No abstract

The experiment was conducted at the Federal College of Forestry Demonstration Farm in Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria during the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons to determine the efficacy of intra-row spacing on the growth and yield of groundnut cultivars on the Jos, Plateau, Nigeria. A Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was used involving four row spacings (15, 25, 35 and 45 cm) and three groundnut cultivars (SAMNUT 22, SAMNUT 23, and SAMNUT 24) arranged in 12 treatment combinations and replicated three (3) times on a 3 m x 3 m plot size with an alley of 0.5 m. Data were collected on plant height (cm), numbers of leaves, branches and pods plant-1, canopy width (cm), 100 seeds weight (g), plant biomass (kg ha-1) and yield (kg ha-1). The data collected was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) to test the significance between the treatment effects using F-test in XLSTAT 18 statistical package and where significance was observed, means were separated using Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. The experiment showed that intra row spacing and cultivar significantly (p≤0.001) affected the growth and yield characters of the groundnuts. An intra-row spacing of 45 cm produced the highest growth characters of groundnut and 25 cm row spacing produced the highest yield characters while SAMNUT 24 out yielded the other cultivars producing the highest growth and yield. Based on the afore mentioned, it can be concluded and recommended that SAMNUT 24 is the most suitable cultivar and 25 cm intra row spacing is the optimal spacing for groundnut production in the study area.

Farmers were exposed to agroforestry but did not adopt the system due to some perceived factors. However, unless they adopt agroforestry farming system, the potential benefits of the technology for livelihood improvement and sustainable environmental management will not be realized. Thus, this study was carried out to assess the factors influencing adoption of agroforestry farming systems as a means for sustainable environmental conservation method in Jere L.G.A of Borno State. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select the respondents for this study. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) respondents interviewed for the study. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive statistics which include fre­quency distributions, means, and percentages. The ordered logistic regression was used to estimate the factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry as a means of sustainable conservation practices by farmers in the study area. The result revealed that majority of the farmers were aware of agroforestry mostly through their farmers’ association. The major factors that positively influenced adoption of agroforestry include gender, household size, extension services and farming experience. Despite the numerous benefits of agroforestry to environmental conservation, farmers were constrained by land fragmentation possibly due to inheritance, inadequate nurseries where seeds/seedlings can be accessed, inadequate incentives and poor government policies, poor access to extension services, inadequate capital, long gestation period of trees, damage caused by animals/humans, limited use of machineries and unavailability of labour. It was recommended that land fragmentation should be discouraged, extension services, seedlings and incentives should also be provided to farmers in the study area to encourage and motivate them to go into agroforestry farming to sustain environmental conservation in the area.