Potato Production Technologies Research Articles

Studies on feasibility of sustainable quality seed potato production technology and development of supply chain for the benefit of small and marginal potato growers of Karnataka

Management of aphid vectors in potato is important for the production of quality seed potato. Aphids are the major vectors of many potato viruses which transmit viral diseases limiting the seed potato production. To explore the area with aphid free/low population a weekly aphid observation was made in major potato growing areas of Chikkaballapur and Chickmagalur districts during rabiand kharif seasons to assess the build-up trends on the standing crop using aphid-leaf count and catches of yellow water pan and yellow sticky traps. Aphid population was below threshold level in the areas surveyed, however in Chickmagalur aphid build-up was erratic due to heavy rain fall followed by dry spells. Harvested potato in Chikkaballapur was treated and stored in cold storage for three months. During June, 50 per cent of the seed stock was transported to Chickmagalur area for planting in kharif season and remaining seed was used for planting in Chikkaballapur area during rabi season. In Chickmagalur, the harvested and treated seed was stored in low cost country potato store for three months and 50 per cent seed from warehouse was transported to Chikkaballapur for rabi planting and remaining seed was planted in Chickmagalur area during November thereby saving nearly 40 per cent of seed cost. Thus, the feasibility supply chain has been established making the local potato growers self-sustainable in quality seed potato production resulting in 30-40 percent seed requirement met locally produced quality seed and non-traditional areas will be brought under potato cultivation. The breeder seed was multiplied under low cost insect proof net houses during rabi season in Chikkaballapur area, harvested seed was stored in cold storage thereafter distributed among the local potato growers for planting during kharif season in Chickmagalur area.

Limitations and Processing Technologies of Sweet Potato Production by Farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria

The study examined limitations and processing technologies of sweet potato production by farmers in Anambra State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling techniques were used for the study. Four local governments out of the 21 local governments in the State were purposely selected due to their popularity in sweet potato production. Two communities were selected from each local government to give a total of 8 communities that were used for the study. Fifteen (15) sweet potato farmers were selected from each community using simple random sampling technique and this gave a total sample size of 120 farmers. Data were generated through a structured interview schedule. Out of 120 questionnaires distributed, only 100 were retrieved and used for analysis. Percentage, frequency, mean score and standard deviation were used for data analysis. Results show that 79% of the farmers were female and their mean age was 38 years. Majority (58%) of the farmers were not aware of the technologies introduced to them while, some farmers were aware of the innovation. None of the farmers adopted the technologies. Too much attention on other crops with a weighted mean score 2.74, high perishability of sweet potato with a weighted mean score 2.63, inadequate finance with a weighted mean score 2.60, pest/disease infestation (2.48), high cost of sweet potato processing equipment (2.48) farmers' low knowledge on sweet potato value Chain (2.45), in adequate extension services with a weighted mean score 2.42 were identified by the farmers as the major constraints to sweet potato production technologies in the study area.

Knowledge of recommended potato production technology among potato growers in Tripura

Knowledge of recommended potato production technology among potato growers in Tripura

Extent of adoption of potato production technology by the potato growers in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat

