19 pages., Information is an important factor in agricultural development. The study investigated farmers’ agricultural information needs and seeking behavior in the Southern Regional State of Ethiopia. A cross-sectional research design was employed and the study population included all household heads of the eight sampled villages in four administrative zones. A multi-stage sampling procedure was employed to obtain a sample of 320 farmers. Quantitative data were collected and research adopted descriptive statistics. The results revealed information on crop production technologies; information about diseases, pests and weather forecasts, and market information were identified as the top three most important types of agricultural information. Similarly, crop production technologies; animal husbandry technologies, and information about agricultural inputs were the information farmers seek frequently. Farmers use development agents as the first source of agricultural information. All of the respondents communicate with development agents face-to-face.
12 pages., The primary purpose of the present study is to explore the level of information literacy among the farmers with regards to agriculture at the Jind district of Haryana state in India. Survey method with accidental sampling is used, and data were collected from a total number of 52 farmers who lived in the two selected villages by using a self-structured questionnaire. The demographic profile shows male dominancy on agriculture, and the majority of the farmers found literate. Their primary source of income is agriculture (86.54%), and 84.62% of them own the land of fewer than four acres. Rice, wheat, sorghum, cotton, and pearl millet are main crops that the farmers grow in their fields. Agriculture, education, and health are the main areas on which all the farmers need information, and TV & newspapers are found as the primary sources of acquiring the required information. The low price of crop production (M=4.87), lack of electricity in rural areas (M=4.85), and low level of literacy (M=4.73) are significant problems the farmers faced in information searching. However, there is a need to make the farmers aware of the public library and their importance and use, and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) and their utility.
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.
53 pages., The study was design to investigate the information needs and resources utilization of rice farmers in Anyiin, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State, Nigeria.. The study adopted descriptive research design. The population of the study comprises rice farmers in Anyiin, Logo Local Government Area of Benue State. The sample size of 70 rice farmers was drawn from the population using simple random sampling technique. A self-design questionnaire was used as instrument of data collection. Frequency counts and percentages were used to analyzed the collected data. The findings of the study indicated that, rice farmers need information. The study also indicated that, the information resources needed by rice farmers in Anyiin are journals and pamphlets. The findings of the study showed that, the sources of information used by rice farmers in the area under study are extension services, research institutes and public library. The study also showed that, the rice farmers need information to get improved varieties, modern farm technology, market location, agricultural loan and credit facilities. The information needs of the rice farmers under study are not being satisfied. The study showed that, the rice farmers are faced with the problem of high cost of information resources, inadequate funds and high level of illiteracy. The study concluded that a great number of rice farmers encountered difficulties in utilizing information resources to meet up their information needs. This is either because, most of the information resources are not adequately provided. The study recommended amongst others that, Government should organize and provide agricultural workshops for farmers. This is because, through this workshops and conferences, farmers will be trained on modern farming technique which in will help improve their farmer produces.
