Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

351Table 6. Significant parameter estimates from stepwise multiple regressionof relative distance of farm plots from homestead on selectedvariables.Parameters Estimated Coeffi cient T. Ratio R 2No. of farm plotsSize of farmNo. of maize farmersNo. of yrs in maize productionPrice of maizePrice of other food grainsNo. of EA visitsPrice of fertilizerNo. of on-farm theftsOverall0.6920.6110.7300.4050.7420.6620.386-0.588-0.7393.438*3.6004*4.521**2.836*4.432**3.688*2.487*-3.859**-5.417**** Signifi cant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels of probability respectively0.5330.5170.4490.5480.4510.5050.5870.4980.4370.773Table 7. Statistically significant parameter estimates from stepwise multipleregression of number of crops in maize-based enterprise selectedvariables.Parameters Estimated Coeffi cient T. Ratio R 2No. of farm plotsSize of farm in haYield of maize in kgYield of other crops in kgNeed for different foodPrice of maizeNo. of EA visitsPest controlYrs of maize cultivation experienceOverall0.5220.5330.5920.5280.4980.586-0.5410.532-0.5653.695*4.900**4976**3.698*3.582*4.899**-4.925**3.710*-4.887**** Signifi cant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels of probability respectively.0.3930.2490.2560.3880.3980.2680.2510.3780.2730.689Determinants of enterprise combinationsNine variables accounted for 69% of the variance of the numberof crops in a maize-based enterprise (Table 7). The number of EAvisits (No EAV) and years of farming experience (YrsMaz) hadhighly signifi cant (P>0.01) negative effects on number of crops in anenterprise. This suggests that EAs greatly infl uenced the number ofcrops in enterprise combinations and this is a refl ection on the level ofeffectiveness of extension services in the rural communities coveredin this study. Since EA:farmer ratio is low, it is likely that the pace ofreduction in the number of crops in enterprise combinations overtimeat locations poorly served by EAs may be less remarkable. The resultsseem to indicate increasing farmers’ concerns for economic issues,such as the price of maize. Hence, strategies that enhance improvedcoverage of extension service are in order, especially as throughoutthe study, farmers’ perception of the current and future potential ofmaize production (Table 8) is high in the Sudan savanna ecology.