FACTORS INFLUENCING ADOPTION OF IMPROVED RICE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN WESTERN AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

The study examined the factors influencing adoption of improved rice production technologies by rice farmers in western Agricultural zone of Bauchi State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling technique was employed to select 185 rice farmers from the study area. Primary data were obtained through the administration of structured questionnaires analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics to achieved objectives of the study. The result of the study revealed that the majority of rice farmers were males with average age and household size of 43 years and 9 persons per household respectively. Majority (41.1%) had tertiary education, and farming was their primary occupation. They had an average of 10.3 years of farming experience and 55.7% were members of a rice farmer’s cooperative society. However, only 32.4% had access to credit. Most (91.4%) had a farm size of 1-5 hectares and 51.4% used hired labour. Friends and relatives were the main source of information for 40% of farmers, while media was the main source for 36.6%. The result also found that household size, age, farmers' cooperatives, and sex were all positive and significant factors influencing the adoption of improved rice production technologies at (P<0.05) and (P<0.01) respectively. Land size and rice income were both negative and significant (P<0.05) and (P<0.10) respectively in influencing the adoption of improved rice production technologies. The major constraints faced by respondents in adopting rice production technologies were high cost of farm inputs (3.79), scarcity of recommended rice varieties (3.19), low level of awareness (3.28), inadequate extension agents' access (3.39), low accessibility of credit (3.42), climatic change (3.14), and high cost of input (3.59). The study concluded that, household size, age, membership of cooperative societies and sex were the factors influencing the adoption of improved rice production technologies among the respondents. It is therefore recommended, Government and NGOs should intervene and provide frequent extension contacts/visits by employing more extension agents to reduce the gap between research and farmers, government should also provide soft loans to farmers at single digit interest to enable them expand their production base and finally, a climate smart technology should be developed by research institutions to help farmers mitigate the impact of climate change.