Abstract

The study examined the characteristics of market gardens in Anambra State Nigeria. Questionnaire was used to collect data from 48 respondents using snow ball sampling procedure. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. Majority (79.2%) of the respondents were sole owners of the gardens. About 38% of the respondents used personal savings as initial investment in their operations. A greater proportion (31%) of the respondents invested N111,000 - N140,000 in establishing gardens.  The output of the gardens include Citrus aurantifolia (100%), hedge seedlings such as Ixora coccinea (100%), Solanum melongena (87.5%), medicinal seedlings (e.g. Ocimium viridus) and grasses (52.1%). All the respondents sold their produce at farm gates. Majority (98.0%) of the operators used wheel barrow for transportation of the produce for sale. Watering, planting in polythene bags, and manure application were practiced by all the respondents. All the respondents used rain harvested water in their gardens. However, 60.4% of the gardeners dug shallow wells. Some (29.2%) of the respondents had pruning saw, 25.0% raffia rope and 22.9% budding knife as tools used for budding. Constraints encountered by farmers include difficulty in securing land, lack of capital and ability to control fire outbreak.

Key words: Market garden, characteristics, fruits, vegetables, grasses, Nigeria.