Comparison of Socio-Economic Characteristics of Farmers Growing Local and Improved Maize Varieties in Selected Local Government Areas of Zamfara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study examined and compared the socio-economic characteristics of farmers that grow local and improved maize varieties in selected Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Zamfara State. Seven LGAs were purposively selected for the study based on the preponderance of maize production in the local government areas. Two districts were randomly selected from each of the seven LGAs and two villages were also randomly selected from each of the sampled districts. Through the use of simple random sampling, ten farmers (five each for local and improved maize varieties) were selected from each of the villages, and this gave a total of 280 farmers as the sample size. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics by computation of frequency and percentage, Means, Standard Deviation and t-test. The study showed that improved maize varieties’ farmers had more farming experience (29.66 years) than the local maize varieties farmers (24.89 years) and the difference between the two was significant at 1%. No significant difference was obtained between the two categories of farmers in age, household size and farm size. It was concluded from the result that farming experience plays a significant role in the adoption of new technology by farmers in the area. In order to increase the rate of technology adoption in the area, therefore, it is recommended that experience in farming should be given utmost attention.