Horticulture sector covering only 8.00 per cent of total cropped area in the country and it contributes 24.50 per cent to G.D.P. and 54.55 per cent to export earning in agriculture sector. Potato is an important vegetable crop of the Sabarkantha district of the Gujarat state occupying about 18.46 per cent of total potato cropped area of the state. It ranks second in area and production of potato after Banaskantha district. While it ranks fourth with average productivity 31.04 MT/ha after Gandhinagar (33.75 MT/ha), Anand (32.00 MT/ha) and Banaskantha (31.05 MT/ha). The specific objectives studied were, to study the personal, socio-economic, situational and psychological characteristics of the potato growers, to find out knowledge level of the potato growers about potato production technology, to find out the extent of adoption of potato production technology by the potato growers. The results revealed that majority (56.67 %) of the potato growers were found in the middle age group and majority (35.83%) of the potato growers were educated upto high secondary level. Nearly half (54.17%) of the respondents belonged to medium size of family, majority (60.83%) of the potato growers had membership in one organization, more than two-fifths (42.50 %) of the potato growers were semi-medium farmers having 2.01 to 4.0 ha of land, majority (67.50 %) of the potato growers were found with medium annual income and majority (71.67%) of the potato growers fell in medium category of the extension participation. Three-fifths (61.67%) of the potato growers had adopted drip as a method of irrigation and majority (63.33%) of the farmers had adopted groundnut-potato-fodder sorghum potato based cropping pattern, more than three-fourths (75.83%) of the potato growers had medium innovative proneness and nearly three- fifths (60.00%) of the potato growers had medium risk orientation. A great majority (61.67%) of the potato growers had medium level of knowledge regarding recommended practices of potato. The findings regards to the practice-wise knowledge of the respondents about recommended potato production technology are presented. It reveals that 'sowing time and method' and 'irrigation management' were the most important practices of potato cultivation and found having maximum mean knowledge score (93.33 mean score each). Majority (70.83 %) of the respondents had medium extent of adoption of recommended production technology of potato. The practice-wise adoptions of recommended production technology of potato concluded that among the different recommended potato production technologies, (86.57mean score) of the respondents had adopted irrigation management technology.

Impact of adoption startup scenario of recommended potato production technology by the potato growers in Gujarat

Potato is an important vegetable crop of the Sabarkantha district of the Gujarat state occupying about 18.46 per cent of total potato cropped area of the state. It ranks second in area and production of potato after Banaskantha district. While it ranks fourth with average productivity 31.04 MT/ha after Gandhinagar (33.75 MT/ha), Anand (32.00 MT/ha) and Banaskantha (31.05 MT/ha).The following objectives were studied that are to find out the extent of adoption of potato production technology by the potato growers and to know the marketing management by the potato growers, to ascertain the association between the extent of adoption of recommended potato production technology by the potato growers and their selected characteristics.The following conclusions were, A great majority (61.67%) of the potato growers had medium level of knowledge regarding recommended practices of potato. The findings regards to the practice-wise knowledge of the respondents about recommended potato production technology are presented. It reveals that 'sowing time and method' and 'irrigation management' were the most important practices of potato cultivation and found having maximum mean knowledge score (93.33 mean score each).Majority (70.83 %) of the respondents had medium extent of adoption of recommended production technology of potato. The practice-wise adoptions of recommended production technology of potato concluded that among the different recommended potato production technologies, (86.57 mean score) of the respondents had adopted irrigation management technology.Majority (70.83%) of the respondents had medium marketing management by the farmers. The data about various aspect of marketing management concluded that it was portray that majority respondent (48.33%) were selling their produce through the commission agent, while 30.83 per cent of the respondents selling their produced to the wholesaler in the market yard. Further, it was found that 51.66 per cent of the respondents sold their produce when the prices are favorable, while 30.83 per cent of the respondents sold their produce immediately after the harvest. In case of grading it was found that 60.00 per cent of the respondents followed grading on the basis of the size of potato and 40.00 per cent of the respondents followed grading on the basis of quality of potato. The responses regarding storage facility revealed that 43.33 per cent of the respondents stored the potato in gunny bags, followed cold storage 40.84 per cent. The independent variables like age, education, annual income, extension participation, method of irrigation, innovative proneness, risk orientation and level of knowledge had positive and significant correlation with adoption of recommended crop production technology by farmers. While, the variables like size of family, social participation, land holding and cropping pattern had positive and non- significant relationship with adoption of recommended crop production technology by the farmers.

