Influence of Extension Communication Techniques on Crop Farmers’ Productivity in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined the influence of extension communication techniques on crop farmers’ productivity in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of crop farmers, ascertain extension communication techniques accessible by crop farmers, assess the perception of farmers on the effectiveness of extension communication techniques, examine extent of utilization of information on extension communication techniques to improve productivity; and, finally, determine factors that militate against effective use of extension communication techniques in the study area. The population of the study is 184 registered crop farmers. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 144 respondents from the sample size. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The reliability of instrument was 0.89 coefficients. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentage, mean and inferential statistics such as regression analysis were used to analyse the data collected. Results revealed that majority (58.3%) of the respondents were between 41-50 years; 58.33% were male; 47.22% had secondary education; 46.53% were married; 50.6% had household size of 6-10 persons; 51.39% had farm size of 1-3 acres of farmland; 91.67% had farming experience of 11 years and above; 29.17% had income bracket of ?90,000 and above per annum. The major extension communication techniques used in the area include: home training/phone calls (82.64%), town crier (80.56%), radio (47.22%) and village drum (43.06%). Lack of farmers’ participation on programme development ( ? =2.84), some extension practices run contrary to farmers' needs and customs ( ? =2.79), lack of trust on extension agents ( ? =2.81), irregular training and visit by extension agents ( ? =2.76) and high cost of adopting new innovations ( ? =3.01) were identified as the major constraints. It was recommended, among