15 pages., The aim of this research was to investigate the agricultural information sources and strategies for disseminating agricultural research findings to farmers in Iringa District, Tanzania. A total of 90 farmers were interviewed by using a self-administered questionnaire. The statistical Package for Service Solutions (SPSS) software and Spreadsheet were used as instruments to analyse the findings. Results of this study indicate that radios, church leaders, village leaders and seminars are the main channels of information used by extension officers to disseminate agricultural information to farmers. With regard to strategies the study revealed that, the use of religious leaders and government officials; use of primary school teachers and pupils; non-political interference; repackaging and packaging of technical information reports; deployment of extension officers in rural areas; use of community-based organisations and the establishment of agricultural information boards were the main effective strategies for disseminating agricultural research information to farmers. It is therefore, concluded that radio, church leaders, seminars, Newspapers, brochures and fliers should be intensively used to disseminate agricultural information among farmers so as to raise productivity in their farms. The study suggest that, there is a need to use other disseminators such as influential people, religious leaders, political leaders, primary school teachers and pupils to disseminate such information in addition to repackaging of agricultural research findings to tailor it to the farmers’ needs.
Evans, cited reference, A were conscious effort to develop appropriate research methodology in developing countries is advocated to provide alternatives to conventional social science methods. It is incumbent upon the people asking questions to use elicitation techniques which are appropriate to the cultural context and tailored to the abilities and requirements of the local community. In this way, interactions between interested parties can be structured so that the initiative and answering questions rests with local people. Field trials at Oluwatedo,, Oyo State, Nigeria, adapted Ayo board to elicit farmers perceptions of weeds and pest. Ayo is the Yoruba version of a popular African game, which has its roots in the aged Egyptian game of men cannot Ayo board format was used and conjunction with repertory grid methodology to focus discussion on farming problems. Numerous scenarios can be devised using the format to generate genuine dialogue between farmers and outside research workers.
