In Nigeria, wheat is a crop of both household and industrial importance. However, despite its good climatic and edaphic conditions, Nigeria still relies on massive wheat importation. This study therefore examined the factors influencing commercial production of wheat in Bakura Local Government Area (a wheat zone) of Zamfara State, Nigeria. Primary data were obtained from 210 wheat farming households and analyzed with descriptive statistics, household commercialization index (HCI) and tobit regression. The results showed that the average HCI was 54.7%, implying that there is a gap of 45.3% for the farmers to attain full commercialization level. Farm size, fertilizer, credit, access to improved varieties, age of household head, using manpower as the only source of labour for cultivation and non-farm income were found to significantly influence household commercialization of wheat production. The major constraints faced by the household visa -vis wheat production were low output price, inadequate land, lack of production inputs, high cost of inputs, transportation problem, inadequate credit facilities and diseases/pests. This study therefore recommends provision of inputs and credit to farmers, encouraging the youth to actively participate in wheat farming, encouraging wheat farmers through price support programmes as well as expanding farmland put to wheat cultivation.

This study assessed the commercialization of food crops among farming household in Osun state by administering questionnaires to 99 food crop farmers. Furthermore, descriptive statistics, Household Commercialization Index (HCl) and Linear Regression analysis were used for data analysis. Results of field data analyses revealed that food crops farmers carry out full commercialization in the study area with Household Commercialization Index at 51.7% and about 54.6% of the respondent are at full commercialization. Also 79% of the respondents are male with 56% within the age range of 50 to 69 years and 53% having a household size between the range 4 to 7. However, the respondents travelled an average distance of 17.5km from farm to market. The study also revealed that usage of modern machinery and storage facilities, are some of the major determinants that contribute to the commercialization of food crops. With these, it is recommended that, farmers need to be provided with good storage facilities to ensure that food crops produced in excess quantities are stored in order to make it available throughout the year at an affordable prices. There is need to also sensitize the farmers on the benefits that can be derive from commercialization of food crops.