ADOPTION OF GINGER (Zingiber officiale) PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGIES IN SOUTHERN ZONE OF KADUNA STATE, NIGERIA

The study assessed the adoption of ginger production technologies in Southern Agricultural Zone of Kaduna State, Nigeria. Multistage-sampling technique was used in selecting 172 respondents. Data were collected using structured questionnaire and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results revealed that majority (54.1%) of the respondents were male with a mean age, household size and farming experience of 43 years, 7 persons and 17 years, respectively. Similarly, the respondents had an average farm size and annual income of 1.9 hectares and ₦707,907, respectively. The results also revealed that majority (77.3%) of the respondents sourced information on ginger production technologies from fellow farmers. Farm operation technology and recommended land preparation practices were the most adopted ginger production technology. The result further revealed that educational background (P<0.01) and annual income (P<0.05) significantly influenced the adoption of ginger production technologies. The major constraints to the adoption of ginger production technologies were inadequate capital (=3.31) and inadequate processing facilities (=3.09). The study concluded that educational level, annual income and years of experience were the factors influencing the adoption of ginger production technologies in the study area. The study recommended that there is a need for Government to increase farmers’ capital and credit facilities and make these services accessible to the farmers to improve technology adoption, farmers should form cooperative to enable them get access to credit and enjoy economics of scale.