Continental J. Agronomy 6 (1): 42 - 48, 2012 Wilolud Journals, 2012 http://www.wiloludjournal.

com Printed in Nigeria

ISSN: 2141 - 4114

BASELINE SURVEY ON NEEDS ASSESSMENT AND AWARENESS OF HORTICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES IN NATIONAL HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES ADOPTED VILLAGES Amao, I. O., Adebisi-Adelani, O. and Olajide-Taiwo, F. B. National Horticultural Research Institute, Idi-Ishin, Jericho, Ibadan. ABSTRACT
The main source of knowledge creation and technology generation in sub-Sahara Africa including Nigeria has been the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs), the Universities and technology generation arm of the agricultural sector. The study was carried out in Osegere and Awaye (Oyo State) to assess the awareness of the National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT) technologies by her two adopted villages as well as their needs. Sixty respondents were sampled in both villages. Data for the study was collected with the aid of structured interview guide and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). The analysis involved the use of descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (Chi-square) statistics. The result revealed that most of the sampled farmers in both villages are not aware of technologies generated by NIHORT with the exception of Osegere where about 50% are aware of the rapid multiplication technology of plantain. The study also revealed that the community (X 2 = 6.13) to which a farmer belongs and household size (X2 =24.55) had a significant relationship with their awareness of the rapid multiplication technology in plantain; while age (X2 = 33.21) of respondents had a significant relationship with their awareness of pineapple technology at P<0.05. In addition, the awareness of budded citrus technology had a significant relationship with the sex (X2 = 7.92) of the farmers most of whom were found to be males. Furthermore, from the needs assessment the study showed that finance is the most important need of respondents in Osegere. However, in Awaye, the most important need of the community is availability of good road. Low awareness that has been observed for these technologies could be improved through participatory training and capacity building. Keywords: NIHORT technologies, technology generation, needs assessment, adopted village.

INTRODUCTION Horticulture may be defined as the art and science of production or cultivation of vegetables, fruits, flowers, plantation crops, aesthetic shrubs and landscape architecture. It can also be defined as the science and technology involved in the production, storability, processing and marketing of fruits, vegetables, flowers and ornamentals. Horticultural crops are resources of energy, protein, carbohydrates and vitamins. Fruits and vegetables occupy a prominent place in the daily diet of many Nigerians today and they consume comparatively larger percentage of the house-keeping fund than their grain and tuber counterparts (Mahadi, 2006). The importance of technology to agricultural development especially in less developed countries is widely recognized. This is predicated on the observed impact of this technology and its potential and actual contributions to the development of agriculture. In developing countries like Nigeria where a greater proportion of the population lives in rural areas, agricultural technology could also provide a potential means of increasing production and subsequently raising incomes of farmers as well as their standard of living (Ani, 2002). According to Kaimowitz and Merill-Sands (1989), technology transfers have both functional and institutional meanings. The functional meaning bothers on the tasks involved in the delivery of technology while the institutions and personnel for carrying out the task accounts for the institutional meaning. The main tasks of technology transfer are: technology production, delivery of technologies to farmers as well as monitoring and evaluation of the use of such technologies. It is implicit that these tasks occur in a logical sequence. The National Horticultural Research Institute (NIHORT), Ibadan has mandate to conduct research into genetic improvement, production, processing, storage, utilization and marketing of tropical fruits, vegetables and ornamental plants. Prior to this time, no serious attention has been devoted to banana and plantain research,

