SOURCES AND CHANNELS OF AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION USED BY SOYBEAN FARMERS IN NIGER STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was carried out on sources and channels of agricultural information used by soybean farmers in Niger State, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select 1,075 sample size out of 25,600 farmers’ population from the study area. Findings indicated that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) had mean of 4.50 and standard deviation (SD) of 0.670, the Banks with mean of 4.20 and SD of 1.165, were the most consulted institutional sources of agricultural information for the farmers. The print media that had mean of 3.24 with SD of 0.78) did not fare too well as sources for this group of farmers probably due to low literacy level. However, findings showed that government circular with mean of 3.80 and SD 1.078, newspapers or magazines with mean of 3.40 and SD of 1.280 fared better against extension posters with mean of 3.20 and SD of 1.400 and extension manual mean of 2.90 with SD of 1.136 which are more technical in content. The interpersonal sources that had mean of 4.22 with SD of 0.60 appeared to be more popular for sourcing agricultural information among soybean farmers. Customers with mean of 4.50 and SD of 0.808, and Village heads with mean of 4.40 and SD of 0.490 ranked higher against other interpersonal sources. The on-farm demonstration with mean of 4.30 and SD of 0.782, and farmers training with mean of 4.20 and SD of 0.872 were the most preferred channels for agricultural information in the study area. The study, therefore recommended that soybean farmers should be encouraged to source for more information from corporate bodies and through electronic devices, in particular, the use of mobile phone to link with information providers. Soybean farmers should make optimal use of the various channels of agricultural information available in Niger State.