Competencies Needed by Farmers in Forage Crop Production and Management for Sustainable Development in Benue State

The paper was designed to examine the Competencies needed by farmers in forage Production and Management for sustainable development in Benue State. Three research questions guided the study. Three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. A total of four hundred and forty one (441) respondents consisting of four hundred and seven (407) Farmers and thirty four (34) Agricultural Extension Agents were used for the study. Questionnaire consisting of thirty nine (39) items were used to elicit information from the respondents. The questionnaire was validated by two experts from the Department of Range Management, University of Agriculture Makurdi. The data collected were analyzed using Mean and standard deviation while t-test was used to test null hypotheses. The paper identified constraints such as soil testing, nutrient management, Fertilization, alternative watering, drainage, pest/diseases control, equipment use among others as areas needed by farmers for sustainable forage establishment. Recommendations were made on the basis of the findings.