The effectiveness of agricultural shows and agro-dealers in enhancing dissemination and adoption of the “push pull” technology among smallholder farmers in Western Kenya

Abstract

Despite “Push Pull” Technology’s (PPT) effectiveness to increase maize yields by controlling Stemborer and striga weeds, its full benefits are yet to be realized. The PPT involves planting Napier grass around maize and intercropping with Desmodium. Agricultural shows and agrodealers are often used to spread PPT but knowledge of their effectiveness was inadequate. This study sought to determine how they enhanced PPT dissemination and used a cross-sectional research design to collect data from a proportional stratified random sample of 800 farmers and 102 agro-dealers in Western Kenya. A closed-ended questionnaire whose reliability of 0.85α was above the 0.70 threshold for acceptable reliability and whose validity were ascertained by a panel of extension experts was used in data collection. Data were analysed using Chi-square at 0.05αconfidence level set a priori. Results indicated that unlike gender, age and education affected agricultural shows’ effectiveness to disseminate PPT; type of packaging influenced farmers’ intention to buy Desmodium seeds; agro-dealers’ effectiveness in communicating PPT was independent of their knowledge of it, Desmodium plant or seriousness of the striga problem but depended on frequency at which farmers sought advice; gender, education and years in business did not affect agro-dealers’ effectiveness; awareness on PPT and Desmodium seeds encouraged farmers to seek more information; and agro-dealers visited most by farmers were more effective in disseminating PPT. The study concluded that use of agricultural shows and agro-dealers in communicating PPT enhanced its adoption and that agricultural shows were appropriate for educating males and females. The study recommends that extension providers should know what farmers require and provide it on request through agricultural shows; should train and involve agro-dealers in PPT dissemination, selling certified seeds and making agricultural shows accessible, affordable and more responsive to farmers’ needs.