INFLUENCE OF FARMERS SOCIO-ECONOMIC VARIABLES ON ADOPTION OF IMPROVED CASSAVA VARIETIES IN ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

The study assessed the influence of the socio-economic characteristics of farmers on adoption of improved cassava varieties. Anambra state served as the areas of the study of which the entire cassava farmers in Anambra State comprised of the population of the study. 120 cassava farmers were randomly selected from the Awka Anambra and Agwata Agricultural zones of the State. Questionnaire was used to collect data for the study whose items border on the various socio-economic variables such as: age, sex, marital status, educational level, household size, farming experience, farm size, extension contact and annual income. The data collected was analyzed using the multiple regression models. This is to test the relationship between the socio-economic variables and adoption of improved varieties of farmers. The study discover among other things that out of the 9 variables considered educational level, farming experience and extension contact were positively correlated and statistically significant at 9% probability level.