Attitude of Arable Crop Farmers Towards Adopting Agricultural Technologies in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State

Abstract

The study examined the attitude of crop farmers towards adopting agricultural technologies in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State. Specifically, the objectives of the study were to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the respondents in the study area, ascertain the level of awareness of agricultural technologies in the study area examine the attitude of crop farmers towards the adoption of new technologies in the study area, determine the level of adoption of agricultural technologies and ascertain the factors that hinders crop farmers from adopting agricultural technologies in the study area. Questionnaire and interview schedules were used to gather information. A total of 100 respondents were used. Data were analysed with the use of percentage, frequency and mean score derived from Likert scale. Findings showed that (59%) of the sampled respondents were females, (51%) of the sampled respondents were within the age of 31-40. About (53%) of the respondents were married. About (69%) of the size of 4-6 persons. (46%) of the respondents had farming experience of 2-5 years and (39%) of the respondents earned 11,000-30,000 naira’s as their income. The study further revealed that most of the respondents were aware of all the listed agricultural technologies in the study but only adopted a few. All the challenges listed in the study were identified as constraints to adopting agricultural technologies by the respondents. The study recommends that the cost of agricultural technologies should be subsidized by government to enable rural farmers acquire them in appropriate time, there should be recruitment of more extension field agents to enable effective extension service delivery and communication, also there is an urgent need for a change in people’s attitude towards agricultural technologies especially among the youths who are the future.