Training Need Assessment of Rural Women Regarding Crop Production Practices (Published)
In the rural areas of Pakistan, farmers mostly use their family labor including women for production of crop. Rural women are very active in diverse agricultural activities (i.e. pre-harvest, post-harvest). Women from poor households engage in a variety of income-generating and expenditure-saving activities. They are twice as likely as men to be involved in agriculture related activities. Pakistani rural women lagging behind as compared to other developed country women due to many reasons like lack of training programme about new techniques of crop production, lack of resources, little support by agricultural extension services etc. Therefore, the present study is designed to assess the training needs of the rural women in crop production Karor Lal Eson, District Layyah, which will be helpful for extension organizations to develop their future strategies for rural women. A sample of 120 female respondents was selected randomly from Tehsil Karor Lal Eson, District Layyah through multistage random sampling technique. The results of the study revealed that a large majority (70.8%) of the respondents were illiterate. A simple majority (50.8%) of the respondent spent 2 to 4 hours in land preparation and sowing practices. While about one-fifth (19.2%) of the respondents spent 2 to 4 hours in broad casting of seed/fertilizer. However, in crop production activities including broadcasting of seed/fertilize (mean= 3.35), plant protection (mean= 3.52), thinning (mean= 2.84) and grading of seeds (mean= 2.81) they were less competent and need to educate and train about these tasks.
Keywords: Crop, Pakistan, Production Practices, Rural Women, Training
EVULUATION OF EFFECT OF THE THIRD NATIONAL FADAMA DEVELOPMENT PROJECT (FADAMA 111) ON FOOD PROUCTION AMONG FARMERS IN KWANDE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BENUE STATE, NIGERIA (Review Completed - Accepted)
The study was conducted to find out the effect of Fadama 111 project on crop yield among the farmers participating in the project in Kwande Local Government of Benue State, Nigeria. Fadama 111 is the third phase of the Fadama Project in Nigeria, and is essentially an agricultural diversification project. The project which is demand-driven is funded by the World Bank, Federal Government, State and Local Governments in Nigeria. In conducting the study, 100 participants in the project were selected from Kwande Local Government of Benue State. To obtain a random sample, the stratified random sampling technique was used. The study area was stratified into four, namely: Nanev, Turan, Shangev-ya and Kyurav-ya clans. Twenty-five participants were selected from each stratum, giving a sample size of 100 farmers. Data for the study was collected with the use of a 5-point likert rating scale to enable the farmers rate the extent of increase in their crop yield. The data collected was analyzed using the mean and population t-test to test the significance of difference between sample and population means at 95 % confidence level (P ≤ 0.05). The difference between the sample mean of 4.2909 and population mean of 4.2920 was found to be insignificant. Therefore, the farmers were unanimous that their participation in Fadama 111 project has significantly increased their crop yield. The null hypothesis that there is no significant difference between the sample and population mean responses of the participants regarding how their participation has affected their crop yield was accepted, while the alternative hypothesis was rejected. Some recommendations were made