SOURCES OF AGRICULTURAL INFORMATION

Abstract

The motive of this study is
to discuss exclusively the sources of agricultural information. The objective of this study thus, was to spell out and deliberate on the sources of information to farmers around the world. Disparities were made among the sources to ascertain which source (s) is or are dominant among the sources of information to farmers. Through phone calls and personal contact, the study was able to verify some of the most reliable sources of information to farmers. The results showed that the information sources and service mostly used by the farmers included relations, fellow farmers, town criers, television, mobile phones, film shows, radio, market place, extension workers, cooperative societies etc.  Such things farmers need information are they use it for crops and animal production, pests/diseases and weed control, fishing, disaster control and mitigation, fertilizers procurement and application, post-harvest technology sourcing for labour, agricultural credits etc. Information therefore, was confirmed a livewire to farmers.

 

Introduction

Information has been a sacrosanct resource to all human endeavours since time immemorial. It has been described as a simulating creativity, resulting in new outcomes and processes. All human existence depends very much on information for existence that is information is life. Information is power, information is light.

Ayanyemi (2006) referred to information as an essential resource for individual growth and survival. An informed mind is an enriched mind and if one is not informed he will be deformed. Information is a common term. The basis of every meaningful outcome is thus ‘information’. People need information to stay abreast of events around their umbworld. Uhegbu (2007) opined that hardly can one mention the word ‘information’ without referring to somebody. The educated understand information from their various backgrounds.

Sources can be seen as conduits by which information, ideas or knowledge of a particular event reach people or persons. (Ochai, 2022). The information source is a medium in which knowledge and/or information is stored. In order words, it is understood as something that contains and /or stores information (Bitso, 2012). Sources of information are tools that can possibly meet the information needs of different categories of users. They are the information carriers. Study of sources of information has shown that there are different sources of information to farmers but what matters are ‘’what’’ sources are available and relevant to the different categories of users and what sources of information are useful for their different seeking behaviour, and mainly for utilization in order to accomplish task/needs.

Information sources are various means by which information is recorded for use by an individual and organization. Sources of information are: radio, television, extension workers, cooperative societies, friends and colleagues, newspapers and magazines, books/leaflets, phones, libraries and institutes. Also observation of people, organizations, speeches, documents, picture and art work can also be described as information sources.

Agricultural information is meant to get rural farmers via extension workers, community libraries, radio, television, film shows, agricultural pamphlets, state government agricultural agencies. However, rural farmers in their efforts to access these agricultural knowledge and information from available sources for better farming system and improved agricultural yield are confronted with certain constraints.

Agricultural information is of various types. These could include information on crop production and protection, livestock production, agro-forestry, pest and diseases control, fertilizer availability and application, agricultural credit facilities, market prices, improved seeds varieties, rainfall gauge and so on.