|| Bioinfo Publications || 31 World Research Journal of Tropical Agriculture ISSN: 2322-0627 & E-ISSN: 2322-0635 || volume 1: Issue 2, 2013: 31-35 ||. Available online at http://www.bioinfopublication.org/jouarchive.php?opt=&jouid=BPJ0000179 OSONDU C.K.*, ANYIRO C.O. AND EMEROLE C.O. Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension Abia State University, Umuahia Campus, PMB 7010, Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria. *Corresponding Author: Email- anyirochidozie@gmail.com Received: November 18, 2013; Accepted: December 12, 2013 Introduction Among labour sources such as machines, drought animals, wind power and human sources, the human labour is about the common- est used labour by smallholder farmers in Nigeria [1]. Human labour used in farms include hired labour, household or family labour and exchange labour. Supply of these forms of human labour are critical in rural farm production as it goes a long way to determining pro- duction sustainability. The rural household is the principal source of labour supplied in farming. [2] considered the household a basic unit of analysis in farming systems research on grounds of its being a crucial source of farm labour and unit for making farm decisions. Farming patterns and how farmers gain livelihood owe much to age and distribution of their labour strength when farming is not mecha- nized. The supply of farm labour is influenced by the age at which children are considered strong enough to supply requisite labour, the number of hours worked in a working day, age of the farmer and the nature of task specialization by age groups and sexes [3]. Fur- ther, [3] in that study stated that farm labour supply, farm output and the rate of farming in a particular rural set up depended on age and aging pattern of the population. In Nigeria, food production system has remained human labour-intensive than mechanized [4]. [5] recognized a working age of between 14 years to 60 years in the labour market but was of the opinion that in sub-Saharan Africa farm labour work age starts at 10 years or earlier and ends at 60 years. In line with this observation, other studies [6-8] have recog- nized an average farm work age of above 50 years in Nigeria. Many youths in search of white collar jobs have consistently left the rural areas for urban cities leaving many aged with few youths available in the villages for farm work. This phenomenon has adversely af- fected farm labour supply, encouraged depressed rural living stand- ards [9] and encouraged urban unemployment. The future of human farm labour supply in food crop production apparently looks bleak and remains a subject of concern in rural Nigeria. The consequence is that the rural age structure remains disor- ganized and skews towards the aged with less potential for high food production. For sustainable rural agriculture, the presence of youths and youth power in agriculture is needed. Current trend remains that involvement of youths in farming is very poor and de- creasing with advancing time [10]. The rural areas have been char- acterized by poor living standards, low growth of infrastructures, low farm labour wage and inadequate number of youths. Concentration of social investment in urban areas far outside the villages has ap- parently affected age structures in villages and the available labour for farm works because children in their infant age cannot farm, and the very old have little to contribute to supply of needed farm labour. With preponderance of the aged population and infants in the rural communities, there are shortages of needed farm labour. How much age distribution has influenced supply of farm labour needs to be investigated and this truly necessitates this study. This study specifically set out to: (i) describe age distribution and net migration of members in food crop producing households; (ii) analyze relationship between mean age of resident (de jure) members of households and man-hours supplied to food crop production in the study area; (iii) determine socio-economic factors that influenced adult equivalent labour sup- plied in food crop production in the study area; and (iv) identify farmers perceived constraints to sourcing of human labour in food crop production in the area. Materials and Methods The study was conducted in Ikwuano Local Government Area World Research Journal of Tropical Agriculture ISSN: 2322- 0627 & E-ISSN: 2322- 0635 || vol 1: Issue 2, 2013 || Abstract- This study on rural household migrant age distribution and determinants on farm labour supplies in food crop production was carried out in Ikwuano Local Government Area, of Abia State Nigeria. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used in a survey to select 120 rural farm households. Data was collected with a structured questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that 52.50% of the farm households were between the age range of 41 to 60 years, with 70.0% being females, 55.83% married, 56.60% had a household with 5 to 9 members, 98.33% had formal education and 51.67% engaged in farming as their primary occupation. The correlate of age and labour supply gave a coefficient of 0.6741. Household size, migration and farm output positively influenced farm labour supply with marital status of household head and primary occupation of spouse negatively influenced farm labour supplies in food crop production. Low farm labour wage and seasonal out-migration of household youth labour were identified as major constraints on labour supply to crop produc- tion. We recommended modernizing agriculture, improving rural infrastructures for better health of farmers and supplies of labour. Keywords- Migrant age, Farm labour supply, food crop production MIGRANT AGES AND DETERMINANTS OF HOUSEHOLD LABOUR SUPPLIES IN FOOD CROP PRODUCTION IN IKWUANO ABIA STATE, NIGERIA