The usage of indigenous plant materials among small-scale farmers in Niger State Agricultural Development Project - Nigeria

Abstract

The use of natural plant materials as agrochemicals among small-scale farmers in three selected villages in Niger State of Nigeria was the main focus of this study. Data was collected by means of questionnaire from a total of two hundred and forty randomly selected farmers . The data was computer-analysed using the software Minitab, a statistical package. The study revealed that smallscale farmers in the villages selected for the investigation have started to use botanical chemicals as alternative to the use of toxic synthetic agrochemical. A chi-square of 23.64 showed a statistical significance (P= 0.05) in the usage of indigenous plant materials (IPMs) as insecticides in the storage of planting seeds of guinea corn, maize and cowpea. About 58.82% of the small-scale farmers in the study indicated that they had used Azadirachta indica solution extracted from fermented leaves to control cowpea pests in the field. About 20.58% of the farmers interviewed stated that they had used Sesbania rostrata alley-cropped maize to reduce the population of parasitic nematodes found in the soil. It is recommended that further research work be conducted to discover more information on these indigenous plant materials. The ultimate aim would be to encourage a large number of smallscale farmers to adopt the usage of these indigenous plant materials which have been found to be effective, cheap and readily available.