nfluence Of Farmers’ To Extension Services On Their Decision To Adoption Of Horticulture Farming In Nandi County, Kenya

Abstract

The study sought to establish the influence of respondents’ socio-demographic characteristics on adoption of Horticulture farming among small scale farmers in Nandi County, Kenya. A cross-sectional survey research design was employed and a sample of 400 respondents was systematically selected. A well structured Questionnaire, Focus Group Discussion and Key Informant Interviews were the main data collection tools used. Pearsons correlation test was used to establish relationships among variables under study. The study assessed the influence of gender, age, level of education, land size and income control. Findings showed that these factors influenced adoption of horticulture farming among the respondents in differing extents. Although horticulture farming has not been extensively embraced as the main commercial crop, respondents expressed high acceptability, rated it as highly compatible with their farming objectives and expressed a high inclination towards their further adoption. Various horticultural crops were planted by respondents namely kale, cabbages, bananas, traditional vegetables (managu, saka, mitoo and kunde), tomatoes, passion fruits and pineapples. However, among the various crops planted by the respondents horticultural crops came in fourth in terms of the proportion of land allocated to them. The study recommends that there is need to sensitize farmers on the benefits of engaging in the production such high value crops. The government also needs to come up with programmes that would provide information and train farmers on the trends that are taking shape on farming within the region and globally. Furthermore, agricultural promotions need to be targeted well among potential adopters considering that study has revealed the nature of farmers that are well placed to adopt innovations