Assessment of pests control methods and its perceived effect on agricultural production among farmers in Kwara state, Nigeria

The study examined the usage of chemical and biological pests control methods among the farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A three-stage random sampling technique was used to select 120 respondents. A well structure questionnaire was used to collect the data for the study. Descriptive statistics and partial correlation were used in analyzing the data. The study revealed that all the farmers were aware of the cultural pest control method, while 73.3 and 17.5% were aware of chemical and biological methods, respectively. Also, it revealed that 44.2% of the respondents use the chemical method of pest control, 7.5% use the biological method while all use the cultural method of pest control. Television remains the major means of accessing information by the respondents. The perceived effect of pest control methods on shelf life, marketability, productivity and profitability of the agricultural product ranked 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th most ranked effect with weighted mean score of 4.26, 3.44, 3.39 and 3.20, respectively while perceived effect on pollution, loss of soil fertility and ecosystem imbalance were ranked 7th, 8th and 9th, respectively. There is a significant (p < 0.05) relationship between age, educational level, household size, farm size and the perceived effect of both chemical and biological pest control methods. The study therefore concludes that majority of the respondents have adopted the use of chemical method over biological method of pest control and that farmers have been using integrated pest control management. The pest control methods used were believed to have a positive effect on shelf life, marketability and productivity of their agricultural products. The study recommends the need to sensitize famers on the use and benefits of biological pest control methods as well as the adverse effect that might result from the excessive usage of chemical pest control method given the growing rate of its adoption. Key words: cultural, chemical, biological, integrated management, shelf life, marketabilit