Volume 11, Issue 24, July - December 2025

Farmers’ knowledge and perception status of cassava viral disease and its management technologies in north west and north east, Nigeria

Halima Muhammad Kure^1♦, Yahaya Kaka¹, Abdussalam Adamu Jega¹, Ibrahim UmarMohammed¹, Eveline Marie Fulbert Windinmi Sawadogo-Compaore², Justin Simon Pita³

¹Kebbi State University of Science and Technology Aliero, Kebbi State, P.O.Box 1144, Nigeria
²Department of Natural Resource Management and Production Systems, Institute of Environment and Agricultural Research (INERA), Ouagadougou BP 7047, Burkina Faso; Nigeria
³Central and West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE), Scientific and Innovation Hub of Bingerville, Félix Houphouët-Boigny University (UFHB), Abidjan 22 BP 582, Côte d’Ivoire, Nigeria

^♦Corresponding author
Halima Muhammad Kure, Kebbi State University of Science and Technology Aliero, Kebbi State, P.O.Box 1144, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Agriculture is an important sector in Nigeria economy, however, with high risk due to natural factors like climate change, pests and diseases among others pose significant threats to food security and livelihoods in northern Nigeria. Many reports indicated that the yields on smallholder farms are relatively low largely due to pest and disease infections hence, pest and disease management is crucial to mitigate crop losses. In this study, an attempt was made to evaluate farmers’ knowledge and perceptions of Cassava diseases and management technologies in North West and North East, Nigeria. The study utilizes cross-sectional data collected in 2023 from a randomly selected sample of 536 households (254 in North West and 282 in North East) using structured questionnaire (kobo collect). The data collected from the households were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The result of descriptive statistics indicates that there is mean difference in the adopter and non-adopters socio economic characteristics in the study area. Farmers’ knowledge on cassava diseases, symptom identification and the consequences of the disease to be high for both adopters and non-adopters. Findings also reveal low knowledge on the causes, mode of transmission, control and management of the disease among adopters and non-adopters in the study area. Overall, adopters have a good perception about the CDMTs. This study highlights the need to enhance the farmers’ access to educational programme, extension services and policy support to enhance cassava disease management and improve livelihood.

Keywords: Cassava farmers, Knowledge, Perception, Cassava disease, Disease management.

Discovery Agriculture, 2025, 11, e12da3137

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Published: 09 August 2025