International Journal of Horticulture, 2016, Vol.6, No.3, 1-7
1
Research Report Open Access
Determinants of Fertilizer Use in Arable Crop Production among Small Holder
Farmers in Osun State, Nigeria
Olayinka Isiaka Baruwa
Department of Agricultural Economics Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Corresponding email:
International Journal of Horticulture 2016, Vol.6, No.3 doi
Received: 10 Jan., 2016
Accepted: 20 Feb., 2016
Published: 31 Mar.., 2016
Copyright
© 2016 This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use,
distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Preferred citation for this article
:
Baruwa O.I., 2016, Determinants of fertilizer use in arable crop production among small holder farmers in Osun State, Nigeria, International Journal of
Horticulture, 6(3): 1-7 (doi
Abstract
Over the last three decades food insecurity is increasing in the nations of the world, different strategies were embarked
upon to prevent the explosion of this problem one of which is the innovation of improved input materials for agriculture. The use of
fertilizer is a result of improved technologies put in place; and since it was introduced farmers have different perception about it,
hence difference in level of use of fertilizer among farmers which is due to different factors. The study evaluated the factors
influencing the use of fertilizer in arable crop production among smallholder farmers in Osun State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling
technique was adopted to obtained information from 120 respondents using purposive and random selection. Data collected were
analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression analysis. Results showed that total farm output in naira, level of education,
farm size, number of farmland owned and total cost of crop inputs were important factors influencing farmers’ use of fertilizer in
arable crop production while gender, age, family size, price of fertilizer and income from other farm enterprise owned by farmers
were not significant and can constitute the constraints to the use of fertilizer. Based on these, it was recommended that government
and other policy makers therefore need to increase farmers’ knowledge and skills through formal and informal educational
institutions such as extension services, public awareness programs to enhance the use of fertilizer among arable crop farmers,
resulting in increase in agricultural productivity and food security of the country.
Keywords
Determinants; Fertilizer use; Smallholder; Arable crop; Nigeria
Introduction
Agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has continued to be an essential instrument for sustainable
development, rural poverty reduction and a reliable source of self-sufficiency in food for the region (World Bank
2008; Olwande et al.,
2009). However, agricultural productivity in the region has continued to decline over the
last three decades and poverty levels have increase (Olwande et al., 2009). Currently, agricultural production growth
in SSA lags behind that of other regions in the world, and is well below that required to achieve food security and
poverty goals. Many farmers in the region are facing declining crop yields, which have adverse effects on the
region’s economic growth (Hassan and Karanja, 1998). A major constraint to higher productivity among farmers
in the region is “soil infertility” related mainly to low nutrient status of the soils and continuous cultivation
without planned replenishment of depleted soil nutrients (Wanyama et al., 2009). Increasing agricultural
productivity in the SSA; especially in Nigeria is an urgent necessity; and one of the fundamental ways of
improving agricultural productivity is through introduction and optimal use of suitable agricultural technologies.
Increasing rate of food production is a major solution to the challenge of food insecurity in the world. Food
production in which production of food crops and cash crops among others are needed to combat hunger. In
agriculture, food crops are produced under the arable crop farming. The production of arable crops requires
meagre resource inputs in terms of land, capital and labor, therefore small holder farmers that have access to little
input resources delve into its production.
With the increasing population and pressure on the available grains and vegetables, the capacity of the small
holder farmers to produce and the current low productivity of most cultivated land in SSA due to decline in the
