| Popis: |
The study analyzed effect of adoption on yield of improved ginger production technologies by gender in South-East Nigeria. A Multi-stage and proportionate sampling techniques were used to select 250 ginger farmers (125 males and females each). Data were collected with a questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive (such as means, percentages, 3 point rating scale), and inferential (Z-test) statistics. The result shows that majority (81.60%) of the male and female (89.60%) farmers were married, with mean farm sizes of 1.30ha and 0.69ha respectively. The result also shows that the mean annual farm income was ₦971436.656 (male) and ₦513012.8 (female), whereas the average quantity of ginger produced per annum was 13.853t and 7.598t in that order. Average yield of ginger produced per hectare was 10.958t/ha for male and 10.327t/ha for female, implying that the male farmers had slightly higher yields than their female counterparts. This could be because men adopted the improved ginger production technologies more than their female counterparts. Results further showed that awareness and adoption levels were higher among the male farmers than their female counterparts as 16 out of 22 innovations disseminated to the ginger farmers were highly adopted by the male respondents, whereas only 14 were adopted by the females. Furthermore, the results showed that the male farmers had greater access to (2.568) and greater control (2.464) over production resources than their females (0.992) access to (1.816) and control over same resources. However, both male (2.736) and female (2.608) farmers were fully involved in decision making in ginger production on a 3-point graphic rating scale. The Z-test result of significance difference in ginger yield between male and female farmers showed evidence of significant differences in ginger yields, with a Z-value of 1.8268 which was positive and significant at 10% level. This shows that gender had a significant effect on ginger yield in South-East Nigeria, implying that the male ginger farmers performed better than their female counterparts. The study therefore recommends, among others, that government should reduce the gender gap in access to, and control over production resources in the region. |
