Uwagboe E.O. , Agbebaku E.E.O. , Agbongiarhuoyi A. E. , Orisasona T.M. , Asowata F.E
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Journal : International Journal Of Forest, Animal And Fisheries Research(IJFAF)
Cashew is widely grown in Nigeria, spanning from the coast to the savannah in the northern part of the country.lt is particularly suitable for the control of soil erosion in the south end and desert encroachment in the north, hence it is found in many states of Nigeria.lt is tolerant of poor soil and low rainfall hence ,wide adaptability. This study examined selected personal characteristics of the respondents, identified farm characteristics and planting pattern of the farmers” farms, ascertained the yield and revenue generated from sales of crops intercropped with cashew ,and identify the constraints experienced by the respondents. Kogi State was purposively selected because cashew is predominantly grown in the State. Three local government areas ,Ankpa, Dekina and Ofu were randomly selected while 25, 24 and 22 farmers were selected from the three LGAs respectively , making a total of 71 respondents who were interviewed using interview schedule. Majority (74.6%) of the respondents were below 60 years of age, 63.4% of them had 1-20 years of experience and 85.9% were males. Most of the respondents are small scale farmers with 59.2% of them possessing farm size of 1-5 hectares .They mostly planted small and medium nuts size and 36.6% planted small size .Most (94.4%) of the respondents spent as much as ₦ 41,500 for clearing their farm .The respondents realized revenue of between ₦20,000 to ₦ 141,000, citrus ₦2,000 to ₦ 20,000, Mango ₦500 and above ₦32,500.Marketing price was indicated as the pressing constraints by the respondents .The regression result revealed that revenue is determined by the yield of the respondents .The R2 is 0.396 which shows that yield can account for 39.6% of farmers revenue while other variable such as taste, cashew substitutes accounted for 60.4%. The B value of 0.629 shows a strong positive correlation between yield and respondents’ revenue .The respondents were small scale farmers and need assistance in the area of marketing price and credit facilities. Cocoa Research lnstitute of Nigeria (CRIN) and other relevant stakeholder should link farmers with registered exporters to improve the low pricing constraints faced by them.