Farmers' adoption of improved vegetable production practices under the National Fadama Phase One Development Project in Anambra State of Nigeria

Abstract

and gross margin analysis technique were used in the data analysis. The result of the study indicates that majority (70.0%) of the project farmers (PFs) were males, while the majority (25.5%) of the nonproject farmers (NPFs) were females. The vegetable growers had relatively large household size and long Fadama farming experience. The mean hectarage of Fadama vegetable farm size of PFs and NPFs were 0.87 and 0.63 ha, respectively. The Fadama vegetable production contributed 30.5 and 25.8% to the annual income of the PFs and NPFs, respectively. Telfaria and Okro production were the most preferred vegetables during dry and wet seasons, respectively, mainly due to high income generating capacity, high market demand, high yielding capacity, usefulness and availability to the family. Only improved vegetable seed, manure application and harvesting method were adopted. The study also revealed that the vegetables under study were profitable to the PFs, especially, during the project life.