Abstract

This study examines the impact of Mona monkeys (Cercopithecus mona) raiding plantain (Musa paradisiaca) farms in Afijio Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. Three towns were purposively selected for the study. Data was collected using in-depth interview by participatory rural approach methods with owners of farms frequently raided by the monkeys in the study area. Likewise, damaged/Infected plantain fruits were taken to the Microbiology laboratory of Institute of Agricultural Research & Training for analysis. The result showed that there is negative and significant relationship (p<0.01) between distance to forest boundaries and extent of damage to crops. Furthermore, most of the respondents (62.5%, 66.67% and 50.00% at Awe, Fiditi and Ilora respectively) engaged the use of traps in the control of monkeys on their farmlands and that two basic techniques used in controlling damages by monkeys in the study areas are traps and fire arms. Results also showed that the damaged plantain were infected with pathogens such as Bacillus macerans (12.0×10⁵); Staphylococcus aureus (1.1×10⁵); Escheria coli (0.6×10⁵;Micrococcus luteus (0.7×10⁵); Bacillus subtilis (0.6×10⁵); Fusarium oxysporium (0.5×10⁵); Aspergillus niger (0.9×10⁵); Aspergillus terreus (1.1×10⁵) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (1.1×10⁵).

Key Words: Mona monkeys, Crop raiding, Damage control, Pathogens