Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices among Farmers in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria Adoption of Sustainable Agricultural Practices among Farmers in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study was conducted with the broad objective of determining the level of adoption of sustainable agricultural practices (SAPs) among farmers in Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Multistage, random, and systematic sampling procedures were employed to select 160 respondents for the study. The collected data were analyzed using relevant descriptive and inferential statistics suitable for each objective. The result showed that majority of the respondents were females who were married, having a mean age of 43 years and mean number of years of experience of 17. Majority of them acquired secondary school education while practicing Christianity and were engaged in the production of both crops and animals (mixed farming), having mean farm size of 0.8 ha in scattered plots and mean annual income of N71,400 which was regarded as low income. Most of the farmers were not members to any farmers’ cooperative society. The predominant SAPs adopted included crop rotation, compost manure, and use of tolerant varieties. Furthermore, socioeconomic characteristics of the rural farmers were observed to have strong influence on adoption of SAPs by the farmers. The constraints to the adoption of SAPs among farmers were socioeconomic, political, and institutional. The null hypothesis tested using F-test was rejected at 5% level of significance. Consequently, it was concluded that socioeconomic characteristics of farmers actually influenced adoption of SAPs, though there were identified constraints that limited the level of adoption of such SAPs which if mitigated will improve adoption of the SAPs. Based on the study findings, the policy recommendations were that relevant agencies should ensure vigorous dissemination of information to farmers on available windows to low interest rate agricultural credit facilities by the government; reform in land tenure system should be facilitated to support adoption of SAPs; Nigerian agricultural extension program should be restructured to reflect sustainable agricultural context and emphasis; and farmers should be encouraged to seek meteorological information to minimize risks from adverse weather conditions. This will encourage adoption of SAPs and ensure that maximum result is achieved.