This study aimed to determine the agricultural extension needs of farmers producing and marketing fluted pumpkin (Telfaria) in Enugu North Agricultural Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. The study found that most Telfaria farmers had low levels of production and used poor marketing strategies. Majority of farmers lacked extension contact and information on improved production and marketing techniques. Key issues identified included a lack of farm inputs, inadequate marketing channels, and constraints like poor infrastructure, technical difficulties, and financial problems. The study concluded there was a need for greater agricultural extension support to help farmers boost production, access appropriate markets, and overcome constraints through training on better production and marketing practices.

1. AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION NEEDS OF FARMERS IN
TELFARIA PRODUCTION AND MARKETING IN ENUGU
NORTH AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF ENUGU STATE,
NIGERIA
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION, FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER
OF SCIENCE (M.Sc) IN AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION (RURAL
SOCIOLOGY)
(PAGES: 81)
ABSTRACT
The study was carried out to determine the agricultural extension needs of
farmers in Telfaria production and marketing in Enugu north agricultural
zone of Enugu state, Nigeria. Four Local Government Areas (LGAs)
namely: Udenu, Nsukka, Igbo-Etiti and Uzo-Uwani were used for the study
out of the six Local Government Areas that make up both Nsukka and
Enugu zones of Enugu north agricultural zone. In each of these Local
Government Areas, two town communities were purposefully selected
based on the dominanceof Telfaria production and marketing. These town
communities were Ozalla and Ohodo from Igbo-Etiti, Ede-Oballa and Opi
from Nsukka, Adani and Opanda from Uzo-Uwani and Obollo-Afor and
Orba from Udenu Local Government Areas. In each of the 8 town
communities, 20 respondents were selected giving a total of one hundred
and sixty (160) respondents. Data collection instruments used were
interview schedule and questionnaire. Data collected were analyzed using
frequency counts, percentage, mean scores, standard deviation and factor
analysis. The personal characteristics of farmers, extension needs,
marketing information and channels, and production and marketing
systems were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, mean scores and

2. standard deviation while production and marketing constraints were
analyzed with mean scores and factor analysis. The result of the study
showed thatmajority (58.1%) of the farmers were females, the mean age of
the farmers was 33.4 years, majority (66.9%) were familied while majority
(94.4%) of them obtained formal education. The household size was high
as majority (73.8%) had a household population of 1 – 9 persons, 63.1%
were part time Telfaria producers, 55.6% produced in a small scale while
a good proportion (40.6%) had 1 – 4 years Telfaria farming experience.
The extension needs of farmers as analyzed revealed that greater
percentage (63.1%) had noextension contact and the few (36.9%) that had
did not have contacts often as majority (57.7%) indicated. Areas
information were received were mainly (54.2%) on planting and post
planting operations. However, farmers needed assistance in sourcing farm
input (M = 3.62), appropriate marketing channel (M = 3.18) and other
factors such as sourcing farm credit, tools, seed processing and other
areas. In the production systems, about 50% planted between April and
June, 48.12% planted on seed beds, 59.4% treated seeds before planting
mainly with wood ash. The cropping system used was mainly mixed
cropping and the respondents applied various forms of single, compound
and organic fertilizers through broadcasting method at 4 weeks interval.
Majority (62.6%) controlled pests and diseases as well as weeds mainly
through cultural and biological methods. All (100%) the farmers harvested
with sharp razor blades and knives and majority (55.5%) harvested at 1 – 2
weeks interval. Most (56.9%) of the farmers marketed locally and some
marketing factors such as season of the year, qualityof produce, number of
buyers, distance, weight measures and location determined the level of
sales. The major constraints to effective production and marketing of the
crop included infrastructural, technical, logistics and financial constraints.
In conclusion, the study revealed that there are extension needs of Telfaria
producers. It is therefore recommended that various extension agents
posted to different locations should embark on creating vigorous
awareness on the production practices of the crop to redirect the farmers
towards appropriate strategies for the effective production and marketing
of the crop.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Title page i
Certification ii

3. Dedication iii
Acknowledgement iv
Abstract v
Table of contents vi
List of tables viii
List of figures x
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 Background information 1
1.2 Problem statement 3
1.3 Purpose of study 5
1.4 Significance of study 6
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 7
2.1 Fluted pumpkin and its importance 7
2.2 Extension needs of Telfaria producers and the role of agricultural
extension in Telfaria production and marketing 11
2.3 Telfaria in agricultural systems and the extent of consumption 12
2.4 Marketing channels and marketing information in vegetable
production 15
2.5 Production and marketing constraints of Telfaria 18
2.6 Conceptual framework 20

4. CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 23
3.1 Study area 23
3.2 Population and sampling procedure 23
3.3 Data collection technique 24
3.4 Measurement of variables 25
3.5 Data analysis 29
CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 30
4.1 Personal characteristics of the respondents 30
4.2 Extension needs of Telfaria producers 35
4.3 Production systems used by the producers 40
4.4 Marketing channel and marketing information 52
4.5 Factors constraining the production and marketing of Telfaria 54
CHAPTER FIVE:SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND
RECOMMENDATIONS 59
5.1 Summary 59
5.2 Conclusion 62
5.3 Recommendations 62
REFERENCES 64
APPENDIX:
Questionnaire and interview schedule for respondents 69

5. LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 Population and sampling composition for the study 24
Table 2 Percentage distribution of respondents according to personal
characteristics 34
Table 3 Percentage distribution of respondents according to extension
needs 38
Table 4 Mean score distribution of respondents based on areas of
extension need 39
Table 5 Percentage distribution of respondents according to production
systems 41
Table 6 Percentage distribution of respondents on seed treatment and
materials used 42
Table 7 Percentage distribution of respondents based on the planting
distance 43
Table 8 Percentage distribution of farmers according to the cropping
system used 44
Table 9 Percentage distribution of farmers on fertilizer application 46
Table 10 Percentage distribution of farmers according to method of weed,
pest and disease control measures 48
Table 11 Percentage distribution of respondents based on seed processing
and storage 49
Table 12 Percentage distribution of farmers on harvesting techniques and
intervals 50
Table 13 Percentage distribution of farmers on records kept 51
Table 14 Percentage distribution of respondents according to marketing
channel 52
Table 15 Percentage distribution of respondents on the factors that
determine sales 53
Table 16 Mean scores of respondents according to the level of production
constraints of some factor variables 55

6. Table 17 Mean scores of respondents on the level of marketing constraints
of some factors 56
Table 18 Varimax rotated factors constraining the production and
marketing of the crop by the farmers 58
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Schema showing extension needs of producers in Enugu North
Agricultural Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria 22

7. CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background information
Vegetables are among the major dietary intake in our everyday life. Vegetables
usually augment nutritive value of most of our staple food which are deficient in
vitamin, protein and minerals (Nwalieji, 2006). Amongst these vegetables, fluted
pumpkin (Telfaria) is one of the major tropical leafy vegetable crops grown in most
parts of West Africa, Nigeria inclusive. Ugwu (2001) reports that Telfaria is highly
valued among the vegetables produced and consumed by the West African populace.
The leaves, stems and seeds have high nutritional, medicinal as well as economic values
Nutritionally, the crop is highly rich in protein, oil, vitamins, iron and minerals.
These food nutrients form the basis for balanced diet. Telfaria is also noted for curing
some ailments such as menstrual disorders in women, infertility in both men and
women as well as correcting anaemia especially in children, pregnant and lactating
mothers (Umeha, 2002). Economically, it yields much income to farmers regularly. The
economic values of the crop cannot be over emphasized. Ugwu (2001) notes that it is an
important cash crop known for steady supply of income to farmers. However,
vegetables also have economic potential to give quick turnover to farmers when
compared to some other crops grown in Nigeria, such as banana, plantain, yam, rice and
so on. According to Eleke (2004) Telfaria production as well as other vegetables help to
earn much money annually with a little start-up capital as against most arable crops.
In spite of the numerous values of this crop, a few farmers pay little or no

8. attention to Telfaria production. Some of the few producers still produce at a family
consumption level neglecting commercial Telfaria farming. The marketing strategies
used for the little quantity of produce meant for sale is also poor resulting to inability to
realize much money from the production by most farmers. The beginners are mostly
affected (Bachmann 2002). According to him poor marketing strategies make farmers to
spend much time away from the farm and there is always the possibility of having left
over after each market day activities.
Also vegetable production including Telfaria do not feature prominently in the
development programme at the policy making level. Food and Agriculture Organization
(FAO) (2000) opines that nonwood crops are essentially part of the local subsistence
economies but has not received the required attention in the development plan. This
contributes to the fact that the potentials of such crops remain unrealized since the level
of income yield is considerably low (Ugwu, 2001). The low income yield could be due
to some poor production and marketing strategies used for the crop because over the
years, Telfaria is usually produced at a small scale and marketed locally considering the
perishable nature of the crop (Saskachewan 2000).
Moreover, the low productivity and poor marketing systems are the
responsibilities of the difference between how farmers are producing and marketing the
crop and the level at which they are supposed to produce it in order to satisfy
themselves and the consumers. Production is usually during the rainy season. There is
inadequate farm input, poor transportation net work and others. In this part of the region
also, large scale production is limited by some factors ranging from logistics to
managerial as well as marketing problems. Bachmann (2002) opines that the major
problems in large scale vegetable production are land acquisition, inadequate labour and
capital. Some marketing strategies also pose a big problem to the producers. Farmers