Participatory potato seed production: a breakthrough for food security and income generation in the central highlands of Ethiopia

AbstractQuality seed is one of the major bottlenecks hampering the production and productivity of potato not only in Ethiopia but also in Sub-Saharan Africa. Since the 1970’s, the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research has generated a number of improved potato production technologies such as improved varieties with accompanying agronomic practices, crop protection measures, postharvest handling techniques and utilization options. The developed technologies were promoted from 2013-2015 via technology promotion and popularization to the Wolmera, Adea-Bera and Ejere districts with the objective of creating awareness and up scaling of improved potato production and utilization technologies. The Potato Improvement Research Program and the Research and Extension Division of Holetta Research Center in collaboration with extension staff of the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) undertake this activity. The farmers were selected and organized in Farmer Field Schools and all stakeholders were engaged before distributing potato seeds and planting on selected farmers’ fields for demonstrating of potato production technologies. A total of 899 farmers and 40 agricultural experts were trained and 27.7, 9 and 5.5 tons of quality seeds of Gudanie, Jalenie and Belete potato varieties, respectively, were delivered as a revolving seed with their recommended agronomic packages; this amount of seed covered 21.1 ha. A total of 16 farmer groups from Wolmera, 7 from Adea-Berga, and 11 from Ejere participated. They produced over 434 tons of relatively clean seed and constructed 8 diffused light stores. In addition to the demonstration of improved potato varieties, information dissemination was also an important component of the program to raise awareness for a large numbers of potato growers through farmers’ field days, pamphlets, and mass media. Each year about three field days were organized and more than 1500 pamphlets were distributed to farmers invited from neighboring districts and ‘Kebeles’ to enhance speed. Through this intervention farmers are now harvesting a yield of about 26-34 t/ha up from 8t/ha when they were using inferior quality potato seed; this has made the farmers in the intervention area more food secure especially during the usually food scarce months of August to October when cereal crops are generally yet to mature. The farmers are also getting additional income from the sale of excess potato and are able to better meet other necessary costs like school fees, for their children.

A review on potato microtuber storability and dormancy

Potato microtubers plays important role in seed potato production technology as it has great advantage of storage, transport and mechanization due to their little size and reduced weight. Dormancy in potato microtubers is very important and storage conditions as well as size of microtubers influences the dormancy in microtubers. Increasing size of the micro-tuber resulted in significant increase in the viability and sprouting ability of microtubers with reduced durations of dormancy and weight loss at the end of storage. Small microtubers are more vulnerable to storage damage. The larger microtubers lost moisture content more slowly and retained firmness longer when stored at 40C. Development of dormancy during storage strongly affected by the storage condition especially the temperature regime, the presence of light and the relative humidity. The dormancy duration was linearly and inversely correlated with the length of storage. Storage containers and conditions are also important for microtuber storage. Endogenous hormones ABA, ethylene, cyokinin and gibberllic acid play a significant role in tuber dormancy regulation.Microtubers with thick diameter which have passed more times in dormancy and have better functionality than small microtubers with less time in dormancy. Growth regulators like gibberellic acid, thiourea, gibberllic acid + thiourea, randite and carbon disulphide plays significant role in dormancy breaking of microtubers.

Adoption of potato production technologies by the farmers in relation to their socio-economic profiles

A number of recommended production techniques and practices do not reach the farmers’ fields and those carried to the farmers get considerably distorted or often adopted partially resulting in poor yield. In this context, an attempt was made to study the extent of adoption of potato production technologies by the farmers in relation to their socio-economic profiles. The present study was conducted in Nimapada and Pipili blocks of Puri district of Odisha. Both purposive and random sampling techniques were followed in the study. A total number of 100 potato farmers were selected randomly as respondents. The study revealed that: age, membership of social organizations, extent of social contact, cosmopoliteness, media exposure, housing pattern and scientific aspirations of the respondent-farmers had higher consistency than their other socio-economic variables. The Potato farmers had highest adoption gap of 30.33 percent in case of use of proper potato varieties. Majority i.e. 68 percent of the respondents came under medium, followed by 23 percent low and 9 percent high adoption level categories. A good number of socio-economic variables such as: cosmopoliteness, media exposure, housing pattern, land holding size, occupation, farm power possession, annual income, and scientific aspirations had very significant impact on the adoption level of the farmers regarding various production related technologies of potato cultivation.

