Awareness And Accessibility To Climate Smart Practices By Citrus Producers In Oyo State, Rainforest Agroecology Of Nigeria

Global changes in the climate and weather patterns have raised serious concerns especially as it relates to world food production with attendant effects on food availability and food security. Citrus is a cash crop traded globally for its huge revenue potentials and produced as a rainfed crop in growing areas in Nigeria, thus this study focused on examining awareness and accessibility to climate smart practices by citrus producers in Oyo State. Oluyole and Afijio Local Government areas, notable for citrus production were purposively sampled. Seventy-two (72) male and female citrus producers were randomly selected from farmer lists of All Farmers Association of Nigeria, (AFAN) Afijio Chapter, and Adopted Village of Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria. Interview schedule was used to elicit information from the farmers. Data collected was analyzed with frequencies, percentages and chi-square. Results showed that majority of the citrus producers were not aware of use of organic fertilizer (70.8%), improved seed variety (82.0%), crop rotation (78.1%) and use of cover crops (78.1%) as climate smart practices. Significant relationship exists between marital status and accessibility of citrus farmers to climate smart practices (p< 0.001). None of the factors affecting accessibility to climate smart agricultural practices by citrus farmers were found to be significant. Conclusions drawn from the study identified farmers non-awareness and accessibility of climate smart practices as a means of mitigating against effect of climate change. This underscores the need for advocacy and enlightenment program among citrus producers in the area.