Effects of Farm Mechanization on the Production of Arable Crop Farmers in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The general study analyzed the effects of mechanization on the production of arable crop farmers in Iseyin Local Government of Oyo state. The study was carried out at Iseyin Local Government of Oyo state. The population of the study includes all the arable crop farmers in the study area. Multistage sampling technique would be used for this study. A well-structured interview schedule was used to obtain relevant information from the respondents. Data for the study was analyzed using descriptive statistics tools like frequency, percentages and mean while Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used as the inferential tool to test the hypothesis of the study. The findings revealed that the respondents were still young and in their productive active ages with mean age of 41.1years, more than half (55.6%) of respondents were male while 44.4% of respondents were females, 50.0% of respondents were Christians while another 50% were Muslims, Majority (71.1%) were married, the mean year of schooling was 4.7 years while the mean year of farming experience was 16.2 years. The various machines (light machinery) in use revealed that all the respondents (100.0%) were using cutlass and hoe, 72.2% were using bucket/basket, 66.7% were using axe while only 38.9% were using arrow. The major benefits of the usage of farm mechanization as identified by the respondents are increased productivities (100%), creation of employment opportunities (83.3%), effects of mechanization on farmers revealed that timeless of farm operation ranked first with weighted mean score (WMS) of 2.39, increase in farm size ranked second with WMS of 2.33 while Reduced stress and pains as a result of crude farm tools and increase in farm income jointly ranked 3rd. The suggestions to improve the use of farm machineries revealed that 77.8% of respondents suggested that government should make the machineries available at low cost, 72.2% of respondents suggested that government should provide credit facilities for the farmers, 60.0% of respondents suggested regular training on the usage and maintenance of the facilities. The study concludes that increased productivity and employment creation were the major mentioned benefits of mechanization among the respondents, timeless of operation and ability to increase the farm size under cultivation were the major effects of farm mechanization while high cost of machinery was the major identified constraint to the usage of agricultural mechanization. The study hereby recommended that government should provide these machines at low cost to the farmers and also, train them on the usage and maintenance of these machineries in order to be able to use it.