Contributions of Melon Production to Livelihood Sustainability of Rural Farming Households in Oyo State, Nigeria.

Abstract

The study was carried out to assess the contributions of melon production to livelihood sustainability of rural farming households in Oyo State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 96 respondents for the study. Data for the study was collected with the aid of a well structured interview guide and focus group Discussion. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the objectives while the hypotheses were analyzed using Chi-Square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC). Cost and returns analysis was used to compute the profitability of melon production. Result showed that majority (89.58%) of the respondents were less than 50 years old with mean age of 41.00 years. Also, majority (78.12%) were males while 21.88% were females. Further more, (51.04%) of the respondents did not have formal education while 48.96% had one form of education or the other. The mean household size was 5 people. The result also indicated that most (69.79%) of the respondents had been in melon farming for more than 7 years.  Estimated average income of the melon farmers for the previous farming season was ?74,508.50/ha Cost and returns analysis revealed an estimated sum of ?23, 16/ha in the previous farming season. Chi Square analysis showed that there was significant association between the respondents’ sex (?² = 51.96, df = 8, p < 0.05); marital status (?² = 59.26, df = 18, p < 0.05) and their utilization of income derived from sales of melon produced. Also, Pearson Product Moment Correlation analysis shows that there was significant relationship between the respondents’ age (r= 0.21, p < 0.05); household size (r= 0.14, p < 0.05), level of Education (r = 0.87, p < 0.05) and their utilization of income derived from sales of melon produced. Also, there was an inverse relationship between constraints to melon production and profit (r = -0.19, p < 0.05). However, the efficient productivity and profitability of melon were affected by climate change (100%), limited access to agricultural extension service support (98.96%), pest and diseases out break (97.92%), and non-availability of shelling and oil extraction devices (96.80%). The study concluded that melon production was profitable and it contributed to rural farmers’ household food security and livelihood sustainability. It was recommended that extension agents should design and provide necessary support that can boost melon production while government should supply subsidized melon-shellers/extractors to support melon farmers in the study area.

Keywords: Contributions, Melon production, Sustainability, Rural farmers, Livelihood, Profitability.