Challenges and opportunities for quality seed potato availability and production in Uganda

Potato yields in Uganda have remained low at 7.5 t ha-1. This low yield is attributed to low yielding varieties, poor management practices and lack of quality seed potatoes among other factors. This study was conducted to ascertain the challenges and opportunities of quality seed potato availability and production in the southwestern highlands agro-ecological zone (SWHAEZ). A total of 15 farmer groups were randomly selected from a sample size of 200 farmers and individually interviewed. The results of study indicated that high transaction costs (43.5%), lack of clear seed delivery system (40.5%) and limited information on the source of seed (14.0%) were the main constraints limiting farmers’ access to and use of quality seed potato. Up to 93% of the farmers in SWHAEZ use home saved seed from previous harvests and conventional ware potato markets, whose quality is not guaranteed. Although over 70% of the farmers were convinced that quality of seed had a positive effect on yield increase, 72% of them still use poor quality seed often infected by bacterial wilt. In addition, 52% of the farmers lacked specific storage facilities for potato seed; and this further lowered the grade of the seed quality. However, a number of opportunities existed for production and access to quality seed including; various proven technologies for producing quality seed potato and ready demand for potato seed and ware potato. Of the seed potato production technologies, positive selected seed (PSS) seemed to have the highest quantity of seed; while basic seed produced heaviest tubers than the rest of the technologies.Keywords: Quality seed potato, seed system and challenges

Study on Profitability Using Modern Inputs against Traditional for Potato Production at Different Agro-Ecological Zones of Bangladesh

The study on Economics Faculty in using modern inputs against traditional inputs and practices for potato production were conducted in the different agro-ecological zones and agro-climatic locations of Bangladesh during 2011-2012. The aim of the study was how to enrich the knowledge of farmers and traders by the use of modern inputs (fertilizers, green pesticides and micronutrients) for potato production and management technologies. A total number of 150 farmers were randomly selected from Rangpur, Thakurgaon, and Comilla regions under agro-ecological zones of Tista Meander Floodplain, Old Himalayan Piedmont Plain and Middle Meghna River Floodplain respectively. Cobb-Douglas production function was used to measure the effect of various factors on potato production. The factors of production considered in this study were land preparation, labor cost, seed, fertilizer, pesticides, irrigation and land use cost. The cost was comparatively low in modern practices than higher in traditional practices as it was mainly due to adoption of recommended technology, appropriate dose and time in case of modern inputs and practices whereas non-recommended technology, higher dose of inputs adopted in traditional practices. The out-put in-terms of per unit yield was found 26 t ha-1 in modern practices but 24 t ha-1 in traditional practices. The net profit was significantly higher in modern practices than traditional practices; the net profit in modern practices was found at Rangpur Tk 98,079, Thakurgaon Tk 72, 741 and Comilla Tk 46, 950. It transpires from the study that the farmers would be economically benefitted if they use modern inputs; adopt technologies and practices in terms of using quality seed of improved varieties at recommended dose and time of use of fertilizers and pesticides, timely application of irrigation and appropriate crop management including weeding and other practices.J. Environ. Sci. & Natural Resources, 8(2): 83-87 2015

Adoption of production technologies by potato growers in northwest Bangladesh

Determining the extent of adoption of modern variety potato production technologies by the potato growers was the main focus of the study. The study was conducted in the Rajshahi district. Out of 1547 potato growers, 232 respondents were randomly selected as a sample for data collection from twenty villages. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents during July 2010 to February 2011. For measuring the adoption of modern variety potato production technologies by the potato growers, 11 technologies on modern potato production were considered. Majority (46.55%) of the growers had medium adoption compared to high (29.74%) and low (23.71%) adoption. Among the extent of adoption of eleven selected technologies recommended ‘irrigation’ was at top highest ranking as indicated by the adoption index where as plant spacing was bottom lowest. The adoption variations in different technologies will not be improved unless effective steps are taken to increase growers’ exposure to get benefits of using such technologies as per recommendations.

