ABSTRACT
This study sought to determine the adoption and disadoption of sweetpotato production and processing technologies by farmers in the South-east zone of Nigeria. The specific objectives were to: determine the level of awareness of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies among farmers in the zone; determine the extent of adoption and disadoption of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies by farmers in the zone; examine the determinants of adoption and disadoption of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies in the study area and identify the constraints to the adoption of sweetpotato production and processing technologies in the zone. Using the multistage sampling technique, and the structured interview schedule as instrument, data for the study were collected from a sample of two hundred and seventy (270) sweetpotato farmers in the zone. Percentages, mean scores, probit analysis and exploratory factor analysis procedure were used as statistical tools for data analysis. The findings of the study showed that majority (79.63%) of the farmers (270) were aware of the sweetpotato production technology, whereas the processing technology recorded a low level of awareness. With regard to the extent of adoption of the sweetpotato production practices, majority (37.9%) of the farmers adopted the use of ridges and mounds, as well as improved sweetpotato varieties, while majority (40.2%) of them rejected the recommended plant spacing of 30cm x 100cm on ridges and 25cm x 100cm on mounds for both sole and intercropped systems. Most (34.2%) of the farmers used the 2-node and 5/6-node vine cuttings as planting materials, as well as time for planting of sweetpotato, weeding regime of one major weeding at 4-6 weeks after planting, inorganic fertilizer application of 400kg of NPK 20:10:10, earthening-up practice, timely harvest of root tubers and pest and disease control measures. The extent of disadoption of the sweetpotato production technology was low. In the processing of fermented sweetpotato fufu flour, majority of the farmers adopted the practices of peeling and washing of sweetpotato root tubers, cutting of the root tubers into 2.5mm-3.0mm chips, fermenting of the chips by soaking in water for 24 hours, draining of water from fermented chips and sun-drying of chips on raised platforms or oven-drying at a temperature of 50oC. Majority of them also mill the dried chips properly to produce the flour and package the flour in polyethylene bags or air-tight containers. With regard to the extent of adoption of the practices involved in the processing of unfermented sweetpotato flour, most of the farmers adopted the innovation of peeling and washing of root tubers of sweetpotato, grating of the root tubers into mash and dewatering of the mash in a clean bag. Majority of the farmers also adopted sun-drying the dewatered mash on raised platform or oven-drying at a temperature of 50oC, milling the dried mash and packaging the flour in polyethylene bags or air-tight containers. In processing of sweetpotato starch, majority of the farmers adopted the practices of peeling and washing of the root tubers, grating of the root tubers into mash, dewatering of mash in clean bags and mixing dewatered mash with quantity of water that is 10 times the volume of mash. Other practices adopted by majority of the farmers included sieving of mash with muslin cloth, sedimenting, decanting and collection of starch, sun-drying of starch on raised platform or oven-drying at a temperature of 50oC, milling of the dried starch and packaging in polyethylene bags or air-tight containers. Household size, labour, land and health significantly influenced the adoption of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies. Age, marital status and participation in credit system were important in predicting farmers who will continue to use the sweetpotato technologies, while sweetpotato problems significantly influenced the disadoption of the technologies. Production/processing complexity problems, economic problems, poor technical information and pathological problems were the main constraints to the adoption of the sweetpotato production and processing technologies. It was recommended that researchers, policy makers and administrators of extension services consider seriously these issues which constitute limiting factors to increased sweetpotato production and processing in the study area.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background information
Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas (L) Lam) is a herbaceous, warm-weather creeping plant belonging to the family Convolvulaceae and genus Ipomoea (Woolfe, 1992). The family is made up of 45 genera and 1,000 species, out of which only Ipomoea batatas is of economic importance to man and animals (Woolfe, 1992). It is known to be among the world’s most important, versatile and under-exploited food crops (International Potato Centre (CIP), 1999). With more than 133 million tonnes in annual production, sweetpotato currently ranks as the fifth most important food crop on a fresh-weight basis in developing countries after rice, wheat, maize and cassava (CIP, 1999). Average yields in several countries are well below the average yield of 15 tonnes per hectare for developing countries as a whole, and these in turn are well below the crop’s potential.
In the last decade, there has been a positive growth rate for sweetpotato production in China, as well as a number of developing countries (CIP, 1999). China tops the list of world largest producers of sweetpotato with 106,197,100 metric tonnes while Nigeria is third largest producer with 2,150,000 metric tonnes annually. In Africa, Nigeria is second largest producer of sweetpotato after Uganda with 2,600,000 metric tonnes annually (National Root Crops Research Institute, 2009).
In Nigeria, the production, marketing and utilization of sweetpotato have expanded to almost all the ecological zones within the past decade (NRCRI, 2009), and 200,000 to 400,000 hectares of land are under sweetpotato cultivation. Yields of
Sweetpotato is traditionally used as boiled root tubers eaten with stew, boiled and pounded with either boiled or fermented cassava as fufu or boiled or pounded yam. It is also dried and milled for sweetening of gruel (‘ogi’) porridge, sliced into chips, dried and boiled with beans or vegetables, sliced into chips and fried in vegetable oil, in addition to processing into flour for sweetening ‘kunu’ or pap. Furthermore, root tubers are boiled, sliced, sun-dried and used later as snacks, processed into flour for making buns, chin-chin, doughnut, noodles, alcoholic beverages, protein-enriched pulp and canned foods.
Sweetpotato grows best at a temperature of between 24oC and 28oC with an annual rainfall of 700mm to 1000mm. It requires about 500mm of rain during the period of vegetative growth and the rest during tuber formation and setting (Woolfe, 1992; Onwueme and Sinha, 1991). It is also a drought tolerant crop. However, drought that occurs within six weeks after planting or during tuber formation reduces yield greatly. Sweetpotato does not tolerate shade. Day length of 11 hours or less.....
For more Agricultural Economics & Extension Projects Click here
================================================================Item Type: Project Material | Size: 144 pages | Chapters: 1-5
Format: MS Word | Delivery: Within 30Mins.
================================================================
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.