ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR ADOPTION OF IMPROVED COWPEA TECHNOLOGIES IN GOMBE STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The research analysed the efficacy of information sources used by cowpea farmers in adopting improved cowpea technologies in Gombe State, Nigeria. The study applied a multistage sampling procedure in selecting 606 respondents. Data were elicited via structured questionnaires analysed using descriptive statistics, and means score. The result shows that, educated married males dominated the cowpea production enterprise, with a mean farming experience of 13 years, without belonging to cooperative society, nevertheless, they had access to informal sources on credit, with extension contact. Cowpea farmers agreed that positive attitudes such as perceiving the technologies as beneficial, reliable, and compatible with their farming systems, increases their adoption rate. Fellow farmers and friends, and radio 3.49 and 3.25weighted mean respectively were the effective sources of information, while print media weighted mean of 2.04 was the least source of information to the cowpea farmers. Therefore, information on cowpea production should be made readily available to the farmers via dependable and reliable sources such as (extension agents, radio, friends and other farmers, inputs suppliers, community leaders, and NGOs) to facilitate adoption of the technologies. It is recommended that; farmers should be encouraged to belong to cooperative organizations to pool their productive resources, increase their access to agricultural loans and inputs; Farmers should be encourage to utilize multiple sources of information to find out more about improved cowpea technologies. They will be able to access varieties of information as a result of this, which will help them boost their cowpea production and profits.