Eighth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

The study assessed adoption of integrated pest management practices among cowpea farmers in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria. Primary data for the study were collected using structured questionnaire administered on 150 respondents (cowpea farmers) selected using simple random sampling during September - October of 2016. Data gathered were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages and Logit regression. Results indicated that majority of the respondents (56%) were age between 21-40 years, 67.3% were male, 93.3% were married with a household size of at least 5 persons (56%) and majority (81.3%) had either National Certificate in Education or National Diploma. The results further showed that a high (99.3%) proportion of the respondents were farmers, 78% had farming experience of between 5-15 years, while (42.7) had experience in pest management practice of at least 3 years, 91.3% obtained information on integrated pest management practices from friends and 68% adopted crop rotation. Results of Logit regression revealed that education (0.430) was significant at P> 0.05; experience in pest management techniques (0.579) was significant at P≤ 0.1, also level of adoption of integrated pest management practices was moderate (71.3%). It is recommended that proper and timely information on integrated pest management practices should be made known to farmers and extension workers should regularly visit farmers and educate them on integrated pest management practices to reduce the complications identified by farmers in adopting the practices.