Influence of Socioeconomic variables on Cooperative farmers Adoption of Improved Cassava production Technology (ies) in Akwa Ibom state

Abstract

This study was designed to determine the extent to which socioeconomic variables influence cooperative farmers' adoption of improved cassava production technologies in Rivers State. The study adopted survey design. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 363 registered cassava cooperative farmers. The reliability coefficient of the instrument was done using a test-re-test method. The data were analyzed using percentages and a frequency count for socio-economic variables; the research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using ANOVA at 0.5 level of significance. The findings from the study showed that there is a significant influence of cooperative farmers on some of the socio-economic variables such as level of education, years of farming experience, sources of Agricultural information, membership in the agricultural association and marital status on their adoption of improved cassava production technologies. Based on the findings of the study, the Rivers State Government (through the Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Rivers State Agricultural Development Programme (RISADEP) and other relevant agencies) should encourage more farmers to join agricultural associations for sharing agricultural information. They should also facilitate registered farmers to access credit facilities with low-interest rate and markets access for their products.