Attitude of rural women farmers towards entrepreneurship information in Akinyele Local Government Area Oyo State, Nigeria

This study was designed to investigate the attitude of rural women farmers towards entrepreneurship information in Akinyele Local Government area Oyo state. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select the200 respondents with the aid of well structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the data while chi-square was used to analyze the hypothesis. The study reveals that majority of the respondents’ belonged to young age group 31-40 years and majority (85.5%) of them are married with household size of 5-8 persons. Results show that the mean score for attitude towards entrepreneurship development is very high with 69.5% and the mean index (4.12). This means that rural women farmers have a good and encouraging attitude towards entrepreneurship. The study also reveals that the attitude of rural women farmers towards developing farm entrepreneurship skills is very favourable in the study area. It also explains that most of the respondents get all their entrepreneurial information from different sources. The chi square result shows that there is significant relationship between marital status, education, religion, household size and attitude towards entrepreneurship information. The study therefore recommended that the various tiers of government should create programs that will catalyze entrepreneurial development with special focus on women in the rural areas.Keywords: Attitude, Rural, Women farmers, Entrepreneurial informatio

Rural dwellers involvement in small scale poultry farming in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Poultry production at all levels appears to be lucrative and profitable but many factors appear to limit the involvement of rural dwellers in this sector. This study was carried out at Oluyole Local Government Area Oyo State to assess the level of involvement of rural dwellers in small scale poultry farming. Some parts of Oluyole local government were purposely selected for this study because of higher  concentration of rural dwellers that are involved in poultry production. A total of ninety five respondents were sampled and had a well-structured questionnaire administered to them to determine their socio economics characteristic, their level of involvement, benefit  derived and constraint faced in poultry farming. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics of frequency counts, percentage and  means, Chi-square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) at 0.05% level of significance. The results show that majority of the respondents were males (61.1%), married (68.8%) and have tertiary education (59.1%). Majority (50.5%) of the respondents were between the ages of 31-45years. Socio-economic characteristics such as age, region, sex, educational level, household size and income had no significant relationship with the respondent’s level of involvement in small scale poultry farming (P<0.05). Results on level of involvement shows that most (48.8%) of the sampled correspondents were involved in boilers production. The study also shows that the benefit derived in poultry farming remained the same regardless of the level of involvement of the farmers in various poultry activities, with r –value (0.177), p-value (0.089) indicating that the relationship is not significant (P<0.01), it also indicated that the relationship between the  constraints facing the respondents and their level of involvement is not significant with r –value (0.154). Also, the major constraints facing the respondents included difficulty in accessing loan and quality feed. Government should therefore make loan facilities at affordable interest rate while all the stake holders should work together to improve farmers’ access to quality feed, vaccine, technical know-how and adequate extension workers

Compliance to agrochemical safety practices among arable crop farmers in Ola-Oluwa Local Government Area OF Osun State, Nigeria

The study examined the compliance to agrochemical safety practices among arable crop farmers in Ola-Oluwa local government area of Osun state. Random sampling was used to select 127 farmers from the list of 254 registered farmers provided by the Arable Crop Farmers Association, 110 were retrieved in the study area. Data was obtained using structured interview schedule and described statistically with PPMC for the hypotheses. The study revealed that most (65%) respondents were male, 43.6% in the age of 41-49 years. Majority (65.5%) of the respondents was married and had primary education (26.4%). Most of the respondents accessed information safety practices through Farmers association (146), Radio (117) and Television (109). Also, majority of the respondents indicated their low compliance to agrochemical safety practice before application (57.0%), during application (63.5%) and after application (52.6%). Major constraints to safety practices identified by respondents in the study area were poor reading attitude of farmers (129), lack of technical knowhow on safety practices (120) and farmers’ poor literacy level (120). PPMC analysis used for the hypotheses revealed that there was significant relationship between the respondents’ income generated and their compliance to agrochemical safety practices (r=21.256, p=0.019). Also, there was significant relationship between respondents’ sources of information and their compliance to safety practices (r=10.231, p=0.012). It is therefore recommended that information on agrochemical safety practices should be simplified to avoid ambiguity and easy interpretation due to their literacy level. Keywords: Agrochemical, Safety Practices, Arable Crop Farmer