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Amao, I. O et al.,: Continental J. Agronomy 6 (1): 42 - 48, 2012 development and technology transfer in Nigeria (NIHORT, 2004, Ojehomon, 1983, Ogungbaigbe, 2004). However, NIHORT has been able to generate and adapt improved technologies for banana and plantain production (as well as other fruits) and development through collaboration with International Network for Improvement of Banana and Plantain (INIBAP) and International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), National Research Organizations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). Dissemination of generated technologies is ensured through collaboration with State Agricultural Development Projects (ADPs), Ministries of Agriculture and Natural Resources, NGOs, Farmers Cooperatives and private farmers (NIHORT, 2004). In order to adequately transfer most of her technologies, NIHORT adopted three villages - Osegere, Awaye and Ogotun in the year 1996 during the era of the National Agricultural Research Project (NARP). Some technologies were introduced then such as Plantain and Banana Rapid Multiplication and Budded Citrus. Due to dwindling of funds, there was poor monitoring that did not allow the project to be continued as planned. In 2006, a survey on awareness and usage of NIHORT technology was conducted which led to creation of additional adopted villages which are Igbara-odo and Birokiki. In, 2009 Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria came up with the aim of reforming the adopted villages and they now mandated each Research Institute to have two adopted villages which should not be more than 20km away from the institute. Then NIHORT chose Awaye and Osegere in Egbeda local government area of Oyo state to give room for proper monitoring and supervision. This led to the need to have a base line data of the villages so as to give room for future assessment. Also due to the fact that NIHORT has been working with these villages, there arose the need to assess their awareness of NIHORT technologies. Thus, the general objective of the study is to assess the awareness of NIHORT technologies by the 2 NIHORT adopted villages- Awaye and Osegere as well as the needs of the villages. The specific objectives were: To describe the personal characteristics of respondents in the study area. To determine the awareness of respondents to NIHORT technologies in the study area. To identify the constraints to agricultural production in the study area. To identify the needs of the adopted villages. Hypothesis Ho: There is no significant relationship between awareness of some NIHORT technologies and the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study area was Oyo State Nigeria. Oyo State belongs to the Yoruba ethnic group with a total population of about 5,591,589 inhabitants (NPC, 2006). Oyo State lies between 7oN and 9oN and longitude 2.5oE and 5oE in the rain forest and the derived savanna zones. Osegere and Awaye were purposively sampled being the closest NIHORT adopted villages. Structured questionnaire was used for the collection of baseline data on awareness of respondents to NIHORT Technologies. Sixty farmers were randomly sampled from the group of farmers in the communities Awaye (33) and Osegere (27). Focus Group Discussion (FGD) was used to assess the needs of the communities after which they were ranked. The data collected using the structured questionnaire was analyzed using descriptive as well as inferential statistics. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Personal characteristics of farmers From Table 1, a majority of the respondents (farmers) in Awaye community are between the ages of 41-50, while in Osegere, the farmers are mostly between 61-70 years of age (29.6%). This shows that majority of farmers in the two adopted villages are old, indicating that not much young people are involved in farming as observed by Torimiro and Oluborode (2006); however in Osegere quite a percentage (25.9%) of the farmers are between 20-30 years. In Awaye and Osegere, most of the farmers are male (60.6% and 70.4% respectively). A large percentage of the farmers are married in both villages- Awaye (78.8%) and Osegere (88.9%) respectively. Households in both Awaye and Osegere are large sized households having between 6-10 household members (57.6% and 74.1% respectively). Most of the farmers in both villages have no formal education (Awaye- 60.6% and Osegere - 40.7%) this might have a bearing on their level of awareness and adoption of agricultural

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innovations are affected by the literacy status of farmers. Those who are literate are expected to be more innovative because of their ability to reach the information more quickly and ability to take more risk (IAR, Amao, I. O et al.,: Continental J. Agronomy 6 (1): 42 - 48, 2012 2001). The results also showed that in Awaye- 72.7% of the respondents and 70% in Osegere have their primary occupation as farming. All are farmers in Awaye and 96.3% of them in Osegere are members of association with the main business of their association as farming. The benefits derived such as credit linkage, fertilizer access, and access to market outlet are only received by some not all the farmers (39.4%, 18.2%, and 12.1%) respectively in Awaye. On the other hand in Osegere, 29.0%, 11.1% and 3.7% of the farmers received the credit linkage, fertilizer access and access to market outlet benefits for being members of their association respectively. In Awaye the largest percentage of farmers (42.4%) got the ownership of their accommodation through inheritance while in Osegere most of them (51.9%) own their accommodation. 93.9% of farmers in Awaye have no access to agricultural extension services while 63% have access in Osegere. Table 1: Personal characteristics of the respondents Personal characteristics of respondents Awaye Osegere Percentage Percentage Age 20-30 12.1 25.9 31-40 18.2 14.8 41-50 39.4 11.1 51-60 6.1 14.8 >60 24.2 33.3 Total 100.0 100.0 Sex Male 60.6 70.4 Female 39.4 29.6 Total 100.0 100.0 Marital status Single 15.2 7.4 Married 78.8 88.9 Widowed 6.1 3.7 Total 100.0 100.0 Household size 1-5 33.3 18.5 6-10 57.6 74.1 >10 9.1 7.4 Total 100.0 100.0 Highest educational attainment No formal education 60.6 40.7 Koranic education 3.0 7.4 Primary education 15.2 29.6 Secondary education 18.2 22.2 Post secondary education 3.0 100.0 100.0 Farming as primary occupation Yes 72.7 63.0 No 27.3 37.0 Total 100.0 100.0 Membership of association Yes 100.0 96.3 No 3.7 Total 100.0 100.0 Main business of association Farming 81.8 96.3 Religious / Cultural 18.2 3.7 Total 100.0 100.0

