Determinants of Awareness and Adoption of Improved Rice Varieties in North Central, Nigeria

The Nigerian rice sector and WARDA has adopted several development initiatives in the past years towards increasing development and production of improved rice varieties. However, the country has not been able to produce enough rice for her teeming population and as such has to be bridged by rice imports. Therefore, factors influencing awareness and adoption of improved rice varieties were examined. Data collected from the rice baseline field survey designed by AfricaRice from Nasarawa and Benue states in 2013 was used. Multistage sampling technique was used to obtain a sample of 149 rice farmers. Probit regression and heckman two-stage sample selection model was then used to analyze the data. Results revealed that 95.3% of the sampled households were aware of improved rice varieties while 87.25% had grown at least one of the improved rice varieties at the time of visit. In the awareness model, access to media was positive and statistically significant at 5%. Access to credit, access to media, farm size, gender, household size and agricultural income significantly influence the probability and intensity of adoption in the study area. Credit facilities should be provided at no collaterals with very low interest rates for adoption of improved rice varieties in the study area.