Use of Integrated Pest Management Practice (IPM) on the Yield of Rice in Abia State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study assessed the effect of use of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) practice on yield of rice in Abia State, Nigeria. The specific objectives of the study included, to; ascertain farmers’ awareness of IPM, determine the level of utilization of IPM practice by the respondents and estimate the yield of rice farmers after the use of IPM. The hypothesis states that use of IPM practice had no significant effect on the yield of rice in the study area. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents from Abia State, Nigeria. Questionnaire and interview schedule were used for data collection, and data collected were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics such as frequency count, percentages, mean scores and regression model. The results showed that most (67.5%) of the farmers were aware of IPM practice. The estimated yield of rice farmers was low (1,229.19kg/ha) before they started using IPM but became high (3,067.08kg/ha) after the use of IPM practice. The grand mean score (= 3.11) showed that there was high utilization of IPM in Abia State. The farmers’ use of IPM had significant effect on yield of rice at 1% probability level. The study therefore, concluded that the use of IPM practice had a positive effect on yield of rice in Abia State. It, therefore, recommended that, farm shows/exhibition programmes should be organized by agricultural agencies and cooperatives to enable rice farmers showcase their high yields from IPM practice and encourage more farmers to utilize IPM practice.

Keywords:  Effect, Utilization, Integrated Pest Management Practice and Yield.