Innovare Journal of Agricultural Sciences

EFFECTIVENESS OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICES IN REDUCING POVERTY AMONG FISH FARMERS IN THE COASTAL REGION OF ONDO STATE, NIGERIA

AKINBOYE OA — 2024-04-11

Agricultural development is the foundation for economic growth and provides a primary means of food security, employment generation, and poverty reduction for Nigerians. These are also the very reasons motivating successive incumbent governments of Nigeria to initiate one type of agricultural intervention program or another to generate employment, attain food security, and aid in poverty reduction. The study assesses the effectiveness of agricultural extension services in reducing poverty among fish farmers in the coastal region of Ondo State, Nigeria. A well-structured interview schedule was used to collect data from the respondents and simple random sampling technique was used in selecting 80 respondents. Data collected was analyzed using frequency counts and percentage while Chi-square and Pearson product moment correlation was used for testing the hypotheses. Results of the socioeconomic characteristics show that more than half (58.7%) of the respondents were adults, male (68.7%), married (78.8%), literate (92.5%), having household size of <7 members (92.5%), earned an annual income of <#1,000,000 (73.7%), and having fish farming experience of <5 years (41.2%). Further analysis shows that catfish is mostly farmed by the respondents in the study area (72.5%), belong to one social group or the other (52.5%), and have access to agricultural extension agents (100%). Similarly, the study findings shows that all the respondents (100%) have access to all the different types of services rendered and the different types of agricultural extension services were rendered to the fish farmers which include technology transfer (93%), information and support services (90%), food safety and quality (89%), marketing and distribution (75%), sustainable fisheries (88%), credit and finance (96%), safety measures (100%), training to fish farmers (97%), input supply (88%), and technical expertise (92%). Furthermore, the types of agricultural extension services utilized by the fish farmers include information and support services (100%), food safety and quality (100%), credit and finance (100%), safety measures (100%), input supply (85%), and technical expertise (100%). Types of constraints militating effective utilization of agricultural extension service rendered identified by the fish farmers include weak linkages of research and training centers with extension workers and users (82%), lack of properly qualified/trained extension personal (100%), inadequate number of grass root workers (98%), lack of clear extension strategies (85%), emphasis on welfare than development (88%), much emphasis on technology than its transfer to end users (75%), inadequate infrastructure facilities (80%), and of the respondents and lack of incentives for field staff (100%). There was positive and significant relationships between respondents’ age (r=0.532; p≤0.05), number of years spent schooling (r=0.589; p≤0.05), household size (r=0.117; p≤0.05), annual income (r=0.515; p≤0.05), fish farming experience, (r=0.146; p≤0.05), and effectiveness of agricultural extension services in reducing poverty. The study recommended that more qualified/trained extension personnel should be employed and adequate incentives should be made available to the field staff.

CORRELATION AND PATH COEFFICIENT ANALYSIS RELATIONSHIPS IN SAFFLOWER (CARTHAMUS TINCTORIUS L.)

MALI BB — 2024-04-11

An experiment was conducted on 40 genotypes of safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) at the Experimental Farm of College of Agriculture, Latur, to examine genetic diversity and connections among characteristics. In Rabi 2020–2021, the experimental design was a complete randomized block design with two replications. The presence of considerable genetic diversity in the experimental materials was confirmed by analysis of variance results for 10 quantitative characters, which showed significant differences for all traits. The phenotypic and genotypic correlation among the traits and their path analysis were calculated. Plant height, number of branches per plant, number of effective capitulum per plant, number of seed per capitulum, and test weight were found to have a strong positive significant relationship with seed yield. This character had a strong and positive relationship toward seed yield. As a result, these characteristics could be considered important for improving safflower seed yield. The character number of branches per plant, plant height, number of effective capsules per plant, number of seed per capitulum, and test weight showed higher direct positive effects and indirect effects through other components traits. Number of seeds per capitulum had the greatest direct positive effect on seed yield per plant, followed by number of branches per plant and number of capsules per plant. As a result, these characteristics must be considered because they are directly relevant to seed yield. Characters like as days to maturity and oil content showed negative direct effects.

TESTING OF WHEAT GENOTYPES FOR SALT TOLERANCE AND LEAF RUST DISEASE CAUSED BY PUCCINIA

SAIFULDEEN SALIM — 2024-04-11

Parameters that show a significant genotypic variation and are associated with salt tolerance may be used as rapid and economic screening criteria in breeding programs. The objective of this study was to test growth and yield components for evaluating the salt tolerance of wheat genotypes. Five genotypes of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) were used in this study, that differ from their salt tolerance, which were grown in 28 dS/m saline soil, and irrigated by well water with a salinity 7.5 dS/m. The results showed that salt concentration in the soil was reduced with plant growth stages from 28 dS/m before sowing to 8, 7.5, and 7.6 dS/m for N1, N2, and N3 genotypes, respectively. Whereas approached 16 and 17 dS/m for Tumos2 and Mexipak, cultivars, respectively, at the maturity stage. Concerning germination percentage under saline conditions, wheat genotypes N1, N2, and N3 showed the highest percentages of 89, 90, and 90%, respectively, which was significantly different than wheat cultivars Tumos2 and Mexipak 79 and 83%, respectively. Statistical analysis of the data revealed that genotype N2 required a maximum days for germination 14 days, whereas cultivar
Tumos2 required less days for germination 12 days. For spikes formation duration growth the genotype N3 was the late 119 days, whereas for physiological maturity N1 genotype was the latest 153 days. The number of spikes per 6 m2, grains spike-1, and grain weight were reduced significantly in sensitive cultivars Tumos2 and Mexipak. Higher grain yield with N2 genotype 2739.43 g with no significant differences with the genotypes N1 and N2, and with significant differences with the rest sensitive cultivars Tumos2 and Mexipak 346.61 and 242.98 g, respectively. Therefore, we conclude that the measurements of growth and yield components may be effective criteria for screening wheat genotypes for salt tolerance. Moreover, N1, N2, and N3 genotypes were identified as the most salt-tolerant genotypes in this study, they can be utilized through appropriate selection and breeding programs for further improvement in salt tolerance of Iraqi wheat genotypes.

THE ROLE OF CYTOKININ AND GIBBERELLIN IN POTATO TUBER SPROUTING

BIZUAYEHU DESTA — 2024-04-11

Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a highly sensitive crop to tuber dormancy. This can be initiated by various factors, including moisture stress, high or low temperature, day length, hormonal imbalance, and heredity. Breaking of tuber dormancy is therefore important for seed potato multiplication, rapid post-harvest disease testing, and early production in the field or green house. Cytokinin (CK) and gibberellin (GA) in combination will terminate dormancy and increase sprout growth earlier than using GAs alone. And also using only CK will terminate dormancy earlier than using GAs alone, but subsequent sprout growth will be hampered. In this review, the current knowledge and possible utilization of CK and GA, which can be used for termination of dormancy and sprout growth of potato tubers, have been reviewed and discussed. The role of CK and GA to mitigate the harmful effects of endogenous and environmental stresses in potato sprouting is also examined. In addition, numerous biochemical and physiological processes principal to improved potato sprouting under the consequence of these hormones are discoursed in detail.