ADOPTION OF RICE PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES AMONG WOMEN FARMERS IN THE CENTRAL ZONE OF BAUCHI STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study analysed the adoption of rice production technologies among women farmers in central agricultural zone of Bauchi State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select a total of 138 women rice farmer, structured questionnaires were administered to the respondents that provided the usable data for the analysis. The result revealed that majority (95%) of the respondents, were married. The mean age was 36 years, household size had a mean of 8 persons, the farming experience revealed, 12 years, majority (43.6%) had no formal education, some (32.5%) inherited their farm land and majority (50.4%) hired their labour. Furthermore, high yield, early maturity and marketability were the major factors that influence the adoption of rice production technologies in the study area. On the levels of adoption, seed, harvesting and fertilizer application had 94%, 91.8% and 99.9%, respectively. The major constraint to the adoption of rice production technologies includes inadequate finance (97.7%), high cost of labour (96.2%), and inaccessibility to modern milling machine (95.5%). The study concluded that high yield, early maturity and marketability were the major factors influencing adoption of rice production technologies among the respondents. The study therefore recommended that the women should be encourage to form cooperative societies in order to be able to obtain credit and acquire modern facilities for rice processing and capital for adopting more technologies.