Demand-Driven Technologies for Sustainable Maize ... - IITA

380Two States (Kaduna and Katsina), which are about the leading Statesin maize production in Nigeria, were used as case studies for theecological zone. The suitability of the biophysical and socio-economicfeatures for maize production was the other criterion used to select theStates for the study.Sampling procedureA multistage sampling procedure was applied to select 160 householdsinvolved in maize-based production system in Katsina and KadunaStates. In the fi rst stage, eight local government areas (LGA), four ineach State, were selected based on the intensity of maize production.The selection was done to refl ect the typical situation for maize-basedfarming systems. Secondly, one village was also selected from eachof the LGAs using the above criterion. Finally, 20 households wereselected at random from the list of households in the village to makeup a sample size of 160. However, only 147 questionnaires wereretrieved and analyzed. The surveyed villages in Kaduna State wereKaya, Saminaka, Tashan Saibu and Makarfi while those in KatsinaState were Dandume, Machika, Mahuta and Daudawa.Data collectionThe data used in this study came from both primary and secondarysources. Secondary data on recommended levels of N, P 2O 5andK 2O were obtained from results of on-station trials conducted by theInstitute for Agricultural Research, Samaru, Zaria.A survey of households was conducted to collect data from thehousehold heads. A structured questionnaire was used to gather bothqualitative and quantitative information covering all aspects of socialand economic activities, land use pattern, cropping systems, perceptionof soil fertility management, use of organic and mineral fertilizer formaize production, preferences, production expenses and output levels.The survey was conducted during the 2002/2003 agricultural year.Analytical frameworkEstimates of binary logistic regression coeffi cients were used to identifythe factors infl uencing fertilizer-use intensity in the study area usingthe Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10. Data onquantities of both organic and mineral fertilizers were converted intothree basic nutrient components (N, P 2O 5, and K 2O). Fertilizer-useintensity was computed as the fertilizer input (sum of N, P 2O 5, andK 2O) expressed as a proportion of total land area under maize-basedproduction.In binary logistic regression, the dependent variable is convertedinto a dichotomous binary variable coded 0 and 1. Farmers with low