@article{Julius_2014, title={Factors Limiting Small-Scale Farmers’ Access and Use of Tractors for Agricultural Mechanization in Abuja, North Central Zone, Nigeria}, volume={3}, url={http://ecsdev.org/ojs/index.php/ejsd/article/view/115}, DOI={10.14207/ejsd.2014.v3n1p115}, abstractNote={<span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino; font-size: 8pt;">The importance of tractor and its implements in agricultural mechanization necessitated<br />this study. The main objective is to identify factors limiting small-scale farmers’ access and<br />use of tractors for farm mechanization in Abuja, Nigeria. To effectively cover the study<br />area, a simple random technique was adopted for sample selection while semi-structured<br />questionnaires were used for data collection. A total of 337 farmers were randomly<br />selected from four local government areas (Kule, Kwali, Abaji, Gwagwalada) and used for<br />the study. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results indicated that the major<br />factors limiting the farmers from using tractors to work on their farms were high cost of<br />tractor hiring services (64.09%) and inadequate sources of hiring points (19.29%) resulting<br />in poor access to tractors and its implements. The farmers that hired tractors spent an<br />average of N11,543 on land tillage alone hence majority (49.85%) of them adopted local<br />implements like hoes, spades and shovels for land tillage while 10.39% planted without<br />land tillage (zero tillage). In addition to land tillage, majority of the farmers (62.31%)<br />indicated that, they also hired tractors for the transportation of their farm produce. Private<br />ownership (NGO, Cooperative societies and private individuals) were the major (67.95%)<br />sources of tractor for hiring while only 13.65% of the farmers accessed government-<br />owned tractors. Based on the findings, the paper recommended that more tractor hiring<br />points should be established in the study area and, in addition, the cost of hiring tractor<br />should be regulated by government in order to encourage farm mechanization.<br /></span><div><span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino;"><em><br /></em></span></div><div><span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino;"><em>Key words:</em> Cost of tractor hiring, land tillage operation, transportation of farm produce,<br />sources of tractor hiring<strong><br /></strong></span></div><div><span style="font-family: book antiqua,palatino;"><strong><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><span style="font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #800000; font-size: 10pt;"><span style="color: #000000;"><em><span style="color: #000000;"><em><strong><span style="color: #0000ff;"><br /></span></strong></em></span></em></span></span></span></em></span></strong></span></div>}, number={1}, journal={European Journal of Sustainable Development}, author={Julius, Ajah}, year={2014}, month={Feb.}, pages={115} }