ABSTRACT
In spite of the use of
available production technologies by swamp rice farmers, much of the world’s intensive
food production is still on small land holdings. Although swamp rice
contributes significantly to the food requirements of the population, its
production is far below the national requirements. Hence this study was
designed to assess availability and use of swamp rice production technologies
among farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 96 swamp
rice farmers through the use of a structured interview schedule. Descriptive
statistics, multiple regression and logit regression equation were used to
analyze the data. Findings indicated that (13.3%) of the respondents had no
formal education, with a mean household size of 6 persons. Majority of the
respondents (43.2%) borrowed their farmland and cultivated an average of 3.8
hectares of land yearly. The percentage of the respondents that belonged to at
least one organization was (78.6%), while about 21.4% were not members of any
organization. Majority of the respondents (60.6%) had no access to credit
facilities, and 52.4% had no contact with extension agents while the average
contact made by the farmers was 9.5 contacts in the past one year. Findings of
the swamp rice production technologies available to the farmers included: Rice
varieties such as Nerica and Faro (95.7%), recommended seed/seedling rate
(95.7%), planting with 20x20 cm or 25cm x 25cm spacing (92.0%) control weed
using herbicides such as propanyl-plus (90.4%). Also, the number of respondents
that were categorized as high users was 14.2% while 21% were medium users, 11.5%
were categorized as low users and 3.3% did not use any production technologies.
The respondents perceived the following as factors promoting level of use of
swamp rice production technologies; ability to enhance income of farmers (M =
2.52), adaptable to culture of users (M = 2.35) and access to available
technologies (M = 2.28) among others. The respondent’s perceived constraints to
the use of available swamp rice production technologies include pest, diseases
and weeds, (M = 2.64), drought issues such as rainfall, solar radiation, (M=
2.49) and land tenure issues M = 2.46 among others. The regression results show
that there was a significant relationship (f = 2.341., p< 0.05) between the
socio-economic characteristics of the SR farmers and the use of available SR
production technologies. Furthermore, results of the hypothesis revealed that
years of farming experience (t = 0.032: P = 0.021), membership of social
organization (t = 2.179: p= 0.001) number of contacts with extension workers (t
= 0.965; P = 0.000) had positive significant relationship on farmers use of
available swamp rice technologies. The overall finding of the study shows that
the identified constraints to the use of available swamp rice production
technologies should be tackled by government and non government organizations
in order
to enhance farmers ability to use available technologies effectively.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
information
The two
major species of rice commonly cultivated are Oryza glaberrima and Oryza
sativa, with Nigeria and Madagacar accounting for 60% of the rice land in
sub Saharan Africa (SSA) (Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR), 2006). Nigeria is currently the highest rice
producer in West Africa, producing an average of 3.2 million tons of paddy (2
million tons of milled rice) (Damola, 2010). Rice indeed is no longer a luxury
food in Nigeria, and it has become a major source of calories for the urban
poor. The report further adds that the poorest of urban households obtain 33
percent of their cereal-based calories from rice and therefore rice purchases
represent a major component of cash expenditure on cereals.
Swamp rice
(SR) is a major food crop of the world by virtue of the extent and variety of
uses and its adaptability to a broad range of climatic, edaphic and cultural
conditions. It is grown under shallow flood or wet paddy conditions. Swamp
production is concentrated in areas where management is convenient on flat low
lands, river basins and delta areas. The crop flourishes well in humid regions
of the sub tropic and temperate climates. About 90% of the world’s swamp rice
is produced in tropical, semitropical areas and consumed where it is grown by
small-scale farmers in low-
income developing countries
(Food and Agriculture Organization, (FAO) 2008).Swamp rice is cultivated in
virtually all the agro-ecological zones in Nigeria (Akande,2001). According to
Damola (2010), swamp rice is relatively easy to produce
National
Cereal Research Institute (NCRI) (2008) identifies three (3) prevalent types of
swamp rice production systems in Nigeria viz rainfed lowland SR, rainfed SR and
irrigated swamp rice production systems. Rainfed lowland SR production system (RLSPS):
accounts for about 48% of Nigerian’s rice area. It is very common in the South
Eastern part of Nigeria such as Enugu, Ebonyi etc. The rice yield is generally
high and ranges from 2-8 tons/ha and it is also estimated to contribute about
53% to national rice production source (Atala, 2009) Rainfed SR production
system (RSRPS): accounts for 30% of the total rice production area with more
than 1.30mm of annual rainfall. It is predominant in the southern part of
Nigeria and mostly found in the flooded river valleys, which accounts for about
half of total rice areas and has an average yield of 2.2 tonnes (Akpokodji,
Lancon and Erenstein, 2009). Irrigated swam price production system (ISPS)
which is the most recently developed rice environment in Nigeria is common in
the Northern and Southern part of Nigeria. Irrigation is supplied from rivers,
wells, bore holes among others to supplement the rain for full rice crop
growth. It contributes about 16% of cultivated rice land and yields range from
2-8 ton/ha thus accounting for 27% of national rice supply. (Saka, 2010)
Other less
common rice production systems include the deep water (floating rice) (Deep
water swamp rice production system) which constitutes about 5% of the national
rice production area. The yields are very low due to the predominant use of
unimproved.....
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Item Type: Postgraduate Material | Attribute: 102 pages | Chapters: 1-5
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