EFFECTS OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC FEATURES OF MAIZE FARMERS ON THE ADOPTION OF MAIZE (BUNDLED SERVICES) IN KANO STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analyzed the adoption of maize (bundled services) in gender perspectives. The study was conducted in Bagwai and Madobi Local Government Areas of Kano State. A multi-stage sampling technique was used for the selection of 120 maize farmers for this study. Primary data were collected through the use of structured questionnaires and analytical tools used for this study were descriptive and Logit Regression. The result showed that the average age of the farmers was 39 years and majority of them (83.4%) had formal education with 56% of these farmers had farm sizes of 1-2 hectares. The grand adoption score was found to be 69% which was an indication of high adoption of the bundles by the farmers. Results of the logit regression analysis indicated that, factors such as age (0.003), household size (0.033), and extension contact (0.024) were significant at P≤0.01, P≤0.05, and P≤0.1 levels. The study established that most of the improved maize seeds (bundled services) package was adopted by the farmers as revealed by the grand adoption score, the main bundles adopted were; improved maize seeds, and NPK. It was found that late supply of maize bundles, pest and disease and inadequate supply of all packages of the bundle were the major constraints militating against the adoption of the improved maize seeds (bundled service).  Therefore, it was recommended that government should ensure timely and adequate supply of the bundles to the farmers before production season in order to enhance the production of the crop on time.