Climate Change Adaptation Strategies and Farm Profit of Watermelon Farmers in Iwo ADP Zone of Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

Climate change impacts the world in many ways, and agriculture is one sector affected. The broad objective of the study is to assess the effect of climate change adaptation strategies on farm profit among watermelon farmers in the Iwo ADP zone of Osun State, Nigeria. The primary source of information for the study was data collection instruments of nicely composed questionnaires. Information captured includes farm inputs and costs, farm outputs and prices, climate adaptation strategies such as mulching, covering with sac, irrigation system, and cultivation of improved varieties. Data were subjected to evaluation with descriptive statistics and multiple regressions. It was revealed from the study that the common age of the farmers was 46.88±2.04 years, the majority (85.8%) were male with an average family size of 5±1 persons. The average years of farming practices was 13.4 ±2.30 years and the mean farm size was 2.70± 0.2 acres. The study's findings revealed that important climate change adaptation management techniques utilized by the farmers include mulching, use of agrochemicals, covering with sac, and use of an irrigation system. The gross farm income per acre is estimated at ₦153,074.6 and a BCR of 1.4. Multiple regression analysis revealed the factors influencing the profit include gender (p ≤ 0.05), farm size (p ≤ 0.01), farming experience (p ≤ 0.01), access to credit (p ≤ 0.05), and climate change adaptation (p ≤ 0.01). The study concluded that the use of climate change adaptation techniques increased the level of farm profit.