Utilisation of Soybean in Oniyo Community of Oyo State, Nigeria
Adequate nutrition are basic requirements for economic development, since an underfed nation is an under productive nation. This study therefore determined the utilization of soybean in a major soybean producing community in one of the soybean producing state in Nigeria. This is because soybean has the potentials to ensure adequate diet and good health. The study area is Oniyo community in Orire Local Government Area of Oyo State. One hundred and thirty soybean farmers were selected using simple random sampling. Primary data was collected using interview schedule from the 130 selected farmers, but 123 of the schedules were found to be useable. Data were described and analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, chart, chi square and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Result of data analysis revealed that soybean is cultivated by male and female, as well as old and young. Most of the soybean farmers have a household size of between four to six people and household labor of between one and two people. Majority of the farmers have had between 11 to 20 years of soybean cultivation and have mean income of between =N=20,000 to =N=40,000 per month. Farmers’ awareness of soybean benefits was neither significantly high nor low and consequently their level of perception of soybean benefits. However, the level of constraints to soybean use was remarkably low and thus the level of soybean utilisation was high. Soybean compared with other prominent crops like cassava, yam and maize revealed that majority of farmers considers soybean lowest in social relevance and yield, yet almost all the farmers acknowledged that soybean has the most diversity of usage among the four crops. Chi-square tests of hypotheses show that there is significant relationship between marital status and soybean utilisation. It also showed that the more educated farmers are the higher there utilisation of soybean. Correlation test of hypotheses reveals that the higher the age, monthly income and years
