Personal variables affecting adoption of agricultural innovations by Nigerian farmers

Abstract

This is a descriptive study aimed at finding how personal variables affect the adoption of agricultural innovations by farmers in Nigeria. Questionnaires and interviews were used as instruments for the generation of data. The totality of Nigerian farmers comprised the population of the study and sampling was based on the cluster approach using the purposive procedure to select one hundred farmers from each of the five ecological zones of the country. The data collected were analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences and the One-Way Analysis of Variance used for statistically testing the hypotheses. The analysis showed that significant differences existed among farmers in the adoption of innovations on account of educational qualifications, farm size and mean perception of their various access times. Post-hoc tests, using Scheffes Difference Test identified areas where the differences existed. Among farmers with high and higher education there was no significant difference in adoption, neither between illiterates and primary school leavers; but between the former and latter groups significant differences existed. Between medium and large-scale farmers, there was no significant difference, but between them and small-scale farmers a significant difference was found in the adoption level of agricultural innovations. Farmers with medium and long time access to information had no significant difference in adoption of innovations, but between them and those with short time access, a significant difference existed.



SA Jnl. Agric. Ext. Vol. 33 2004: 94-107