Mechanization Effect on Farm Practices in Kwara State, North Central Nigeria

Abstract

The effect of mechanization on arable crops in Edu and Patigi local government areas of Kwara State where the majority of the farmers are beginning to adopt the use of modern technology on their agricultural activities was investigated. The Investigative Research Approach Method was employed to retrieve information from farmers through the use of structured questionnaire. The farmers were randomly selected and a total of one hundred farmers were interviewed in the two local government areas. It was observed that 95% of the respondents were males while the remaining 5% were females, 31% of the farmers were aged between 41 and 50 years and also 98% of the respondents went through primary, secondary or tertiary education, 75% of the farmers had less than 10 family members while 68% of the farmers inherited the land in which they are using for farming. This study also shows that 60% of the respondents adopted mechanization and it boosted their crop production and reduced the use of other forms of manual labour.