The Roles of Mass Media in Disseminating Agricultural Information to Farmers in Birnin Kebbi Local Government Area 0f Kebbi State: A Case Study of State Fadama II Development Project

Abstract

The study examined the roles of mass media in disseminating agricultural information to farmers in Birnin Kebbi Local Government Area. Eighty (80) structured questionnaires were randomly administered to selected respondents from five districts participating in the State Fadama II Development activities in the study area. Data collected were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics. The studies revealed that majority of the respondents are full time farmers and are having personal lands with more than twenty one (21) years of farming experience. The study further shows that access to mass media on agricultural information is through radio and television, and most of them indicated that the media sources are conventional, accessible and preferred to listen to the agricultural progammes in the night time (8pm -11.59pm).The respondents identified purchasing and maintenance of media source (television and radio) as their major problems. The hypotheses tested showed a significant relationship between farmer’s sources of agricultural information and relevance of information received in solving agricultural problems (r = 0.544, p = 0.290). Finally, it is recommended that more efforts should be intensified in providing more agricultural information to farmers through radio and televisions most especially during night time and local community viewing centres should be established by the government.

Keywords: Mass Media, Dissemination. Agricultural information, fadama farmers, Kebbi State.