Abstract

ABDULRAHMAN, O.L.; OGUNLADE, I.  and  OMOTESHO, K.F.. Assessing The Adoption Of Macro Propagation Technology (MPT) Among Plantain And Banana Farmers In Ondo State, Nigeria. S Afr. Jnl. Agric. Ext. [online]. 2019, vol.47, n.4, pp.96-105. ISSN 2413-3221.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2413-3221/2019/v47n4a529.

Despite efforts made on plantain and banana by agricultural research institutes, its production has not been remarkable. However, the potential of plantain and banana depends on the full utilisation of macro propagation technology which was introduced to the farmers. This study therefore assesses the socio-economics characteristics of plantain and banana farmers, as well as their attitude and adoption level in order to identify the factors responsible for adoption and to highlight the constraints to adoption of macro propagation technology in Ondo State, Nigeria. A sample of 120 respondents was randomly selected from the list of trained farmers. Data were collected by means of interviews using a structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result show a mean age of 48.12 years, which does not encourage adoption, as well as a neutral attitude of farmers towards the technology (mean=2.98) and a low adoption level (mean=2.86). Furthermore, it was revealed that insufficient finances (51.7%), inadequate technical know-how (51.7%), and high cost of inputs (46.7%) were severe constraints to adoption of macro propagation technology. The study found that educational status (p<0.05), farm size (p<0.05), income (p<0.05), and market link (p<0.01) were positively significant with adoption of the technology and therefore concludes that educational level, income, farm size and market link are responsible for the adoption of macro propagation technology in Ondo State. Thus, the study recommends that more training be put into practice which takes into consideration the factors responsible for adoption. It is also important to incorporate youths into the training, and there should be proper monitoring after the training to ensure full adoption of macro propagation technology.

Keywords : Adoption; Attitude of farmers; Macro propagation technology; Plantain and banana farmers.

        · text in English     · English ( pdf )