Nigerian Journal of Rural Sociology (NJRS), 22( 2): 34 - 40 , 2022

Cassava farmers' attitude towards information and communication technology usage in Odogbolu local government area of Ogun state, Nigeria

Olaniyi O. A., Akintunde M. A., Adewale J. G.

Abstract

The study was carried out to determine the attitude of cassava farmers towards ICT usage for accessing agricultural information in Ogun State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was employed in the selection of 120 Cassava farmers for the study. Data were collected from the respondents with the use of an interview schedule. Descriptive statistics (frequency, counts, percentage and means) and Pearson Product Moment Correlation were employed as statistical tools for data analysis. Findings reveal that the majority (76.7%) of the respondents were aged between 41and 60 years, married (75.0%), attained tertiary education (49.2%) and with an average household size of 5 members. Majority ((89.2%)) of the respondents were aware of various availability of radio and television (70.0%). Most (70.8%) farmers accessed agricultural information on land clearing methods, length of cassava cutting stems (73.3%), fertilizer application rate and method (72.5%) and plant spacing for cassava for optimum yield (60.8%). The majority (55.2%) of the respondents had favourable disposition towards ICT tools usage. Age (r = - 0.201, P<0.05), household size (r = 0.352, P<0.05), farming experience (r = 0.4822, P<0.05) and farm size (r = 0.381, P<0.05) influenced the attitude of cassava farmers towards ICT usage for accessing agricultural information. Sequel to the findings of the study, it is recommended that adequate awareness should intensified among cassava farmers and extension organizations should consider the identified information and communication technology tools for agricultural information delivery to sustain favourable attitude toward ICT usage for agricultural information among cassava farmers in the study area.


Keywords: Cassava farmers, ICT tools, Land clearing methods, Agricultural information, ICT usage


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