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Adoption of agricultural technology is vital in improving crops output in developing countries. This article explores the extent of adoption of innovative cowpea production practices, developed by International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan and Institute for Agricultural Research, Zaria. The research was conducted in Rimi Local Government Area of Katsina State, northwest of Nigeria. Data were collected through questionnaire surveys administered to 150 small-scale local farmers randomly selected from five communities in the area and descriptive statistics were used for data analyses. The results indicated that while only 20% of the respondents have ever adopted all the (eleven) innovative practices, the most commonly adopted practices were found to be weed control (35.3%), sowing date (33.3%), and storage (32.7%). This study also uncovers the factors that could be associated with low agricultural technology adoption among the respondents: educational levels, contact with Extension workers, access to credit facilities and membership of agricultural cooperatives. The result of the study showed that the adoption level of the improved cowpea production practices recommended by the Nigerian Agricultural Research Institutes was very low among the surveyed local farmers in the study area. The paper concludes by recommending ways of ensuring more adoption of the improved practices among rural farmers as well as how to sustain the adoption, given that low adoption of these practices could significantly lower farmers’ income as well as living standards.

Keywords: Technology adoption, agriculture, cowpea farmers, Katsina.

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Citation: Tijjani AR, Nabinta RT, Muntaka M (2015). Adoption of innovative cowpea production practices in a rural area of Katsina State, Nigeria. J. Agric. Crop Res. 3(4): 53-58.