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Effects of Adoption of Orange-Fleshed Sweet Potato Varieties on Farm Income and Output among Growing Households in Ebonyi and Abia States, Nigeria
Abstract
The study comparatively analyzed the effect of the adoption of orange-fleshed sweet potato (OFSP) varieties on farm income and output of growing households in Ebonyi and Abia States, Nigeria using a well-structured questionnaire on 256 OFSP farmers from four agricultural zones. The data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as means, percentages, tables and frequency, adoption score index (of 7 point likert-type scale) and Z-test. The result on socio-economic characteristic showed that the average age of the sweet potato farmers in Ebonyi and Abia States was 47.11 and 49.86 years, respectively, with females dominating in Ebonyi, while males dominated in Abia. Farmers’ average farm size was 2.10ha and 1.71ha respectively, and years of farming experience of 8.52 and 9.65 years. The level of adoption of OFSP varieties showed that in Ebonyi, farmers were at the evaluation stage for UMUSP0/3 (X=2.78) and trial stage for UMUSP0/I (X=3.04), while in Abia, the farmers were at the trial stage for UMUSP0/1 (X=3.63) and UMUSP0/3 (X=3.78). The Z-test result showed that there were significant differences in farm income and output of OFSP farm households at 1.0% probability levels in both States. Sweet potato farmers in both Ebonyi and Abia States were seriously constrained by low extension visit, inadequate credit facilities and poor government support. The study therefore recommended that OFSP farmers should be strategically given more support to generally boost OFSP adoption, income, output and productivity across the country.
