Adoption of improved farming practices by fluted pumpkin farmers in selected ADP zones, Adamawa state, Nigeria

The study analyzed the adoption of improved recommended practices of fluted pumpkin by farmers in selected ADP Zones, Adamawa State, Nigeria. Six blocks (Three from Zones III and IV) were purposively selected based on their high involvement in fluted pumpkin farming with; 192 commercial fluted pumpkins farmers selected through snowball technique. Data for the study were collected using questionnaire which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results showed that most (85.4%) of the respondents were male with mean age of 37 years, educated (78.1%) and cultivated average of 1.6 hectares. The majority (80.2%) of the respondents sourced their information through friends and neighbours. Staking (99%), seed selection (95.8%), irrigation (100%) and harvesting (100%) were the recommended practices mainly adopted by the farmers. The study also revealed that poor provision of extension services (99%), high cost of inputs (85.4%) and poor road network (68.8%) were the major constraints faced by the respondents. Multiple regression analysis gave R2 of 0.57 indicating that 57% of the relationships were as a result of dependent variables in the model. It also revealed that, the coefficients of educational status (2.295), household size (1.901), Experience (2.407) and income (2.502) were positive and significant at 5% level. It was concluded that fluted pumpkin farming were mostly undertaken by male farmers that are in their active age and attended formal education. They cultivated an average farm size of 1.6 hectares with average household size of 7 people and were constrained by inadequate fund but had formal education which enables them to adopt and utilised recommended improved technologies. The study recommended that farmers growing fluted pumpkin should be sensitized on how to form agricultural cooperatives association for collective bargaining in acquiring loans.