Adoption of Agricultural Innovations: A Case Study of Technologies Developed by National Centre for Agricultural Mechanization (NCAM)

This study was carried out in Ifelodun Local Government Area (LGA) of Kwara State, Nigeria. The major source of livelihood and occupation of the people in the area is farming. Cassava and Okro are predominantly grown in the area; this informed the choice of the Centre to develop processing machines for these crops (i.e Cassava peeling tool and Okra slizer). A 2-stage sampling technique was employed for the study. The first stage involved the purposive selection of four communities namely; Ganmo, Fufu, Idofian and Jimba-Oja. In the second stage, a random sampling technique was used to select 50 farmers. An interview schedule with a structured questionnaire were administered to the farmers. Data collected were subjected to various degree of descriptive statistical analysis which include; ratios, frequencies and percentages. The result from this study showed that the adoption of these two NCAM technologies will enhance the livelihood of farmers, it also show that there is low level of awareness on the agricultural technology in the study area which is attributed to lack of extension materials. The study further reveals that majority (62%) of the respondents have strong desire to adopt the cassava peeling tool while 80% and 74% of the respondents agreed that the cassava peeling tool and okro slizer were respectively affordable compared to the local technology. 82% and 88.9% of the respondents showed keen interest and willingness to adopt cassava peeling tool and okro slizer respectively. The findings from this research work showed clearly the level of adoption of these two technologies as evident from the respondents’ submission. In order to enrich this stand, the study recommended that; there is need for adequate publicity of NCAM technologies to create awareness among farmers and the general public, extension officers should be fully involved right from the planning stage, and  extension component of NCAM should be strengthened to enable it meet the challenges of technology assimilation and adoption.