Smallholders farmer's productivity has be declining due to many problems ranging from declining soil fertility to lack of basic inputs for their production. Hence, this study examined the determinants of Maize farmers' productivity among smallholder Farmers in Oyo state Nigeria. A three stage sampling procedure was used to collect data from rural maize farmers in Lagelu Local Government area of Oyo state. Descriptive statistics, productivity analysis and Ordinary Least Square Regression Model were used to isolate the factors that affect maize farmers' productivity in the study area. The socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents showed that majority of them are male (68.3%), the age distribution showed that 56.1% are between ages 41-60 years, a very good productive age for maize production. Majority of the respondents are married (86.6%), while only 4.9% are youths, an obvious albatross to maize production in Nigeria, with less youth population in farming. The distribution of the Total factor productivity (TFP) indicated that, 72(50.7%) of the respondents having TFP <1, 58(40.8%) having TFP 1.01-2.00, 09(6.3%) and 03(2.1%) having TFP>2 and TFP=1 respectively. The result of double log production function showed that the coefficients of labour, farm size (hectares) are statistically significant at 1% p>1, while that of farming experience is significant at 5% (p>5), with positives coefficients. The adjusted R-squared of 0.8572 explained the coefficient of variation of the maize farmers productivity model. It's recommended that farmers in the study area should be provided with tractors and other farm implements that can help increase their productivity, also increasing the farm size and land hectarage used for maize production should be prioritize. There is also the need to train the farmers adequately on new and improved farm practices; this will be like a boost to their experience in maize production.
One of the problems cited as constraining the production of maize in Nigeria is stagnant production technology among Nigerian farming community, majority of who are small-scale producers. Thus, this study examined the poverty status as well as analysed the factors affecting poverty profile of maize farming households in Oyo State. Primary data were obtained from 180 maize farmers by multistage random sampling with the aid of well-structured questionnaire and interview schedule. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Foster-Greer Thorbecke index and probit regression model. The results of descriptive statistics revealed that 68.3% of maize farmers were male with majority (56.1%) between 41 and 60 years of age who were married (86.6%) with relatively large household members. The results also showed that 76.1% of them used their personal land either acquired by inheritance or bought and 79.9% had formal education. The results of FGT analysis showed that poverty incidence was 35.2%, poverty depth was 16.1% and poverty severity was 10.9%. Meanwhile, probit regression model results revealed that household size, farmer's expenditure, age, gender, marital status and improved technology were the factors affecting the poverty profile of the maize farming households. The study therefore recommended that farmers in the study area could reduce their poverty depth by controlling the number of child births, increase revenue generated from maize farm and adoption of new/improved technology.
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