Background: Fluctuations in food production, namely corn and cassava, from year to year tend to change, making food production forecasting quite important. Production movements greatly affect other sectors, so a method is needed to forecast future food production. The purpose of this study is to examine North Sumatra Province&rsquo;s food production predictions. 
&nbsp; 
Methods: The Central Statistics Agency and the Food Crops and Horticulture Agency provided the secondary data used in this study, which covered the years 1996-2022. Using the Eviews 13 program, the data analysis technique applies the ARIMA (Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average) method. 
&nbsp; 
Result: The results of the study indicate that in Langkat Regency, the best model for forecasting corn production is the ARIMA (1,1,0) model, with corn production experiencing moderate growth over the next decade, while the best model for forecasting cassava production is the ARIMA (2,1,2) model, with cassava production also experiencing growth. In Tapanuli Utara District, the best model for forecasting corn production is the ARIMA (2,1,2) model, with corn production expected to increase in the future. Meanwhile, the best model for forecasting cassava production is the ARIMA (2,1,1) model, with cassava production showing a slight decrease. 
&nbsp;

Forecast Analysis of Corn and Cassava Production in North Sumatra Province, Indonesia

<div>Background: This study assessed the perceived influence of agricultural extension on cassava production in southern Nigeria. Specifically, the study sought to; ascertain the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, identify the perceived influence of agricultural extension on cassava production in the study area and constraints in the production of cassava by farmers in the study area.&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study adopted a multi-stage sampling technique. Stage one was a purposive selection of municipalities in Southern Nigeria due to its endowment with cassava production. Stage two involved a random selection of five (5) municipalities in Southern Nigeria namely; Uyo, Calabar, Umuahia, Abakaliki and Owerri. Stage three equally involved a random selected of twenty (20) respondents from each of the municipals, giving a total of hundred (100) respondents used for the study. Data were obtained from primary sources using structured interview schedule. Objectives were analysed using descriptive statistics such as; percentage, frequency, mean, rank and standard deviation. 
 
Result: The result on the house hold size showed that 39% had between 6-10 persons, while 27% had 11-15 persons, 21% had 1-5 persons. Also 13% had 16 and above number of persons. The result also revealed that the respondents observed help in reducing soil compartment, training of farmers on pest/disease control, production practices, processing and marketing with mean scores of <img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> = 2.43, <img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> = 2.27,&nbsp;<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> = 1.92,&nbsp;<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> = 1.86 and <img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> =1.69 respectively; as perceived influence of extension on cassava production. This implied that extension workers had no significant influence on cassava production in the study area, this may be attributed to inadequate funding of extension services in Nigeria. Majority (60%) believed that language barrier and unfavourable attitude of farmers with mean of <img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> = 2.43 and <img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAgAAAAKCAYAAACJxx+AAAABIklEQVQoFR3OzyuDYQDA8SeRlMMOLrIUxYWD5mSHpRy0cDCkrTkoN3MQklYO3NyUOCvKP+DIYS4O5NfNymGrzV5t74/9et73efd8mfu3T18B4Fk2U/1B+oSgq7MD0dmN6Bng/qWEwK+DL8GqgW0Dkjpg+FDUIPCKGF/vhIKDDAcC5PJvnF6eIXqHmFw6QKAN0BWuL8452t+jRZnM6wMTs6vkAKF0G5R8fjyT2lin4TpEojNkDROzHXi4SOWgZIm1+AIr8QQFy8FSTSQK0WpVgQqFfIbpyAjpw2PkvykxdRGB66DlN6nNeexqllgsiVH2aeLSwEJgWyQX53h8usNHsrOV5ubqFgXU8BEn27uEx8cwa2XqWrEcTRAaDfNjejT/Jn8Bgqj79E6h3/gAAAAASUVORK5CYII=" /> = 2.42 respectively were the constraints of agricultural extension workers in enhancing cassava production in the study area. This implied that influence of extension agents in the area may not be significant. This may be due to ineffectiveness of extension services in Nigeria. the study concluded that, rural farmers need to be involved in the mainstream of extension services in order to identify and prioritize their production activities. The study therefore, recommended that agricultural extension workers should be involved in all areas of agricultural production and not on cassava production alone, so as to improve on the gross domestic production of the nation.</div>

Perceived Influence of Agricultural Extension on Cassava Production by the Farmers in Southern Nigeria

Background: Poverty has been a prevailing challenge among individuals and farmers most especially in the Nigerian economy. The study analyzed poverty status of cassava farmers in Agrarian cassava region in Cross River State, Nigeria.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: A multistage sampling technique was adopted in selecting 120 respondents using structured questionnaire between 2019 and 2022. Data obtained were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. 
 
