Effects of Weeds on the Profitability of Millet (Pennisetum glaucum) and Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea) Crops in Mixed Cropping Systems

Abstract

Samples of 80 respondents were randomly selected from 8 villages in Tambawal and Sabon-Birni Local Governments Areas (LGA) of Sokoto State to examine the cost of controlling weeds in arable farms. The data collected through structured questionnaire were analysed using farm
budgeting technique. The results showed the cultivation of millet/sorghum/cowpea and groundnut/millet/cowpea mixtures as the most widely used biological measures of controlling weeds. Most of the land was zero tilled and manually weeded. For manual control measure, about 77 mandays/
ha and 46 man-days/ha were used for weeding sole millet and sole groundnut equivalent respectively, indicating more labour was needed for weeding millet than groundnut crop. The high cost of weeding groundnut farms despite the low amount of man-days used was attributed to drudge nature of its manual weeding method and market prospect of the crop. Average total cost of weeding millet was N11, 057.16/ha and N 17,139.32/ha in groundnut production, representing about 40% of the total cost of production of each crop. Average net-farm income was N27, 258.7/ha and N 67,488.5/ha for millet and groundnut production, respectively. When the cost of weeding was excluded, a net- loss of
N10,822.14/ha and N19,565.72/ha were recorded for millet and groundnut production, respectively. This shows that the cost of weeding increased production cost by 40%, while unchecked weeds depressed farm profit by about 500% and 400% in millet and groundnut production, respectively.
Therefore, there is a need to reduce the cost of weeding through  government support services so that the profit of farmers can be increased. This will make farmers enjoy the fruit of their labour better.

Keywords: Weeds, Profitability, Millet, Groundnut, Mixed Cropping,