EFFECTS OF ADOPTION OF VITAMIN A CASSAVA ON THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC LIFE OF RURAL FARMERS IN IMO STATE NIGERIA.

The study examined the effects of adoption of vitamin A cassava on the socio-economic life of rural farmers in Imo state Nigeria. Specifically, the study described the socio-economic characteristics of the respondents, determined the level of adoption of the vitamin A cassava by the respondents, identified cassava attributes for adoption, identified constraints to the adoption of vitamin A cassava, and finally determined the effects of adoption of vitamin A cassava variety in the study area. A well structured questionnaire was used to purposively collect data from 120 respondents. The findings of the study revealed that 69.2% of the respondents were females, the mean age of the respondents were calculated to be 53.0. 79.2% were married, 42.5% had households size of 2-5 and 25.0% of the respondents had primary school education. The findings of the study also showed that 66.7% were farmers by occupation, 74.2% belonged to one membership organization or another.11.7% had farm size between 1.5-2.0 hectares while 16.7% had farming experience of 16-20 years. From the findings also, 95.8% of the respondents were using the vitamin A cassava all the time. 90.8% adopted it because of its colorful attributes. Results also showed that increase in size of land (89.2%) is one the major effect of the vitamin A cassava as was indicated by the mean score of 3.84.