Result: Results showed that the poverty line estimated across all gender was N 17,770.80 and 64.15% of the male farmers were non-poor while 35.85% of them were poor. Male recorded the highest poverty head count ratio (P0) of 0.358. The poverty gap (P1) and severity of poverty (P2) among male farmers were 9.8 and 4.8 per cent, respectively. Similarly, poverty head count (P0), poverty gap (P1) and severity of poverty (P2) for female farmers was 32.8%, 9.7% and 4% respectively. Drudgery/ inadequate access to modern equipment (2.74), high cost of labour (2.64), high perishability of cassava (2.60), high cost of transportation (2.55), fluctuation in prices (2.43) and lack of improved variety (2.38) were the serious constraint faced by cassava farmers during their production in the study area.&nbsp;Policies should be directed towards enhancing farmer income and reducing income inequality through access to credit facility for cassava based farmers.

Influence of Poverty Gap and Severity Index on Production among Cassava based Farmers in Southern Nigeria

<div style="text-align: justify;">Twelve male Crossbred goats were assigned to three dietary treatments in a completely randomized design, treatments were comprised of replacement of soybean meal with CPMSG at 0 (control), 10 and 15% in concentrate. Animals were receiving concentrate at 2.0 % of BW while pangola hay was offered ad libitum basis. BW gain, ADG and CP digestibility were significantly higher (P&lt;0.05), in 15% CPMSG diet. Ruminal NH3-N concentration was the highest (P&lt;0.05) in CPMSG 15% treatment, total VFA concentrations were higher in CPMSG treatments (10 and 15%) than control treatment, whereas ruminal microorganism populations were similar among treatments. It could be concluded that using CPMSG can replace 15% protein source in goat concentrate diets with increased feed intake, CP digestibility, total VFA concentrations and growth performance.</div>

Effects of cassava pulp mixed with monosodium glutamate by-product (CPMSG) as a protein source in goat concentrate diet

Background: In the face of limited resources and changing climatic conditions, a major challenge for agriculturists is to ensure food security while addressing the issue of an ever-growing population. In India, the average productivity of soybean is low as compared to world average due to lack of improved agronomic practices, less importance and mostly grown under rain-fed condition. To bridge this gap, factors of production determining the per-unit production plays a crucial role in crop production. Therefore, in order to identify/evaluate the partial factor productivity and their contribution for better crop growth and individual input use efficiency study was undertaken. 
 
Methods: The field experiments were conducted during Kharif 2020, 2021 and 2022 in Randomized Block Design with seven crop management practices. To know the efficiency of individual crop management practices on growth, yield parameters, yield, economics and output efficiency in terms of partial factor productivity and agronomy efficiency of applied nutrients. 
 
Result: Three-year results concluded that, soybean grown with full package recorded significantly higher seed yield (2277 kg ha-1) over full package excluding weed management (1889 kg ha-1) and full package excluding RDF (2023 kg ha-1). The yield gap was higher with omission of weed management (388 kg ha-1) and omission of RDF (254 kg ha-1). Further, net returns and crop out-put efficiency in terms of partial factor productivity and agronomic efficiency was higher with full package over the omission of the practice. Thus it can be concluded that, for achieving higher productivity, profitability and agronomic efficiency of applied nutrients under full package comprising all crop management practices can be adopted over the years in Northern Transition Zone of Karnataka.

