Utilisation of Disseminated Agricultural Information by Arable Crop Farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria

The study investigated utilization of disseminated agricultural information by arable crop farmers in Oyo State. Structured questionnaire was used to elicit information and two- stage sampling procedure was used to select farmers in the study area. Descriptive statistics were used for the data analysis while chi-square, PPMC and Spearman rho were used to test the hypotheses of the study. 

Results show that the mean age of respondents was 54.77±10.835 years and that majority of the respondents (92.3%) were married. The study also revealed that most of the respondents (99.2%) were educated. The mean household size of respondents was 4.98 people and more of the respondents (64.6%) in the study area used trading as an alternative form of income generating activity.. Sources of respondents' agricultural information dissemination include Physical meetings (trainings/workshops) (χ=2.25), the use of electronic media (T.V, Radio, Internet) and Families and Friends (χ=2.22) and print media (χ=2.16) and, (46.9%) of respondents. Benefits derived from agricultural information dissemination by respondents include increased yield, increased income, improved socioeconomic status and improved product quality. Constraints faced by respondents include inadequate capital to purchase farm inputs (χ=1.48), poor infrastructural facilities (χ=1.40), and inadequate follow-up of agricultural information disseminated (χ=1.37).

Furthermore, results revealed that there is no significant relationship between perception (r=-0.056, p=0.527), benefits (r=-0.039, p=0.657), constraints (r=-0.069, p=0.434), and utilization of agricultural information disseminated.