FARMERS PERCEPTION OF THE ACTIVITIES OF LOWER NIGER BASIN AUTHORITY IN ILORIN EAST LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF KWARA STATE, NIGERIA
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Date
2017
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Published by Faculty of Agriculture, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Abstract
Owing to the huge amount of naira invested into the irrigation sub-sector by the Nigerian
government, the study assessed the perception of farmers on the activities of Lower Nigeria
River Basin Development Authority (LNRBDA) in Ilorin East local government area of
Kwara State, Nigeria. Primary data were used for the study and the data were collected by
means of a well-structured questionnaire coupled with interview schedule. A two stage
sampling technique was used to select one hundred and six (106) respondents from the list
of registered farmers who had participated in the scheme. Descriptive statistics and
Pearson Product Moment Correlation were used in analyzing the data. Findings of the
study indicated that 98.1% of the famers had a positive perception on the effectiveness of
the scheme. Also, 92.5% of the respondents reported flexibility in the payment schedule in
participating in the LNRBDA irrigation scheme while 81.1% of the respondents paid for
irrigation services install mentally. It was also found that 99.1% of the respondents
experienced increased production output as a result of the use of irrigation facilities. There
is a significant relationship between age, farm size and the perception of farmers on some
of the activities in the scheme (p-value < critical p-value of 0.05). The study concludes that
farmers’ participation and perception in LNRBDA irrigation scheme in the study area is
highly encouraging and there is association between age, farm size and the perception of
farmers on effectiveness some of the activities of LNRBDA in the study area. It is therefore
recommended that government should continue to enhance and strengthens the
performance of LNRBDA in the study area.
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Keywords
Perception, Lower Niger Basin Authority, farmers, Irrigation, Scheme, Production