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Abstract
Global trends nowadays towards long term sustainable crop production is hinged on either
supplementing the use of chemical fertilizers with organic materials or a complete use of organic
materials. This is more so since substituting chemical fertilizers with organic materials reduces
the risks of exposure to ailments that arise on account of synthetic compounds and increases
farmers’ gains via reduced soil erosion and carbon emissions and increased bio-diversity. In this
vein, the current study investigated organic materials use in Nigeria’s agriculture. Specifically,
the study examined availability and use of chemical fertilizer and organic materials substitutes
and investigated factors affecting the use of organic materials in the Nigerian food sector. The
study data were drawn from a survey of sixty-one farm households that used organic materials
as major nutrients inputs or as supplement with chemical fertilizers for their cropping activities.
The study area is Shira in Nigeria. Farmers in this area usually incorporate the use of organic
materials in their agriculture. The descriptive statistics and regression analyses were used to
analyse the study data. Results indicate that farmers in the study area source their chemical
fertilizer inputs from the open market at an exorbitant price of N2000 (US dollar $13.8) per bag
on average thereby using very low rates of chemical fertilizers. Organic materials used by
farmers were sourced from cattle, goats, sheep and poultry droppings. The quantity of organic
material used was 12,513.0 kg per hectare at a cost of N15,015.6 (US dollar $103.5). Major
constraints in the use of organic materials by farmers include poor transport facilities and
cutworm infestations of the organic materials. Factors revealed to influence the quantity of
organic material used by farmers were the cost of organic materials and the quantity of chemical
fertilizers used by the farmers. The study therefore calls for stakeholders in the food sub-sector
to encourage the establishment of blending plants for the production of organic materials,
burning of organic materials before usage, and the need to enhance researches aimed at
establishing optimal material mixtures and application rates for organic materials used in the
Nigerian farming systems.