Mechanization has repeatedly featured in the development programme at the. two levels of government in Osun state. The inability of government to sustain the programme when previously introduced alludes to poor policy implementation.. This study therefore, assesses the tractor hire policy,in Osun state. Multi-stage sampling technique was,.used to select 266 arable crop farmers and infonnation was collected .. through questio~naire and personal inter.views. Similar tool was .used to collect information from . t~e local goyemm_ent areas (LGAs) tractor hiring unit and Osun state Agricultural Development._ Corporation (OSADEC) .. Further the data· froin the study were analysed using descriptive. statistics and a multiple linear regression 'analysis. Results revealed that, the LGAs and OSADEC control the tractor hiring market while private hire services are uncommon. About 76% of tractor hire beneficiary are real gainers while U % are nominal gainers. Tractor hour is under-µtilized which suggest inefficiency in its·allocation as a production resource. Based on these-findings it is recommended that, tr~ctor hire operators should increase access to this resource by de-emphasising political party connection ~o that the present looser can become gainers.
