Nigeria agriculture system is characterized by smallholder farmers who have little or no access to inorganic fertilizer. However, in response to the declining soil fertility and the effects of climate change, the use of organic fertilizer has been proven to increase agricultural productivity. Owing to this backdrop, this study investigated the factors affecting the use of organic fertilizer among vegetable farmers in Kwara State. A multi stage sampling technique was used to select 80 vegetable farmers. The study made use of a structured questionnaire for data collection. Data obtained were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The hypothesis of this study was tested using Chi square (χ2, P value =0.05), hence the result revealed that 77.05% of the vegetable farmers used poultry drop and 55.00% used cow dung. Poor transportation, high labour cost and unavailability of organic fertilizer were the major challenges faced by vegetable farmers. The socio economic characteristics; gender, education and cooperative membership significantly (p ≤ 0.05) influence the nature of constraints faced by vegetable farmers and the use of organic fertilizer on their vegetable farms. Therefore, government should provide adequate transport facilities for the farmers in rural areas for easy transportation of the organic fertilizer and farm produce.

Keywords: Organic fertilizer, soil fertility, vegetables, farmers, factors.