The study examined determinants of adoption of land management practices among male and female crop farmers in Kogi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed for the selection of the respondents. Structured questionnaire was used for data collection and analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics. Data were collected from one hundred and sixty three respondents (163). The mean age of the male respondents was found to be 51 years while that of the female was 44 years. The mean total size land cultivated was 1.1 hectares for male respondents and 0.5 hectares for female respondents while the mean years of schooling for male and female farmers were 11.6 and 11.2 years respectively. Multi variant probit model was used to determine the factors that influence farmers' adoption of the land management practices on their farm. Although the results revealed that farmers age, land size, household size, years of schooling, farming experience and technical know-how were factors that significantly influence land management practices among both genders, It was concluded that years of schooling improve the level of adoption of land management practices among the female farmers while among the male respondents their land size was a critical factor that influence their land management practices.

Persistent drop in quality of Nigerian cocoa exported to the international communities portends a grave danger to the economy of the country. This study investigates factors determining adoption of bean quality improvement practices by cocoa farmers in Cross River State, Nigeria. Using a two-stage random sampling technique to select 336 farmers from communities with high production, data were collected with a structured questionnaire and subjected to factor analysis and descriptive statistical procedures. The data revealed that majority of the respondents (66.1%) were male with mean age of 48 years, 78.6% were formally educated whereas 31.0% had a quarterly contact with extension agents. Most of the respondents (98.2%) had high perception on practices considered as being adequate for improving the quality of cocoa beans. There was a positive and significant relationship between perception on cocoa bean quality and adoption of bean quality improvement practices (r = 0.142 and p = 0.001) at one percent level of significance. Factor analysis showed that socioeconomic, production, technological and institutional factors with Eigenvalues of 3.312, 2.403, 1.862 and 1.055, respectively, accounted for the quality of cocoa beans. However, educational level of farmers (0.867), cost of inputs (−0.724), relative advantage of the practice (0.683) and contact with extension agents (0.703) exert greater influence on farmers’ capacity to produce quality cocoa beans. The identified variables should therefore be considered when disseminating improved practices to cocoa farmers for increased adoption.

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