This study examined the drivers of improved agricultural practices among rural farmers in Southern Taraba, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 320 rural farmers from twelve farming communities across four purposively selected Local Government Areas. Primary data were collected using a structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics, an Improved Agricultural Practices Index (IAPI), and binary logistic regression analysis. The results revealed that 68.4% of the respondents were male, while 31.6% were female. The mean age of the farmers was 43.8 years, with 39.1% falling within the economically active age group of 41–50 years. The respondents had an average household size of 7.4 persons, farming experience of 18.7 years, and a mean farm size of 3.2 hectares. About 74.7% belonged to farmers’ organizations, 82.8% had regular contact with extension agents, and 48.1% had access to agricultural credit. Improved crop varieties (94.4%), appropriate fertilizer application (92.8%), improved planting methods (89.7%), integrated pest management (88.1%), climate-smart agricultural practices (84.7%), soil conservation techniques (82.5%), and improved post-harvest storage technologies (80.3%) were the most widely practiced technologies. The Improved Agricultural Practices Index indicated that 71.9% of the respondents exhibited a high level of utilization of recommended agricultural practices, while 21.6% and 6.5% recorded moderate and low levels, respectively. The logistic regression model was statistically significant (χ² = 142.63) with a Pseudo R² of 0.694, indicating good model fitness. Educational attainment (β = 0.214), farm size (β = 0.186), farming experience (β = 0.147), extension contact (β = 0.382), access to agricultural credit (β = 0.271), membership of farmers’ organizations (β = 0.194), access to market information (β = 0.168), and participation in agricultural training (β = 0.356) positively influenced the use of improved agricultural practices. In contrast, age exerted a significant negative influence (β = –0.128). The study concluded that effective extension service delivery, institutional support, and improved access to productive resources remain the major drivers of improved agricultural practices among rural farmers in Southern Taraba. The study recommends strengthening extension systems, expanding farmers’ access to affordable credit, and promoting continuous capacity-building programmes 

Keywords: Improved agricultural practices, rural farmers, extension services, technology utilization, agricultural development, Southern Taraba, Nigeria.