Determining rural farmers' income: A case of mushroom farming in North Central Nigeria

Abstract

The study appraised the involvement of rural farmers in mushroom farming as a paradigm shift for economic development in North Central, Nigeria. The study used 389 respondents sampled through multi-stage sampling technique from three States and the Federal Capital Territory. Descriptive statistics and t-test were used to analyse the data collected. Results showed that the farming of mushroom in the study area was dominated by males, who were married and were well educated. They were young and active with an average household size of 5 persons. The farmers had high levels of involvement in mushroom production and the average income earned by the farmers before and after adding mushroom to their crops were N360,539.58 and N426,092.55, respectively. It was found that mushroom farming attracted a reasonable amount of income because about N65,552.97 was the difference in the average income earned by the farmers after adding mushroom to their crop production activities. Several coping strategies like formation of cooperative groups and engagement of extension agents in training farmers on input use were very important strategies that could help boost mushroom production and the respondents also acknowledged that income generated from mushroom production can help them to alleviate their poverty levels. The study recommended that farmers that are into mushroom production should be encouraged to form cooperative groups so that they can be able to pull their resources together and build a strong base for information sourcing and dissemination as well as getting financial support for their farming activities.