Economics of pesticide use among smallholder maize farmers in Osun State, Nigeria.

Abstract

Pesticide use is both beneficial and detrimental to crop production depending on its mode of use. Primarily, its application is intended to improve crop yields but it also comes with negative consequences. This study investigated the economics of pesticide use among maize farmers in Osun state Nigeria. Specifically, the study estimated the gross-margin of the farmers based on pesticide use at the different stages of maize growth. A multistage stage procedure using a purposive sampling technique was employed to select one hundred and fifty-six maize farmers. The data collected through well-structured questionnaire and interviews were analyzed using descriptive analysis such as frequency counts, mean and percentages. Gross margin analysis, and inferential statistic using t-test. Results indicated that majority of the respondents had a mean age of 49.36 years, about 87% were men, the mean household size was five-persons, 45.5% had secondary level education while 82.7% depended solely on hired labour. Pesticide use resulted in higher gross margin per annum per acre (N803,670.66) for farmers who used pesticide up to the vegetative stage compared with the gross margin (N527,966.51) of farmers that used pesticide up to the reproductive stage. This study concluded that although pesticide use suggested higher yields of maize per acre, however the use should be minimized as much as possible to avoid the negative environmental consequences of pesticide use on soil and the final maize produce arising from chemical residues.