GARRETT RANKING ANALYSIS TO FACTORS AFFECTING RICE PRODUCTION IN HONG LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF ADAMAWA STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analyzed the factors affecting rice production in Hong Local Government Area of Adamawa State, Nigeria. The specific objectives were to describe the socio-economic characteristics of rice farmers and rank the identified constraints using the Garrett Ranking Technique. A multistage sampling technique was employed 188 rice farmers and the data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and garrett ranking technique. The result that the majority (35.6%) of the rice farmers were within the age bracket of 41–50 years, while only 12.8% were between 20 and 30 years, 70.2% of the respondents were married,  34.6% of the farmers had between 11 and 15 years of farming experience, 61.7% of the respondents belonged to cooperative societies, 39.4% of the respondents had secondary education,  and 72.9% of the respondents cultivated improved rice varieties. The results also  revealed that inadequate capital was ranked as the most severe constraint affecting rice production in Hong Local Government Area with a mean Garrett score of 79.50, limited access to credit ranked second with a mean Garrett score of 76.00, high cost of fertilizer was ranked third with a mean Garrett score of 73.00 and high labour cost occupied the fourth position with a mean Garrett score of 67.50. The study recommends that government and development agencies should encourage youth participation in rice production through agricultural empowerment programmes and access to land and credit facilities, extension services should be strengthened to provide farmers with updated information on improved rice production technologies and policies aimed at improving access to production resources, especially for women farmers, should be implemented to promote inclusive agricultural development as well as farmers should be encouraged to adopt climate-smart agricultural practices to mitigate the effects of climate variability.