Factors Influencing Inorganic Fertilizer Use Among Rice Farmers in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

In the recent time, the focus of agricultural development plan in Nigeria has been on increasing rice production. Inorganic fertilizer is presumed to be a potential input that can help to increase rice production and ensures food security in Nigeria. The study therefore examined inorganic fertilizer use in rice production and its implications in achieving the aforementioned goal. A total of 120 rice farmers were purposively selected and used for the study. Data were collected by use of interview schedule and analyses conducted using frequency, percentage, mean score and regression. Results shows that the majority of respondents applied mostly urea fertilizer (54.2%) usually once (55.8%) on rice farm through broadcasting method (100%). The amount of fertilizer applied per hectare in rice farm was 85.63kg. Surprisingly, rice output (t = 1.243; p>0.05) had no significant relationship with fertilizer use. The study concluded that rice farmers lacked adequate knowledge on effective and efficient fertilizer use on rice production. It is therefore recommended that government at all levels should look into the factor and provide trainings to the farmers so as to ensure efficient use and achieve food security.