Effect Of Adoption Of Good Agronomic Practices On The Technical Efficiency Of Smallholder Farmers In Ogbomoso Agricultural Development Programme Zone Of Oyo State

This study explores the effect of adopting good agronomic practices on the technical efficiency of smallholder farmers in Ogbomoso Agricultural Development Programme Zone of Oyo State. A multistage random sampling procedure was employed in the study. Data were collected from One Hundred and Fifty-Eight (158) smallholder farmers through the use of a well-structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, logit regression model, and stochastic frontier model. Results of the study revealed that most farmers operated on an average plot size of 3.1 hectares and primarily focusing on crop production, with a mean household size of 5.3. Notably, 95.5% of farmers were association members. Findings also indicated significant relationship between various factors and GAPs adoption, the coefficient of area under improved variety (p≤0.1), years of experience (p≤0.01), sex (p≤0.05), extension services (p≤0.05), mono cropping (p≤0.05) and Household size (p≤0.1). The Maximum Likelihood Estimated (MLE) of the effects of some socio-economic factors on farmers’ technical efficiency is equally shown. The variable representing planting materials (p≤0.01), labour (p≤0.01) and farm size (p≤0.01) were positive and significant. The study concluded that farmers' associations should be strengthened by providing support and encouragement to participate in farmers' associations. Access to credit facilities should be facilitated for smallholder farmers. Agricultural research and extension services should be promoted to provide timely and relevant information on good agronomic practices.