Comparative Analysis of Productivity and Poverty Status among Users and Non Users of Improved Sorghum Varieties in Kano State, Nigeria.

Abstract

This study comparatively analyzed the productivity and poverty status among users and non-users of improved sorghum varieties in Kano State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was adopted in the selection of 131 users and 132 non users of improved sorghum varieties. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential (productivity index and FGT model) statistics. The result of the socioeconomic characteristics showed that the mean age of users was 40years while non users were 39years, 93.13% and 88.64% of the users and non users were male. Also, the result indicated that majority (82.44%) and (81.06%) of the users and non users were married, with most of them having quranic education (36.64% and 46.97%) with mean farm size of 3.6Ha and 2.1Ha for users and non users respectively. The finding further showed that the mean farming experience for users and non users were 19years and 16years respectively with average income of about ₦48,794 per month for users and ₦23,152 for non users. The result also showed productivity of 192,977kg/ha for users compared to 120,725kg/ha for non users of improved sorghum varieties with a noticeable difference in productivity of about 72,252kg/ha between users and non userswhile the result of the poverty status shows that 62.88% of the users were not poor, 21.21% were poor and 15.91% were very poor while that of non users was 61.07%, 21.37 and 17.56 for non poor, poor and core poor respectively. Also, the result shows that the incidence of poverty for users and non users were 16% and 17.4% respectively, indicating that incidence of poverty was higher among the non users than the users. The study therefore recommended that government and stakeholders should ensure the availability of improved sorghum varieties at subsidized rate to sorghum farmers in the study area.