O.K. Akintunde1, L.O. Jimoh1, K.O. Olanrewaju2, A.A. Hassan3
1Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management, Osun State University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria
2Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, Osun State University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria
3Department of Cooperative Economics and Management, Federal College of Horticulture, Dadin-Kowa, Gombe State, Nigeria
(Manuscript received 25 March 2025; accepted for publication 4 September 2025)

Abstract. Shortage of capital is one of the most critical problems that affect agricultural production. Primary data were obtained from field survey with the aid of organized interview schedule and multi-stage sampling procedure adopted to select 120 maize farmers. Data collected in the month of November 2023 were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The outcomes of the research findings revealed that the average age of the maize farmers was 50.38±12.688 years, majority (87.5%) were married with a mean household size of 6±2 persons. The average year of education was 5.57±5.509 years which is low. The mean acre under cultivation by the farmers was 9.65±7.23 acres. The findings of the study revealed that informal credit utilization is beneficial to the farmers as revealed by higher value of annual farm income (N154,183.33±18,756.46) after credit access that was more than annual farm income (N101,654.67±13,130.85) before access to informal credit. It is concluded from the study that the factors influencing utilization of informal credit by the farmers in the study area include age of farmers, household size, years of western education, length of years farming practices, and farm size. It is recommended that maize farmers should be encouraged to utilize informal credit as it serves as a catalyst in increase of farm income and imbibed in acreage expansion of their farm to assist in them accessing loan fund from non- informal sources.