Determination of the Effectiveness of Contact Farmers in Disseminating Technologies in Abia State

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of contact farmers i disseminating technologies to non -contact farmers in Umuahia Agricultural zone of Abia Slate. Information was obtained from 46 contact farmers and 82 non -contact farmers who were randomly selected.The results show that the 10 selected technologies are incidentally disseminated primarily to friends, relations and members of the age grade of the contact farmers who live between 1 - 3 kilometres from the contact farmers. Less than 30% of the non -contact farmers adopted all thetechnologies in varying degrees. The study shows that the most pressing problems facing contact farmers are none availability/late supply of technological inputs, lack of mobility and none availability /irregular and insufficient grants from government. The study concludes that considerable success has not been made by contact farmers. This paper recommends strategies for improving the duties of contact farmers as well asincreasing non -contact farmers' exposure to technological innovations.