Efficiency of Factor Productivity and Effect of Individual Input of Production on Growth, Yield and Economics of Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill] Production

<div style="text-align:justify">Background: Horticultural crops in Assam play a significant role in contributing towards overall agricultural production of the state. During last two decades, the production of horticultural crops in the state has increased steadily but only a few studies were found on horticultural sector particularly. So, the present study examines the growth and instability in production, productivity and area of horticultural crops in Assam. It also analyzed different factors contributing towards production of horticultural crops in the state and nation.&nbsp; 
 
Methods: The study is totally based on the secondary sources of data. Various statistical techniques like exponential growth rate, Karl Pearson correlation coefficient etc., are used to examine growth and instability. However, instability is estimated with the help of Cuddy Della Valle index.&nbsp; 
 
Result: The study showed that production and productivity of horticultural crops increased over the period, but, there is instability in production, productivity and area at both state and national level. On the other hand, there is a high positive correlation found between area and production of horticultural crops. Regarding the contribution towards production of horticulture in Assam and in India, area and productivity of horticulture have found high impact respectively.</div>

Instability in Production and Productivity of Horticultural Crops in Assam

<div>Background: Banana (Musa Paradisicia) is considered as one of the most important fruit crop across the globe. India is the largest producer of banana in the world with an output of 29 million tons per year on average. Assam, a state in the north eastern region of India, is one of the major banana producing state in the country. Banana is an important horticulture crop grown in Assam with some significant socio cultural importance. The production of banana in Assam accounts for 2.4 per cent of its total production in the country. 
 
Methods: &nbsp;The paper is an attempt to study the rate of growth and instability of area, production and productivity of banana cultivation in Assam and to compute the relative contribution of area, productivity and their interaction to the change in production of banana in the state. The study is based on secondary data for the period of 2003-04 to 2017-18. Compound annual growth rates are computed for estimating the growth trends of area, production and productivity of banana in Assam whereas Cuddy-Della Valle index of instability is used to estimate the instability. 
 
Result: The results of this study revealed positive growth in area, production and productivity of banana with low instability in the state. The productivity effect has been found marginally greater than the area effect on production of banana in the state during the reference period.</div>

<div>An Analysis on Area Production and Productivity of Banana in Assam</div>

&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;India is the fourth largest oilseed producing country in the world. The present study was carried on based on the secondary data collected from varies websites and directorate of economics and statistics. The results reveled that the compound growth rate of area and production of groundnut in India shows a negative trend while the productivity was positive over the years. In pre bifurcated Andhra Pradesh the annual average production of groundnut during 2011-12 was 1231 thousand tons and the annual average yield per hectare was 873 kg/ha. The area and production of groundnut was high in Rayalaseema region compared to other regions of the state.The area, production and productivity of groundnut in Mahabubnagar district of Telangana was increase over the study year. The annual average production of groundnut crop during 2013-14 was 220 thousand tonnes and annual average yield per hectare during the same period was 1751 kg/ha.

Analysis of Area, Production and Productivity of Groundnut Crop in Telangana

<div>The present investigation was carried out with the objective to study the productive and reproductive performances of dairy cattle under organic farming systems. Total 24 medium to high yielding cattle has been selected for the study, out of which 12 were reared under organic management system and 12 under conventional management system. For cows maintained under organic management system, the animals were fed ad lib quality green fodder grown organically and limited quantity (1.5 to 2.0 kg/cows/day) of concentrate mixture. Production and reproduction performance of animals of both the groups were compared. The results revealed that the reproductive performance was better in cows maintained under organic production management system than their conventional counterparts. The study on milk quality in terms of composition revealed significantly (P&lt;0.05) higher fat % of milk, while lower (P&lt;0.05) protein % of milk for the cows maintained under organic system as compared to those under conventional system. It can be concluded that the organic management system of dairy cows can be beneficial as depicted by better reproductive efficiency of cows with higher fat % of the milk.</div>

<div>Effect of organic production system on productive and reproductive performance of cattle</div>

<div style="text-align: justify;">Cotton plays an important role in the national economy in terms of generation of direct and indirect employment in the Agricultural and Industrial sectors. It is traditional and important commercial crop has been in cultivation in India for more than five thousand years. &nbsp;About 74 per cent of the total area and produc&shy;tion of cotton in the country is contributed by four states of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab. The study revealed that annual growth rate of area was less than the annual growth rate of productivity in Karnataka, which clearly shows that positive annual growth in cotton production was due to increase in productivity rather than increase in area, which was due to the fact that adoption of improved technologies like IPM, IRM, introduction of Bt cotton and low insect pest pressure in major cotton growing tracts has enabled this transformation in production and productivity. Introduction of Bt cotton was the major factor expressed by most of the farmers with a mean score of 67.2. So this factor got assigned first rank because it&rsquo;s giving double yield as compared to the traditional cotton varieties and it&rsquo;s also covers the resistance pest like helicovarpa armizera and other sucking pests.</div>