Investigation of the perception of climate change among arable crop farmers in Akinyele Local Government area of Oyo State, Nigeria

This study was designed to investigate the perception of climate change among arable crop farmers in Akinyele local government area of Oyo state, Nigeria using a well-structured questionnaire for data acquisition. Descriptive and inferential (chi-square) statistics were used to analyze the data.. The study revealed that majority of the respondents (50.8%) were between the ages of 40-49years and majority of them (85.8%) are married with household size of 7-10 persons. The study further revealed that (33.3%) of the respondents had no formal education while, (42.5%) of the respondents had a farming experience of 16years and above. However, it also shows that majority of the respondents are aware of the effect and causes of climate change. Significant association exists between marital status (x2=68.426, P=0.000), family size (X2=25.777, P=0.012) and perceived effect of climate change. The study therefore recommended that the government and extension agents should enlighten the women farmers more about climate change and should also help in making them adapt excellently to climate change

Effect of Different Sowing Media on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of (Golden Shower Tree) Senna fistula L

This study investigated the effect of sowing media on the seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of Senna fistula L. Treatments were T1 (Top soil), T2 (River sand), T3 (Grinded coconut husk) and T4 (weathered sawdust), replicated two times for seed germination. The treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and the data generated was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance, while mean separation where appropriate was done using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The different sowing media used had positive effect on the seed emergence, the seeds planted in river sand had the highest emergence percentage of 70%. The different sowing media used did not have any significant effect on the vegetative growth parameters, statistically, they had same effect on the parameters measured. Nonetheless, seedlings from river sand produced highest number of leave (20.4), seedlings from topsoil produced highest plant height and largest leaf area of l0.62 cm and 37.l4 cm2 respectively. The seedlings from weathered sawdust produced the highest stem diameter of 0.79 mm, while seedlings from grinded coconut husk had lowest values for all the growth parameters measured. Therefore, it is recommended that river sand or weathered sawdust can be used to propagate Senna fistula seeds

Effect of Different Sowing Media on Seed Germination and Seedling Growth of (Golden Shower Tree) Senna fistula L

This study investigated the effect of sowing media on the seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of Senna fistula L. Treatments were T1 (Top soil), T2 (River sand), T3 (Grinded coconut husk) and T4 (weathered sawdust), replicated two times for seed germination. The treatments were arranged in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and the data generated was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) at 5% level of significance, while mean separation where appropriate was done using Least Significant Difference (LSD). The different sowing media used had positive effect on the seed emergence, the seeds planted in river sand had the highest emergence percentage of 70%. The different sowing media used did not have any significant effect on the vegetative growth parameters, statistically, they had same effect on the parameters measured. Nonetheless, seedlings from river sand produced highest number of leave (20.4), seedlings from topsoil produced highest plant height and largest leaf area of l0.62 cm and 37.l4 cm2 respectively. The seedlings from weathered sawdust produced the highest stem diameter of 0.79 mm, while seedlings from grinded coconut husk had lowest values for all the growth parameters measured. Therefore, it is recommended that river sand or weathered sawdust can be used to propagate Senna fistula seeds

Introduction of improved okra (NHAe47-4) variety as a means of economic enhancement of farmers in Ido Village, Ido Local Government Area, Oyo State, Nigeria

The study was carried out to introduce improved okra (NHAe47-4) variety to farmers in Ido Village in Ido Local Government of Oyo State using SAFE approach to agricultural extension which includes; capacity building among farmers to enable them diagnoses their problems, identify solutions and develop plans and implement them with or without support from outside. Farmers in the studied area were selected and a group was formed comprising of twelve (12) members. Sensitization and awareness creation were conducted in the study area through series of activities such as facilitating, interactive group discussions and several meetings with the farmers were held to orientate them of the improved okra variety through teaching and management techniques. Descriptive statistical tool such as frequency distribution and percentages was used to analyze the objectives. At the end of the harvesting and whole exercise, the group (farmers) was interviewed verbally to know their levels of awareness for adoption and their general view about the improved variety in relation to the normal okra variety they were used to. The farmers embraced the technology and they were actively participated through demonstration method exercise. Having known all the techniques involved in the production cycle, the farmers also tried the technology on their individual plot which served as an encouragement factor for adoption. The study thus resulted into improving the standard of living and economic enhancement of the farmers inthe study area

