International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol.14, No.1, 31-37 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/ijh 34 might be due to resources and geographical isolation as well as trust issues with agri institutions. 28.6% of the respondents were involved in the Farmers group followed by 21.4% involved in cooperatives. Table 2 Socio-demographic characteristics (categorical variable) of sampled respondents Variables Frequency Percentage (%) Gender Male 47 67.1 Female 23 32.9 Education level of the respondent Illiterate 10 14.3 Primary level 15 21.4 Secondary level 27 38.6 Higher secondary level 18 25.7 Irrigation Yes 41 58.6 No 29 41.4 Soil testing Yes 25 35.7 No 45 64.3 Extension service Access 39 55.7 Otherwise 31 44.3 Involvement in sectors Cooperatives 15 21.4 Farmers group 20 28.6 Agri-institution 8 11.4 None 27 38.6 2.3 Factors affecting apple productivity The model was found to be significant at a 1% level of significance with an F value of 23.189 (Table 3). The F-test was used to test the significance of the model predictors in explaining the dependent variable. The adjusted R-squared was found to be 0.617 with 61.7% of the productivity explained by independent variables used in the model and the remaining 38.3% of the productivity is explained by the variables not used in the model and random errors. Table 3 Model Summary Model R RSquare Adjusted R Square Std. Error of the Estimate Fvalue Sig. 1 0.803a 0.644 0.617 3.965041 23.189 0.000b Note: a: Predictors: (Constant), Age, Total number of productive trees, Years of farming experience, Tree density, Intercropping; b: Dependent variable: Productivity (tons per hectare) The results showed (Table 4) that the years of farming experience and tree density were positively significant to apple productivity at 10% and 1% level of significance. Intercropping was found to be negatively significant to apple productivity at 10% level of significance. Table 4 Factors affecting apple productivity Model Unstandardized B Coefficients Std. Error Standardized coefficients Beta t Sig. Collinearity Statistics Tolerance VIF (Constant) 3.838 1.883 - 2.038 0.046 - - Age -0.065 0.043 -0.135 -1.515 0.135 0.695 1.439 Total number of productive trees 0.002 0.001 0.142 1.370 0.176 0.517 1.935 Years of farming experience 0.130 0.072 0.164 1.798 0.077* 0.669 1.494 Tree density 0.004 0.001 0.648 6.148 0.000*** 0.500 2.000 Intercropping -2.066 1.078 -0.147 -1.917 0.060* 0.947 1.055 Note: Dependent Variable: Productivity (tons/hectare); *, *** represents significance at 10%, and 1% level of significance
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