Knowledge and training needs of farmers adopting sawah rice production technology in Nigeria

Data were collected from 124 sawah farmers purposefully selected using a well-structured interview guide to identify the knowledge and training needs in Nigeria. The study was carried out in Ogun, Ondo, Niger, Ebonyi, Kaduna and Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory. The results showed that respondents were predominantly male, married and had Quranic education, with mean age of 42.30 years. The mean household size was 14 persons, farm size ranged from 0.03 to 10 ha (mean = 0.5 ha), the mean yield was 4.65 t/ha and mean income $1,041.38 ($1= 145.00). The farmers on average were knowledgeable of sawah technology. Water management, power tiller operation and management, sawah layout and design, surface levelling, and smoothening, nursery management, harvesting, processing and nutrient management were the areas they need training and are willing to attend on-the-job training. Regression analysis showed that age (beta = -0.540), years of experience in sawah (beta = -0.534), training attended (beta = -0.182) and knowledge of sawah (beta = -0.044) were negatively related to training needs, while household size (beta = 0.708) and farm size (beta = 0.621) were positively related to training needs. The areas of priority for training are water management, power tiller operation and management and sawah plot layout. Farmers are willing to attend on-the-job training if given the opportunity.