FARMERS’ PERCEPTION OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF EXTENSION AGENTS OF DELTA STATE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (DADP)

ABSTRACT
The study determined farmers’ perception of the effectiveness of extension agents of Delta State Agricultural Development Programme (DADP). A multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select 150 food crop farmers for the study out of which only 128 were valid for analysis. Interview schedule was used to collect relevant information from the respondents. Data were analysed using frequency counts, percentages, mean scores and chi-square.
The findings of the study show that majority (71.1%) of the respondents were female and belong to the age bracket of between 30-49 years old (80.2%). The findings also show that majority (61.7%) of the respondents had contact with extension agents on a monthly basis. Respondents perceived extension agents to be vast in knowledge of subject matter (mean = 4.48), had comprehensive information (mean = 4.47), had beneficial new technologies (mean = 4.43), integrate lectures with practices well (mean = 4.29) and are good in presentation of topics (mean = 4.16). However, respondents were not impressed with extension agents’ teaching and communication skills such as listening ability to respondents’ problems (mean = 3.27), acting as if they know all (mean = 3.19), imposing their ideas on them (mean = 3.02) and not being explanatory enough (mean = 2.19). Despite these shortcomings, farmers still highly adopted transferred technologies especially those related to improved processing techniques (83.6%), improved varieties (71.1%) and fertilizer utilization and application (64.8%). Respondents’ level of education (X2 = 9.98; P<0.05), occupation (X2 = 6.00; P<0.05), farming experience (X2 = 14.08; P<0.05), farm size (X2 = 21. 94; P<0.05) and level of contact (X2 = 16.16; P<0.05) were found to have significant association with their perception of extension agents’ effectiveness. The association between the effectiveness of extension agents and the adoption of technologies (excepting technology relating to improved harvesting techniques) were also significant. For extension to be effective and assist in reducing poverty in Nigeria, there is need for extension agents to be retrained in order to keep them abreast of adult learning principles. Government should also mobilize funds locally to enhance the activities of agricultural extension agents.