Abstract

This study seeks to determine the perceived effect of pollutants on vegetable production in Ibadan, Oyo state, Nigeria. The study was carried out in two urban local government areas (Egbeda and South-West) in Ibadan. Stratified sampling was used in selecting one hundred and ten respondents for the study. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used in data collection. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics such as Chisquare, PPMC and ANOVA. Majority (82.7%) of vegetable farmers are young adult females (66.0%), married (79.1%), Muslims (54.5%) and had one form of formal education or the other (88.2%). The unavailability of land mass has made most farmers produce on a low (48.2%) scale. There was significant difference (p < 0.05) in the perception of vegetable farmers in 2 industrial and non-industrial areas (F = 17.19)). Also, educational attainment ( x = 0.002) was 2 2 significantly related to perceived effect of pollutants while sex (x = 0.87), marital status ( x = 2 0.62) and religion (x = 0.64) were not significantly related. It was recommended that there should be increased awareness programmes, like seminars and workshops, by extension officers to farmers, so as to raise their knowledge of the effects of pollutants on production.

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