The paper investigated the socio-economic characteristics and technology-related factors influencing adoption of improved cowpea production technologies among farmers in Bauchi and Gombe States of Nigeria. Data for the study were collected through the use of structured interview schedule from a randomly selected sample of 130 farmers. Descriptive statistics and step-wise multiple regression were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that majority (69.3%) of the farmers were between 30 -49 years with a mean family size of seven persons.Seventy percent of them were literate and 57.7 % belonged to one farmer/cooperative organization. The use of insecticides to control pests on cowpea farms had the highest adoption score (4.63). Only farm size and level of formal education positively and significantly influenced adoption of improved cowpea technologies, while three technologies namely, use of tractor for preparing cowpea farmlands, application of inorganic fertilizers at 200 kgha -1 and use of recommended spacing distances on cowpea farms made the highest contribution in explaining variations in the differential adoption of cowpea technologies among the farmers. In view of the low adoption scores recorded for most of the technologies in the improved cowpea technology package, there is need to study the socio-economic environment of the cowpea farmers in order for research and extension to take adequate advantage of their cultural diversities and uniqueness in promoting adoption. Also, efforts should be made to intensify campaigns on these technologies by extension staff to enable farmers benefit from their usage.

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