EVALUATION OF INSECT INFESTATION ON OKRA VARIETIES GROWN WITH DIFFERENT FERTILIZERS IN ABUJA, NIGERIA

Willingness to pay (WTP) is the maximum amount a consumer is prepared to spend for a good or service. This study evaluated the willingness to pay for soil testing by casava and yam farmers in solid mineral mining communities in Southeast, Nigeria. Apurposive sampling technique was used to select a sample of size of four hundred and fifty (450) respondents. Data for this study were collected with the aid of well-structured questionnaire in line with the specific objectives of the research. Contingency Valuation and Torbit Regression Models were the statistical analytical tools used for the study. The contingency valuation result shows that WTP soil testing awareness campaigns have been most effective in Enugu and least effective in Ebonyi. The result for WTP for soil testing in the mineral resources mining communities shows that 52.27% of farmers are willing to pay for soil testing in Abia while 91.28% of farmers are willing to pay in Ebonyi. The result further revealed that for Enugu 87.41% of farmers are willing to pay for soil testing service. The result in table 1 shows that for Abia the coefficient is ₦4,984.89 and is significant at 1%, Ebonyi has coefficient of ₦10,116.82 and significant at 10%, while in Enugu the coefficient is ₦123.48 and not significant. There should be adequate sensitization and extension education on the importance and value of soil testing in the solid mineral mining host communities. This soil testing exercise should be voluntary, participatory and affordable in the study area.