Sesame Farmers Research Articles

Assessing Climate Change Perceptions and Adaptation Strategies among Sesame Farmers in Yobe State, Nigeria

The study was conducted on sesame farmers' perception of climate change on sesame production in Bade Local Government Area of Yobe State, Nigeria. A sample of 125 farmers was selected for the study. Data was collected on the socioeconomic characteristics of the farmers, their perception of climate change, sources of information, their adoption of adaptation strategies, and their constraints on sesame production. Descriptive statistics such as means, percentages and Likert scale were used to analyze the data. The results show that male farmers (80.0%) dominated sesame production. The mean age was 35.03 years, and most (64.0%) farmers were married. Most (56.8%) respondents had an unfavorable perception of climate change. The primary source of information on climate change was other farmers (86.4%). Most (52.8%) respondents had a low adoption of climate change adaptation strategies. The majority (53.6%) of the respondents faced high constraints to sesame production. It was recommended that agricultural extension services be revived to disseminate climate change information to sesame farmers so as to improve their control measures to climate change with the view to enhance sesame production.

Empirical analysis of production risk and technical efficiency of sesame farmers in northwest Ethiopia

Empirical analysis of production risk and technical efficiency of sesame farmers in northwest Ethiopia

Influence of Selected Extension Support services on Sesame Production Among Smallholder Farmers in Bal’ad District, Somalia

Sesame is valuable cash crop in Somalia, as a significant income source for smallholder farmers. Its cultivation and trade make substantial contributions to the national economy, generating revenue and creating employment opportunities. Farmers face challenges related to poor-quality seeds, limited fertilizers, and a lack of proper pest control practices. The paper was to investigate the influence of selected factors (access to farm inputs, access to credit, and access to market information) on sesame production among smallholder farmers in Bal’ad district/Middle Shabelle/Somalia. The target population was 3098 sesame farmers. Purposive sampling and simple random sampling were used to select a sample of the respondents. The sample size was 148 farmers. The study used both quantitative and qualitative methods. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The paper recommends that extension support services should guarantee that access to inputs of sesame production is available and offered to new farmers.

Assessment of Sesame Farmers’ Perception and Adaptation Strategy to Climate Change in Machina Local Government Area, of Yobe State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to assess sesame farmers’ perception and adaptive measures to climate change in Machina Local Government area of Yobe State, Nigeria. The data was collected from randomly sampled 63 sesame farmers in the study area. Descriptive statistics and Likert scale tools were used to analyze the collected data. The results’ findings show that sesame production is dominated by married male farmers (92.1%) that have an average age of 42 years, farm size average of 1.14 hectares, and an average farming experience of 15 years in the study area. The farmers were also found to have a household size average of 11 members; as well majority of them were found to have formal education ranging from Primary (31%), secondary (28%) and tertiary education (20%). The study findings further revealed farmers in the study area strongly agreed to perceive climate change majorly through an observed change in pattern of temperature (61.9%), and change in the pattern of temperature (46%). Meanwhile, climate change adaptive strategies used by farmers were majorly increased soil water conservation (3.17), use of chemicals, fertilizers, manure and pesticides (2.65) and using different tillage systems (2.52). The sesame farmers faced challenges of inadequate capital (69.8%), pest and disease attack (55.6%) as well as high cost of production inputs (54%). It can therefore be recommended that inputs subsidies and training on early warning systems of climate change shall be given to the farmers so as to improve their control measures to climate change.