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Benefits derived from membership of association* Credit linkage Access to fertilizer Access to market outlet Ownership of accommodation Self Inherited Rented Others Total Access to agricultural extension services Yes No Total

39.4 18.2 12.1 39.4 42.4 15.2 3.0 100.0 6.06 93.94 100.00

29.6 11.1 3.7 51.9 33.3 14.8 100.0 37.04 62.96 100.00

Source: Field survey, 2009. (*- benefits do not add up to 100% as not all respondents recorded benefits of membership of association). Awareness of NIHORT technologies Table 2 showed that in both villages, farmers were not aware of NIHORT technologies with the exception of 51.9% of them in Osegere who were aware of rapid multiplication technology in plantain this is in consonance with Okoro (2008) where about 46.6% of the respondents were aware of the minisett technique in yam production across Nigerias yam belt. Table 2: Respondents awareness of NIHORT Technologies
Respondents awareness of NIHORT technology Rapid multiplication technique of plantain Aware Not aware Total Rapid multiplication technique of pineapple Aware Not aware Total Budding technique in citrus Aware Not aware Total Awaye Percentage 21.2 78.8 100.0 3.0 97.0 100.0 27.3 72.7 100.0 Osegere Percentage 51.8 48.2 100.0 11.1 88.9 100.0 25.9 74.1 100.0

Source: Field survey, 2009. Constraints to agricultural production The results in Table 3 revealed that constraints faced by the farmers include lack of credit facilities, pests and diseases attack, transportation problem/bad road and electricity problem. In Awaye, about 50% of the farmers complained about the problem of transportation while 67% of the sampled farmers in Osegere had lack of credit facilities as a major constraint to their production. Table 3: Constraints to agricultural production
Constraints to agricultural production Lack of credit facilities Crop attack of pests and diseases Transportation problem / bad road Electricity problem Lack of farm inputs Lack of market facilities Awaye Percentage 15.2 3.0 45.5 6.1 18.2 12.1 Osegere Percentage 66.7 14.8 3.7 3.7 11.1

Source: Field survey, 2009.

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Amao, I. O et al.,: Continental J. Agronomy 6 (1): 42 - 48, 2012 Relationship between the awareness of NIHORT technologies and socio-economic characteristics From Table 4, the hypothesis revealed that the community to which a farmer belongs (X 2=6.13) and household size (X2=24.55) had a significant relationship with their awareness of the rapid multiplication technology in plantain as already shown in the descriptive statistics. This could also be due to the fact that NIHORT had worked in collaboration with IITA to introduce hot water treatment of plantain/banana suckers in Osegere during the NARP era. Also, the age of respondents (X 2=33.21) was observed to have a significant relationship with their awareness of pineapple technology contrary to apriori expectation that the older the farmers the less their willingness to try new innovations or take risks (Odoemenem and Obinne, 2010). In addition, the awareness of budded citrus technology had a significant relationship with the sex (X 2=7.92) of the farmers as most of them are males. This could be due to the fact that the male counterpart are the ones to get informed first about any new information in the community. Table 4: Relationship between awareness of NIHORT technologies and socio-economic characteristics of the respondents Socio-economic characteristics of respondents Df ChiAsymp. square Sig. (2 value sided) Awareness of rapid multiplication technique of plantain 1 6.13** 0.01 Community 21 21.17 0.45 Age 2 3.49 0.18 Marital status 1 0.04 0.84 Sex 1 0.61 0.44 Household head 13 24.55** 0.03 Household size 4 1.98 0.74 Highest educational attainment Awareness of rapid multiplication technique of pineapple 1 1.56 0.21 Community 21 33.21** 0.04 Age 2 0.86 0.65 Marital status 1 2.31 0.13 Sex 1 1.43 0.23 Household head 13 4.39 0.97 Household size 4 6.54 0.16 Highest educational attainment Awareness of budding technique in citrus Community 1 0.01 0.91 Age 21 27.10 0.17 Marital status 2 1.92 0.38 Sex 1 7.92** 0.01 Household head 1 1.82 0.18 Household size 13 9.35 0.75 Highest educational attainment 4 0.80 0.94 Source: Field survey, 2009. (**- significant at p<0.005) Needs assessment of adopted villages Table 5 showed that in decreasing order of importance, Osegere community needs finance, road, meeting hall, market, herbicides among other inputs. On the other hand, Awaye community requires road, primary and secondary schools, market, hospital among others for the development of the community. The needs assessment further emphasizes the constraints to agricultural production in the study area.

