Agriculture is a major contributor to economic development in most developing nations, with smallholder farmers playing a critical role, but their productivity and growth are impeded by a lack of access to agricultural loans. The affordability of loans is critical for sustainable agricultural development. Therefore, this paper investigates farmers’ loan acquisition and utilization, as well as their choice of loan sources using a two-part model and multinomial logit model. A total of 281 smallholder rice farmers were surveyed in Lagos State, Nigeria. The empirical findings show that marital status, farm size, and interest rate were all positive and significant influences on farmers’ loan sources of choice. In addition, annual farm revenue and the interest rate have a significant positive impact on loan access, whereas education, farming experience, farm size, off-farm income, and farm income have a major impact on loan use. The study also reveals that the preferred loan source differs according to the characteristics of farm households. The study concluded that access to loans increases farmers’ income in the region. It was recommended that the socio-economic characteristics of rice farmers should be considered when formulating and implementing policies to improve smallholder farmers’ access to agricultural loans.

Mycological studies on fungi in apparently diseased sweet orange (Citrus sinensis) and banana (Musa sapientum) sampled from various points in Kara Market in Sokoto Metropolis was carried out between August and September, 2016. The samples were surfaced sterilized with ethanol and the homogenates were cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar and incubated aerobically at room temperature for 7days at 30°C. the pure cultures obtained were identified morphologically and microscopically. The investigation revealed that the samples were infected with several fungal species. The most predominant fungi isolated from sweet orange was Cladosporium spp (40%), Fusarium spp (30%), Alternaria spp (20%) and Chrysonilia spp (10%) while the most predominant fungi isolated from banana was Fusarium spp (50%), Mucor spp (30%) and Rhizopus spp (20%). The pathogenicity test result shows that Cladosporium spp and Fusarium spp were the most active in sweet orange with rot length of 74mm and 70mm respectively and the least active fungi were Alternaria spp and Chrsonilia spp with rots length of 52mm and 48mm respectively while Fusarium spp and Mucor spp were the most active in banana with rots length of 84mm and 75mm respectively and the least active fungus is Rhizopus spp with rots length of 54mm.

Social media promotion is one of the current trends used to attract buyers, along with the massive use of information technology. One of them is using Instagram in promotional activities for traditional Indonesian food of Bakpia. This study aims to determine the effect of promotion through Instagram on consumer purchase intention of Bakpia. The study used descriptive method and multiple linear regression analysis. Four hundred respondents participated in this study through an online Google form survey. The results showed that promotional activities using Instagram were in good perception among consumers. Furthermore, based on the multiple regression analysis, the variable of context, communication, collaboration, and connection on Instagram promotion were statistically significant positive effect on purchase intention of bakpia consumers.

Mycological studies on Fungi in apparently diseased Sweet Orange ( Citrus sinensis) and Banana ( Musa sapientum) sampled from various points in Kara market in Sokoto Metropolis was carried out between August and September. The samples were surfaced sterilised with ethanol and the homogenates were cultured on Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA) and incubated aerobically at room temperature for 7 days at 30C. The pure cultures obtained were identified morphologically and microscopically. The investigation revealed that the samples were infected with several fungi species. The most predominant Fungi isolated from Sweet Orange were Cladosporium spp (40%), Fusarium spp (30%), Alternaria spp ( 20%), and Chrysonilia spp (10%) while the most predominant Fungi isolated from Banana were Fusarium spp (50%), Mucor spp ( 30%) and Rhizopus spp (20%). The pathogenecity test results show that Cladosporium spp and Fusarium spp were the most active in sweet orange with rot length of 74 mm and 70 mm respectively and the least active fungi were Alternaria spp and Chrysonilia spp with rot lengths of 52 mm and 48 mm respectively. Furthermore, Fusarium spp and Mucor spp were the most active in banana with rot lengths of 84 mm and 75 mm respectively and the least active fungus was Rhizopus spp with rot lengths of 54 mm.