Farmers’ Usage of Agrochemicals in a Maize Based Multi Cropping System: A Case Study of Small Holder Farmers in Ifedore Local Government Area, Ondo State, Nigeria

The need to introduce farmers to new technologies in agricultural production cannot be over emphasized. This is because most of the farmers still utilize the traditional agricultural practices which affect their farm output. The study therefore examined the factors affecting the adoption of agrochemicals by maize farmers in Ifedore Local Government, Ondo state. One Hundred (100) maize farmers were randomly selected from the study area. Both primary and secondary data were used for the study. The primary data was collected with the use of pre-tested and validated questionnaires. Direct observation techniques and interview of key informants were also used to enrich the data collected. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and inferential statistics such as Chi Square, Pearson product correlation were used to analyze the primary data. The findings from the study showed that 74 percent were below 50 years, 88 percent of the respondents had formal education while only 12 had no formal education. The study showed that 50 percent of the farmers had been into farming for more than 10 years. Most of the respondents (89 percent) were small-scale farmers cultivating 0.1–2.9 hectares. The farmers practiced multiple cropping systems with maize as the predominant crop. About 94 percent planted maize with other crops while only 5 percent planted maize only. The result revealed that 76 percent of the respondents asserted that they never used fertilizers. The Extension personnel visited 64 percent of the farmers. The study showed a significant relationship between education and the usage of fertilizer but a non significant relationship between marital status, religion, age and family size and usage of fertilizer. It is recommended that farmers should be visited frequently by extension agents with the objective of disseminating information on new technologies to enhance their level of production.