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Mar 30, 2024Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Awareness and Adoption of Potato Disease Control Technologies by Farmers in Jos Plateau Nigeria and the Impact on Their Livelihoods
Abstract
Two major potato diseases namely late blight caused by Phytophthora infestans and bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanocearum are among the major causes of low yield obtained by potato farmers in Nigeria. This study was undertaken in 2022 in Jos South, Ryiom, Barkin-Ladi, Bokkos, and Mangu LGAs in Jos Plateau of Plateau State to ascertain the level of awareness and adoption by farmers in the Jos Plateau of Nigeria of the control technologies for these diseases disseminated over a decade ago by the National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI) Umudike. Data were collected from one hundred and twenty (120) potato farmers using a structured and pretested questionnaire. Results obtained indicate that there was a high awareness of late blight and bacterial wilt control technologies disseminated by NRCRI. There was a high adoption of early planting and the use of fungicide for late blight disease control; while the use of clean seed, rouging, and farm sanitation were adopted for control of bacterial wilt disease. There was however low adoption of the use of resistant or tolerant varieties for controlling both diseases. The educational status, marital status, and farm size of the respondents had significant positive effects on the level of adoption, while farming experience and membership in cooperative society had significant negative effects on the adoption of the reference technologies. Amongst the constraints to adoption assessed, low knowledge of innovation ranked the highest while cattle menace was the least. Despite the high adoption, there was a generally low impact of reference technologies on the livelihood of respondents. This could be attributed to the poor application of the technologies, the ineffectiveness of available fungicides for late blight, and the unavailability, or the breaking down of resistance in hitherto resistant varieties resulting in farmers not getting the desired result from applied technologies. We, therefore, recommend the development and deployment of potato varieties resistant to late blight and bacterial wilt; reassessment of available fungicides for the control of late blight for recommendation to farmers; and re-training of farmers and extension officers on the appropriate application of the technologies.
