Determinants of productivity of farmland in Imo State

Abstract

The study analysed the determinants of productivity of farmland in Imo State, Nigeria. Primary data were collected using a set of structured questionnaires from 60 food crop farmers who were selected through purposive and random sampling techniques. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and econometric tools. The results showed that majority of the respondents were young in their active years, with a mean age of 45 years, married, mostly females, had mean level education of 8 years and mostly farming as their major occupation. The results also showed that the food crop farmers had adequate labour force of a mean 7 persons per household and cultivated an average farm size of 1.06 hectares. The result of the productivity of farmland was 4.03, which showed high productivity. From the results also, the exponential function is the lead equation. The study concluded that farmlands in Imo state are productive and are determined by farm size, location, distance, quantity of fertilizer used, type of soil and duration of tenancy. The study advocated for food crop farmers to form a cooperative to enable them pool their resources together for gaining larger farmlands, fertilizer and other farm inputs.
 Keywords: Farmland, Determinants, Productivity, Imo state.

Analysis of the consumption patterns of cassava food products amongst rural households in Imo State, Nigeria

“…This indicates that cassava production and processing is dominated by female farmers in the area. This study is in line with Osuji & Onubuogu (2018) and Anyiam, et al (2019), who found that 56.7% and 70% respectively of farmers in Imo State were females. They averred that female farmers dominated cassava farming because it is regarded as a female crop in some areas of the state.…”

“…This means that the farmers in this area can be able to understand and apply new techniques involved in cassava farming and value chain processing. This finding is in line with Ehirim et al (2006), Osuji & Onubuogu (2018) and Anyiam, et al (2019), who found in their studies that 94.4%, 96.1% and 100% of farmers in Imo State respectively have a considerable level of education positive to drive changes in their farm practices. This is because farmers' literacy enhances their ability to comprehend and appraise information on farm innovations that improves their farming and yield (Tikon et al, 2023;Apeh, 2018;Onyekuru & Apeh, 2017).…”

“…It is one of the five states in the South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria (Ugwuoti et al, 2023). It covers a 5,067.20 km 2 area of land which lies between 5 0 45 1 N & 6 0 35 1 N latitudes and 6 0 35 1 E & 7 0 28 1 E longitudes (Anyiam et al, 2019). Its estimated population from the 2016 census is 5,408,756 (NBS, 2016).…”

“…The state falls between the tropical rainforest and savannah and is divided into three agrarian zones viz. Okigwe, Owerri and Orlu (Anyiam et al, 2019;Anyaegbu et al, 2020). Cassava is among the major food crops produced in the state.…”

Analysis of Profitability of Indigenous and Hybrid Poultry Birds Enterprises in Imo State, Nigeria

“…The favorable traits in the indigenous chicken are the ability to withstand harsh weather conditions and diseases. One of the challenges facing the local breeds is that it is smaller in size, and it has a slow growth rate [3]. Many farmers are involved in poultry production, especially in Imo State Nigeria, but the level of productivity remains local and small-scale [4].…”