Amusat Adeniyi Suraju and Omirin Tope Isaac
Keywords: Oniyo village, agricultural technology, multi-stage sampling, information, feedback
Abstract: The adoption of any disseminated agricultural technology ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the communication channels used. Hence, this study investigated the effectiveness of Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) Communication Channels among farmers in Orire Local Government, Oyo State. Multi-stage sampling method was used for this study. Purposive sampling technique was initially used to select Oniyo village among the Institute’s adopted villages across Southwestern Nigeria. Thereafter, all 75 farmers in the village were purposively sampled. Descriptive and inferential analyses showed that the respondents were aged 47.9±8.5 years, female (58.8%), married (77.1%), with 61.4% having family sizes of 4-6 persons. Apart from radio (100.0%), interpersonal communication (97.5%) and farmers/extension guide (80.0%) being the most accessible communication channels, farmers equally had ease obtaining feedback from them: radio ( x? = 1.50), interpersonal communication ( x? = 1.39) and farmers/extension guide ( x? = 0.80). Radio ( x? = 1.51) and interpersonal communication ( x? = 1.41) were observed to be the most effective communication channels to farmers, however farmers were constrained by lack of electricity supply ( x? = 1.04) and lack of access to internet ( x? = 0.73). Access to communication channels (r = 0.402, p = 0.001) and ease of feedback (r = 0.952, p = 0.000) were significantly related to effectiveness of IAR&T communication channels. Communication channels that are more effective to farmers should be used to disseminate agricultural technologies
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