FACTORS INFLUENCING IRRIGATED CABBAGE (BRASSICA OLERACEAE) PRODUCTION IN TORO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was conducted to examine the factors influencing irrigated cabbage production in Toro Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was used to select a total of 100 farmers for the study. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result shows that all (100%) of the farmers were male and 35.7% of cabbage farmers were youth with average age of 35.6 years. The result further reveals that all (100%) of the respondents were male and majority (69.4%) of the farmers were literate who obtained various form of formal education. The average farm land cultivated was 1.5 hectares and 74.5% of the farmers acquired their inputs from the market. Majority (80.6%) of the farmers sourced water from the river/stream and used pumping machine for the irrigation. The result also shows that most (93.9%) of the farmers adopted treated and improved seeds technology. The result revealed that quantity of seeds, labour, fertilizer and farm size had positive coefficients and significantly influenced cabbage output. The R² was estimated at 0.398 which implies about 40% of the variation in output of cabbage production was explained by explanatory factors included in the model. The R² was estimated at 0.398 which implies about 40% of the variation in output of cabbage production was explained by explanatory factors included in the model. This is not by chance as justify by F-value of 10.027 and significant at P<0.001, indicating combine effect of independent variables on the total output. The study recommends that farmers should be encouraged to form cooperative societies to obtain input resources collectively and enjoy group marketing of cabbage. The use of more improved irrigation technologies is also recommended in order to boast cabbage production for high income.