Abstract

Smart agricultural technologies (SATs) are the emerging technologies used to improve the efficiency, productivity, and sustainability of agriculture. This study investigated the use of smart agricultural technologies among researchers in agricultural research institutes in Oyo state, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was used to select a total of 165 researchers, and information on the knowledge, perception, and level of use of SATs was garnered for the study. The results were analysed using percentages, mean, Chi-square, and Pearson Product Moment Correlation. Results reveal that 66.1% of the researchers had high knowledge of the use of smart agricultural technologies such as Sensors, Drones, Artificial intelligence, Geographical Information Systems, and 58.8% had a favourable perception towards the use of smart agricultural technologies. However, the level of use of smart agricultural technologies was low for 55.2% of the researchers. The researchers’ level of education (?2 = 8.172, p<0.05) and research institution (?2 = 8.579, p<0.05) had a significant relationship with the use of SATs. However, there was a significant but negative relationship between the respondents’ perception and the use of smart agricultural technologies (r=-0.242, p<0.05). Although the respondents were knowledgeable about the use of SATs and had favourable perceptions towards its use but their level of use of SATs was low, and this could be due to the unavailability of these technologies in the research institutes. To promote the use of SATs by researchers, the government should provide adequate funding for the purchase and implementation of SATs to all government-owned agricultural research institutes.

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