Analysis of factors affecting rice growing in Rukungiri District: case study of Bwambara Sub County

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze the factors that influence rice growing by individuals in Bwambara subcounty, Rukungiri district. The analysis focused on important factors such as availability of land and its distribution, method of farming adopted, environmental factors and others relevant factors such as economic and labor. This was done using primary data collected from 100 respondents. The analysis was done using SPSS statistical package and data was analyzed at univariate, bivariate and multivariate levels. The study findings indicated that the significant factors affecting rice growing were Storage facilities for storing rice harvested, Cost of labor, cost of pesticides and the amount of available resources to the individual all with p<0.05. Furthermore, majority of the respondents had grown rice with 56.0% and 75% of rice growers were males compared to the females with only 25%. The study also established that rice is mostly grown for income generating than for consumption purposes. This is statistically evidenced by 75% of the respondents that grow rice it is for income purposes compared to consumption alone that takes 1.97%. At bivariate level, the study found out that heavy rains have a significant effect on rice growing (p=0.00). Therefore, the study concluded that the cost of labor, cost of pesticides, availability of storage facilities and the availability of rainfall are fundamental to rice growing within the sub-county. The study recommends more assistance in form of rice seeds so as to absorb more people into rice growing as it is the major source of income in the sub -county. The study recommended that farmers ought to adopt traditional methods of pest control like thinning and early weeding so as to avoid spending much on artificial pesticides.