Legume Genomics and Genetics 2015, Vol.6, No.6, 1-9
2
cropping sequence, and providing useful crop residues
for animal feed.
Currently, Nigeria is Africa’s largest producer of
soybean, producing about 437,000 metric tons and
Benue State, producing about 175,000 metric tons, is
Nigeria’s largest soybean producer (FMAWR, 2008).
Following the development and introduction of
improved varieties, many food recipes using soybean
were found to be highly acceptable to Nigerians,
including their incorporation into traditional local
dishes (Osho and Dashiell, 1998). The rapid growth in
the poultry sector and oil mill processors has
increased demand for soybean in Nigeria. Soybean
production is now increasing as more farmers are
becoming aware of the potential of the crop as
cash/food crop especially in the guinea savannah zone
of Nigeria. It has also increased the income of small
scale farmers as it is a cash crop for domestic and
export markets. The market for soybean in Nigeria is
growing very fast with opportunities for improving the
income of farmers. In order to meet this demand,
production acreages are increasing in key global areas.
Doss et al., (2003) opined that adoption of improved
technologies is an important means to increase the
productivity of small holder agriculture in Africa,
thereby fostering economic growth and improved
wellbeing for millions of the poor households. Low
adoption of improved agricultural production
technologies that can increase farmers’ productivity is
generally known to lead to reduced agricultural
output.
Earlier studies (Obwoma, 2000; Ajibefun, 2006;
Seyoum et al., 2006) opined that the low rate of adoption
of improved agricultural technologies could be due to
low expected benefits from the practice or could be
due to other factors such as farmers’ characteristics or
technology factors which may not encourage the
adoption of technologies by farmers. Use of local crop
varieties is also recognized as major impediments to
the growth of African agriculture (Yates and Kiss,
1992; Valnauwe and Giller, 2006). This is evidenced
by low and declining yield per hectare of major crops
in Nigeria as revealed by NBS (2006). It is in
recognition of this situation that, Ouma et al. (2006)
suggested that the use of improved technologies will
continue to be a critical input for improved farm
productivity.
However, most of the new agricultural technologies
have not fully achieved the desired goals (e.g., high
rate of adoption (Faltermeier and Abdulai, 2009). This
observation has, therefore, spawned numerous studies
about agricultural technology adoption related issues
in developing countries in recent years (Besley and
Case, 1993; Doss and Morris, 2001; Mendola, 2007,
Becerril and Abdulai, 2009). According to Sunding
and Zilberman (2000), technological change has been
a major factor shaping agriculture in the recent times
to achieve significant increases in agricultural
productivity. Technology adoption has also been
identified as having direct effect on the farmer’s income,
usually resulting from higher yields, higher prices, or
both. Yield improving technologies usually involve
bundling of improved seeds with appropriate fertilizer,
pesticide and fungicide applications.
Over the years, the rural farmers depend on
indigenous or local (Malayan) variety for production.
Usage of this primitive variety by the rural farmers in
the study area has not helped to improve agricultural
yield. This variety is low yielding, biotic and abiotic
stresses, susceptible to bacterial diseases and late
maturing (Smith et al., 1995). It also exposes soybean
to pod shattering during seasonal harmattan period.
The utilization of soybean in local diets and local
industries has increased the demand for the crop over
the years in the state (Mary, 2010). However,
small-scale farmers, who are the major producers of
the crop, have not been able to significantly increase
their production and productivity to meet these
demands. This has been attributed to the low adoption
of improved soybean variety by farmers.
Nigeria as a developing nation had long sought for the
application of improved agricultural technologies
through the launching of numerous projects and
programmes. Notable ones are the Green Revolution
(GR), Agricultural Development Programme (ADPs),
and National Accelerated Food Production Projects
(NAFPP), but with limited success. Despite all these
efforts made by the Government to boost agricultural
production with a view to improving the living
standard of the rural farm families, these programmes
have not translated into increased productivity and
welfare of farmers.
Several studies have estimated the effect of adoption
of soybean on incomeusing the logit and tobit
