Resource use efficiency among fadama crop farmers in ibadan/ibarapa agricultural zone of oyo state, nigeria

Project Abstract

<p> The study investigated the resource use efficiency among Fadama crop farmers in Ibadan<br>Ibarapa agricultural zone of Oyo state, Nigeria. Data were collected from 120 respondents who<br>were randomly selected and interviewed using both interview schedule and questionnaire. The<br>data collected were presented using percentage and means. The findings o revealed that there<br>was no significant difference in the productivity between Fadama and non fadama (soko)<br>farmers, while there was a significant difference between the productivity of Fadama and non<br>fadama (watermelon) farmers as well as Fadama and non fadama maize farmers.The gross<br>margin analysis of Fadama and non Fadama crop farmers revealed that Fadama soko farmers and<br>Fadama maize farmers were more profitable than the non Fadama farmers in the area. For<br>watermelon, the non fadama farmers were more profitable because they had higher output. The<br>findings also revealed that labour, fertilizer, insecticides and seed influenced the technical<br>efficiency of soko farmers. Herbicides and insecticides influenced the technical efficiency of<br>watermelon farmers, while labour, insecticide and seed influenced the technical efficiency of<br>maize farmers. The positive coefficient for age variable implies that the older farmers were more<br>technically inefficient than theyounger ones. Also negative coefficient for education implies that<br>the farmers level of technicalinefficiency declined with more education. With regards to farmerspecific<br>factors, especially education, there is the need for policyto promote formal education as<br>a means of enhancing efficiency in production over the long-term period. This is because it<br>would enable farmers make better technical decision and also help in allocatingtheir production<br>inputs effectively.<br>In the short-term, informal extension education could beeffective, especially<br>when targeted at farmers who have had limited formal educationalopportunities.The coefficient<br>of farming experience was estimated to be negative as expected andstatistically significant at the<br>5-percent level. The implication is that farmers with more years offarming experience tend to be<br>more efficient in crop production. It is possible that such farmers gained more years of<br>farmingexperience through “learning by doing,” and thereby becoming more efficient.The study<br>also found that farmers under Fadama harvested more per unit ofland of output of crop than<br>nonfadama farmers for soko and maizeand this confirms the hypothesis that programme<br>intervention has the capacity to succor farm production problems while accruing more income to<br>farmers. <br></p>

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