THE EFFECT OF DIFFERENT SOWING METHODS ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF GROUNDNUT (A CASE STUDY OF GROUNDNUT FARMERS IN YOLA SOUTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, ADAMAWA STATE)

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of the Study

Sowing is the first agronomic decision of the season, and for groundnut it is one of the few that cannot be corrected later. A crop sown on poorly prepared ground, at the wrong spacing or in the wrong arrangement carries that disadvantage until harvest. Groundnut is grown in Nigeria mainly in the Sudan savanna, and Adamawa is listed among the leading producing states (Ibrahim et al., 2021). The same authors note that the crop is grown mostly by smallholders, that many farmers still use local unimproved varieties, and that poor agronomic practice is among the factors that keep yields low.

Efforts to raise groundnut productivity in the north-east have therefore combined improved varieties with improved practices. A production manual prepared in 2020 for the Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity describes its aim as encouraging farmers in north-east Nigeria to use improved varieties together with associated production practices in order to increase productivity, and the manual itself includes guidance on land preparation and sowing; it notes that groundnut may be planted on flat land or on ridges (Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, 2020). That farmers are offered a choice between flat and ridged seedbeds shows that sowing method is recognised as a decision with consequences.

Sowing method covers how the seedbed is shaped and how the seed is placed: on the flat, on ridges, on mounds, in rows or broadcast. Olayinka et al. (2021) began from the observation that low groundnut yield can be partly attributed to poor land preparation methods, and they compared planting methods on groundnut cultivars in field trials. Groundnut sown on modified ridges and furrows with narrow furrow planting recorded significantly higher plant height, number of leaves, earlier flowering, yield attributes and yield than the other methods; all the cultivars responded positively to the planting methods except when they were grown on a flat surface without beds. Their work indicates that the way the seedbed is formed can matter as much as the cultivar chosen.

Spacing is closely tied to sowing method, because the arrangement of rows and the distance between plants in the row determine how many plants the field carries. Ibrahim et al. (2021) studied variety, intra-row spacing and irrigation interval in the Sudan savanna of Nigeria and found that a spacing of 15 cm within the row significantly outperformed 20 cm and 25 cm. Together with the findings of Olayinka et al. (2021), this suggests that shaped seedbeds and close, regular spacing favour groundnut yield, which are precisely the features that distinguish careful row sowing on ridges from broadcasting or sowing on the flat.

The Yola area has itself been the site of groundnut research. Koroma et al. (2021) ran field trials at Modibbo Adama University of Technology, Yola, on weed control in two groundnut varieties and found that the variety SAMNUT 23 gave significantly higher seed yield per plot, seed yield per hectare and 100-kernel weight than KAMPALA. That work was concerned with varieties and herbicides, not with sowing, but it shows that the area is one in which groundnut is grown and studied, and that results obtained there can differ between varieties.

Nothing in the literature reviewed for this chapter, however, describes what farmers in Yola South actually do when they sow groundnut. Some may sow on ridges, others on the flat and others by broadcasting, depending on the soil, the labour available, the tools they own and the time they have before the rains; they may use different seed rates and spacings; and they may differ in what they say they harvest. The trials cited above compare methods under researcher control on research fields, and they cannot tell us which methods farmers use, why they use them, or whether the yields farmers themselves report vary with the method. These are questions about farmers' practice and perception, and the appropriate way of answering them is to ask the farmers, which is why this study uses a questionnaire.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Groundnut is an important crop in Adamawa State (Ibrahim et al., 2021), yet yields on farmers' fields in the Sudan savanna remain low, and poor agronomic practice is one of the reasons (Ibrahim et al., 2021; Olayinka et al., 2021). Research shows that sowing method affects groundnut growth and yield: shaped seedbeds with narrow furrows outperformed other methods, and the flat surface without beds did worst (Olayinka et al., 2021), and closer spacing within the row did better than wider spacing (Ibrahim et al., 2021). Production guidance for the north-east offers farmers the choice of flat land or ridges (Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity, 2020).

But groundnut farmers in Yola South have not been asked which sowing methods they use, why they use them, or what growth and yield they report from each. The evidence reviewed here comes from research plots, where the choice of method is made by the researcher and the conditions are controlled. A farmer's choice is shaped by different things: the type of soil, the availability of labour and ploughing equipment, the cost of ridging, the time available before the rains and the seed on hand. Farmers who use less productive methods may not know that a better option exists, or may be prevented from using it by cost or labour; farmers who use better methods may have no way of showing others what it gains them.

The consequences are practical. Extension advice on land preparation and sowing in Yola South has no local baseline against which to be judged, so it may recommend methods that farmers cannot afford or have reasons to avoid, or neglect methods that farmers already find worthwhile. Researchers who plan trials in the area do not know which sowing methods are in common use and so cannot be sure that their treatments are relevant to farmers. In a state where groundnut matters to many households, an avoidable loss of yield caused by sowing practice is a loss that could be addressed.