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Sesame Production under Improved and Traditional/ Farmer’s Practice/ in Kafta-humera, Tigray Region, Ethiopia

This study aimed to investigate the cost-benefit of sesame production per hectare under improved and (traditional sesame production) farmer's practice. The primary data were collected from the sesame farmers who cultivate both improved and traditional sesame production (plot with improved sesame agronomic technologies on one side and farmers practice on the other side) were selected randomly from the participants of households on the cluster-based large scale demonstration of sesame production during 2019 in kafta-humera district, Western Zone of Tigray, Ethiopia. The study found that farmers were able to generate an average gross income of Ethiopian Birr (ETB) 28997 per hectare (ha) from the improved sesame production, whereas, ETB 19215.21 per ha from their practice, respectively. The average cost of cultivation for improved sesame production was ETB 11857.89 ha and ETB 9259.63 per ha under (traditional sesame production) farmers practice. Therefore, the net profit of sesame production under improved and traditional sesame production was ETB 17139.69 and ETB 9955.58 respectively. This implied that farmers could earn an additional net income of 7184.11 per ha by practicing the recommended sesame technologies. This shows that although the net profit under the improved production system was higher than traditional/farmers practice, higher costs of production were also recorded in improved sesame production than traditional /farmers practice as farmers spend a lot of money on sesame cultivation especially weeding and harvesting. Hence, the government and private sectors should give more emphasis to introduce mechanized row planter, captivators, and combined harvester machines to reduce labor costs especially when the cost of labor is high. Moreover, the price of sesame seed was lower than the previous three-four years. Hence, agricultural economists should consider setting up a sesame price policy to help farmers to gain more profit from selling sesame.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS AND MARKETING CHANNEL OF SESAME (SESAMUM INDICUM L.) FARMERS’ WILLINGNESS TO TRADE THROUGH MIDDLEMEN IN BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

The research was carried out to determine the socio-economic characteristics and marketing channel of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) farmers’ willingness to trade through middlemen in Bauchi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 204 and 60 sesame farmers and marketers, respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The results revealed an average age of 40 years; majority (84.8% and 80.0%) farmers and marketers, respectively, were married. Majority (89.7% and 96.7%) farmers and marketers, respectively, were males with average household size of 7 persons. About 63% of the sesame farmers had land size range of 1-4 hectares. Almost half of the farmers (41.2%) and marketers (30.3%) have between 6-10 years of experience with a minimum of secondary education of 43.1% and 41.7%, respectively. Most (73.0%) of the sesame farmers did not belong to any cooperative society and contrary to the marketers with 91.7% belonged to various cooperative societies. Majority (58.8% and 98.3%) of farmers and marketers were purely crop farmers and agro marketers, respectively. More than half 65.2% of the farmers were willing to trade through middlemen and 34.8% of the farmers preferred not to deal with middlemen. Majority (90.0%) of the farmers sold sesame produce through village collectors before it reaches the end user. Poor pricing (70.1%), exploitative practices of the middlemen (63.2%), low profit margin (58.3%) and prolonged, deceiving and deceit bargaining (47.5%) were the major constraints faced by the sesame farmers in dealing with middlemen in the study area. The study concluded that sesame farmers and marketers were young, agile and economically productive; middlemen were found to be highly resourceful though posed serious challenge in the marketing channel of sesame. The study recommended marketing intervention by government in sesame marketing activities like involving price appreciation, reduction in the cost of marketing, formulating and implementing marketing policies and rules by government targeted at improving infrastructures such as roads and providing marketing information outfit for sustainable improving the marketing efficiency.

Entrepreneurial Skill Needs of Sesame Farmers and Marketers in Katsina State, Nigeria

This study was designed to investigate skill needs of sesame farmers and marketers in Katsina State. Descriptive survey design was adopted and 386 respondents were sampled from the population of registered sesame farmers and marketers in the state using multistage sampling technique. Data were collected on socioeconomic characteristics, skill needs, benefits and constraints using structured interview guide. Frequency counts, percentages, means, Ch-square and PPMC were employed in data analysis. Majority were young, male, married, Muslims, had Quranic education, large household size and operated small scale farms. Levels of skill needs for farmers and marketers were high. Major farmers’ skill needs were fertilizer application, pest/disease while skills to make goods and services available to customers at the right place and time, capture, negotiate/bargain, grad/sort/bag were among marketers’ major skill needs. Benefit levels were high for farmers and marketers. Inadequate facilities for training, education and training and cost of training were common constraints to farmers and marketers. Chi-square analysis revealed marital status as having significant association with farmers’ skill needs level while education significantly associated with both marketers and farmers’ skill needs levels. PPMC analysis indicated that farm size significantly correlated with farmers’ skill needs level just as significant correlation existed between benefit, constraint and farmers, marketers’ skill needs levels. Significant correlation existed between marketers’ years of experience and skill needs level. The t-test analysis result showed farmers and marketers in Katsina central senatorial district (KCSD) had significantly higher skill needs than their counterparts in the north senatorial district (NSD). Because the skill needs of both farmers and marketers were high coupled with low educational qualifications, government should develop those distinctive skill needs into training modules using local language for easy understanding and utilization.

