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Vol.2 , No. 5, Publication Date: Oct. 8, 2015, Page: 135-139
, Rivers State, Nigeria. Due to lack of documented evidence on the awareness of crop diseases in these LGAs, this work was aimed at; identifying commonly cultivated plants in the areas, determining the level of awareness on diseases affecting these crops and also evaluate the level of adoption of disease management strategies by the farmers. A total of 100 farmers from each of the LGA were sampled. Data were collected with the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that all the farmers were involved in cassava cultivation in both LGAs. Other crops mainly cultivated were plantain, yam, maize, fluted pumpkin, cocoyam, melon, and okra. Leaf spot and yellowing of leaves were the major disease conditions identified by the farmers. Farmers in Etche called leaf spot “<i>Nkpomkpo</i>” while farmers in Ikwere called leaf spot “<i>Okwukwo chaghari odoodoo</i>”. Field inspection, crop destruction, cutting off of affected plant parts were the major management strategies adopted by farmers in both LGAs. However, farmers were aware of some of these abnormal conditions but they only attributed it to curses from the gods.&picture=http://www.aascit.org/aascit/decorators/img/journal/923.jpg)
| [1] | Godwin-Egein M. I., Department of Crop and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. |
| [2] | Okereke V. C., Department of Crop and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. |
| [3] | Iwezor S. C., Department of Crop and Soil Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Port Harcourt, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. |
A survey of farmers’ awareness of the existence of crop diseases was carried out in four communities each in Etche and Ikwere Local Government Areas (LGAs), Rivers State, Nigeria. Due to lack of documented evidence on the awareness of crop diseases in these LGAs, this work was aimed at; identifying commonly cultivated plants in the areas, determining the level of awareness on diseases affecting these crops and also evaluate the level of adoption of disease management strategies by the farmers. A total of 100 farmers from each of the LGA were sampled. Data were collected with the use of structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results showed that all the farmers were involved in cassava cultivation in both LGAs. Other crops mainly cultivated were plantain, yam, maize, fluted pumpkin, cocoyam, melon, and okra. Leaf spot and yellowing of leaves were the major disease conditions identified by the farmers. Farmers in Etche called leaf spot “Nkpomkpo” while farmers in Ikwere called leaf spot “Okwukwo chaghari odoodoo”. Field inspection, crop destruction, cutting off of affected plant parts were the major management strategies adopted by farmers in both LGAs. However, farmers were aware of some of these abnormal conditions but they only attributed it to curses from the gods.
Keywords
Farmers, Awareness, Crop Disease, Leaf Spot, Etche LGA, Ikwere LGA
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