Socio-Economic Characteristics of Food Crop Farmers and their Perception of Environmental Problems in Ekiti State, Nigeria
Keywords:
Perception, environmental problems, food crops productionAbstract
This study examines the socio- economic characteristics of food crops farmers in relation to their perception of environmental problems. The aims are to identifyenvironmental problems affecting food crops production, ascertain respondents’ perception of environmental problems and the coping strategies or conservation methods used to combat these problems. Data were collected from 120 food crop farmers in Ekiti State. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequency tables, simple percentage and mean. Chisquare was used to test the hypothesis formulated for the study. Results revealed that soil erosion, windstorm, pests and diseases; soil Nutrients’ depletion, inadequate water supply and sanitation were the major environmental problems affecting food crops production in the State. Majority of the respondents strongly agree that these environmental problems cause serious decline in food crops production. It was also revealed that respondents employed minimum tillage, mulching, crop rotation, cover cropping etc. to halt environmental degradation .Results of tested hypothesis indicate that there was a significant relationship between age, gender, major occupation, farming experience and farmers perception of environmental problems. Based on the foregoing, it is recommended among others that policies that would reduce the deleterious effects of environmental problems must be initiated and formulated early enough by appropriate government body if the aim of increased sustainable food crop production in this era of global warming is to be achieved.
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