Dissemination and impact assessment of improved technology and scientific interventions through front line demonstrations among sesame farmers of Tikamgarh, Bundelkhand Region in Madhya Pradesh

Frontline demonstrations are popular and one of the effective ways to disseminate the current production technology of crop husbandry among the farmers. AICRP on Sesame, Tikamgarh conducted 40 demonstrations in Tikamgarh block during kharif 2020 and 2021. The mean Extension Gap (EG) over years was recorded as 342 kg/ha which was more than double to the mean yield harvested under farmer's practice (FP) indicating the poor adoption of innovative technologies by farmers. Hence, still more efforts are needed to attract and change mindset of farmers towards Improved Technology (IT). The average IT was recorded as 23.5% which was much higher than desired values. Mean net return was recorded `34375 under IT while it was `12229 under FP along with average B:C ratio was calculated 2.57 under IT whereas 1.97 under FP.

Socio-Economic factors influencing Sesame Production among Farmers in Bade Local Government Area, Yobe State, Nigeria

Sesame is one of the major crops produced in Yobe State, Nigeria. However, its production is influenced by some socioeconomic factors. The socio-economic determinants of sesame (Sesame indicum L) production among farmers in Bade LGA, Yobe State, Nigeria were investigated. Primary data were collected with the use of a structured questionnaire from 180 respondents selected using two-stage sampling technique. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. Findings show that sesame farmers between the age of 20-39 years old dominated sesame production (57.22%) in the study area. About 61.11% of the respondents were male while 38.89% female were involved in the sesame production in the study area. Age, sex and marital status had a positive and significant influence on sesame production in the study area. The major constraints to sesame production were poor access roads, high cost of input and insecurity. The findings suggest that improved sesame production could be achieved by giving consideration to some significant variables identified; farmer’s cooperative should be initiated to offer opportunities to members to have access to capital/credit and other inputs. Government should make policies that will facilitate farmers’ access to education and training. Also, consideration should also be given to rural infrastructure and inputs subsidies not limited to fertilizer as these were among the notable constraints faced by farmers. Government should look into the inherent potential of sesame business as that will increase foreign earnings and local industries for processing sesame into industrial usage. Keywords: Socio-economic, sesame, constraints, Yobe State

Profitability of Sesame Production in Some Selected Local Government Areas of Katsina State, Nigeria

The study analyzed the economics of sesame production in Katsina State, Nigeria. Farmers in Katsina State are mostly small-scale farmers and are often faced with the problem of low productivity and profitability. Despite the economic importance of sesame seed, export potentials and world demand, sesame producers are yet to achieve a significant increase in their output and income Primary data were collected from 90 selected sesame producers using a multistage sampling technique across Katsina State and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Gross Margin (GM) model was used for data analysis. The results revealed that sesame producers in Katsina State incurred an average Total Variable Cost (TVC) of ₦117,942.28 with the cost of labour amounting to ₦46,611.50 which accounts for about 39.52% of the TVC of production. The result also revealed a positive gross margin of ₦118,469.29/Ha with a Return per Naira Invested (RNI) of ₦2.00. It was concluded that sesame production is an important and profitable enterprise in Katsina State based on a positive GM and RNI of ₦2.00. The study recommends that there should be more investment in the sesame production enterprise by the sesame farmers to increase output and profit. Effective extension services should be put in place by KTARDA to educate sesame farmers on improved production techniques while community-based organizations should be strengthened for accessing agricultural loans as a group.

