Pattern of Agricultural Development in Southern Parts of Katsina State, Nigeria: Notion for Rational Planning

Abstract

Environmental contrasts in terms of climate, soil, vegetation, and natural endowments coupled with other processes at work often produce differing levels of development. While some areas are privileged, other areas may be lagging behind in some attributes. The study aimed at assessing the level of agricultural development in southern parts of Katsina State. It adopted a multi-stage sampling technique to obtain 200 samples among the seasoned farmers. The questionnaire was a major research instrument. A descriptive statistics was adopted to summarize the data. In addition, standardized score (Z-score) technique was employed to assess level of agricultural development. The study revealed that six out of the ten local government areas (LGAs) selected for the study are advantaged while the remaining four areas are disadvantaged. Bakori area enjoyed maximum benefits from the facilities with a score value of (8.47), followed by Funtua (7.39), Sabuwa (7.17), Malunfashi (6.09), Kankara (4.25), and Dandume (2.49) in that descending order of performance. These areas are categorized into upper third and middle third respectively. Also, the following areas suffered different shades of disadvantages namely, Ijusawa (-4.81), Danja (-3.16), Fasakari (-3.96), and Fafur (-4.08) and they are categorized as bottom third. The study area experiences differing levels of deprivation in agricultural development. The major constraints to agricultural development include high cost of agro-chemical which accounts for (21.0%), nefarious activities of the middle-men (24.0%), shortage of farm labour (15.0%), and poor storage facilities (15.0%). On the basis of the findings one recommends among other things that government needs to actively promote the establishment of agro-based industries that are capable of processing agricultural raw-materials in order to reduce wastes arising from poor storage facilities. There should be distributive justice in the allocation of resources in favour of lagging areas in order to have a balanced