Constraints and suggestions for modern variety potato production technology

A study was carried out to determine the production constraints of modern varieties of potatoes and also find out the probable suggestions to overcome the constraints as verified the views between the farmers and extension officials. Data were collected from 232 farmers sampled randomly from 1547 potato growers and 51 extension officials from 153 population available from the study area of three upazila namely; Durgapur, Mohanpur and Bagmara under Rajshahi district of northwest area of Bangladesh. The study area was selected through multistage sampling procedure with continuous field observation and consultations with teachers, extension personnel, experts and contact farmers along with literatures reviewed. Thus, twenty important constraints regarding potato production were identified and possible suggestions for overcoming the constraints were suggested by using the same procedure. The importance of the constraints and the suggestions were measured by using ‘Important Constraints Score Index (IPSI)’ and ‘Important Suggestion Index (ISSI)’. Out of 20 constraints and suggestions views of farmers and officials differed significantly for 15 items and 13 items.Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 40(1): 95-108, March 2015

Women Farmers in Practices: Opportunities and Challenges in Accessing Potato Production Technologies in Welmera Ethiopia

Women Farmers in Practices: Opportunities and Challenges in Accessing Potato Production Technologies in Welmera Ethiopia

Extent and Correlates of Knowledge of Farmers regarding Scientific Potato Production Technologies in Himachal Pradesh

The productivity of potato in hilly state of Himachal Pradesh is far below than the national average. Major reason is low adoption rate of improved varieties and technologies due to lack of knowledge. Present study was conducted in Shimla, Mandi and Kangra district of HP during year 2011–12 to find out the extent of knowledge of potato farmers about scientific potato production technology and knowledge gap in relation to different package of practices for potato cultivation. A total of 90 respondents, (30 from each district) constituted the sample of the present study. Data was collected by interview method using structured interview schedule and subjected to appropriate statistical analysis. The findings revealed that a majority of the respondents (78.8%) had medium to low knowledge level about scientific potato production technology. Maximum knowledge gap was found in practices like weed management (73.3%) followed by seed treatment before storage (70%) and insect-pest management (68.8%). Majority of farmers were having knowledge about improved varieties, method of fertilizer application, row to row and plant to plant spacing and planting operations. Socio-personal-economic variables like education, land holding and annual income were significantly and positively correlated with knowledge level of farmers.

Perception Level of Potato Growers Towards Production Technologies in Northwest Bangladesh

The main focus of the study was to assess the extent of perception level of potato growers towards the potato production technologies. The study was carried out in the Rajshahi district which is considered as a part of the northwest area of Bangladesh. Two hundred thirty-two farmers were randomly selected as potato growers for data collection from twenty villages under the Upazilla namely, Mohonpur, Bagmara and Durgapur of Rajshahi district. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the data from the respondents in July 2010 to February 2011. For measuring the perception of modern variety potato production technologies by the potato growers, 11 technologies for modern variety potato production were considered. Descriptive statistical measures such as number, percentage distribution, range, mean, standard deviation and coefficient of variation were used in describing the variable. More or less similar percentage (37%) of the growers had medium and high perception whereas 26.29 percent low perception. Analysis indicated that among the extent of perception of modern eleven technologies use of quality seed was at top highest ranking by the perception adoption index of 253.88, whereas plant spacing was bottom lowest. The perception variations in different technologies will not be improved unless intensive and effective steps are taken to increase grower’s access to various information sources of agriculture which increase the knowledge and then perception. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jles.v8i0.20140 J. Life Earth Sci., Vol. 8: 55-61, 2013

Adoption of recommended potato (Solanum tuberosum) production technologies by the potato growers of some selected areas of Bangladesh