Analysis of Poverty Status among Sesame Producers in Some Selected Local Government Areas of Katsina State, Nigeria

The study analyzed the poverty status among sesame producers in some selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Katsina State, Nigeria. Poverty status among farming households in Katsina State is high despite being a state suitable for sesame production. Sesame is a high value. Primary data were collected from 90 selected sesame producers using a multistage sampling technique across the LGAs of Katsina State prominent in sesame production and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and the Foster, Greer and Thorbecke (FGT) poverty model were used for data analysis. The results on the socioeconomic characteristics of producers revealed a mean age of 43 years, an average household size of 8 persons and a mean year of experience in sesame production of 7 years. The average farm size was 2.42 ha with an average annual income of ₦272,596.16. The result of the analysis of the sesame producer’s poverty status revealed a high poverty incidence of 86.67%. It was concluded that poverty incidence was very high among sesame producers in Katsina State. The study recommends that there should be more investment in the sesame production enterprise by the sesame farmers to increase output and profit and consequently improve their poverty status. Effective extension services should be put in place to educate sesame farmers to improve production techniques and management practices for increased output.

Effects of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) on Youths Participation in Sesame Seed Production in Kwali Area Council, Abuja, Nigeria

Youths play a major role in Agricultural production and enhancement of Agricultural productivity. The broad objective of this study is ascertaining the effects of ICT on youth’s participation in the production of sesame seed in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja. Primary data was used for the study. Purposive sampling of sesame youths farmers was employed to select 20 sesame youths farmers each from five political wards that are known to be cultivating sesame which gave 100 respondents. Descriptive statistics, likert scale and problem confrontation index were used to achieve all the specific objectives. From the result majority of the farmers are male (70%), married (66%) with a household size of 2.5(57%) and having a majority between ages of 31-40years representing 40%. The level of education of the majority which is secondary school and that may determine to an extend the use of ICT ranges 38% farm size which may encourage them to request for better knowledge of sesame production is also low(1ha). Other factors includes effectiveness in the use of ICT (GSM 100%, Radio 100%, Cassette 4%, TV 9%, Cassette and Recorder 2%, Video 5%, Media van 2%, Agric Book 0%, Internet 17%, Projector 3% and Storage device 0%.). Knowledge of ICT of sesame farmers having 100% use of GSM and Radio while the rest parameter has varying low percentages. The challenges associated with the use of ICT among youths in sesame production shows that lack of ICT facilities 66%, lack of skills 72%, poor power supply 72%, cost of maintenance 76% & theft 78%. The study therefore, recommended prompt attention on the part of government is required to provide ICT facilities, strengthen information dissemination through sensitization and Extension service delivery among others

Sesame Production in Benue State: A cost benefit analysis

The study analyzed the cost and benefit of sesame production in Benue North-East Zone. A total sample size of one hundred and twenty (120) sesame farmers were selected across three (3) local government areas (Kwande, Katsina-Ala and Vandeikya: these are most prominent in sesame production in North-East Zone of Benue State) using multistage sampling techniques. The results of this study revealed that majority of the respondents were still within the active age. Sesame production in Benue State was still primarily male dominated enterprise as women only constituted 35.8 percent of the respondents and majority of the sesame farmers were married (50%) and the result further revealed that majority of the respondents used hired labour (60%). The mean gross margin was N132,910, the maximum was N1290,000 and the minimum gross margin was -N31700 and the mean total revenue was N254,000 per hectare while the mean total variable cost was N121,470 per hectare and labour cost N72,989 per hectare was pin-pointed as the highest cost in the production sesame in Benue state. The study thus concludes that sesame production is profitable and recommends review of the production practices and training for farmers on good agricultural practices to reduce increase gains and reduce labour cost. Key word: Sesame; cost-benefit analysis, Production DOI: 10.7176/JESD/13-10-09 Publication date: May 31 st 2022

