Effect of Economic Diversification on Agricultural Output in Taraba State, Nigeria

The study examined the effect of economic diversification of the present regime on agricultural output in Taraba State. The main objectives of the study was to examine the relationship between diversification and economic growth in Taraba State, identify the ways in which diversification can boost the economy of Taraba State and examine the relationship between economic diversification and agricultural output in Taraba State. Literature related to the study were adequately reviewed. Survey design was adopted for the study. Population of this study constituted the staff of ministry of agriculture (both state and federal), farmers cooperatives and individual farmers across Taraba State. Simple random sampling techniques was adopted for this study involving 109 respondents. This technique is adopted so as to give equal opportunity to the entire population represented in the study. The 4 points Likert-Scale questionnaire was designed to elicit responses from the respondents. Descriptive statistics was employed for data analysis. The findings of the study revealed that diversification has a positive relationship with economic growth in Taraba State. The study also revealed that increase in government expenditure, policy formulation, increase in soft loans to farmers, subsidy and incentives are ways by which agricultural diversification can be encouraged. It was also revealed that agricultural diversification ensures food security and increase in agricultural output.