Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria
Speargrassseverely constraints crop production in the sub-humid lowlands of West Africa. Researchers have identified and demonstrated effectivemanagement techniques but the adoption rate among farmers is still low. Data were collected from 41 communities in Cross River, Kogi and BenueStates in Niger...
| Autores principales: | , , , , , , |
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| Formato: | Journal Article |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
2006
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91361 |
| _version_ | 1855529853782065152 |
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| author | Chikoye, David Ellis-Jones, J. Tarawali, G. Kormawa, P.M. Nielsen, O. Ibana, S. Avav, T. |
| author_browse | Avav, T. Chikoye, David Ellis-Jones, J. Ibana, S. Kormawa, P.M. Nielsen, O. Tarawali, G. |
| author_facet | Chikoye, David Ellis-Jones, J. Tarawali, G. Kormawa, P.M. Nielsen, O. Ibana, S. Avav, T. |
| author_sort | Chikoye, David |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | Speargrassseverely constraints crop production in the sub-humid lowlands of West Africa. Researchers have identified and demonstrated effectivemanagement techniques but the adoption rate among farmers is still low. Data were collected from 41 communities in Cross River, Kogi and BenueStates in Nigeria using rural rapid appraisal techniques. The objectives were to assess the importance of agriculture in the livelihoods of eachcommunity, identify priority crops, assess perceptions of the speargrass problem, identify existing speargrass control strategies and localinstitutions/farmers with the capacity to implement speargrass control trials. Crop production was the main source of livelihood for all households.The most important crops from the perspectives of both food security and cash sale were cassava and yam, and these were most affected by theweed. Speargrass was the major constraint to crop production because of lack of capital for hiring labour and purchasing inputs, declining soilfertility, bush burning, deforestation, continuous cropping and lack of required skills. Slashing, hand-pulling, burning, deep digging and fallowingwere the most common control methods used by farmers, but these were very labour intensive and ultimately not effective. Farmers assessedspeargrass control measures through labour and cash requirements, material availability, effectiveness, time span to achieve control and cropyields. They rated chemical control most highly. Longer fallow periods and re-afforestation were effective but impractical as pressure on landintensifies from population growth. From the results of this study, we conclude that the use of community-based participatory a pproaches is essential to identify various technologies for combating speargrass. |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | CGSpace91361 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2006 |
| publishDateRange | 2006 |
| publishDateSort | 2006 |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace913612023-08-03T08:11:17Z Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria Chikoye, David Ellis-Jones, J. Tarawali, G. Kormawa, P.M. Nielsen, O. Ibana, S. Avav, T. chemical control crop production farmers' perceptions food security land degradation speargrass participatory research approaches weed control yield loss. Speargrassseverely constraints crop production in the sub-humid lowlands of West Africa. Researchers have identified and demonstrated effectivemanagement techniques but the adoption rate among farmers is still low. Data were collected from 41 communities in Cross River, Kogi and BenueStates in Nigeria using rural rapid appraisal techniques. The objectives were to assess the importance of agriculture in the livelihoods of eachcommunity, identify priority crops, assess perceptions of the speargrass problem, identify existing speargrass control strategies and localinstitutions/farmers with the capacity to implement speargrass control trials. Crop production was the main source of livelihood for all households.The most important crops from the perspectives of both food security and cash sale were cassava and yam, and these were most affected by theweed. Speargrass was the major constraint to crop production because of lack of capital for hiring labour and purchasing inputs, declining soilfertility, bush burning, deforestation, continuous cropping and lack of required skills. Slashing, hand-pulling, burning, deep digging and fallowingwere the most common control methods used by farmers, but these were very labour intensive and ultimately not effective. Farmers assessedspeargrass control measures through labour and cash requirements, material availability, effectiveness, time span to achieve control and cropyields. They rated chemical control most highly. Longer fallow periods and re-afforestation were effective but impractical as pressure on landintensifies from population growth. From the results of this study, we conclude that the use of community-based participatory a pproaches is essential to identify various technologies for combating speargrass. 2006 2018-03-07T11:25:42Z 2018-03-07T11:25:42Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91361 en Limited Access Chikoye, D., Ellis-Jones, J., Tarawali, G., Kormawa, P., Nielsen, O., Ibana, S. & Avav, T. (2006). Farmers' perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland sub-humid savannah of Nigeria. Journal of Food, Agriculture & Environment, 4(3 & 4), 118-126. |
| spellingShingle | chemical control crop production farmers' perceptions food security land degradation speargrass participatory research approaches weed control yield loss. Chikoye, David Ellis-Jones, J. Tarawali, G. Kormawa, P.M. Nielsen, O. Ibana, S. Avav, T. Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria |
| title | Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria |
| title_full | Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria |
| title_fullStr | Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria |
| title_full_unstemmed | Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria |
| title_short | Farmers perceptions of the speargrass (Imperata cylindrica) problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of Nigeria |
| title_sort | farmers perceptions of the speargrass imperata cylindrica problem and its control in the lowland subhumid savannah of nigeria |
| topic | chemical control crop production farmers' perceptions food security land degradation speargrass participatory research approaches weed control yield loss. |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/91361 |
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