Analysis of Costs and Returns of Sesame Production in Hong Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to analyze cost and return of sesame production in Hong L.G.A of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select fifty-seven sesame farmers in the study area. Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using gross margin analysis and descriptive statistics. The results revealed labour cost accounted for 68.1% of the total cost of production. Cost of fertilizer accounted for 20.3%, cost of chemical accounted for 7.8% while cost of seed accounted for 3.8%. On the average, it cost N 47,451.35/ha to cultivate sesame in the study area. An average of N 65,053/ha accrues to farmers as gross income and N 17, 601.65 is left as gross margin. The result of constraints faced by sesame farmers were lack of credit facility 94.7% which was ranked 1st, inadequate fertilizer 93.0% which was ranked 2nd, lack of good road 82.5% which was ranked 3rd, poor extension services 77.2% which was ranked 4th, problem of pest 71.9% which was ranked 5th, problem of disease 70.2 which was ranked 6th, and high cost of production inputs 56.1% which was ranked 7th. The study concludes that sesame production in the study area is profitable and the major constraints faced by sesame farmers is lack of credit facility and inadequate fertilizer. Therefore, it was recommended that government should support sesame farmers by providing subsidized production inputs and farm credit and also government should strengthen and increase extension services among farmers.

Appraisal of the Sesame Production Opportunities and Constraints, and Farmer-Preferred Varieties and Traits, in Eastern and Southwestern Ethiopia

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) is an important oilseed crop with well-developed value chains. It is Ethiopia’s most valuable export commodity after coffee (Coffea arabica L.), contributing to socioeconomic development. The productivity of the crop is low and stagnant in Ethiopia and other major sesame growing regions in sub-Saharan Africa (<0.6 t/ha) due to a multitude of production constraints. The objective of this study was to document sesame production opportunities and constraints, as well as farmer- and market-preferred varieties and traits, in eastern and southwestern Ethiopia as a guide for large-scale production and breeding. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA) study was conducted in two selected sesame growing regions and four districts in Ethiopia. Data were collected from 160 and 46 sesame farmers through semistructured questionnaires and focus group discussions. Sesame is grown by all respondent farmers in the study areas for food and as a source of cash. Most respondent farmers (56%) reported cultivating sesame using seeds of unknown varieties often sourced from the informal seed sector. About 83% of the respondents reported lack of access to improved seeds as the most important production constraint, followed by low yield gains from cultivating the existing varieties (reported by 73.8% of respondents), diseases (69.4%), and low market price (68.8%). Other production constraints included insect pests (59.4%), lack of market information (55%), and high cost of seed (50%). The above constraints were attributed to the absence of a dedicated breeding programme, lack of a formal seed sector, poor extension services, and underdeveloped pre- and postharvest infrastructures. The most important market-preferred traits of sesame included true-to-type seed (reported by 36.3% of respondents), white seed colour (28.8%), and high seed oil content (23.8%). The vital farmer-preferred attributes included reasonable market price (reported by 11.3% of respondents), resistance to crop diseases (10.9%), drought tolerance (10.3%), resistance to crop insect pests (9.2%), higher seed yield (8.9%), higher thousand-seed weight (7.2%), higher oil content (6.3%), white seed colour (6.1%), early maturity (6.1%), and good oil qualities such as aroma and taste (5.7%). Therefore, there is a need for a dedicated sesame genetic improvement programme by integrating the above key production constraints and market- and farmer-preferred traits to develop and deploy new generation varieties to enhance the production, productivity, and adoption of sesame cultivars in Ethiopia.

Understanding Production and Marketing Activities of Contract and Non-contract Sesame Farmers in Aunglan Township, Magway Region

Sesame is mainly grown in the central dry zone of Myanmar, in which, Magway Region occupied the largest sesame sown area for many years. Following the “Informal model” contract agreement among sesame farmers and buyers are practiced in Aunglan Township, Magway Region. This study aimed to explore the production and marketing performances of sesame farmers under contract and non-contract systems in the study area. By using purposive random sampling procedure, a total of 102 sesame farmers in Aunglan Township were interviewed by using structured questionnaires during November and December, 2017.

