System on Professionalization of Extension Agents in Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme

KEYWORDS Visit schedule; fortnight training (FNT); subject matter specialist (SMS) ABSTRACT The study assessed the impact of training and visit (T &V) system of extension on professionalization of extension agents in Oyo State Agricultural Development Programme (ADP). One hundred and thirty (130) extension agents were interviewed and simple percentages and product moment correlation utilized for data analysis. A positive impact of T & V system with respect to the profession skill of extension agents was observed. The calibre of manpower involved in extension activity under T&V system at the field level appears to be rising, an indication of brighter future for extension service in Nigeria. The system has remarkably improved the technical competence of the extension agents by providing a climate, under which extension agents develop favourable attitude toward their clientele through frequent interactions. The regular and continuous training of extension agents under T & V approach play a significant role on the job effectiveness of the agents. The T & V system should be retained. However, the extension practitioner particularly those at the top management level should recognize the constraints facing the T&V system and adjust accordingly to enhance sustainability.