Perception of Rural Farmers towards Improved Cocoyam Production Practices in South-South of Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract
Farmers believe that technologies are good for them. They believe in technologies because they give good efficiency in terms of high yield and less pests. In soliciting respondents’ subjective perceptions, researchers captured the qualitative aspects that influence farmers’ decisions probably because farmers’ technology choices are based on their subjective probabilities. Therefore, the study was carried out to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of rural cocoyam farmers in South-south and determine the perception of rural farmers towards improved cocoyam production practices in South-south zone of Nigeria. A total of 411 contact cocoyam farmers sampled through multi-stage technique provided data for the study using structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Likert five points rating scale ranging from “strongly agreed, agreed, disagreed, strongly disagreed and undecided with weights of 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 to measure the degree or intensity of agreement or disagreement of respondents to perception statements which were provided. The results showed that farmers agreed that cocoyam can be intercropped with other crops(