Analysis of Resource Use Efficiency of Sesame Production in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria

The study was conducted to examine the resource use efficiency of sesame production in Hong L.G.A of Adamawa State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select fifty seven sesame farmers in the study area. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The results revealed that high percentage (57.9%) of the respondents were female, 91.2% were married and 54.4% were within the age bracket of 31-50 years. Among the farmers, 35.1% attended tertiary institution, most (56.1%) of them had a household size of 3-6 persons and 70% of them had no extension visit. The study also revealed that the majority (70.2%) of the sesame farmers had farm size of 1-2 hectares, 33.3% had a farming experience of 10-15 years, and many had no access to credit (91.%) and membership of cooperatives (86%). The results showed that effects of labour, fertilizer, farm size, chemical and seed were positive and statistically significant. R2 of 90.0% and F-ratio of 65.5 were recorded for the inputs. The study showed that the production inputs (especially labour and seed) contributed to sesame production output and production resources were under-utilized by the farmers.

Sesame (<i>Sesamum indicum</i> L.) Research and Production Status in Ethiopia: A Comprehensive Review

Sesame (Sesamum indicum L., 2n=26) grouped under the family Pedaliaceae; is probably the most ancient oil seed known and used by man. It is called ‘Queen of oil seeds’ due to its high quality polyunsaturated stable fatty acid. The availability of large amount of wild forms of sesame in Ethiopia show that it is indigenous and considered as the center of origin for sesame and the genetic diversity is high, serving as resources for further improvement of the crop. Sesame improving research was started in Ethiopia at Werer Agricultural Research Center with the target to develop high yielding and adaptable varieties which meet the demands of the sesame farmers, processor and user. A lot of varieties released by different research centers and most of the varieties are under production in different agro ecologies of Ethiopia. It is foreign currency generating crop next to coffee in Ethiopia and the leading crop from all oil crops growing in the country. Therefore, the main objective of this paper is to access the current sesame research and its production status in Ethiopia so that the information can be used as a good reference resource for researchers, students, agricultural extension workers and NGOs working in Ethiopia in the area of oil crops in general and sesame in particular.

Value Chain Analysis of Sesame in Bade and Jakusko Local Government Areas of Yobe State, Nigeria

The study analyses value chain of sesame in two Local Government Areas of Yobe State, Nigeria. It specifically examined the socio-economic characteristics of the sesame farmers; characteristics and roles of value chain actors in sesame as well as the profitability of production, processing and marketing of the commodity. Data for the study were obtained from a total of 210 respondents using structured questionnaire and interview. Using descriptive statistics, net margin and value-added models; the results indicate that each actor along the value chain incurred both variable and fixed costs. The results further showed that labour alone accounted for bulk of the total variable cost for all the actors. And the gross margin per hectare was ₦82,367.85 with the return on every naira invested amounting to ₦3.1. The State Agricultural Development Programme should ensure the provision of improved varieties of sesame especially those with high export value and high oil content to the sesame farmers; this agency should also make available cottage level processing and utilization technologies to sesame producers, marketers and processors to enhance value addition as the commodity moves along the chain. This can bring an increase in overall return of all actors along the chain.

An assessment of constraints faced by sesame growing farmers in Kerala

Identification of constraints and providing timely suggestions are important for sesame farmers in Kerala as the state has been witnessing a declining trend of the crop production. The study is concerned with the constraints faced by sesame growing farmers in Kerala. A field survey was conducted in three districts of Kerala viz., Alappuzha Kollam and Thrissur. Respondents included 30 farmers from each district. Garrett Ranking technique was used to rank the constraints faced in sesame production. As per the survey, high labour cost, excessive rain, drought, weed infestation, labour unavailability, pest and diseases, marketing problem, transportation, drying and threshing problem and storage problem were the constraints identified in the decreasing order of rank. Suggestions and methods to overcome the constraints were also provided.