Arable Crop Farming and Adoption of Bee Pollination Services among Farming Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The majority of crop pollination services are provided by the honey bee (Apis mellifera) but almost not available in most developing countries including Nigeria. This study was undertaken to assess adoption of Bee Pollination Services (BPS) by arable crop farmers in Kwara State, Nigeria. A field survey with questionnaire administration was conducted in 10 Local Government Areas of Kwara State, Nigeria. A total of 160 farmers consisting of 80 watermelon and 80 soybean farmers were randomly sampled in two categories. The first category consist of 17 watermelon and 31 soybean farmers with farms located near apiary while the second category consist of 63 watermelon and 49 soybean farmers far away from apiary. The tools of analysis were descriptive statistics, net margin model and double difference estimators. The results revealed that the average age of watermelon and soybean farmers were 43 and 45 years, mean education index of 4.1 and 4.6 years respectively, household size of 8 for both and average annual farm income of ₦120550 and ₦135600 respectively. The empirical results also revealed there is a significant difference in average annual farm income among watermelon and soybean farmers who adopt BPS and non-adopters. The result showed that low level of farmers’ awareness of importance of BPS and lack of relevant knowledge and skill to adopt BPS are the two most critical constraints towards adoption and application of BPS. The study recommends farmers’ enlightenment and training through extension agents to adopt bee pollination service for insect dependent crop production.