Effects of Farm Inputs on Productivity of Farmers in Imo State, Nigeria

This study investigated the effects of farm inputs on productivity of farmers in Imo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage random
sampling technique was used to select 123 respondents for this study. Information on the objectives of this study were
elicited from the sampled respondents through a well structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive
statistics such as the mean, frequency distribution, percentage and multiple regression model. Majority of the respondents
were males (52.0%), with an average age of about (56 years) and had up to 20 years farming experience. Also majority of
the farmers (50.4%) in the area had secondary education with a mean household size of 4 persons and cultivated less than
3.0 hectares of farm land. Again the Cobb-Douglas function produced the lead equation with the independent variables
been significant at both 1% and 5% critical level. All the explanatory variables were positively correlated except farm
machinery and household size and were not significant at 5% alpha level. About 84.0% of the total variation in total factor
productivity was explained by the explanatory variables investigated. Majority of the respondents indicated inadequate
capital (91.1%) and poor access to farm inputs (89.4%) as their major production constraints. Similarly, a call on the
government to address the challenges of these farmers were recommended to enable the farmers increase output and
consequently enhance productivity.