Crop Farmers Constraints to Access Agricultural Extension Services in Northern Taraba State, Nigeria
1Bashir, M.B, 2Joshua, J.J, 3Ndaghu, A.A & 1Abdullahi, M.M
1National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
2Department of crop science, college of agriculture Jalingo, Taraba state,
3Department of Agriculture Economics and Extension, Moddibo Adama University
Email: bmbawuro@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The study assessed crop farmers’ constraint to access agricultural extension services in Northern Taraba State, Nigeria. Specifically the study assess agricultural extension services desired by crop farmers and identify the constraints experienced by crop farmers in accessing agricultural extension services in the study area. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select one hundred and sixty one (161) farmers for the study, comprising of 65, 65 and 39 from Ardor-Kola, Lau and Zing Local Government Areas respectively. Frequency, percentage, mean and ranking were used to analyze the data for the study. The result on desires agricultural extension services security (100%), farm planning (95.7%), farm tools and machineries (90.1%), storage and post-harvest handling (87.6%) respectively. Among the constraints experienced by farmer’s to access agricultural extension services were agreed to be technological issues among extension agents, linkage mechanism problems, inappropriate technical skills, poor transportation network, weather and climate, inadequate motivational schemes, crisis and communication/language barriers Based on the findings
the researcher recommended that more extension workers needs to be
enrolled in the agricultural sector so as to meet up with the high demand of
extension services, government and NGOs should proffer communicable
means of presenting information to rural farmers, good transportation
network should be provided to extension agents in the state so as to enable
them convey the remote areas and extension agents need to be provided
tight security so as to enable them travel to various villages to disseminate
agricultural information and innovations to the farmers.
