INFORMATION DISSEMINATION ON AGRICULTURE IN NIGERIA: A CASE OF STUDY ANAMBRA STATE AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (ADP) AWKA.
The highly recognition of the role of information is not only among political leaders and researchers but farmers to require information on the wide range of subjects, all of which were concerned with ways of evaluate the role of information in improving productivity. To achieve this aim, the researcher wishes to state the following, which are important reviewing literature related to this study.
- The imperative of the term information
- The role of information in agriculture
- Information flow to the farmers
Basic skills education
Extension service
Aggregate studies
Studies of individuals
- Impact of information in development of agricultural
- Problems of information in the development of agriculture.
2.1 THE IMPERATIVE OF THE TERM INFORMATION
The term information is very important and needing immediate attention, if agriculture must developed and functions appropriately: What is the term information. In the words of Whittemore and Forits (1994:31) they opined that “Information is data of value in decision making”
One thought to be able to make the same meaning out of the information that is stored for effective use. It is necessary that the information produce physical interaction with the word which in any real situation would give rise to any observation effect. The greater the number of source of information used the greater the like hood of the target system accepting the changes introduced. Information is a primitive concept which include all effect at precise definition, like electricity, the significance and potentials of information are well know to all who need or use it yet it can not be started in conclise terms. It may be said however, that information is a commodity of trade essential to all community system.
Aiyeoiku, Bode W. (1993:20) added that “Information is being increasing important and recognition”.
The interest in information handling stems from a realization that information is a resource for development. Among the world poorest nation’s information is regarded as a critical resource for development. Like all valuable commodities, it is not a perishable assets. Its effectively utilized by appropriate target audiences it is a vital sector of any nation’s planning activity.
Nothing can come out that has not first been put in form of information. Most information system respond to a question by giving particular process of literature within which we may find the answer we are seeking foe.
2.2 THE ROLE OF INFORMATION IN AGRICULTURE
Agriculture remains the primary source of employment for the majority of the world’s population. About 61 percent of the population of the developing world relied in agriculture and 18 percent of its gross domestic product is derived from the land.
According to World Bank statistic (1971) despite increasing in urbanization and growth of industrial and service sectors, more people each year are working the agricultural sector (and of cause more people are dependent on agricultural products) than in the previous years”. The growth in the productive capacity of the agricultural sector is crucial to the survival and development of most under developed countries.
In most area of the development world, the quantity of land available to agriculture is fixed.
According to Schutts (1984:25) A surplus of labour is often available, but an expended labour force, given a fixed land supply, is unlikely to yield a substantial increase in product related to its cost. Thus neither land nor labour increase are likely to boast agricultural product. Most observers than turn to technological improvement as the most promising parts of agricultural growth.
In the world of Hayami and Rutlan (1971:12) stated that:
A continuous stream of new technical knowledge and a flow of industrial inputs in which the knowledge is embodies represent a necessary condition for modern agricultural development.
This stream of inputs must be complemented by investment in general education and in production education for farmers and by efforts to transform institutions to be consistent with the new growth potentials. The critical element in market and non-market information linkage among farmers, public research institutions, private agricultural supply firms and the market for products.
There is no doubt that information flow is crucial in agricultural growth, the logic is overwhelming. But much information is passed along informally, from parent to child or from neighbour to neighbor, or at very low marginal cost as with the printed instructions on fertilizer bag. In these cases and many others, individual farmers are willing to bear the cost of obtaining such information directly. They will invest time and money because the reliance is high.
The reliance on information flow is best considered as we examine the specific roles for information. Information flow can be divided into three broad categories. Flow to the farmer which includes: education, extension services, market information and information to enable group organizing etc: flow to the agricultural technicians pre-and in services training and supervisions: flows form the field to the supply institution/research.
2.3 INFORMATION FLOW TO THE FARMER
According to Wekh (1970s), farmer productivity is substantially affected by two types of efficiency technical efficiency and allocative efficiency, each of which may be related to flow of information. Technical efficiency (also called worker effect) is the application of knowledge of techniques of production. The second types, allocated efficiency, treats the farm as a business and refers to the ability to allocate resource (for example the ability to choose a cropping pattern, make a credit arrangements invest optimally in the factors of product) so as to maximize retire over the long term.
Nelson and Phelps (1966) and to list a third concept called innovative effects which is in some sense a precondition to allocative efficiency.
Farmers, the require knowledge about new inputs, new techniques of production, and how to economize in production and marketing. They also require knowledge about to obtain these types of knowledge.
The efficiency is that investment in the provision of knowledge by institution is worth while. As Schlutz rightly said while a variety of ways of providing such knowledge exists they can be divided into two broad categories: Education and Extension. Most carefully research has focused on the impact of formal education , which it is assumed has its greatness impact on allocative and innovation efficiency less research has focused on the impact on extension which is likely to affect the farmers.
BASIC SKILLS EDUCATION
The theoretical literature argues that basic skills education whether obtained in or out of school makes many types of contribution to agricultural productivity.
Better-educated farmers are better to deal with and having access to external information sources. They can get market information through correspondence or newspapers and real extension agency leaflets.
According to Chaudhri (1979) claims that education lowers the marginal cost of obtaining information as stated by Huffman (1973) the author suggested that indeed, education and extension are substitute for one another. Anderson (1973) state that educated farmer will be able to get most of the information they need from the mass. Wekh (1970:24) showed that increase extension education reduced the productivity advantage to collage education among farmers.
