Analysis of maize farmers' access to agricultural information in Aiyedire local government area, Osun State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study analyses maize farmers' access to agricultural information in Aiyedire Local Government Area of Osun state, Nigeria. The specific objectives of this study were to describe the socioeconomic characteristics of the maize farmers, identify access of maize farmers to agricultural information, determine the level of access to agricultural information and identify the sources of agricultural information to the maize farmers. A structured questionnaire was used to randomly sample 105 respondents used for this study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency distribution and percentage was used to analyse the socioeconomic characteristics, sources of information and access to agricultural information while a three-point Likert-type scale was used to analyse the level of access of the maize farmers to agricultural information The result showed that the majority (87.6%) of the farmers were male, married (84.4%) and 42.9% of them had secondary education. The majority of the farmers (89.5%) had farm size of about five hectares while those with farming experience less than 10 years was 39%. Fiftyeight percent of the farmers had household size of 4-6 persors and 69.5% of them had contacts with extension agents while 49.5% of the farmers were members of agricultural organizations. The results further showed that the farmers had access to information on improved maize varieties, with a mean score of 2.90 while they had limited access to information on mechanized method of harvesting maize, with mean score of 1.07. Therefore, the study recommends that extension agencies should provide up-to-date information on new and improved technological implement like sheller, tractors, among others, for maize farmers.

Socio-economic determinants of adoption of improved millet production practices by farmers in Borno State, Nigeria

“…Marital status: The findings also revealed that majority of adopters (76.0%) and non-adopters (54.2%) were married, while only 3.5% of the adopters were divorcees and 8.5% of non-adopters being widows suggesting that greater proportions of pearl millet farmers in the study area were married. This goes in line with Adebayo et al, (2018) that majority of maize farmers in Aiyedire…”

Effects of Farmers’ Practices on Maize (<i>Zea mays</i>) Contamination by Potential Aflatoxigenic Fungi and Aflatoxin in Benue State, Nigeria

“…Treatment of seeds with fungicides reportedly reduces Aspergillus species contamination of groundnut [34]. Responses on agronomic practices of farmers in this study show that none of the farmers treated their seeds before planting contrary to farmers studied in the Southwestern part of Nigeria [35] where maize farmers of Aiyere regularly accessed treated maize seed for planting. Findings of this study further reveals that sourcing of planted seeds from the open market can significantly influenced aflatoxin concentration of produce.…”

Institutional Factors Influencing Sunflower Productivity in Mkalama District

“…The available storage facilities can potentially impact production capacity as it introduces concerns regarding post-production storage logistics. Previous research by [31] and [32] has demonstrated the significance of storage facilities for agricultural output and trade. Farmers may experience losses and lower incomes if they are unable to store their harvests properly and retain their quality.…”