Title: A SURVEY OF ETHNO-AGRONOMIC PRACTICES AND CONSTRAINTS TO MASAKWA SORGHUM PRODUCTION IN PARTS OF NORTH EAST NIGERIA Dugje,
Abstract: Masakwa sorghum {Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench}, post-rainy season sorghum or harmattan sorghum is a short day durra sorghum race commonly grown with residual moisture on Vertisols during the dry season in the Chad Basin Area. In Borno State of Nigeria, the production practices and cultivars used are basically traditional. A field survey was conducted between August 2011 and February 2012 to document the production practices, identify opportunities, constraints and research needs among the farmers in areas where the crop is commonly grown. Masakwa sorghum growing communities and farmers were randomly sampled and a focused group discussion was used to administer a checklist to generate responses. The respondents traced the origin of the crop to traders from the Nile valley while others traced it to elephants. The crop is grown in soils with high clay content and classified in Kanuri language as: chasala (heavy clay flooded soils), matosku (low clay content) and kafe’ (dry soils with low water percolation). Four most common cultivars: Adjagama (cream seeded), Bulwalana (white seeded), Buruku (brown seeded) and Tumbuna (dirty white seeded) are cultivated. The shape of the head of the cultivar was characterized as mutukum (oval and compact), yesar (semi-loose) and yeshawa (elliptical and compact). Bulwalana is preferred for food, Bulwalana and Adjagama for cash, Adjagama for brewing malt and Buruku to checkmate bird damage, while Buruku and Tumbuna are relatively early maturing. However, grain yields of Adjagama and Buruku were considered greater than the other cultivars. The production practice starts with land clearing during the dry season, allowing the Vertisols field to flood and fallow during rainy season. Seedlings are in upland nursery between August and September. Field preparation follows after flood recession in October and transplanting of seedlings is done in October/November followed by manual hoe weeding in November/December and harvesting in January/February. No irrigation or fertilizer is used in the main field. Simple hand tools: axe and cutlass for land clearing and preparation, gafkal or tuman (dibbler), cups and buckets are used for applying small quantity of water during transplanting; and hoe or cutlass for weeding. Available untapped opportunities identified include double cropping with rice, relay intercropping with legumes or vegetables, increasing soil moisture through water harvesting and irrigation, introduction of high value crops, and mechanization of field operations. The major constraints were low yield potential of the cultivars, moisture stress, persistent weeds, pests and disease infestation, low plant density, difficult soils and dearth of research intervention and recommendations for the crop. The crop has high potential for enhancing livelihoods; therefore, research and development interventions should be made for improving the productivity of the crop in the region.
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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