Economics of cassava farmers’ adoption of improved varieties in Isoko north LGA, Delta state

Abstract

The study investigated the economics of cassava farmers’ adoption of improved varieties in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State. Studies on the economic analysis of farmers adoption of improved cassava varieties in the study area is lacking. This therefore constitutes a research gap which must be investigated. The specific objectives were to: describe the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents; determine the respondents’ level of awareness of improved cassava; assess the percentage of farmers who adopt the use improved cassava varieties; identify the constraints militating against the adoption of the improved cassava varieties in Isoko North local government area; and to determine the benefits level of cassava farmers. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to compose a sample size of 175 respondents. Various descriptive statistics such as means, frequency counts, standard deviation and percentages, and inferential statistics (t-tests and binary logit regression) were used for data analysis. The results of the study indicated that all the cassava farmers were aware of the existence of improved cassava varieties, however, only 90.29% of the respondents adopted. Respondents agreed that high cost of planting material (X= 4.80), ineffective Extension delivery (X= 4.78), Agronomic problems (X=4.70), shortage of planting materials (X= 4.53), Land degradation (X =4.12) and poor access to market by farmers (X = 3.89) were serious constraints to adoption. The t-test result showed that there were significant differences between adopters and non-adopters in all the economic variables tested. The result of the logit regression indicated that educational level, age, farm size and household size were significantly related to adoption by respondents. From the finding of the study, it was concluded that adoption of improved cassava varieties for planting is economically beneficial to cassava farmers in the study area and recommended, among others, that extension institutions in the area should intensify efforts to ensure that all farmers adopt improved cassava cuttings for planting.

Key words: Cassava farmers, economic benefit, adoption, regression, improved varieties,
constraint, statistics