Abstract The study examined the effect of extension-market linkages on banana commercialisation among smallholder farmers in the Meru region, Kenya. The study sampled 400 farmers from a target population of 288,802 from the Meru region. The Tobit model was used to analyse the effect of extension-market linkages on banana commercialisation. The results revealed that sources of marketing information (Coef. -0.06) had a negative influence on farmers commercialising banana production. The result...
Abstract The study examined how multiple factors influence participation of farmers in Weather Index Insurance WII in Embu County, Kenya. Data wer e collected from a sample of 401 smallholders following multi stage sampling technique The study employed the Cragg ’s Double Hurdle model in determining factors that influence participation and extent of participation in WII. Results revealed th at short rain season, household size, land size, perception of the household head on WII , owners h ...
Abstract The study investigated the factors influencing adoption of improved cultivars of macadamia (Macadamia spp.) among small-scale farmers in Embu County, Kenya. Data was collected from a sample of 384 small-scale farmers obtained through multistage sampling procedure in ten sub-locations. Binary Logit model was used to determine the effect of selected institutional and socio-economic factors on adoption of improved cultivars of macadamia. The results revealed that education level (wald=...
Abstract This study ascertained the socioeconomic determinants of farmers’ knowledge on soil and water conservation technologies in Dry zones of Central Highlands of Kenya involving 400 farming households. Results showed that the majority of the farmers had inadequate knowledge on the use and benefits of soil and water conservation technologies. The socio-economic factors that influence knowledge levels of the knowledge-intensive technologies were education level, gender, perceptions on so...
Abstract: Sorghum is an important food crop that is consumed by millions of people as a staple food source in arid and semi-arid areas of the developing world, especially Africa. It withstands hot and dry conditions better than most cultivated crops in Ethiopia. Sorghum is the most important crop for food security in Ethiopia's harsh conditions, where other food crops are difficult to grow. The experiment was conducted at Fedis Agricultural Research Center on station in 2022/23 main cropping...
Abstract: Potato is one of the important crops in Ethiopia and there is a favourable condition to produce than other African countries. but the production is low because of long dormancy periods which leads to delayed planting, poor crop emergence and vigour and limited availability of planting materials. Thus, this research was conducted to estimate the effect of tuber sizes, GA3 concentration and soaking time on dormancy breaking and sprouting characteristics. Additionally, the effect of B...
Abstract: Chickpea is one of most important pulse crops in Ethiopia. Despite its significance, the national average chickpea yield is low due to many constraints of which the unavailability of improved varieties for each growing and potential area. This research was conducted to evaluate genetic variability, association of traits, and determine the direct and indirect effects of traits on yield of chickpea genotypes. It was conducted at Bule Hora during 2022/23 cropping season that 36 Desi t...
Abstract Collective marketing has been proposed as a solution to the problem of poor access to markets in developing nations. However, smallholders’ market participation is still limited. This study assessed farmers’ perception of the benefits and challenges in collective marketing, and identified the determinants of smallholder farmers’ participation in collective marketing of maize from 126 households in the central highlands of Kenya. Logistic regression model was used to analyze fa...
Abstract: Common bean has a wide range of genetic diversity for various economical traits and possesses broad variation in terms of cultivation methods, range of adaptation to environments, and morphology. Knowledge of both morphological and molecular diversity of the crop is important in plant breeding for selecting superior genotypes for yield and other agronomic traits to utilize as parents in crossing programs. The present study was carried out to characterize the common bean cultivars i...
Abstract The study examined the effect of extension-market linkages on banana commercialisation among smallholder farmers in the Meru region, Kenya. The study sampled 400 farmers from a target population of 288,802 from the Meru region. The Tobit model was used to analyse the effect of extension-market linkages on banana commercialisation. The results revealed that sources of marketing information (Coef. -0.06) had a negative influence on farmers commercialising banana production. The result...
Abstract Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of on-farm testing on the adoption of banana production technologies among smallholder farmers in the Meru region, Kenya. Design/methodology/approach – The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and a cross-sectional survey design, sampling 370 and 30 farmers proportionately from 269,499 to 19,303 smallholder banana farmers in Meru and Tharaka-Nithi Counties of Kenya, respectively. Findings – The study revealed that ...
Abstract: Finger millet is an important cereal crop in Ethiopia; however, the production of the crop is not at its genetic potential due to a number of production challenges, such as the lack of high yielding varieties and limited genetic information. Thus, the main objectives of this study were to assess the genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, and association among yield and yield-related traits, as well as the direct and indirect effects of yield-related traits on grain yie...
Abstract Despite the increase in area under coffee in Kenya in the last decade, productivity has been on the decline. Numerous production technologies have been developed through on-station research but there has been limited on-farm research to assess the impact of these technologies at the farm level. On the other hand, smallholder farmers are endowed differently and this would positively or negatively affect the adoption of recommended technologies and hence coffee productivity. -is study...
Abstract Sorghum as a drought tolerant crop provides an alternative opportunity towards increasing food production in the face of global climate change, mostly affecting Sub-Saharan Africa. Kenya is in the fore front in increasing the production of sorghum since its landmass is 80 percent arid and semi-arid. Few studies have evaluated farm and farmer related characteristics affecting adoption of sorghum production. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine how selected factors ...
Abstract Extension training is intended to increase the efficiency and performance of the human resource that acts responsibly in a society based on a communication interaction with knowledge sources. The main objective of this study was to assess the effect of training farmers on banana value addition among smallholder farmers in Meru and Tharaka-Nithi counties. The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm and a cross-sectional survey design and sampled 370 and 30 farmers proportionately obtained...