Sustaining extension activities in yam production: An assessment of productivity constraints of farmers in Yagba Local Government Area of Kogi State. In: Nmadu, J. N., Ojo, M. A., Mohammed, U. S., Baba, K. M., Ibrahim, F. D. and Yisa, E. S. (eds.) Commercial Agriculture, Banking reform and economic downturn: setting a new agenda for agricultural development in Nigeria.

Abstract

This study examined the constraints faced by yam farmers in Yagba West LGA of Kogi State, Nigeria. Data were collected with the aid of structured questionnaire from 80 randomly selected yam farmers in four communities and analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi-square. The result showed that the respondents within the age bracket 41 – 50 years constituted 41.25%, while majority (86.25%) were male. Furthermore, respondents with farming experience above ten years were 87.5%. The study also revealed that majority (75.0%) had one form of education or the other. The mean farm size of the farmers was 0.687 and majority (90.0%) grows mainly white variety of yam. The result shows a positive relationship between the output and the following constraints such as access to loan, high cost of inputs, poor soil fertility, transportation, pest and diseases, environmental factors, lack of infrastructural facilities, livestock destruction and problem of acquiring mother seeds faced by the farmers in the study area at 1% significant level. In addition to the constraints identified, majority (88.75%) of the respondents claimed they don’t have access to extension services which will aid in alleviating their problems. It was recommended that adequate extension services and focusing intervention programmes in the study area to solving the identified problems e.g provision of credit and infrastructural facilities and provision of inputs at subsidized rate.