The main objective of this study was to determine the extent of adoption of improved potato production technologies by the potato growers. Data were collected from 231 potato growers of three highly concentrated potato growing Upazilas, namely Pirgachha (Rangpur), Munshiganj Sadar (Munshiganj), and Shibganj (Bogra) during October 2010 to February 2011. The potato growers showed marked individual differences in their socio-economic characteristics and majority of them belonged to middle age category having small family size, primary level of education, small farm size, medium innovativeness, and medium contact with extension personnel. The study revealed that highest proportion of the respondents in Munshiganj Sadar belonged to high adoption category in case of BARI recommended potato variety (72.6%), optimum planting time (87.7%), use of balanced fertilizers (45.2%), whereas medium adoption categories were found in quality potato seed (52.1%), proper seed size (47.9%), fertilizer application methods (71.2%), optimum irrigation (89%), earthing up (84.9%), plant protection (74%), and low adoption categories were found in maintaining proper spacing (42.5%). In Pirganj of Rangpur, highest proportion of the respondents belonged to high adoption category in case of BARI recommended potato variety (77%), optimum planting time (83.8%), whereas medium adoption categories were found in the use of quality potato seed (64.9%), balanced fertilizer (43.2%), proper seed size (52.7%), fertilizer application methods (87.8%), optimum irrigation (97.3%), earthing up (86.5%), plant protection (93.2%), and low adoption categories were found in maintaining proper spacing (64.9%). In Shibganj of Bogra, highest proportion of the respondents were found in high adoption category in case of BARI recommended potato variety (75%), optimum planting time (86.9%), whereas medium adoption categories were found in use of quality potato seed (52.4%), balanced fertilizers (47.6%), fertilizer application methods (78.6%), optimum irrigation (95.2%), earthing up (88.1%), plant protection (76.2%), and low adoption categories were found in maintaining proper spacing (59.5%) and proper seed size (57.1%). The study also revealed that highest (53.4%) proportion of the respondents in Munshiganj Sadar belonged to high potato yield (above 29 ton/ha) farmer category while medium potato yield (between 19 to 29 t/ha) category were found in other two areas i.e., Shibganj (58.80%) and Pirgachha (79.50%). Education, farm size, subsistence pressure, annual income, contact with the sources of information, farming experience, attitude, and knowledge on potato production showed significant positive relationship with adoption of improved potato production technologies. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v39i1.20145 Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 39(1): 79-92, March 2014

Factor Analysis towards Perception on Potato Production Technologies by Potato Growers in Bangladesh

Perception is an awareness and interpretation of a stimulus, object or action. Thus, a farmer perceives in his own way of thinking to adopt or practice a new technology provided it meets his own interests, goals and felt needs. Hence, a study was undertaken with the objective to find out the contribution of factors towards the perception level on production technologies by potato growers. The study was carried out in the Rajshahi district of Bangladesh. Two hundred thirty two farmers were randomly selected as potato growers for data collection from 20 villages under the Upazilla, namely Mohonpur, Bagmara and Durgapur from this district. A pre-tested interview schedule was used to collect the data from the respondents in July 2010 to February 2011. Out of 11 technologies in relation to perception of potato production, ‘use of quality seed’ was at top highest ranking by the perception index where as planting space was bottom lowest. Data indicated that more or less similar percentage had medium and high perception where as 26.29% had low perception towards the potato production technologies. Pearson correlation test depicted that out of 24 variables, 12 had significant positive relationship with the perception of potato production technologies. Result of stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that three variables namely grower's education, ownership of agricultural implements and socio-economic status contributed significantly which combindly explained 61.50% of the total variation to the potato production technologies. Path analysis indicated that these variables had both direct and indirect effects to the perception behaviour. Potato growers who had more educated, more agricultural implements to use modern technology and more social status in his society were found to better perception of potato production technologies.