The problem this study addresses is therefore the absence of farmer-level evidence, for Yola South Local Government Area, on the sowing methods used by groundnut farmers, on the growth and yield they report under each method, and on the constraints that prevent them from adopting better methods.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The main objective is to assess the effect of different sowing methods on the growth and yield of groundnut as reported by farmers in Yola South Local Government Area. The specific objectives are to:

• Describe the socio-economic and farm characteristics of groundnut farmers in the area.

• Identify the sowing methods, spacings and seed rates in use, and the reasons farmers give for choosing them.

• Determine the growth and yield that farmers report under each sowing method.

• Establish whether reported yield differs significantly between sowing methods.

• Identify the constraints that prevent farmers from using better sowing methods.

1.4 Research Questions

1. What are the characteristics of groundnut farmers in Yola South Local Government Area?

2. Which sowing methods, spacings and seed rates do the farmers use, and why?

3. What growth and yield do they report under each method?

4. Does reported yield differ between methods?

5. What constraints limit the use of better sowing methods?

1.5 Research Hypotheses

Hypothesis 1. There is no significant difference in the groundnut yield reported by farmers using different sowing methods.

Hypothesis 2. There is no significant relationship between the spacing used and the groundnut yield reported by farmers.

Hypothesis 3. There is no significant relationship between the socio-economic characteristics of farmers (age, education, farm size, farming experience and access to labour) and the sowing method they use.

The three hypotheses will be tested at the 5% level of significance.

1.6 Significance of the Study

Farmers in Yola South will see how the sowing methods used in their own area compare in the yields that farmers report, and where the constraints lie. Those who sow on the flat will be able to see whether farmers who use ridges report better results, and those who already ridge will see how their practice compares.

Extension workers in the Adamawa State Agricultural Development Programme and in the institutions that serve the area will have a local baseline from which to advise on seedbed preparation, spacing and seed rates, and from which to decide whether to demonstrate particular methods. The study will also help organisations that promote improved groundnut production in the north-east, such as those that prepared the 2020 production manual, to see how their guidance compares with what farmers do.

Researchers and students will gain farmer-level data from Adamawa, a leading groundnut state about which the sources reviewed here say little on this subject, and the findings can be used to choose treatments for later trials that reflect what farmers actually do.

1.7 Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study is limited to groundnut farmers in Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa State and to the most recent cropping season. It is a cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire. It covers sowing methods (flat, ridge, mound, broadcast and any others that farmers report), the spacings and seed rates they use, and the growth and yield they report. It does not cover varieties, fertiliser, weed control, pest and disease management or post-harvest handling, although the variety grown will be recorded as a control variable.

1.8 Limitations of the Study

(i) Growth and yield are reported by farmers and may be imprecise; groundnut is often measured in local units whose conversion to kilograms is uncertain.

(ii) Farmers choose their sowing method according to soil, labour and tools, so differences in yield between methods may reflect these differences as well as the method itself.

(iii) Spacing and seed rate are often not measured by farmers, so the figures they give will be estimates.

(iv) Time and funds limit the number of respondents and communities.

1.9 Definition of Terms

Sowing method: The way in which the seedbed is prepared and the seed is placed, for example flat, ridge, mound, row or broadcast.

Ridge sowing: Sowing groundnut on raised ridges formed by earthing up the soil.

Flat sowing: Sowing groundnut on level ground without raised beds.

Broadcasting: Scattering seed by hand over the soil surface rather than placing it in rows.

Growth: The development of the groundnut plant, as described by farmers' reports of vigour, height and spread.

Yield: The quantity of groundnut pods or grain harvested per unit area, as reported by the farmer.

References

Feed the Future Nigeria Integrated Agriculture Activity. (2020). Improved agronomic practices of groundnut production in North East Nigeria. International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics. https://oar.icrisat.org/11529/1/Groundnut%20Production%20Manual_printed%20version.pdf

Ibrahim, A. M., Sanusi, J., & Adesoji, A. (2021). Influence of variety, intra-row spacing and irrigation interval on growth and yield of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) at Sudan Savannah zone of Nigeria. FUDMA Journal of Sciences, 5(1), 395–403.

Koroma, et al. (2021). Effects of variety and pre-emergence herbicides rates on weed control and yield of groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) in Yola, North Eastern Nigeria. Nigerian Journal of Scientific Research, 20(5).

Olayinka, B. U., Abdulbaki, R. T., Mohammed, H. A., Murtadha, R. B., Alzahrani, Y., Ayinla, A., Abdulkareem, K. A., & Etejere, E. O. (2021). Effects of planting methods on growth and yield of groundnut cultivars. Legume Research, 44, 74–80.