Analysis of the use of tractor in arable crops production in Zamfara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the socio-economic effects of the use of tractor in arable crops production in Zamfara State, Nigeria. The primary data for the study were obtained using structured questionnaire administered to 100 randomly sampled farmers from two Local Government Areas. Descriptive statistics, gross margin, net farm income, gross ratio, operation ratio and return on capital investment as well as regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The result showed that farmers who used tractor were more profitable in arable crops production than their counterparts who did not use tractor with Net Farm Incomes of N 115,883.59/ha and N83,618.77/ha respectively Based on the results, double log (Cobb Douglass) was chosen as the the lead equation with coefficient of determination (R2)value of 0.592. This indicated that about 59.2% of variation of arable crop farmers’ outputs is explained by the variables included in the regression model The F-ratio estimated as 18.216 was significant at 1% level of probability. The result also showed that land (X1) and farmers’ access to the tractor (X6) were significant at 1%, level of probability, while agrochemical (X5) was significant at 5% level of probability. The hypothesis tested also showed that the mean difference between the outputs of the farmers with and without the use of tractor was statistically significant at 1% level of probability. It was, therefore, recommended that tractor-hire services should be provided to farmers for efficient use of labour and improvement in production.. Also extension services should be strengthened to create more awareness on the beneficial effect of the use of tractor and improved technologies in the production of arable crops.