Influence of Socio-Economic Conditions of Farmers on the Control of Insect Pests of Citrus in Benue State, Nigeria

Abstract

Despite the significant losses of citrus fruits due to insect pests damage, not all farmers control the menace of these pests. Control of these pests is inevitable for high quality, sustained and increased production of the product and income for the farmers. It is, therefore, imperative in the study to empirically establish the socio-economic variables of citrus farmers influencing the control of citrus insect pests. To achieve this, data collected from a random sample of 50 commercial citrus farmers from the major producing areas of Benue State in 2014, through the use of questionnaire, were analyzed by employing descriptive statistics and logistic regression model. With the exception of age with a coefficient of -.035, which influenced the control of insect pests negatively, the influence of other variables such as education (.362), experience (.159), gender (.992), income from citrus (.002) and income from other enterprises (.001) were positive, although only education and income earned from citrus were significant at 10% and 1% level of probability, respectively. Control of insect pests of citrus can be better achieved by potential and existing farmers if their education and earning from citrus production are continually and simultaneously increased.