Information System Usage and Risk Management among Arable Crop Farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria

Farmers need to be adequately informed in employing economic strategies to tackle risk situations in agriculture. This study sought to examine the risk management coping strategy employed by the farmers, explore determinants of risk management strategies, and to establish the relationship between information systems and risk management strategy employed. Primary data were used from 141 randomly selected farmers. Pre-tested interview schedule was used for data collection. Descriptive statistics, Likert-type scale, Multinomial logistic regression, and Bivariate correlation analysis were used for data analyses. The results revealed that the majority of the farmers were riskaverse. Gender of household head, the highest level of education attained, household size, farming experience and membership of association had a significant effect on the choice of coping strategies employed by the farmers. Correlation results showed that the more access to information the farmers had to the different risks they encountered, the higher the management strategies they were likely to use. The study concludes that there is a significant relationship between information systems and risk management strategies employed. It was recommended that extension agents should be adequately sensitized on the various sources of information systems available to the farmers so that they can, in turn, pass the information to the farmers

Analysis of the profit margin along the plantain value chain in Osun State, Nigeria

Plantain is a crop of economic value and can serve as a source of foreign exchange if given proper attention. There is, thus, the need to explore this potential, especially as regards the profit accrued by the various actors in the plantain value chain. This study sought to estimate the profit margin of players along the plantain value chain, examine the factors affecting the margins of actors and identify the constraints faced by them. Random sampling technique was used to select 125 producers, processors and marketers in Osun state. The primary data used were collected using well-structured interview schedule. Gross margin, net marketing margins; ordinary least square regression; and Likert-type scale were used for data analysis. The study revealed that the gross margin accrued to plantain producers was ₦639,148.31/ha per annum, while the net marketing margin/bunch for the plantain processors and marketers were ₦1836.61 and ₦204.96 respectively. Household size, quantities of labour, suckers, and pesticide used were factors affecting the gross margin of producers. Total input cost significantly affected the marketing margin of the processors, while it was transportation cost for the marketers. The major constraint faced by the plantain farmers was high cost of labour whilethe processors and marketers had the challenges of high cost of plantain and lack of a uniform unit of measurements respectively. The study concludes that the plantain value chain is profitable for all the actors, and recommends that the government should provide incentives that would encourage more people to go into plantain production, processing, and marketing.Keywords: Plantain, Value chain, Actors, Profit margin, Constraint

Comparative analysis of the profitability of rice production systems in Kwara State, Nigeria

This study describes the socioeconomic characteristics of rice farmers, identifies the production system used by the farmers, compares the profitability of rice production systems, identifies the factors influencing the choice of production systems among the farmers as well as the constraints to rice production systems. A three-stage random sampling procedure was used to select 120 rice farmers on whom a set structured questionnaire was administered. Data was analysed using descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression model. Results show that 48.3%, 35% and 16.7% of the farmers cultivate rice using the upland, lowland and the combined production systems respectively. The findings also reveal variability in yield, profit and income across the rice production systems. The gross margins for lowland, upland and combined rice production systems were N65,735.73, N67,900.89 and N78,015.57 per hectare respectively. The factors that influenced the choice of upland production system relative to combined production system were age, household size, farming years and extension visits while the factors that influenced the choice for combined rice production system relative to lowland rice production system was income. Inadequate finance to purchase inputs, problem of pests and diseases, and unfavorable climatic conditions are the constraints faced by rice farmers in the upland, lowland and combined production systems. The combined production systems had the highest return per hectare. Therefore, the study recommends that farmers should be encouraged to choose the combined rice production system for optimum profitability of rice production