AWARENESS AND ACCESS TO BIOFERTILIZERS AMONG CUCUMBER FARMERS IN UYO AGRICULTURAL ZONE, AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

The study investigated awareness and access to Biofertilizer among cucumber farmers in Uyo agricultural zone, Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Data was collected using questionnaire from 115 Cucumber farmers selected through a multi-stage and random sampling, analyzed using descriptive statistics and Spearman rank order correlation coefficient. More than half (59.9%), of the respondents were female, mostly married (74.8%) with high level of education (47.0%). The mean age of the respondents is 47 years, average household size of 7 persons with mean farming experience of 13 years and average annual income of N79, 836.00. According to the findings, a mean score of 26.2% showed a low level of awareness about biofertilizer and the major sources of this awareness were through interpersonal contacts which included family, friend, neighbours and progressive farmers as identified by 42.6% respondents. Additionally, a mean score below 2.00 indicated non access to biofertilizer by farmers. However, there exist a strong positive relationship between awareness and access to biofertilizer. The study also found that the critical challenges in accessing biofertilizer were lack of extension services, inadequate knowledge of potential benefits, lack of training on preparation and application of biofertilizer, limited knowledge and awareness on biofertilizer application. These findings suggest that policymakers and extension service providers should prioritize targeted training and demonstrations to enhance awareness as well as ensure that biofertilizer supplies are affordable and easily accessible.