Assessment of rice farmers' willingness to pay for improved seeds in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

The study evaluated the willingness of rice farmers in Ebonyi State to pay for improved rice seed varieties. It ascertained the improved rice seed varieties available to the farmers, profiled their sources of information, determined their willingness to pay for improved seed varieties and analyzed the factors influencing their willingness to pay. Multistage sampling procedure was used in selecting 120 respondents for the study. Data was collected using structured questionnaires and analyzed with inferential and descriptive statistics. Results show that research institutes (74.19%) and mass media (65.00%) were the major sources of information among respondents. Many varieties of improved rice seeds were available to farmers including FARO 44 (71.66%), R8 (68.33%), FARO 52 (65.83%) and Mass 11(56.67%). Rice farmers are willing to pay for improved rice seed varieties at subsidized rates (𝑥̅= 3.6), and access to agricultural loans (𝑥̅= 3.1) and insurance policies (𝑥̅= 3.5). Yield expectation (β=3.523), income from rice farms (β=5.527), age (β= 8.374), and extension contacts (β=2.361) positively influenced rice farmers' willingness to pay for improved rice seeds. The study recommends that government and agricultural development agencies should provide subsidies, insurance policies and agricultural loans to boost farmers' willingness to pay for improved seed varieties.