Role of Mass Media in Disseminating Agricultural Information to Oil Palm and Plantain Farmers in Edo State
CHAPTTER ONE
Objectives of the Study
The major objective of the study is to examine the roles of mass media in disseminating agricultural information to Oil palm and plantain farmers in the area under study, while the specific objectives are to:-
- identify the socio-economic characteristic of the farmers.
- determine the agricultural enterprise of the farmers.
- determine the farmer’s accessibility to mass media and its associate problems.
- determine the farmer’s problems and relevance of the mass media in disseminating agricultural technology
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The review of relevant literature on the information needs and seeking behavior of rural farmers shall be grouped under the following sub – headings:
Conceptual Framework
Concept of Information, Information Needs and seeking Behaviour
In today’s world, the rural people’s information requirement is increasing steadily. The rural dwellers also needs information on multiplicity of issues that border around: Agricultural related information like supply of fertilizer, supply of other farm inputs, modern methods of farming, income generation, good roads, health information etc.
Development communication is the way in which information is communicated in order to contribute towards development. It is the way in which information is accessible and disseminated through media in different format, in order to solve problems and to make decisions which will lead to improved living standards in a development context. (Skosana, 2006). However, agricultural knowledge is changing rapidly and it is obvious that the development of agriculture is highly dependant on this new knowledge and information. Agricultural production requires the use of knowledge based technology which requires understanding some basic information (Nemponya, 1986). According to FAO (2002) Rural communities need a wide variety of information such as availability of agricultural support services, government regulations, crop production and management systems, disease outbreaks, adaptation of technologies by other farmers, wage rates, and so on. The content of the information services needs to reflect the farmers’ livelihoods and other diverse circumstances.
The concept of information is viewed as a basic resource used by all people to improve their condition of living and is essential for development. Aluko (1997) observed that the status and power of a nation by the 21st century will be partly determined by the information at its disposal and the recognition of the importance of such information to the development of societies. Information is important and useful to everyone in the society, because information is a vital resource for development in our fast- growing world. It lifts an individual from a state of ignorance, illiteracy and poverty to a state of enlightenment, prosperity, and literacy. Ononogbo (2005) states that, a competitive economy depends on the free flow of information because good decision-making depends on reliable and timely information.
CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
In this chapter, we described the research procedure for this study. A research methodology is a research process adopted or employed to systematically and scientifically present the results of a study to the research audience viz. a vis, the study beneficiaries.
RESEARCH DESIGN
Research designs are perceived to be an overall strategy adopted by the researcher whereby different components of the study are integrated in a logical manner to effectively address a research problem. In this study, the researcher employed the survey research design. This is due to the nature of the study whereby the opinion and views of people are sampled. According to Singleton & Straits, (2009), Survey research can use quantitative research strategies (e.g., using questionnaires with numerically rated items), qualitative research strategies (e.g., using open-ended questions), or both strategies (i.e., mixed methods). As it is often used to describe and explore human behaviour, surveys are therefore frequently used in social and psychological research.
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
Socio – Economic Characteristics of Respondents. Age of farmers
Table 1 reveals that 33.75% of the respondents are within the age range of 51 – 60 years, 28.75%, 21.25%, 13.75% and 2.5% are within 31 – 40 years, 41 – 50 years, less than 30 years and more than 60 years respectively. The high number of respondents with the ages of 51 years and above can be attributed to the fact that most of the young able bodied persons are in urban areas seeking for white collar and petty jobs.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
From the study conducted, it has been observed that mass media is an efficient modern means of communication which possesses peculiar quality of sound, pictures and practical method of demonstrations; it also serves as an important source of farm information dissemination medium to the farmers. It has also been concluded that mass media is considered as a source of information to the rural populace and has become an important communicating tool to the farmers in the rural areas. Despite the importance of these media, they are still not within the financial reach of the farmers in terms of purchase and continuous maintenance, e.g. power problem, cost of purchase of the medium, cost of battery, maintenance of the medium, cost of using generator and unavailability of national power in the study area.
It has been observed that almost all the farmers usually receive information on agriculture from mass media sources most especially radio and television stations, and most of the farmers agreed that the media sources are highly accessible. It is therefore, concluded that the information disseminated through the mass media is highly relevant and was utilized in solving problems of the farmers.
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