ABSTRACT This study assessed the factors influencing adoption of recommended rice production practices by women farmers in western zone of Nasarawa State. A total of 203 women rice farmers were selected for the study using multi-stage sampling technique. Data were collected using structured interview schedule. Descriptive statistics (mean and percentages) and inferential statistics (Multiple regression and t-test) were used for data analysis. The results obtained revealed that majority (70.9%) of the respondents were less than 45 years old married (82.5%), had below secondary education (80%), had household-size of between 6 and 9 (40.2%), had farming experience of 10 years and above (80%), and inherited their farmlands (81.4%). Majority (75.5%) of the women rice farmers cultivate 1 hectare of land and below. Only 23% of the women rice farmers had between ₦150, 001 - 200,000 annual farm income. Personal savings was the major source of credit (M=2.56). Majority (78.4%) of the women rice farmers received not more than ₦60,000 credit in the last one year. ADP was the most important sources of information for the women rice farmers (M=2.12). Women rice farmers‟ perception of technological attributes of RRPPs was high (2.13). Women rice farmers were aware of all the RRPPs except recommended seed rate and plant spacing. Harvesting (2.44), fertilizer application (2.29), and weeding (2.20) were the most adopted RRPPs. The output of majority (90.2%) of the women rice farmers remained the same in the last three years (4.21). In the same vein, income of majority (85.3%) had remain the same in the last three years. Results of multiple regression analysis of factors influencing adoption of RRPPs revealed that farm size (2.6353, P<0.01), amount of credit assessed (0.1618, P<0.01), membership of association (-0.3248, P<0.01), relative advantage (0.2337, P<0.01), compartibility (0.3519, P<0.01) and complexity (-0.1251, P<0.05) significantly influenced adoption of RRPPs by women rice farmers in the study area. Unavailability of credit facilities, poor marketing system and unstable price; as well as inadequate extension contacts were indicated by 92.1%; 64%; and 61.6% of the women rice farmers respectively as constraints to adoption of RRPPs. This study concludes that adoption of RRPPs was significantly influenced by farm size, credit received, relative advantage, and compartibility. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended that government should ensure that credit facilities are made available on regular basis to women farmers. Also, buy-back arrangement should be introduced in order to ensure good pricing for rice producers.
