Constraints to Effectiveness of Research –Extension-Farmers –Inputs –Linkage System (REFILS) among Maize Farmers in Nigeria (Published)
REFILS is a strategy put in place to create a flow of information from research to farmers so as to address the problem of incessant low productivity in agriculture. This study investigated the constraints to effectiveness of REFILS among maize farmers in Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling was used to select 198 farmers from the 3 states of Niger in Northcentral, Kaduna in Northwest and Oyo in Southwest, Nigeria. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation. Findings revealed that majority of the respondents (59.6%) were within the age brackets of 41-50 years, married (99.5%), had one form of education or the other (62.6%), practised mixed cropping (84.8%), had 15-19 years of experience (34.3%) with farm size of 1-3 hectares (46.5%). Respondents ranked ADPs/ Extension agents (M=1.86+_o.67), radio (M=1.30+-0.43) and farmers’ association (M=1.13+-0.57) 1st, 2nd and 3rd respectively as their preferred linkage options in REFILS while, high cost of farm inputs (M=1.8+- 0.5), non-involvement in planning of REFILS workshop (M=1.6+-0.7) and inadequate credit sources (M=1.5+-0.7) were regarded as major constraints confronting maize farmers in REFILS. The budgetary allocation to agriculture needs to be reviewed upward and REFILS coordinator in the zones should endeavor to carry farmers along in all REFILS activities.
Keywords: Agricultural Extension, Constraints, REFILS, linkage, maize farmers