CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
One of the major tasks facing Nigerian agriculture is the provision of an adequate and well-stable food supply to meet the requirements of a growing population. One of such food crops is maize. The significance of maize to the modern society is first and foremost clearly reflected in the importance of the crop in the diet of man and animals throughout the world (Onwueme and Sinha, 1991).
Abubakar (1999), ranked maize as the third most important cereal after wheat and rice globally. In Nigeria, maize is produced across the country right from the mangrove region in the south to the Sahel Savannah in the North (Edache, 1999; Tauna, 1999; Olukosi and Raphael, 1997). Maize production in Nigeria has also been on the increase both in terms of hectarage and production. A seven-fold increase in production occurred between 1984 and 1994. Similarly production increased from 6,515,000.0 to 7,019,500.0 tonnes (7.75%) between 1999 and 2003 respectively (CBN Annual Report 2003). In recent years however, production of maize in Nigeria has been declining due to low input usage. For example, in 2000 production was 6491MT as compared to 6515MT in 1999. Rapid population growth and increased pressure on land have led to a reduction in fallow periods to below the threshold needed for sustainability (FAO, 1985; Conways, 1997). To compound the situation, essential inputs such as fertilizer, herbicides and pesticides were often scarce and costly at a time when economic reforms have compelled reductions in farm inputs subsidies.
Maize is a heavy feeder that requires sustainable amount of nutrients uptake. In the Savannah region, the enormous potentials for maize production can be realised only with the use of high levels of fertilizer, improved seeds, hectarage expansion and adequate weed control. With adequate supply of these inputs and the provision of adequate storage facilities, the rapid expansion of maize could be sustained. Since the 1970s, the federal government made it a policy to increase the agricultural production through the increased use of fertilizer. This led to the decision by the Federal Government to establish local fertilizer plants as against relying entirely on fertilizer importation as the case was prior to 1976. The effectiveness and sustainability of these plans varies with government. For maize farmers, access to fertilizer is an important input considered in the production decision. This have direct effect on the level of productivity, thus increased productivity contributed to economic development and policies for effective mobilization of the resources for transforming self-sufficient oriented maize farmers to commercial and market oriented agriculture (Nyako, 1999).