Journal of
Agricultural Extension and Rural Development

  • Abbreviation: J. Agric. Ext. Rural Dev
  • Language: English
  • ISSN: 2141-2170
  • DOI: 10.5897/JAERD
  • Start Year: 2009
  • Published Articles: 489

Full Length Research Paper

Responses of smallholder farmers on sorghum production preferences and constraints in the Upper East Region of Ghana

Elaine Azu
  • Elaine Azu
  • Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box LG 80, Legon, Ghana. 4West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, PMB 30, Legon, Ghana.
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Wilfred Elegba
  • Wilfred Elegba
  • Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box LG 80, Legon, Ghana. 3Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, P. O. Box AE1, Atomic, Accra, Ghana.
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Abigail Tweneboah Asare
  • Abigail Tweneboah Asare
  • Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box LG 80, Legon, Ghana.
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Precious Kwaku Blege
  • Precious Kwaku Blege
  • University of Development Studies, Department of Agricultural Mechanization and Irrigation Technology, P.O. Box TL1350, Tamale, Ghana.
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Harry Mensah Amoatey
  • Harry Mensah Amoatey
  • Graduate School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, P. O. Box AE1, Atomic, Accra, Ghana.
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Eric Yirenkyi Danquah
  • Eric Yirenkyi Danquah
  • West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, College of Basic and Applied Sciences, University of Ghana, PMB 30, Legon, Ghana.
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  •  Received: 07 July 2021
  •  Accepted: 09 September 2021
  •  Published: 30 September 2021

Abstract

In spite of several strategies implemented to improve sorghum production in Ghana, average grain yield in farmers’ fields remains low and far below the estimated potential. The development of effective strategies requires continuous, in-depth understanding of production constraints as well as farmer preferences for crop traits. To this end, a participatory rural appraisal using focus group discussions, interviews with semi-structured questionnaires and preference ranking was carried out among 122 smallholder sorghum farmers in the Upper East Region of Ghana. Majority (91%) of respondents were engaged in farming with more than half of their farm sizes allocated to sorghum cultivation. Drought, high cost of farm inputs and declining soil fertility were the top three constraints. Almost 42% of farmers described their soils as low in fertility. The most preferred traits by farmers were drought tolerance, high grain yield, earliness, grain quality as well as low fertilizer requirement. A better understanding of the perceptions of farmers and factors that limit the adoption of improved technology is important to guide policy towards the design of effective crop improvement and extension programmes. The study highlights the importance of breeding sorghum varieties with traits preferred by smallholder farmers that will lead to increased adoption of improved technology. 

Key words: Sorghum bicolor, smallholder farmers, perception, production constraints, farmer-preferred traits.

Copyright © 2024 Author(s) retain the copyright of this article.

This article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0

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