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Amao, I. O et al.,: Continental J. Agronomy 6 (1): 42 - 48, 2012 Table 5: Needs assessment of NIHORT adopted villages Needs of adopted villageRank Needs of adopted village Rank Osegere Awaye Finance 1 Road 1 Provision of road 2 School (Primary and 2 Secondary) Hall of meeting 3 Finance / Credit facilities 3 Provision of market 4 Markets 4 Provision of selective 5 Hospitals 5 herbicides Establishment of oil palm 6 Tractor 6 trees Fertilizer provision 7 Vehicles for transportation 7 Improved vegetable seeds 8 Cottage industry 8 Establishment of citrus 9 Fertilizers 9 orchard for individual farmer Establishment of improved 10 Chemicals (herbicides) 10 cocoa Tractor hiring 11 Seedlings (cocoa, palm tree, 11 citrus, maize) Personnel in hospital 12 Oil palm processing 12 machine Women in special need 13 Gari processing machine 13 Oil palm processing 14 Modern plant for drying 14 machine cassava Farm tools/cutlass 15 Fish pond Dam Borehole Source: Field Survey, 2009. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION The study revealed that the awareness of NIHORT technologies in the adopted villages of Awaye and Osegere has been low. Low awareness that has been observed for these technologies could be improved through participatory training between the extension unit and the farmers. There is the need to enhance the performance of the extension unit for proper service delivery. This will lead to adoption of such technologies because as farmers become aware of technologies, adoption of such technology consequently rises which ultimately leads to increased agricultural production. The needs assessment of the communities also attest to the constraint of finance indicated by the respondents as finance is one of the three most important needs of both communities. Thus, the constraints to agricultural production faced by farmers in the study area (finance/ credit access, among others) can be alleviated by giving them access to credit so as to improve their production in a bid to gaining the benefits of improved technology generation. REFERENCE Ani, A.O., (2002). Factors inhibition agricultural production among rural women in Southern Nigeria, Unpublished Ph.D. Thesis, University of Maiduguri, Nigeria. Ebonyi State, 16 17 18

IAR (2001). Adoption of improved cowpea technologies in the savanna ecology of Nigeria: A report of survey conducted on PEDUNE/PRONAF Project in Nigeria by Institute for Agricultural Research Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru-Zaria, Nigeria, April, 2001. Kaimowitz, D. K. and Merill-Sands, D. (1989). Making the link between agricultural research and technology users. Conference Discussion paper ISNAR, The Hague.

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Amao, I. O et al.,: Continental J. Agronomy 6 (1): 42 - 48, 2012 Mahadi, A. (2006). Horticulture in the concept of economic empowerment and industrial development in Nigeria: Being a Keynote address delivered at the 24th Annual Conference of Horticultural Society of Nigeria held at Gombe State University, Gombe, September 17th-22nd, 2006, published by Horticultural Society of Nigeria (HORTSON). NIHORT (2004): Brochure of the National Horticultural Research Institute, NIHORT Press, Ibadan. 6pp. Odoemenem I.U. and Obinne, C. P. O. (2010): Assessing the factors influencing the utilization of improved cereal crop production technologies by small-scale farmers in Nigeria, Indian Journal of Science and Technology Vol. 3 No. 1 (Jan 2010) pp 180-183, ISSN: 0974- 6846. Ogungbaigbe, L. O. (2004). Research-Extension-Farmer-Linkages for fruit technology transfer in selected states of southwestern Nigeria. Unpublished PhD thesis in the Department of agricultural Extension and Rural Development, University of Ibadan, Nigeria, 191pp. Ojehomon, O. O. (1983). Presidential address, Horticultural Society of Nigeria, Acta Horticulturae, 123, pp 1721. Okoro, J. K. (2008). Awareness and Use of the Rapid Seed Yam Multiplication Technology by Farmers In Nigerias Yam Belt, PAT 2008; 5 (1): 22-29 ISSN: 0794-5213, Online copy available at www.patnsukjournal.net/currentissue, Publication of Faculty of Agriculture, Nasarawa State University, Keffi. Torimiro, D.O. and A.A. Oluborode, (2006). Exploring socio-economic correlates of production needs for enhancing food security through farm youth in southwest Nigeria. Pak. Journal of Applied Science Research, 2: 248-255. Received for Publication: 11/05/2012 Accepted for Publication: 14/07/2012 Corresponding author Amao, I. O. National Horticultural Research Institute, Idi-Ishin, Jericho, Ibadan. Email: ifeluv@yahoo.com

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