The study investigated the effects of mechanized agriculture on farm labour employment and cropland expansion due to the incursion of tractors into the country. Primary data were collected using specially design pretested schedule by interview method and using panel survey data, to analyze the effects of mechanization on labour employment and cropland expansion in northern Nigeria, respectively. A sample of 240 farmers were taken for the study. Tabular, percent and linear regression analysis were done. The study found that labour employment per cropped hectare showed a declining trend with increase in farm group size under different categories of mechanization. The inverse relationship revealed between labour employment and farm size hold true in case of operation like sowing, intercultural operation and irrigation. Hired labour and family labour both had positive and negative relationship, respectively with farm size in each category of mechanized farm. Findings also show a positive correlation between farm mechanization and cropland expansion during the survey period. Two interaction terms were introduced in the model to assess whether there are differential effects of mechanization on cropland expansion across the three districts. The results show that the effect of mechanization on farmland expansion is significantly higher among farmers in Igabi compared to Zaria. This result may be driven by the differences in access to tractors in the districts with Igabi having the highest access, then followed by Zaria.
The reinvigorated approach by stakeholders towards Farm Mechanization has given birth to emerging fears in the existing relationship between mechanized agriculture and traditional land occupancy systems in Nigeria. The increased importation of agricultural machines into the country gave room for cropland growth that butt in farm lands acquired by rural farmers through customary ways. This paper examines these fears in four segments. The first segment searches the unstable land occupancy systems in Nigeria that have showed an elegant equilibrium relationship between constitutions and traditional acts. The second observes the acceptance of Agricultural mechanization and the expanding relevance of tractors. The third scrutinizes the different fears, aggravated by population increase, which come in being as mechanization overshoots on traditionally secured lands. These fears result in to the abuse of labour, continuous land seizures, and the imposing of rural farmers into a blank in which few market options live. To assist relief these fears, the final segment recommends the moderating of large Agricultural machines growth and the systematic improvement of land occupancy systems in preparation for more privatization. By marrying land occupancy systems and Farm mechanization, the environments will survive for more judicious evolution in Nigeria.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.