ASSESSMENT OF SMALL FARMING WITH RESPECT TO FIELD OPERATION MECHANIZATION IN ADAMAWA NORTH SENATORIAL, NIGERIA
An assessment was conducted on small-scale farms in respect of field operation mechanization in Adamawa North Senatorial (Mubi area) to identify relevant information between the small-scale farmer and their levels of mechanization in the study area. The aim of this work is to assess the level of small-scale farm field operations in terms of mechanization. Structured questionnaire was distributed to small-scale farmers using simple random sampling technique. The rate of return of the questionnaires was 84.7%. The results showed that, farm practices such as land clearing, the mechanization level was 0%. In primary tillage, 30.7% used animal draught and 18.9% used disc plough. Only 0.8% used disc harrow in secondary tillage, while in seed planting, thinning, weeding and harvesting the mechanization levels were 0%, these operations were done manually using family or hired labour. In the spray of chemicals, the mechanization level was 99.2% using knapsack sprayer, and in post-harvest operations like shelling and threshing, the mechanization levels were 40.6% using locally made motorized shellers or threshers. It was recommended that, there is the need for small sized tractors, power tillers and small farm equipment to meet the need of small farmers in the study area.
Authors : Abubakar, Y.
Category : Open Access Volume (Issue) : 9(1) Date Uploaded : 17th December 2023