PESTS AND DISEASES MANAGEMENT AMONG GROUNDNUT FARMERS IN EDU LOCAL GOVERNMENT, KWARA STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2020-12
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Publisher
Annals of West University of Timişoara, ser. Biology,
Abstract
Pest attack in agriculture is usually observed both on the field and during period of storage resulting in substantial crop losses of marketable yield. The study assessed the pests and diseases management among groundnut farmers in Edu LGA of Kwara State, Nigeria. The objectives of the study are to identify the common pests and diseases of groundnut, examine the effect of pests and diseases on groundnut farm among others. The study engaged 106 groundnut farmers that were randomly selected. Data collected were obtained with structured questionnaire administered to the groundnut farmers and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result of the analysis reveals that majority of the respondents were male (69.8%), married (88.7%) with average household size of 7 persons. Most of the respondents were in their average age of 35years. Result shows that pests and diseases of groundnut include red hairy caterpillar, leaf and pod rot and early and late leaf spot. The study identified the major effect of pest and diseases in the study area as reduce productivity and damage crops. Cultural methods of controlling pest and diseases were mostly used. The study identified the constraint to pest and diseases management as increase cost of production (95.3%) and labour intensive (93.4%). The study therefore recommended that, extension agency should embark on a progamme that will teach the farmer to use host resistance of controlling pest and diseases. Moreover, farmers should be encouraged to plant early to reduce pest infestation.
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Keywords
pest, diseases, management, groundnut, farmer