ABSTRACT:
In 1972, the Nigerian Federal Department of Agriculture introduced a nationwide on-farm demonstration programme to persuade farmers to adopt new technologies in food crop production because the traditional extension methods were considered to be ineffective. This paper compares demonstration and non-demonstration rice farmers in Plateau State and concludes that there are no significant differences in adoption rates between them. A technology is adopted or not depending on whether it is profitable in the production activity, whether the material components, if any, of the technology are readily available and the farmers have the means to purchase them, whether there are adequate facilities for extension work and whether the farmers are market oriented.This paper recommends that, for wide adoption, a technology should be properly tested for profitability in terms of the farmers’ needs and circumstances before any attempt is made to transfer it to the farmers. The transfer programme should have a credit component if the technology involves purchased inputs and such inputs should be made readily available to the farmers.
Agricultural Administration 02/1983; 12(2-12):77-90. DOI:10.1016/0309-586X(83)90073-0
W A T
