PERCEPTION OF FARMERS ON THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXTENSION COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUES ON CROP FARMERS PRODUCTIVITY IN ETCHE LGA, R/S

Abstract

This study examined the perception of farmers on the effectiveness of extension communication techniques on crop farmer’s productivity in Etche Local Government Area, Rivers State. The population of the study is 184 registered crop farmers. A multi – stage sampling technique was used to select 144 respondents from the sample size. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the respondents. The reliability of instrument was 0.89 coefficients. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution, percentage, mean and inferential statistics such as regression analysis were used to analyze the data collected. Results revealed that majority (58.3%) of the respondents were between 41 – 50 years; 58.33% were male; 47.22% had secondary education; 46.53% were married; 50.6% had household size of 6 – 10 persons; 51.39% had farm size of 1 – 3 acres of farmland; 91.67% had had farming experience of 11 years and above; 29.17% had income bracket of N90,000 and above per annum. The major extension communication techniques used on the area include: home training/phone calls (82.64%), town crier (80.56%), radio (47.22%) and village drum (43.06%). The study revealed that the major perception of farmers on extension communication are  home training with farmers, demonstration of farm project and use of traditional techniques with mean scores of 2.99, 2.81 and 3.00 respectively.  The result on the relationship between socio – economic characteristics of crop farmers and extension communication techniques were significant in terms of educational qualification, household size and farming experience but there were no significant relationship with marital status, age, farm size, gender and regularity of visit to farmers. The result also showed a significant relationship between extension communication techniques and its effectives on crop farmers’ productivity in the study area. The study concluded that for greater productivity in the study area, the extension communication techniques used must be improved on and the related constraints must be considered. It was recommended, among others, that extension agents should at all times appropriate extension techniques such as demonstration, home training and organization of extension programmes which provides adequate opportunities for crop farmers to learn and act accordingly.