Abstract

The study was carried out in Ikole - Ekiti LGA, it examined the level of awareness of organic farming practices, ascertained farmerís level of utilisation, examined farmersí attitudes towards organic farming practices and identified the constraints to organic farming practices. A multistage procedure was used to select 100 respondents. Data were analyses using descriptive statistics such as frequency, percentages and mean and Spearman Correlation. The mean age of respondents was 47 years. Majority of the respondents were males (70%). For marital status, 85% of the respondents were married. Majority (53%) of the respondents engaged in full time farming. The mean years of farming for the respondents in the study area was 20. The level of awareness with highest percentages were crop rotation (91%), mulching (84%) and cover cropping (74%). Organic farming practices with high level of utilisation were crop rotation (3.79), mulching (3.70), organic fertilizer (3.02) and cover cropping (3.00). For farmerís attitude towards organic farming: statements like ìthere is nothing new about organic farmingî was (85%) and ìfarmers get opportunities to use their skills in organic farmingî (74%) were those statements with higher percentages. The constraints were: transportation of organic inputs to the farm (90%), it encourages growth of weeds (87%), and unavailability of organic materials (84%). Farmers are aware of the benefits of organic farming, but their level of utilisation is low. Campaign and sensitization for farmers and the entire populace on the benefit of organic foods should be carried out. There is the need to engage agricultural extension service for awareness and advocacy for health, economic and environmental benefits.

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