Utilisation of weather forecast information amongst maize farmers in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated the use of weather forecast information (WFI) as an adaptation measure of climate change among maize farmers in Ido Local Government Area of Oyo State, Nigeria. A multistage sampling procedure was employed to select 120 respondents for this study. A questionnaire survey was used to obtain data, summarized and presented by using tables, frequency counts, percentages and means while Chi-square and Pearson correlation were used to analyze the relationships between variables. Results showed that the mean age, household size, farming experience, average annual income and farm size were 44.9 years, 8 people, 23.2 years, N692,583.3 and 5.0 ha respectively. Also, radio (95.8%) and fellow farmers (94.2%) were the key sources by which the respondents accessed weather forecast information.  Half (50 %) of the respondents had a favourable perception towards WFI. Also, 55.8% of the respondents had high usage of WFI.  However, its usage was impeded by poor agricultural extension service (=3.58), inadequate extension training on weather forecast (=3.42), lack of assistance in interpreting WFI (=3.40), inadequate electric power supply (=3.28), inadequate knowledge of WFI (=3.16), language barrier (=3.05) and untimeliness of WFI (=3.04). Statistically, there existed a significant association between the respondents’ land ownership and the utilisation of WFI (ꭓ²=13.218, p<0.01). Pearson correlation result revealed a significant relationship (p˂0.01) between maize farmers’ perception of WFI and its utilisation. (r=0.445, p<0.01). For improved adaptation to climate change in the study area, the study suggested an improved agricultural extension service to which could be achieved through the provision of climate field schools to improve farmers’ comprehension, interpretation, and utilisation of WFI.