LABOUR USE IN SMALL-SCALE YAM PRODUCTION IN QUA'AN PAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF PLATEAU STATE

The study analyses labour use in small-scale yam production in Qua'an Pan Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria. In the process, data were collected from 92 randomly selected yam farmers on sources, categories, intensity and utilization of labour. Analyses were conducted using descriptive statistics and marginal analyses. Results indicate the family as the most prevalent source of labour with men featuring in all farm operations unlike women and children. Furthermore, harvesting was the most labour intensive operation, followed by weeding and planting. Labour was found to be utilized below economic optimum level (under-utilization) by the farmers. Recommendations given include the need for timely provision of drudgery-minimizing inputs like herbicides, while policy and research efforts should make an articulate organization of rural labour markets and migrant labour to ensure availability throughout the production season. Key Words: Labour use, Double log (Cobb-Douglas) fuctional form, Marginal analysis, Qua'an Pan Local Government Area, Plateau State. Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol.2(2) 2003: 118-12

Dynamics of soyabean production in Nigerian agriculture

Despite large oil reserve, Nigeria as a developing country has urgent economic problems which only agriculture can alleviate. The introduction of soyabean in Nigerian agricultural system can diversify the food for both man and his livestock. Soyabean is a crop with high potentials, but its future in the agricultural system may depend on its performance as a component of polyculture and acceptability in the traditional cropping systems. Soyabean has desirable characteristics for intercropping such as erect growth habit, and high productivity under wide row spacing, nevertheless, soyabean is currently rarely used in intercrop combinations. Successful introduction of soyabean into intercrop system will ensure greater diversification of crops grown within each agroecological region of the country. The general adoption of the crop has been very limited despite some notable success in some specific areas like expansion and utilization. Soyabean production problems are mostly critical during establishment, maturity and storage. Keywords: agricultural system, cropping system, sustainable agriculture, Glycine max, productivity, soyabean adoptionGlobal Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 4(2) 2005: 169-17

Growth response of Amaranthus caudatus to earthworm casts and poultry manure application

The effect of earth worm cast on the physiomorphological differences of Amaranthus caudatus was studied in the green house of the Department of Agronomy, University of Ibadan for seven weeks in 1998. Earthworm casts were collected from soils cultivated with maize, cassava and oil palm fields and secondary forest. The result showed that performance of A. caudatus depended to some extent on earthworm casts rate (r=0.977) and casts produced from maize, oil palm crop fields and undisturbed forest, gave a yield advantage over control by 54.8, 19.4 and 64.5% respectively, while that from cassava fields gave yield disadvantage of 22.6%. In addition, growth performance was low on soils treated with cast, which also had a dry matter yield of 0.4 g pot-1 compared to 2.64 and 5.78 g pot-1 obtained from inorganic fertilizer and poultry manure respectively. It can therefore be concluded that application of earthworm casts from fields can play a good role in plant nutrient recycling and not at best solely in soil fertility amendment of degraded soils and as the only source of fertilizer for maximum A. caudatus production.Keywords: earthworm casts, poultry manure, Amaranthus caudatus, Ibadan, NigeriaGlobal Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol. 11(4) 2005: 445-44

Effect of Sowing Date on Yield and Yield Components of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (l.) walp) in Mubi North Local Government Area

Treatments were laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) and replicated four times. The land was cleared, ploughed, harrowed, leveled and marked in to blocks and plots with 1m between replication and 0.5 between plots. Cowpea seeds were sown by dibbling 3 seeds per hole at 70cm x 25cm spacing. Seedlings were later thinned to two plants per stand two weeks after sowing. The results obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and means separated using Duncan's Multiple Range Test(DMRT). The parameters measured includes: plant height (cm) at flowering, number of branches per plant, number of leaves per plant, days to 50% flowering, leaf area (cm), number of pods at harvest, weight of 1000 (g), weight of shelled plants and yield (tons/ ha). The results obtained revealed that sowing date significantly (P<0.05) influenced the yield and yield component of cowpea in Mubi. SD3 recorded the highest yield of (5.93t/ha) with SD1 recording the lowest yield of ( 5.05t/ha) which was significantly different from other treatments The significance of this study to Agriculture therefore, is that it is very necessary to know the most appropriate sowing date before planting cowpea in any agro-ecological zone of the country for enhanced yields