Factors contribution to the adoption of production technologies by potato growers in Northwest Bangladesh

The present study was undertaken to determine the factors which contribute to the adoption of potato production technologies by the growers. The adoption of potato production technologies by the growers was measured by computing of scores of proper land preparation, cultivation of modern variety, fertilizer dose, fertilizer application meth- od, irrigation, plant protection measures, seed quality, intercultural operations, planting time, seed size and planting space. Data were collected from randomly selected 232 pota- to growers by using interview schedule in three Upazilla of Rajshahi district in Bangla- desh during July 2010 to February 2011. Out of 11 technologies relating to the adoption of potato production, recommended irrigation was at the top of highest ranking by the adoption index and plant spacing was the lowest. Majority (46.55%) of the growers had medium adoption compared to high (29.74%) and low (23.71%) adoption. Pearson corre- lation test depicted that out of 22 variables, 16 had significant positive relationship with the adoption of potato production technologies. Results of stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that seven variables namely: innovativeness, potato production knowledge, aspiration, potato problem awareness, group contact, peer relationship and at- titude contributed significantly which altogether explained to the extent of 65.30% of the total variation to the adoption of potato production technologies. Path analysis indicated that these variables had both direct and indirect effects to the adoption behaviour. Potato growers who had more innovativeness, better knowledge in connection to potato produc-

Personal and Socio-Economic Factors Affecting the Adoption of Sweet Potato Production Technology by Farmers in South-East Zone of Nigeria

Sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) is a very important staple carbohydrate food in sub-saharan Africa, and reputed for its capacity to tolerate marginal environments as well as high energy-fixing efficiency to produce high dry matter at a short period of time. It produces much dry matter per unit of time and contains high levels of vitamins A and C. Apart from the roots, the young leaves serve as green vegetable for man whereas the leaves and vines are cherished as fodder and hay by livestock. Sweet potato production technologies have been developed by the National Root Crops Research Institute, (NRCR) Umudike, and transferred to farmers in Nigeria in conjunction with state Agricultural Development Programmes. This study assessed the levels of awareness and adoption of the sweet potato technology disseminated by NRCRI to farmers and also determined the factors affecting the adoption of the technology. The multistage sampling technique was used in selecting the respondents using structured interview schedule as instrument. Data were collected from 270 respondents. The findings showed that the levels of awareness and adoption of the technologies were high. Age, education, riming experience, household size and farm size were factors that significantly influenced adoption, while the constraining factors to increased adoption of the technology were grouped into production complexity problems, economic problems, poor technical information and pathological problems. The study recommended the intensification of the dissemination of rapid vine multiplication techniques like the 2-node vine cutting technique, and rapid transfer of the integrated pest management technology on sweetpotato.Key words: Technology adoption, sweet potato, Ipomoea batatas

Adoption of sweet potato production technologies in Abia State, Nigeria

Improved production technologies of sweet potato were jointly developed by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Ibadan and National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike to eliminate constraints associated with farmers’ use of local production technologies. Several years after introduction of the technologies to farmers, sweet potato production in Abia State has remained low and unimpressive despite the relevance of the crop in household food security. This paper therefore seeks to evaluate farmers’ adoption of sweet potato production technologies in the state. A three-staged random sampling technique was employed to select 150 respondents from the three agricultural zones in the state. Data were collected from respondents with use of structured questionnaires and analyzed with descriptive statistics as well as multiple regression analysis. Result of analysis revealed an R2 value of 0.280 indicating that 28% of variation in the adoption of the improved production technologies was accounted for by the variables considered in this study. Adoption of sweet potato production technologies was relatively at a medium level. Also, the result indicated that accruable farm income, farm size cultivated as well as sweet potato output was positively related to farmers’ adoption of the technologies. Thus it was recommended that the mass media should be used to promote and popularize sweet potato and its improved production practices. Soft loans should be provided to farmers for more investment in sweet potato production since expectation of increased income would stimulate adoption of technologies.