Utilisation of Information and Communication Technologies in Agricultural Production among Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria

Type Conference Paper - 22nd Annual National Congress of the Nigerian Rural Sociological Association
Title Utilisation of Information and Communication Technologies in Agricultural Production among Farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2013
URL http://journal.nrsa.org.ng/index.php/njrs/article/view/145/73
Abstract
The study assessed the extent of use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in
agricultural production among farmers in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Multi-stage sampling
procedure was used to select 326 respondents for the study. Data were collected using structured
interview schedule and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Findings show
that 62.0% of the respondents were above 45 years of age and females (54.3%) were slightly more
than the males (45.7%). Also, 68.7% of the respondents were married and 28.2% had no formal
education. Majority of the farmers (82.5%) had an estimated monthly income of not more than
N30,000.00. Accessibility to ICTs by farmers in the state was low, with 95.1% having no access to
computer. Frequency of use of the ICTs in agricultural production was also low, with only radio
(1.8%), Television (0.6%) and GSM (5.3%) being utilised in agricultural production. Major
constraints to use of the ICTs for agricultural production were ignorance of usefulness of improved
technologies for agricultural production (97.6%), poor access to the ICTs (97.6%) and unavailability
of the various technologies (97.7%) in the study area. Hypotheses tested showed non-significant
relationships between socio-economic characteristics of the respondents and their use of ICTs in
agricultural production. It is recommended that ICTs should be subsidized by the state and federal
governments to make them more available and accessible to the farmers. Also, the farmers should
learn about the usefulness of the various technologies in agricultural production.

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