Attitude and Willingness of Arable Farmers Toward Commercialization of Public Agricultural Extension Services in Delta North Agricultural Zone Delta State, Nigeria

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Attitude and Willingness of Arable Farmers Toward Commercialization of Public Agricultural Extension Services in Delta North Agricultural Zone Delta State, Nigeria

JAFE Vol. 10(4): 6-16, 2023
Attitude and Willingness of Arable Farmers Towards Commercialization of Public Agricultural
Extension Services in Delta North Agricultural Zone Delta State, Nigeria
Iworh, Oyinye Ruth and Ovwigho, Bishop Ochuko
The study investigated the attitude and willingness of arable farmers towards commercialization of public
extension services in Delta North Agricultural Zone of Delta State, Nigeria by specifically describe the
socioeconomic characteristics of the arable farmers, examining farmers’ willingness to pay for public extension
services, and determining their attitude towards commercialization of public extension services in the study area.
A simple random sampling technique was used to select the 224 respondents used for the study from a population
of registered arable farmers. Primary data were collected using interview schedules, and analyzed by the use of
Percentage, Mean, Pearson r, Chi Square test and Logistic Regression. Most of the respondents were within the
35 – 44-year age bracket, had arable farming (45.5%) as the most important income-generating activity, were
males (51.8%), married (62.5%), and had one form of formal education or the other, (90.6%). Full-time farmers
constituted only about a fifth (21.0%) of the respondents, while as much as 79.9% of the respondents had been
farming for 6 years or more. Farmers with 4-6 persons per household (50.4%) were the most prevalent, while
those who owned personal plots of farm (50.0%) were as much as those who did not (50.0%). As much as 73.7%
of the respondents were willing to pay for public extension services. The farmers chose positive attitude
statements toward the commercialization of public extension services (Grand Mean = 3.11) and disagreed with
the negative attitude statements (Grand Mean = 2.73). There was a significant relationship between willingness
to pay for public extension services and levels of education (X2 = 148.55; p = 0.00), and a significant relationship
between attitude to commercialization and household size (t = -2.568, p = 0.012). By these findings, it was
recommended that the government should begin a gradual process of commercialization of public extension
services in Delta north Agricultural Zone with a view to transferring the practice to the whole state
Keywords:Attitude; Commercialization; public; extension; services; farmers
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