Plantain Production Systems of Ekiti and Ondo States, Nigeria: Farmers’ Perception of Loss in Perennial Productivity and Abandonment of Orchards

Abstract

Plantain orchards are usually abandoned after two or three production cycles due to yield decline as accentuated by the non-adoption of management practices. This study was conducted to identify the causes of loss in perennial productivity that necessitate orchard abandonment. Information provided by 170 and 146 respondents, selected at five farmers each from two towns in each local government area of Ondo and Ekiti States, to questionnaire and interview schedules was analyze with descriptive statistics. Farmers were mainly married males, 40-60 years age and with 26.0 and 21.2% as illiterates; 67.1 and 61.8% had owned the farms for less than 15 years in Ekiti and Ondo States respectively. The farms were in small holdings with 80.8 and 78.8% cultivating less than 2.7 hectares (ha) which 32.9 and 38.2% allow to go into fallow in Ekiti and Ondo States respectively. Drought and damage by strong winds caused snapping while wind damage, shallow soils, high mat formation and root damage by pests caused plantain toppling. Ants, termites and grasshoppers were the commonest insect pests while 58.9 and 32.4% of farmers in Ekiti and Ondo States were aware of the presence and destructive effects of the banana weevil (Cosmopolites sordidus) respectively. The decline in productivity which results abandonment of plantain orchards after two or three ratoons could be due to ignorance exhibited by farmers especially in the awareness of pest incidence and damage.