Effects of Petroleum Development Companies’ (PDC) Agricultural Extension Services on Agricultural Production in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the effect of Petroleum Development Company’s (PDC) agricultural extension programmes on agricultural production in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It was carried out in the three of the nine states that make up Niger Delta region. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 120 respondents randomly selected from eight communities which were randomly selected from four LGAs. Descriptive statistics and chi-square were used for the data analysis. It was found that 64.2% were engaged in full-time farming, while 35.8% combined farming with some other enterprises. About 88% of the respondents had more than 2 ha of farm land. It was also found that 75% of the respondents had more than 5 years of farming experience. In addition, it was found that, apart from farm size, all other socio-economic variables considered, had no significant relationship with increase in output by the respondents. It was therefore recommended among others that, the farmers should be involved at the planning stage of every strategy intended for them, that extension contact should be increased and that farmers should be made to form cooperative groups so as to enhance their access to production inputs.