9. could boost leaf and pod yield through fertilizer application, availability of other farm
input, using appropriate planting and post planting techniques and by having adequate
processing and good storage facilities. Through these means, the problem of the
perishability nature of the crop could be solved. It is unfortunate that most producers are
not well informed resulting in low productivity and low income yield from marketing
the crop.
Giving technical advice on important issues involved in efficient production and
marketing of Telfaria is imperative to help farmers address the problems militating
against increased production and efficient marketing of the crop. There is extension
needs to identify and solve various problems of Telfaria farmers. Agricultural extension
seems to be one of the effective means to alleviate farmers from these problems.
Extension is increasingly being asked to analyze and address controversial issues that
are of much agricultural importance to their stakeholders (Bailey, 2002).
1.2 Problem statement
Telfaria has become one of the popularly consumed vegetable crops as well as a
lucrative farming business in Nigeria especially in Igbo land comprising Abia,
Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States. The popularity gained by the crop is due to
the medicinal, economic and nutritive values. Nutritionally, the crop forms one of the
major components of human diet in many parts of Nigeria and may rank next to soya
bean if properly processed (Achinewhu and Isichei, 1990). Economically, a huge sum of
money is realized from commercial Telfaria production. Medicinally, the leaves and
juice are good for preventing anaemia, solving gynecological problems as well as curing
various diseases. Not minding the numerous values obtained from the crop, only a few
farmers within the zone are involved in the production indicating that the rate of

10. production is inadequate to meet up with the high demand of the crop by the consumers.
Greater proportion of the farmers mainly produce during the rainy season (Abua,
2004). This indicates that the crop is not usually produced at off seasons under irrigation
practices. The production technologies used in some planting and post planting
operations are still poor. These groups of farmers have little access to the required farm
input and lack required technical knowledge in record keeping, processing and storage
of the crop as well as evaluation of the entire farming business. These facts indicate that
the level of production by majority of the farmers is still unsatisfying.
Apart from the low level of production, the marketing system is still poor. This
could be attributable to poor marketing channel. There are no standard weight measures
in relation to the price of products. Also, there is a problem of perishability of produce
and poor transportation net work. The result is that farmers produce and sell at a give
away price and on credits in various localities.
The situation is worse by the fact that it attracts little or no attention to both
private and public extension. A little effort made by the Fadama Project of Agricultural
Development Programme (ADP) in various parts of the state is to
develop and popularize the production and marketing of the crop at all seasons of the
year in order to meet up with some of the needs of the producers and consumers. It is a
well known fact that the impact of the efforts made so far is not well felt. One of the
major issues is that most farmers don’t have enough information on the marketing
strategies (Hermele, 1995). Moreover, the information received on the production
techniques is still minimal (Ugwu, 2001)
The situation is worsened by the fact that these farmers don’t have much access

11. to extension services. The production and marketing needs of the producers could be
identified and met through agricultural extension. Agricultural extension plays a major
role in taking farmers’ problems to and from the research stations. Having this in mind,
the questions to be asked are: What are the extension needs of the producers in the
zone? What are the personal characteristics of the Telfaria farmers in the zone? What
production technologies do the producers in the zone use? What are the marketing
channels used by the Telfaria farmers in this zone? What are the production and
marketing constraints of Telfaria production and marketing in the agricultural zone?
1.3 Purpose of study
The general purpose of the study was to determine the agricultural extension
needs of farmers in fluted pumpkin (Telfaria) production and marketing in Enugu North
Agricultural Zone of Enugu State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study were to:
1. describe the personal characteristics of Telfaria farmers;
2. ascertain the extension needs of Telfaria producers;
3. determine the production systems used by the producers;
4. ascertain available marketing channel of the crop for the producers;
5. identify Telfaria farmers’ production and marketing constraints.
1.4 Significance of the study
The result of the study will help all categories of Telfaria producers to boost
their production as it will provide information on good production systems suitable for

12. the crop. It will also help to equip them with the proper marketing channel and
strategies and also serve as a guide to overcome various production and marketing
constraints of the crop. The result of the study will also help to arouse the interest of the
school leavers and job seekers in Telfaria production. This is based on the fact that the
study will assist in informing them that commercial Telfaria production is lucrative and
can provide a high level of economic empowerment to the dealers.
To the policy makers and Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), the study
will sensitize them and serve as a guide to the inclusion and placement of market
gardening in general and Telfaria production in particular in the development and
economic plan of the country.
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