Analysis of Land Tenure System Among Rice Farmers in

The research analyzed the land tenure system among rice farmers in Awe Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Two hundred and forty (240) farmers were sampled by a multi stage sampling procedure and used as respondents for the study. Well structured questionnaires were used for data collection. The main means of data analysis were percentages and correlation. Findings revealed that 46.7 percent of the respondents were within the age range of 31-40 years. Majority (77.9%) of the respondents were married and full time farmers. The predominant system of land ownership among the respondents was by inheritance. Land fragmentation was perceived to be the major constraints to land ownership in the study area. The results further showed that farm size correlated positively and significantly with annual income (r=0.519, p < 0.001) and the yield significantly and positively correlated with marital status (r=0.243, p < 0.001), annual income (r=0.604, p < 0.001) and farm size (r=0.727, p < 0.001). The problems of land tenure system that affects rice production as revealed by the study were Land fragmentation, Excessive land ownership, Land litigation and Expropriation. The study recommended that legislation given rice farmers title to land should be enforced by government in consideration of the fact that rice production need to improve to meet the demand of the teaming populace in the study area.