FACTORS INFLUENCING THE ADOPTION OF SOYABEANS PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN WESTERN ZONE OF BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the socio-economic determinants of soya beans production technologies adoption in Western Zone of Bauchi State, Nigeria. A combination of purposive and simple random sampling techniques was used to select a total of 194 farmers for the study. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that 48.5% of the respondents fell within the ages of 30-39 years with an average age of 45 years. Most (92.8%) of the farmers were male and majority (71.1%) were married with a mean household size of 10 persons. Furthermore, the result revealed that 38.7% had secondary education with an average farming experience of 20years. The findings further indicate that 47.9% and 63.4 % of the soybean farmers adopted animal drawn ridging technology and planted improved soybean varieties (TGX 1448-2E, TGX 1835-10E and TGX 1485 ID). Among the varieties, TGX 1448-2E was adopted with 48.5% and 51.1% planted their seed around Early June-July. The result also revealed that majority (74.7%) of the respondents sourced their information on improved soyabean production practices through radio, majority (61.9%) had no contact with extension agents while 42.8% had weekly contact. The regression result shows that age was negatively significant (P = 0.001), level of education was positively significant (P< 0.01), sex was positively significant in influencing the adoption of soyabeans technologies. While marital status, household size, land ownership and farm size were not significant. The major constraints to adoption of soyabean technologies by farmers were poor market price (56.7%), inadequate capital (50.5%), and inadequate inputs (48.5%) among others. The study concluded that among the variables included in the model, level of education was the major determinant of soyabean technology adoption in the study area. It is therefore recommended that; education should be encouraged among soyabean farmers in the study area.