International Journal of Research and Innovation in Applied Science (IJRIAS) | Volume VII, Issue VII, July 2022 | ISSN 2454–6194
Agriculture as A Business: An Analysis of Arable Crop Farming Practices in Edo State, Nigeria
Gbenga Festus Koledoye*1, Olumide Ayeniyo2, and Billy Oluwale3
1Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
2Department of Business Administration, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria
3African Institute for Science Policy and Innovations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife, Nigeria
*Corresponding Author
Abstract: The study analyzed the practices of selected arable crop farmers in Edo State, Nigeria. Specifically, it determined their participation in arable crops cultivation practices and identified the types of records kept with a view to determining their business orientation. A two stage sampling procedure, comprising of purposive and snowball was used to select 196 respondents with access to a minimum of 2 hectares of farmland but only 179 respondents were used for the analysis. Data were collected through the use of interviews and analyzed with logistic regression model. Results showed that farmers were averagely aged with a mean of 37.2 years. The average farming experience was 15.8 years. Farmers engaged in arable crop production practices such as land preparations, planting, weeding, and fertilizer application among others. However, only the cost of hired labour records was kept while cost of other input resources was not accurately documented. Farm size (wald = 3.81), access to labour (wald = 2.52) and access to credit (wald = 5.19) determined their level of participation in arable crop production. The study concludes that farmers practice agriculture as an art and not as a business. This is because business involves adequate records keeping in order to ascertaining profitability.
Keywords: agriculture, business, arable crops, practices
I. INTRODUCTION
Farming activities in developing countries are usually characterized by high level of risks and the skills, technologies, and financial know-how to produce marketable arable products in large quantity and to supply the identified market with the right quality, and quantity are always a challenge to an average farmer (Reardon, Barrett, Berdegué, Swinnen, 2009). In spite of this, a large body of empirical research argues that smallholders are still keys to the global food security and provide nutritional needs of people globally (Paloma, Louhichi and Riesgo, 2020). This set of farmers represents the majority of the workforce in large portions of the developing economies (FAO, 2015).