Abstract:
The adoption of maize hybrids is essential to contribute to maize productivity and ensure selfsufficiency
and food security. However, the adoption of improved varieties hybrids technology
including in Ghana is very low. Farmers’ socio-economic characteristics in relation to the
adoption of maize hybrids, farmers constraints and readiness to adopt maize hybrids were
assessed using a cross-sectional survey of 173 farmers in four regions in the forest-savannah
agro-ecological zones in Ghana. The percentage of farmers that used hybrid seed in 2019 and
2020 were 32.4% and 22.5%, respectively. Of the four hybrids varieties grown, none was locally
produced and over 83% of the farmers indicated readiness to adopt maize hybrid seed. The
empirical model reveals that farmers readiness to adopt maize hybrids is positively influenced
by gender, age, high yield and constraints variables such as high cost of production and pests
and diseases.
