Agricultural mechanization is the harnessing, controlling and organising all inputs of production such as land, capital, labour, as well as research, education, communication/information, and engineering/technology in agricultural practices (Asoegwu and Asoegwu, 2007). It embraces the use of tools, implements, and machines for agricultural land development, crop production, harvesting, and preparation for storage, storage, and on-farm processing. With enormous advantages obtainable from it and its attendant effect on the wellbeing of the people, Nigeria is lagging behind in fully mechanizing her agricultural sector. This is due to much neglect of the sector by the private sector leaving most investment in the hands of a government. Also, lack of clear cut policies on agricultural mechanization and the inability of successive governments to continue with some good policies of former administrations has reduced mechanizing Nigerian agriculture to mere lip service, therefore affecting the output of this sector. Though the present government is building on the gains of former administration's policies on agriculture, more still need to be done to put the nation on the right path of becoming self-sufficient and exporter of agricultural products (either agro-raw materials or processed products). This paper holistically looks at the current status of agricultural mechanization, its prospects, and challenges. Hence, proffering a way forward to them

The level of agricultural mechanization practice in Nigeria is indeed low. This is attributed to the fact that many of our farmers and processors are still used to the traditional methods of practicing agriculture thereby not giving attention to the creation of mechanical means which has the added advantage of boosting their farm produce and products. This paper through secondary source of information had identified several areas where we went wrong and as a result of this, proffered several ways forward in overcoming the problems of agricultural mechanization practice in Nigeria. Keywords: overcoming, mechanization, Nigeria, produce, farmers, products

The task of transforming agricultural productivity has been a great challenge to various tiers of governments in Nigeria. This paper discussed the various programs embarked upon by previous and present governments all with the aim of boosting agricultural production through tractorization which is an arm of mechanization. The paper reviewed critically the previous attempts and came up with some recommendations to address the tractorization needs of the country. However, there is the need to come up with an agricultural mechanization and tractorization policy for Nigeria which should cover mechanical, draught animal, wind energy, solar power and hydro power that generate power for farm use. This policy should drive the agricultural mechanization policy and also the policy should not be politicized for it to achieve the intended purpose-mechanizing Nigerian agriculture. 1.0 INTRODUCTION The task of achieving self-sufficiency in food production in Nigeria is of high priority to government of Nigeria and revitalizing the nation's economy through the transformation of Nigeria's agriculture to its eminent position is not negotiable. Nigeria has a land area of 93.8 million hectares out of which 40 million hectares are arable land (FAOSTAT, 2014). Presently less than half of this land area is being put into productive use due to various factors that include low level of agricultural mechanization. Majority of Nigerian farmers till this day are still utilizing the traditional methods of farming, which is considered inadequate and inappropriate for the ever increasing population. Global trends in developed and developing countries are increasingly casting dark clouds on peasant and subsistence farming. Presently, Nigeria has engaged about 28.2 million hectares which is dominated largely by subsistence farmers that utilized hoe and cutlass for the farming operations. It is therefore, necessary that the federal government policy embraces agricultural mechanization strategy that would not only remove drudgery from agricultural activities but also create the necessary surpluses for export and create jobs that will reduce the current embarrassing levels of unemployment. The inability of the system to arrest youth restiveness and harness same for agricultural mechanization purposes is one of the causes of insurgency in the country and around the world. 2.0 TECHNOLOGICAL REQUIREMENT IN AGRICULTURE Technology is any practical process which utilizes scientific knowledge to obtain the desired result with the primary aim of advancing and enhancing human society and conditions. Technology is used to harness the forces of nature and transform the resources that nature has bestowed on man, into goods and services for better quality of life (Oni, 2009). Traditional technologies are the simplest and most basic technology used in agricultural mechanization in Nigeria and to some extent also applied to commercial agriculture. These technologies range from the traditional cutlasses and hoes, to the developed stick and stone tools used in processing of agricultural produce. These hand tool technologies use man as a power source and are inefficient and ineffective for commercial agriculture. Man is limited to about 0.745 kW continuous power output and is therefore, grossly inefficient as a primary source of power. In most parts of Nigeria where arable farmers are predominantly peasants, traditional technologies are still employed for agricultural production and processing activities.

