The Sustainability of Agriculture in Nigeria Using Rubber as a Case Study

•                 TABLE OF CONTENTS  ABSTRACT.....................................................................................................................................2 LIST OF TABLES...........................................................................................................................7 LIST OF FIGURES .........................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER ONEINTRODUCTION ...........................................................................................................9 Aims and Objectives .......................................................................................................................11Method and Research Design..........................................................................................................12 Justification of Study.......................................................................................................................13 

Chapter TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

• 2.HISTORY OF RUBBER...........................................................................................................14 Agriculture Sector in Nigeria .......................................................................................................16  Importance of Agriculture in Nigeria............................................................................................18 Land Use, Soils, and Land Tenure ...............................................................................................19  Challenges Facing Agriculture in Nigeria......................................................................................21 Rubber ...........................................................................................................................................23 Botanic Description of Rubber........................................................................................................25 Types of Rubber.............................................................................................................................26  Natural Rubber ............................................................................................................................26  Synthetic Rubber..........................................................................................................................27 Specifications...............................................................................................................................28  The Harvest of Rubber.................................................................................................................29  Processing of Natural Rubber to Form Rubber Products...........................................................29  Uses of Rubber...........................................................................................................................31 Potentials of Rubber Sustainability in Economic Development of Nigeria ..............................32  Exportation of Rubber...............................................................................................................34  Export Market............................................................................................................................34 Export Price................................................................................................................................34  Rubber Exportation Forecasting...................................................................................................35 Government Agencies in Nigeria Charged With Rubber Sustainability ......................................37  Rubber Research Institute of Nigeria (RRIN).............................................................................37  The Raw Materials Research and Development Council (RMRDC)..........................................38 CHAPTER THREEE
• 3.METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................................................40  Materials and Methods.................................................................................................................40 Study Area ....................................................................................................................................40  Data Collection ...............................................................................................................................41 Hypotheses......................................................................................................................................43 

Chapter FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

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• 4.DATA ANALYSIS AND PRESENTATION OF RESULTS....................................................................44 Results and Discussion ..........................................................................................................................44  Socio-Demographic Characteristics..........................................................................................................44 Farming Characteristics of Respondents Gender and Marital Status........................................................44 Farming Characteristics of Respondents Age ..........................................................................................44 Educational Attainment................................................................................................................................44 Primary Occupation......................................................................................................................................45 Sources of Rubber Farmland.......................................................................................................................45  Size of Rubber Holdings in Hectares........................................................................................................45  Sources of Financing Rubber-Farming Activities.......................................................................................46  Major Sources of Farm Labor on Rubber Farmers ..................................................................................46 Membership of Farmers’/Social Organization ............................................................................................46 Measure of Influence of Government and Rural-Urban Migration on the Sustainability of Rubber ...........................................................................................49   Percentage Distribution of Respondents by Stages of Adoption of Improved  Rubber Production Technology .......................................................................................................... 56  Sources of Information About Rubber (Production, Market, Technological Advancement, and Access to Funds).....................................................................................................................................61CHAPTER SIX 
• 5.SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.............................................................66 Summary.............................................................................................................................................66 Conclusion .........................................................................................................................................67  Recommendation ..............................................................................................................................68 REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................................69 APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................73 Appendix A: Questionnaire ......................................................................................................................73 Appendix B: Pictures.................................................................................................................................78 VITA.................................................................................................................................................................81