Effect of Agricultural Mechanization on Production and Farmers Economy in Nigeria: A Case Study of Lagos State

Abstract

Agricultural mechanization is an essential factor influencing agricultural output and the profitability of farming activities. The influence of agricultural mechanization on agricultural production in Lagos State, where the majority of the farmers use modern technologies for their farming operations, was investigated. The investigative research approach method was employed to retrieve information from farmers through a structured questionnaire. A five rating scale questionnaire was utilized for the respondents to show their level of agreement or disagreement. The percentage was used to analyze the respondents' bio-data. At the same time, the mean was employed to answer the research questions. The null hypotheses were tested using Chi-square statistics at 0.05 significant levels. The results revealed that agricultural mechanization increased the cultivated land, crop yields, and farmers’ income with cumulative means of 2.34, 1.07, and 1.44, respectively. Socioeconomic characteristics, available technology, and government policies influenced agricultural mechanization with cumulative means of 1.93, 1.24, and 1.79, respectively. The entire six hypotheses were rejected based on the results of the Chi-square statistics with the calculated X2 values of 8,989.09, 473.59, 3,977.42, 2,192.63, 226.07 and, 1,878.05; and critical X2 values of 46.19, 46.19, 36.42, 31.41, 21.03, and 31.41, for the significant effect on the size of land cultivated, crop yield, farmer’s income, socioeconomic characteristics, available technology, and government policies respectively. The study showed that agricultural mechanization had a significant influence on crop production and farmers’ income. Therefore, there is a need to improve the available technologies and formulate and implement policies to make agricultural mechanization accessible and sustainable.