Determinants of Fertilizer Adoption by Rice Farmers in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, Nigeria

This study presents empirical evidence to show how socio-economic factors affect adoption and use intensity of chemical fertilizers in Bende local Government Area of Abia State by using the Tobit model. A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 100 rice farmers in the L.G.A in 2007. The result of the analysis found farm size, type of ecosystem, tillage type, education, population pressure on land farmers’ age and non-farm income to be positively and significantly related to adoption and use intensity of chemical fertilizer, while field distance to the village, gender, access to credit and labour availability had an indirect relationship with adoption and use intensity of chemical fertilizer. There were no significant relationship between adoption and soil fertility status, field type, village distance to market and membership of social organizations. These results call for policies and measures for more security of tenure to land, education, access to tractor services, good rural road networks, access to credit, and programs that target both gender groups to ensure equitable adoption of chemical fertilizer by male and female farmers.