By Eze, Kelvin Chinedu
In spite of the use of available production technologies by swamp rice farmers, much of the world’s intensive food production is still on small land holdings. Although swamp rice contributes significantly to the food requirements of the population, its production is far below the national requirements. Hence this study was designed to assess availability and use of swamp rice production technologies among farmers in Enugu State, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 96 swamp rice farmers through the use of a structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics, multiple regression and logit regression equation were used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that (13.3%) of the respondents had no formal education, with a mean household size of 6 persons. Majority of the respondents (43.2%) borrowed their farmland and cultivated an average of 3.8 hectares of land yearly. The percentage of the respondents that belonged to at least one organization was (78.6%), while about 21.4% were not members of any organization. Majority of the respondents (60.6%) had no access to credit facilities, and 52.4% had no contact with extension agents while the average contact made by the farmers was 9.5 contacts in the past one year. Findings of the swamp rice production technologies available to the farmers included: Rice varieties such as Nerica and Faro (95.7%), recommended seed/seedling rate (95.7%), planting with 20x20 cm or 25cm x 25cm spacing (92.0%) control weed using herbicides such as propanyl-plus (90.4%).