ABSTRACT
The study examined the farmer’s adoption of extension packages provided by the Nasarawa Agricultural Development Programme (NADP) in Nasarawa State. Four objectives were formulated to guide the study. The sampling technique employed in this study was purposive and random sampling. Fifteen farmers were randomly selected from each of the six agro-ecological districts in Lafia LGA under the NADP; this gave a total number of 90 respondents. Structured questionnaires were used for data collection, and were administered to the selected respondents from the selected districts. Data obtained were analysed using descriptive statistics. The study revealed that majority of the respondents were males, educated with farming experience of more than 21 years, and with household size of 7 persons, cultivating less than 3 ha of farm. Majority of the farmers received extension information from farmers’ cooperatives societies, followed by farmers meeting, and visit by the extension agents. Extension technologies adopted by the respondents include those related to maize, rice, and cowpea productions respectively. The farmers also acquired technologies in the use of Herbicides, Pesticides and Fertilizer. The respondents adopted the technologies because they brought about high yield, early maturity, good quality and market value characteristics of the crops. It is, thus, recommended that agricultural information should be disseminated to the farmers through radio and television in order to supplement extension visits. |
