Abstract

Imoloame E. O.

A survey was conducted in 2013, to determine the extent of use of herbicides by farmers in Moro Local Government Area of Kwara State. Five major villages, namely, Malete, Jehunkunu, Shao, Elemere and Olooru were selected, which constituted a representative sample for the survey. Questionnaires were administered on 150 farmers consisting of 30 farmers each from the above five villages of Moro local Government Area. Results show that a greater percentage of farmers (48.7%) were above the age of 50 years. Also, majority of the respondents (72.2%) were males, married (96.3%), in full-time farming (75.0%) and were mostly illiterate (62.1%). Most of the respondents (79.3%) were subsistence farmers, cultivating between 1 – 6 hectares (ha) of land without access to funds (84.5%). Most of the respondents (55.4%) used herbicides to control weeds on their farms, however, greater percentage of them (56.2%) purchased herbicides from the open market. Furthermore, 100% of the respondents did not calibrate their knapsack sprayer before using it. However, 79.2% of the respondents use one type of protective clothing or the other while applying herbicide, but 20.8% of the respondents did not protect themselves at all during the application of herbicides. It is recommended that farmers need to be subjected to training in the safe and profitable use of herbicides in Moro Local Government Area.