Assessment of the cultivation of underutilised indigenous vegetables among youth farmers in Osun state, Nigeria

Abstract

Nigeria is known for her diversity in nutritional and economical indigenous vegetables that a traditional meal without it is assumed to be incomplete. Some of these traditional and indigenous vegetables are under-cultivated and going into extinction. These underutilised-indigenous vegetables (UIVs) could generate revenue, provide employment, and give adequate nutritional benefits if properly utilised. However, low cultivation, deforestation and indiscriminate burning have affected their yields and utilisation. This study, therefore, focused on the assessment of the cultivation of UIVs among youth farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. It identifies the personal characteristics, determine the level of cultivation of UIVs and examine the constraints militating against
engagement of youths in its cultivating. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 180 youth vegetables farmers from three Agricultural Development Programme zones of the state. Data were collected through interview schedule and subjected to descriptive (mean, frequency and percentage) and inferential (Pearson Product Moment Correlation) statistics. Findings show that majority (70.0%) of the young vegetable farmers was male; 98.3% had farm size below one hectare of land; 68.3% leased their farmland and 60.8% of them were between 28 and 32 years. The study also shows a low level of cultivation of UIVs among youth
farmers (x?=5.8889). Poor market (x?=1.95), inadequate finance (x?=1.93) and pest and disease attack (x?=1.82) were the main constraints affecting the cultivation of UIVs in the State. The study concluded that level ofcultivation of UIVs was low and recommended the need for youths to be motivated into vegetable cultivation with the provision of subsidized inputs and investment in programmes that gear up publicity campaign on the nutritional and economic importance of UIVs.