As a branch of the global machinery industry, the agricultural (farm) machinery design and manufacturing or agricultural engineering industry has become one of the most important industries to be supported and focussed on in the era of hunger threats foreseen in the World’s future. In order to produce sufficient volumes of food from current limited agricultural land, well-designed machinery and high technology-supported mechanisation of the agricultural production processes is a vital necessity. However, although novel improvements are observed in this area, they are very limited. There is a lack of implementation of advanced engineering design and manufacturing technologies in this industry, therefore agricultural engineering could be considered a potential engineering research area with this in mind. This study aims to highlight the potential, gaps, sector specific challenges and limitations of the agricultural engineering research area at a macro level. Under consideration of the...

The objective of this paper is to examine the increasing application of mechanization to Nigerian agriculture, point out the challenges, merits and demerits. In Nigeria, the application of modern machines to farm production has increased remarkably over the recent 10 years. By 2007, the country recorded an increase of 35.5% in the number of tractors used as compared to the 1998 figure. Examples of farm machines which have been locally developed and are in use in Nigeria include groundnut sheller, maize dehusker and sheller, multicrop thresher, cornstalk cutter rack, groundnut oil extractor, solar dryers for drying local produce, cassava peeler, combined cassava grater and chipper, garri tray fryer, mechanical garri fryer, cassava grater, cassava screw press, flash dryer and others. The result is that over the recent 10 years in Nigeria, mechanized agriculture has been on the rise with growth in farm production averaging 12% per annum. Agriculture now accounts for 42% of GDP, the qua...

Cameroon has an economy strongly dominated by the agricultural sector and despite this domination as well as the fact that this sector is backed by several policy documents and statements, investments in the sector is still grossly underdeveloped. Many farm operators in the different agro ecological environment still rely to an overwhelming extend on the use animate power to achieve their agricultural production goals. This power source and the tools used have implicit limitation in terms of energy and operational output. Cameroon government persistently carry out some initiative to inverse the tendency such as the providing modern agricultural equipment and machinery to farm operators, training complex farm machinery users. However, these solutions are not part of a common though and so far have produced mixed results without a significant improvement on the field. This paper permits to appreciate the challenges faced by users of farm technology in agricultural mechanization via four main crops of significant importance to Cameroon: Maize, Cassava, Sorghum and Cocoa. Among others, it was observed that 75% of farmers involved in cultivation of sorghum, maize, cassava have land surfaces less than 2%. These small farm sizes are a serious handicap to the effective mechanization due to sparse and scattered cultivated lands. Also, only 13% (112) of farm operators have access to credit from micro finance institutions. This low access to credit contributes to the reluctance of farm operators to invest in agricultural machinery acquisition with only 3% owing a land with a land title.

This study assessed the roles and challenges of key players in promoting agricultural mechanization in Nigeria. Specifically, it describes the characteristics of key players, discussed their roles, and identified their challenges in promoting agricmechanization. The players (Government, development partners, tractor dealers, fabricators, association, tractor hiring service providers, tractor operators, farmers using agri-machines) were selected across Kaduna, Nasarawa, Niger, Lagos, and FCT. Checklist was used in an in-depth interview and focus group discussion to elicit relevant information which was analyzed qualitatively. Key informant interview was conducted using telephone. Various models of tractor-hiring operations were identified. Critical issues to be solved in the promotion of agri-mechanization include accessibility to loan, promotion of scheduled maintenance for machines, and curtailing the excesses of tractor operators through the use of tracking device. Identified major challenges of key payers include… It is recommended that local production of machines and equipments should be stimulated by the Government. More so, group ownership of agri-machines should be encouraged (through creation of awareness, regular training and monitoring by extension agencies) to emulate the TOHFAN example in tractor-hiring management. Models and operational strategies used by TOHAN (especially the tracking device) can be adapted by the public tractorhiring services in order to ensure effective tractor-hiring management in Nigeria.