ISSN 2360-798X
Abstract
Accepted 14th October, 2019.
The study was conducted to ascertain Agricultural Extension Agent (AEA) usage of various Extension Delivery methods and their challenges in Benue State- Nigeria. 50 were drawn as respondents for the study through simple sampling techniques across 3 Local Government Areas of the State namely; Konshisha, Tarkaa and Otukpo. Structured Questionnaire was employed for the collection of data from the respondents. Data collected analyzed using simple descriptive statistics of frequency, percentages and mean. Result obtained revealed that most of the respondents were male (78.0%), married (78.0%), aged 41-50 years (36.0%), have post secondary education (88.0%), have 11-20 years work experience (48.0%) and have annual earnings of up to N1 million (44.0%). Result also revealed that most of the respondents made use of interpersonal channels such as farm visit (82.0%), group discussion (68.0%), demonstration (82.0%) and training & visit (70.0%) to deliver extension messages. The study identified low number of AEA (2.78), poor logistic for AEA work (2.30), weak Research Extension Linkage (2.12) and poor wages (2.06) as some of the constraint faced by AEA in the study area.
Keywords: Agriculture, Extension, Agent, Usage and Constrainst.