The study assessed the use of ICTs among extension agents in Kano State Nigeria. Two hundred and twenty-one (221) extension agents were randomly selected from the 44 local government areas. Data for the study were obtained with the aid of structured questionnaire administered to extension agents. Majority of extension agents were in the age range of 41-50 years. Majority (87.3%) of them were males and married (100%), with family sizes of 5-14 (53.95%). The entire extension agents had formal education including HND (35.8%), OND (33.3%) and secondary school certificate (27.2%). Most of the extension agents had an annual income of N100,000-N300,000, with N376,984 as mean. They were aware and had access to radio, television, telephone, DVD, video, camera, computer, satellite and printer. They however recorded a low usage of the Web, satellite, e-mail, CD-ROM, search engines, scanner, fax and Web publishing. The result also indicates a positive correlation between ICT use and socioeconomic characteristics of the agents; including age, work experience, membership of agricultural associations (p<0.05). It was concluded that the benefits of the ICTs were not fully utilized by extension workers in the state due to some factors associated with low income, ICTs training, awareness and access.
This study investigated the socio-economic factors influencing adoption of dual-purpose cowpea production (DPC) technologies among farmers in Bichi Local Government Area of Kano State, Nigeria. Data were collected with the use of questionnaire administered to 200 farmers selected randomly. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and step-wise multiple regression were used to analyze the data. Findings indicated that 35.7% of the farmers were within 41-50 years. The largest percentage (24.5%) had a family size within the range of 11-15, with a mean of 8. Majority of the farmers had formal education, ranging from primary to post-secondary. They had more than 1ha of land, with a mean of 2.2ha. They all participated in one form of farmers' organization or the other. The mean adoption rate was 77.5%. The use of improved seeds and insecticides had the highest adoption score (100%). Result of the correlation analysis indicated that level of education, household size, farming experience; number of ruminants owned, social participation and
There has been contradiction among researchers regarding similarity or otherwise of technical efficiency estimate obtained from Cobb-Douglas and Translog frontier models. While some researchers believe that results obtained from the two functional forms, given the same data, were essentially similar, others disagreed. This study compared both functional forms to analyze technical inefficiency in dry-season tomato production in Jos-South Area of Plateau State. Data were collected from 60 dry-season tomato farmers sampled through three-staged random sampling technique. The analyses of the data were done using both Cobb-Douglas and translog frontier models. The results showed that the estimated elasticities, efficiency scores and inefficiency effects from Cobb-Douglas and Translog functional forms differ significantly. Therefore, the choice of functional form for efficiency analysis should be based on convenience, meeting selection criteria premise on the value of variance-parameters and objective of the study.
Rice farming is highly dependent on environmental factors such as rainfall and temperature. Rice yield is affected by changes in these climatic elements. Rice farmers’ perceptions of the changes in climate are important determinants of the management practices they use in reducing the effects on rice production. This study assessed the perceived effects of climate change on rice production among farmers. A multistage sampling procedure was used to obtain a sample of 522 farmers. Data were obtained with the aid of structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings revealed that majority (94%) of the respondents were males. They were married (88%) and had farming as a major occupation (89%). They perceived that climate change was posing risks to rice production (X = 2.16), would lower rice production (X = 2.07) and would continue to affect storage of rice (X = 2.01). The study determined a significant relationship (p<0.01) between farmers’ perceived effects of climate change and rice yield. It was concluded that positive perception can lead to high adoption of climate change adaptation practices. The climate change knowledge-base of the farmers needs to be improved through more sensitization on climate smart agriculture.
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