Assessment of information infrastructure on adoption of agronomic practices among small scale farmers in Ido Local Government, Oyo State

Abstract

The objective of this study was to assess information infrastructure on adoption of agronomic practices among small scale farmers in Ido Local  Government Area. Multi-stage Sampling Procedure was used in selecting the respondents for the study. One hundred and twenty questionnaires were administered in twelve (12) villages. Data collected were statistically analyzed using inferential statistics such as Chi-square and PPMC. The study revealed that majority (81.7%) of the respondents strongly agreed that they sourced their information from Contact farmers. The study also showed that myriads of constraints are always encountered by the small-scale farmers of which the major constraint is illiteracy with a percentage  of 81.7%. The study revealed that increased production is a very beneficial factor in respect to benefit of agricultural information infrastructure with (63.5%). The study revealed that majority of respondents’ (35.6%) chose Etisalat as the most preferred network. The result shows that gender (x²  =0.9777, P =0.986), education(x² =28.518, P =0.239) and members of farming association (x² =9.969, P =0.126) has no significant relationship on adoption of information infrastructure of respondents, while, age (x² =248.40. P =0.001), Marital status(x² =182.115, P =0.003) has significant  relationship on the adoption of information infrastructure. PPMC result shows that there is significant relationship between the sources of  information and preferred network infrastructure (r = 0.209, P =0.033) in the study area. Therefore it is recommended that problem in adoption practices will be solved if barriers to information infrastructure happen to be eliminated. This calls for a well-coordinated policy intervention  compatible with the dynamics of rural institutions and other location bottlenecks.

Keywords: Assessment, Information infrastructure, Adoption, Small scale, Farmers