Abstract
An Assessment of the Irrigation Scheme on Registered Rice Farmers of the Upper Benue Rice Basin Development Authority in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State, Nigeria
Abdullahi Hassan 1 , Matthew O. Adewumi 2 , Abraham Falola 2 ,
Matthew Durojaiye Ayeni 2
The Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority (UBRBDA) of Nigeria
Federal Government is in charge of Dadin Kowa Dam that supplies irrigation
water to registered rice farmers in Dadin Kowa, Gombe State. Irrigation
methods were more profitable than the rainfed, yet some farmers remained
unregistered in the scheme. The study aimed to assess the irrigation scheme
intending to compare registered and non-registered rice farmers. A two-stage
sampling technique drew a total of 157 respondents from the two groups of
farmers who were interviewed using the structured questionnaire. Descriptive
statistics examined the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents,
supports received from UBRBDA and the factors that discourage their
participation. The budgetary analysis compared the costs and returns of the
farmers. Results showed that the majority of the farmers were men, married
with children, in active labor age with a non-formal education and adequate
farming experience who worked for small sized farmlands. Some were full-time
while others had other off-farm work. The study also revealed N 107,262.20/ha
and N 97,513.04/ha gross revenue and N 53,320.87/ha and N 47,547.52/ha
gross margin for registered and non-registered farmers, respectively. Water
supply ranked first while fertilizer supply was last as to farmers? satisfaction
with UBRBDA supports. Long distance to the irrigation site was ranked first
among the factors that hindered participation. The higher gross revenue and
gross margin of registered farmers than their counterpart could be the result of
the impact of UBRBDA's irrigation scheme. The study provides
recommendations to improve the system and encourage farmers' participation.
KEYWORDS: costs, dam, labor, satisfaction, supports
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