Comparative Effect of Grinded and Ungrinded Palm Kernel Shell on the Strength of Pavers

Paving stones are increasing, being used by corporate bodies and individual for its functionalities and aesthetic value, the production of pavers over the years have been specifically carried out using stone dust which is relatively expensive and not readily affordable to the common man. This study was carried out to determine comparative effect of grinded and un-grinded palm kernel shell on the strength of pavers. Stone dust, river sand, grinded palm kernel shell, un-grinded palm kernel shell and cement were combine in different ratio namely,T1(4,0,0,0,l), T2(0,2,2,0,l), T3 (1,2,0,1,1), T4(1,1,2,0,l), T5(1,1,0,2,l), T6(0,2,l ,l,1) respectively to form six treatment with two replicates. The pavers were tested for weight and strength properties, T3 has the highest value of the mean weight while T1 has the lowest value. T3 (stone dust (1),river sand (2), un-grinded palm kernel shell (1) and 25kg of cement (1)), T1(stone dust (4) and 25kg of cement (1)).Also, the compressive strength results show that T3 also has the highest value of 127Mpa(Mega pascal) whileT6 has the lowest value of 33Mpa (Mega pascal). The data collected was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to determine the difference in the strength of the pavers. The analysis of variance shows that there is no significant difference between the compressive strength of the treatments. The colour of the paver shows that the paver produced with river sand and un-grinded palm kernel shell is brighter and stronger than others, it is then recommended that T3 can be used in the production of pavers because it is strong and can also withstand environmental stress

Perception of white meat consumption among urban households in Ibadan North Local Government of Oyo State

This study examines the consumer’s perception of white meat among household in Ibadan north local government area of Oyo state, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling was used through questionnaire to gather information from 110 respondents used as a sample size for the study. Data were analyzed through the use of descriptive statistics tools such as frequency and percentage, while inferential statistics such as chi-square and PPMC were used for the hypotheses. The result of the study revealed that majority (63.6%) of the respondents were married, also in their active age (93.2%) and engaged in trading and civil service work as their primary occupation. Also, majority (55.5%) had up to secondary education and tertiary school level with household size 1-5.The result further revealed that 52.4% of the respondents had unfavourable perception of white meat consumption while 47.6% had favourable perception. Also, better cholesterol content (53.6%) and reduced health risk (51.8%) were some of the perceived benefits of white meat considered by respondents. Constraints such as high cost of white meat (99%) and low income (88%) were considered as major constraints to white meat consumption. Chi-square analysis revealed that marital status(X2=18.693, P=0.028), education(X2=17.753, P=0.038) and primary occupation(X2=18.266, P=0.032) of respondents were found to have significant relationship with their perception of white meat consumption at 0.05 level. Also, PPMC analysis showed that there was relationship between perceived benefits and perception for white meat at 0.05 level of significant. The study, therefore, recommends that the enlightenment programmes on nutritional benefit of white meat consumption should be promoted for consumers to have right perception

Fish farmers’ perceived environmental effects on dam operation and coping strategies used in Ikere George Dam of Iseyin, Oyo State

The study examined the fish farmers‟ perceived environmental effects of dam operation and coping strategies among fish farmers in Ikere George dam, Iseyin Oyo state. Multi stage sampling technique was used to select 102 respondents in the study area. Data were collected through the use of interview schedule and were analysed using descriptive statistics such as percentage and frequency, while chi-square and PPMC were used to analyse hypotheses at p < 0.05. The result revealed that majority (54%) of the respondents below 40 years, with males predominantly higher than females. Also, 71.6% were married and 58.8% had educational attainment below secondary school. Challenges identified were disruption of movement of aquatic animals (137), blockage of migrations of aquatic species (135) and problem of overcrowding in the community (129) were prominent perceived effects of dam operation. The result further showed that migration (99) and planting of trees (146) were the most commonly used coping strategies. Chi-square showed that there was significant relationship between socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and perceived effects of dam operation except religion which was not significant (p>0.05). PPMC analysis revealed that there was significant relationship between coping strategies used (r=0.687, p=0.000). It is therefore recommended that proper training and adequate facilities should be given to fish farmers to ensure sustainability of the dam