THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC VARIABLES AND ADOPTION RATE OF RICE FARMERS IN THE AWGU AGRICULTURAL ZONE, ENUGU STATE

The study examined the relationship between socio-economic characteristics and adoption rate of farmers in Awgu Agricultural Zone of Enugu State. One hundred and eighty-two rice farmers were interviewed in 1998 to determine the level of adoption of eight selected technologies prescribed for rice production. Only three of the technologies namely fertilizer use, use of improved varieties and prescribed planting distance are widely adopted. Some of the determinants found to influence adoption positively and significantly are income realized from rice, farm size, education and farming experience. Age, gender and marital status were negatively related to adoption. It is recommended that extension should target non-adopters instead of use of contact farmers selected on the basis of socio-economic class. It is also suggested that persuasive and advisory transfer of technology and provision of some of the technologies should be pursued as a strategy to increase adoption