Growth and Instability in Selected Cereal Crops in Benue State, Nigeria and Its Implications for Food Security
Journal Title: Asian Research Journal of Agriculture - Year 2017, Vol 5, Issue 2
Abstract
This study was carried out to determine growth rate and instability in area, output and yield of selected cereals and its implications for food security in Benue State, Nigeria from 1986 to 2012. In addition, sources of growth in output were also examined. To achieve this, exponential trend equation, Cuddy-Della Valle index (CDVI) and decomposition analysis were employed. The estimated compound growth rates for area of maize, millet, rice and sorghum were 4.3%, 9.8%, 1.8% and -2.4% respectively. Compound growth rates of output were 4.7%, 13.1%, 12.6% and 0.9% for maize, millet, rice and sorghum respectively and were significant. While compound growth rate for yield on the other hand showed growth rates of 1.8%, 2.5%, -0.8% and 3.2% for maize, millet, rice and sorghum in that order. Results for instability showed that area, output and yield of the selected cereals were unstable during the period under study owing to instability index of over 10%. Sources of output growth for the selected cereals showed that increase in maize output was due largely to yield effect. While growth in of millet output was due to yield, area and interaction effect. Source of output growth for rice was due mainly to yield effect while increase in output of sorghum on the other hand, was due to area effect. Therefore, appropriate policy aimed at increasing the growth rates of less performing crop such as investing in agricultural research, timely supply of inputs on the use of high yielding varieties ought to be put in place to narrow the productivity gap, reduce instability, enhance availability and improve food security.
Authors and Affiliations
Orefi Abu, Omojo Adakole
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP338012
- DOI 10.9734/ARJA/2017/33100
- Views 104
- Downloads 0
Productivity, Energy Use Efficiency and Economics of Organic Scented Rice Cultivation in Sub-Humid Agroecosystem
The increasing demand for organic cereals especially indigenous scented rice varieties in the recent years has peaked farmers’ interest towards its organic production. However, the threat of crop loss under organic culti...
Pattern of Pesticide Usage in Curry Leaf and Farmers Views
Curry leaf [Murraya koeinigii (L.) Sprengel] exported from India had insecticide residues above maximum residue limits, which are hazardous to consumer health and caused rejection of the commodity at point of entry in Eu...
Response of Phosphorus to Growth and Flowering of Golden Rod (Solidago sp.) as Influenced by Population Density
Aims: The present work was carried out to evaluate the response of phosphorus on regulating vegetative and floral characters of golden rod in relation with population density. Study Design: The experiment was laid out in...
Farm Level Strategic Response to Pesticide Regulations and Its Impact on Performance of Small Scale Vegetable Farmers in Tanzania
Aims: To analyze the impact of different farm-level strategic response to pesticide regulations on farm performance of small scale vegetable farmers. Study Design: A cross-section survey of 167 small scale farmers was ca...
A Study on Structural Change for Cereals Demand in Ghana
The reason behind this research is to examine the effects of Ghana participation in free trade on the changes in consumer preference for imported cereals of maize, rice, wheat and sorghum. The research provided empirical...