Abstract:
A study of the labour a v a i l a b i l i t y and u t i l i z a t i o n in r u r a l farming household in Orumba Local Government Area of Anambra S t a t e was c a r r i e d out. Amulti - stage random sampling was used to select respondents. Primary and secondary data were analysed using descriptive statistics , t e s t o f d i f f e r e n c e s between means, Chi-square and r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s . The major f i n d i n g s were t h a t labour supply and use vary w i t h farm o p e r a t i o n s i n h e r e n t i n a p a r t i c u l a r period, crop types, type and source o f labour used, I t was also f o u n d t h a t labour u t i l i z a t i o n i s gender s p e c i f i c w i t h a d u l t femzle labour c o n t r i b u t i n g more than a d u l t male labour i n a g r i c u l t u r a l production. The major f a c t o r s t h a t i n f l u e n c e d the amount o f labour used were farmer Vs age, income, household size, and farming experience, Labour a l l o c a t i o n between farm and o f f-farm employment v a r i e s during the months o f p r o d u c t i o n cycle. The recommendations, among o t h e r things, were t h a t modern technologies aimed a t m i n i m i s i n g farmers drudgery such as use o f h e r b i c i d e s and t r a c t o r be adopted by the farmers. Also i n f r a s t r u c t u r e should be provided i n the r u r a l areas t o minimise the r a t e o f r u r a l - u r b a n migration of a g r i c u l t u r a l labour.
