Factors affecting maize production at household level in Kachuru parish (Kwarikwar subcounty- Bukedea district)

Abstract

This study sought to examine factors affecting maize production at household level in Kachuru Parish (Kwarikwar Sub County - Bukedea District). The case study was Kachuru Parish consistent of two villages; Kachuru and Mailoeit in Kwarikwar Sub County - Bukedea District.The main objective of this study was to determine the factors affecting production of maize at household level while the specific objectives that the study set out to establish were: To determine the quantity of maize a household is capable of producing, to determine the impact of the highest education level of the household head on the amount of maize harvested, to determine the impact of the main source of income of the household head on the amount of maize produced, to determine the effect of the adopted farming method on the amount of maize harvested, to determine the effect of quality of maize seeds used on the quantity of maize produced, to assess the effect of the amount of rainfall received on the quantity of maize harvested, to determine the impact of the amount of land used for cultivating maize on the amount of maize produced.The study was able to employ qualitative and quantitative models to analyze the data. Data analysis was done using descriptive statistics. The qualitative approach provided means of discerning, examining, comparing and contrasting and interpreting meaningful patterns. The qualitative approach involved examining the assembled relevant data to determine how research questions were answered at hand. While quantitative data analysis helped to analyze and categorize frequencies and percentages. Simple descriptive tabulations were used for quantitative analysis.Primary data was used and a questionnaire was used to collect data from the household heads regarding the variables. The main method of data collection was a semi-structured questionnaire administered to 98 household heads. Each 100kg sack of maize was used as a measure of the amount of output of a household. The data was analyzed under multivariate analysis using logistic regression and the results showed that the amount of land on which maize was cultivated had an effect on the amount of maize harvested (p= 0.002).