SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS INFLUENCING THE EXTENT OF USE OF INPUTS ON PEARL MILLET PRODUCTION IN BOKO HARAM AFFECTED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS OF YOBE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out to examine the socio-economic factors influencing the extent of use of inputs on pearl millet production in Boko Haram affected Local Government areas of Yobe State, Nigeria. The objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of pearl millet farmers and determine the socio-economic factors influencing the extent of use of inputs on pearl millet production. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used in selecting 114 respondents for the study. Data were collected through the administration of questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that 38.8% and 40.3% of the farmers were within the age bracket of 38 - 47 years for both the affected and non-affected farmers, 86% of the affected farmers and 90.4% of the non-affected farmers were males, 37.2% of the affected farmers and 44.7% of the non-affected farmers had Qur’anic education, 75.2% of the affected farmers and 84.25% of the non-affected farmers were married, 47.9% and 40.4% of affected and non-affected farmers had 0.5-1.4 ha and 1.5-2.3ha as their farm size. In addition, 43.8% of the affected farmers had 1-10 years of experience in farming, while 47.4% of the non-affected farmers had 11-20 years of farming experience, The results further revealed that farm size had a direct relationship (0.118) with the extent of seed usage, while access to credit had an inverse relationship (-0.212) with the extent of seed usage and they are statistically significant (P<0.01) and (P<0.10), respectively. It was concluded that, marital status, household size, farming experience, level of education and access to credit influenced the use of inputs on pearl millet production in the study area. It is recommended that private investors, NGOs and other stakeholders should collaborate with Lake Chad Research Institute and other research institutes to supply farm inputs such as improved seeds, herbicides, fertilizer at subsidized rates to the farmers in order to boost their farming production.