IMPACT OF TUNGAN-KAWO IRRIGATION SCHEME ON RICE PRODUCTION IN WUSHISHI LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA, NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study seeks to examine the impact of Tungan-kawo irrigation scheme on rice production in Wushishi Local Government Area, Niger state, Nigeria. Yamane formula was used to deduce 400 farmers/respondents from the population of the study whose response were collected through interview and copies of structured questionnaire plus field survey conducted utilizing a purposive sampling technique. The data were subjected to statistical analysis which include descriptive statistics of frequency count and percentage while the Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient of multiple regression analysis was utilized in measuring the impact of the rice irrigation scheme on living strategies of farmers within the study area. From a response rate of 91.75%, 66.8% of the farmers were within the age range of 18 to 38 years. This portends an indication that there is opportunity for more active years in not only rice production but agricultural practices generally. The study revealed the ratio of male to female where, 93% of respondents were male while the marital status observed indicated that 92.1% were married. The level of educational qualification of respondents was highly appreciated as a substantial number of them have formal education, where 52.9% have tertiary education. It also revealed that 87.5% practice farming majorly, where farmers’ average experience in paddy rice production was recorded to be 11 to 20 years while farmland cultivated was substantially through inheritance and rentage with an average farm size of 5 acres. Within the demographic characteristics of farmers, 70.0% of respondents had household size of 6 to 10 persons. It was also recorded that 62% of farmers harvested their rice field thrice annually with most of them (65.1%) cultivating 4 to 7MT/acre. 67.6% of the farmers reported to had enlightenment visitation of four times and above annually from Agricultural extension workers while 65.1% rake-in an estimated income of ₦1,000,000 to ₦2,000,000 per annum. However, the vulnerability level of rice field measured suggested that majority of the farmers constituting 65.9% were within the group “moderate level”. The study further made a comparative estimate of paddy rice produced within the period of 1993 to 2018 from both irrigation system and rain-fed system, and a moderate positive correlation was established between rice irrigation farming and living strategies of farmers. The application of fertilizer and improved seedlings were majorly adopted by all the farmers. It is recommended that sustainable management of farm infrastructure and facilities be practice and patronization of domestically produced rice be encouraged.