A study to investigate the role of both public and private agencies as extension agencies in alleviating the problem of narrow export commodity base was undertaken in the southeastern zone of Nigeria. The study reveals that Tree Crop Units of the Ministry of Agriculture representing public agencies and Palm Oil Marketing Limited (PAMOL) and Akwa Ibom Rubber Estate Limited (AKRUBEL) representing the private agencies performed agricultural extension functions. However, the intensity of their activities was not consistent. A test of statistics of Spearman Rank Order Correlation (rho) shows that there is a significant relationship in the perception of the extension agencies and the tree crop farmers as regards declining rate of tree crop production in the country.

Keyword: Pesticide; Utilization; Training;