ABSTRACT
The study assessed the adoption of sustainable farm practices by cassava farmers in Oredo (local government area) Edo State. Specifically it described the personal characteristics of cassava farmers in the study area, identified the sustainable farm practices available to them, ascertained the extent of adoption of these practices, identified the benefits and constraints of adopting the practice. A total of 113 cassava farmers were randomly selected from the study area and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics; mean, percentages and frequency count were used to present data. The study indicated that more (54%) of the respondents were females with a mean age of 41.55 years and majority of the respondents (80.5%)were married. The respondents were aware of most of the available sustainable farm practices. The highly adopted practices include; Weed control (x=3.77), mixed cropping (x=3.53), improved cassava variety (x=3.41), crop rotation (x=3.25), cover cropping (x=3.18). This shows that the cassava farmers adopted practices that cost less. The result shows the major constraints faced were Inadequate training and education(x=2.61), insufficient government support (x=2.51), climate variability (x=2.38), inadequate research and extension services(x=2.37), and pest and disease pressure(x=2.25). Age (t=-2.033), education qualification in years (t=2.170), farm size (t=4.308), farming experience (t=3.383), annual income (t=2.834), income from cassava (t=3.810) and monthly contact with extension workers (t=3.657) were significantly related to the adoption of sustainable farm practices at 5% level of significance. Perception of benefits of sustainable farm practices (t=5.838) was significantly related to adoption of sustainable farm practices at 5% level of significance.
The study concludes that cassava farmers in the study area are aware of sustainable farm practices adopted and perceived them as beneficial. However, if the constraining factors were addressed, the respondents are likely to adopt.
