No abstract

In spite of the fact that majority of Nigerian farmers live in rural areas, the rate of infrastructural development in the rural areas remain a source of serious concern. This study was therefore carried out to assess the state of road infrastructure and it effect on farmers' productivity in Oyo state, Nigeria. A three stage random sampling technique was employed to select 120 farming households in the study area. Descriptive statistics and the multiple regression models were the major analytical tools employed for the study. The result of the analysis showed that the state of road infrastructure in the study area is less than stellar as only about 12 percent of the roads were tarred. Cost of inputs, farm size, access to fertilizer, labour and access to good roads were identified as the significant factors influencing farmers' output in the study area. In line with the results of the study, it was recommended that the government should focus on construction of more rural roads is to enhance farmers' productivity and income through increased access to inputs and product market.

No abstract

During my field collections of ants in so.me cocoa farms on Ondo Road in Western Nigeria, I have co.me to observe that certain species of ants are associated with scale insects ('Coccida.e), mealybugs (Pseudococcidae) and aphids in a way which suggests that the association must be mutually beneficial. Although a great deal has been done by many workers to determine experimentally the nature of this association (Strickland, 951 Nixon, 951 Way 954), there seems to be so much variation in 'the. degree of the ant-Homoptera association that many questions still remain unanswered. Further, many claims by previous workers need to be substantiated, particularly as these