JAFE Vol.  8(1): 1-10, 2021

Factors Influencing Maize Farmers’ Adoption of Pesticide Safety Management Practices in Abuja, Nigeria

Onwumere, F.E., Ajah, J., Fadiji, T.O. and Alabi, T.

ABSTRACT

Unsafe handling of pesticides by farmers in Nigeria has been a major concern in crop production and deserves to be properly addressed. Against this backdrop, the study investigated the factors influencing adoption of pesticide safety management practices (PSMP) by maize farmers in Abuja, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed to select, randomly, 480 maize farmers in the six Federal Capital Territory, Abuja agricultural zones. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and personal interviews. The results were presented using percentages and Multinomial Logit Model (MNL) statistics. The results indicated that the maize farmers’ level of adoption of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) was 10.6%, pesticide safety operational habits, 50.4%, proper pesticide disposal, 2.1%, and safe storage of pesticides, 36.9%. The results further showed that gender, education, household size, years of farming with pesticide, farm size, access to credit, source of information, extension contacts, triability and observability significantly and positively influenced adoption of pesticide safety management practices while age and complexity of pesticide safety practices were significant but negatively influenced maize farmers’ adoption of pesticide safety management practices. It is therefore, recommended that more awareness should be created on pesticide safety management practices in the study area.    

Keywords:

Factors, pesticide safety, management practices, maize farmers

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