One can also look at this enhanced information field nation from a slightly funded perspective. It may be that education fosters personal relationship between farmers and similarly educated extension agents.
Nesman et al (1980) said that education has its tendency farmers favourable attitude toward change, openness to new ideas and techniques.
According to Chaudhri (1979) better educated farmer has the ability to perform the detailed activities associated with operating a farm business such as keeping a record of financial transaction and doing the necessary budgeting”. A great ideal remains to be leant about the condition under which education has a substantial return and about the mechanisms through which such efforts occur. However, the preponderance of the efficiency suggests that education can here a nontrivial impact on farmer’s productivity. When the investment in education worth while from the narrow perspective of enhance agricultural productivity depends of course on the particular relation between education and output in a given environment as well as on the local cost of education .The economic value of the increased productivity. As for adult education, it is also of some moment whether basic skills (or primary and junior secondary equivalent) education. There is no evidence on the issue. Thus we can hypothesize that it is the skills and not the school base certificate that counts and that any education system that transmits such skills, whether in school or out of school will have similar consequence.
EXTENSION SERVICE
The flow of directly applicable agricultural information from the central institutions to the farmer in the secondary type of information flow an extension system that provide such information may enhance any of the categories farmer efficiency previously described, technical efficiency (how to manage form resource optionally or innovative efficiency) or innovations efficiency (how to obtain and use information). Some researcher suggested that extension activities also affect motivation to innovates an agent encourage farmer to take advantage of exiting and new opportunities for improved practice.
In the economist language, an extension system lower the cost of the individuals farmer of obtaining information, in part of shifting the cost from the individual to society and part through economist of scale. If the price of information is lower, more buyer will be in the market and thus more information will be diffused.
There is little double, that there is an association between contact with an extension programme and innovation between contact adoption and association between contact with the mass media and innovation adoption.
STUDIES OF INDIVIDUALS
There is sample evidence that extension agent contact and media exposure are associated with improved farming practices and outcomes in at less some circumstance.
Thus extension contact seems not only to predict adoption of innovation but also with some frequency, improvement in productivity.
Agricultural programming (including didactic programmes) make up only smell part of what is available. At least some theories of media exposure might encourage improved agricultural practices.
Rogers (1969) argued that the mass media are a school for modern values.
AGGREGATE STUDIES
It was found that there is a greater return on research investment to be very high. The direct effect of extension investment minimized, and the interaction of extension and research investment to be positive. These findings translate into a moderate rare of retire to extension but only if a state invest also in research.
- IMPACT OF INFORMATION IN DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Information is an inevitable commodity without which man cannot make out the happenings around him.
Anthony, Debons (1994) observe that “information explore man physically and spiritually. It is the vehicle and substance by which he deals with reality while attempting to understand reality”. Information is resources available for the acquisition of power. It is critical to decision making and it is one of the significant remaining to challenge man.
Information depends on transfer for the maximum exercise of its power. It must be given to Ohen Klans (1998) suggested
Information seem to be in a location (stored in), It can be transported communicated or although if processed by”
Certain raw information is thought of as beings converted into meaningful information by virtue of processing particularly through processing by human brain. Information should not be influenced by the political structure of a nation, rather it should be use to meet the need of each citizen. Distribution of dependable information to farmer also attained a sparing position, as most perceived role of extension age considering repeated expert recommendation that extension agent should work out.
Atala (1991) recommended that: To provide existing information to the farmer about materials available would simply generate improve the productivity information transmitted through personal contact tends to be more effective than those transmitted through impersonal media. Dependence upon the source if information out side the immediate locality is more likely to result in the acceptance of social and technological challenges than dependence upon neighbors. International development research center report (IDRC) 1996:206):
“Information is a renewable resource. It not depicted once applied but remains available for further use else where.
Information obtained at the right time by the right people can help to ensure the effective use of other resource. It is master resource of out time. The chief raw material and principal product of modern economics. The message is therefore very clear to those who want to see that any rich or poor national wishly to improve their social and economic performance, must therefore developed and manage effective information system.
- PROBLEMS OF INFORMATION IN DEVELOPMENT OF AGRICULTURE
It is impossible for an agriculturist to keep himself informed of modern farming techniques without a basic knowledge of science and technology.
Akinsani (1995:15) pointed that:
Education is a weapon of liberation for ignorance, poverty and disease. If a man is supplied with adequate agricultural information. You have given him potential to improve himself and in the long run an improvement of tropical agriculture must involve education for the farmers.
The poorly educated tend to be conservation that is unwilling to accept new ideas which do not seem to give immediate gains, they tend to mistrust the use of the fertilizer insecticide, fungicides and new tools simply because they are unfamiliar to the farmer. Ama. L.O (1997) on industrial information discover that:
The key factor responsible for the lack of a successful technology transfer can be linked with lack of an industrial information support base. To maintain the activities of all the bodies concerned with industrial development a great deal of document containing pertinent information have to be collected, processed and organized with the ultimate aim of disseminating information of national agricultural goal and problems but the major information is at local level, because it operates as a part of extension services information will be need in small scale industries who engaged in production of finished or semi-finished product. In order to maintain an effective support system for document of relevant source of information on industrial information needs of user.
Ozonwa V.N. (1995) suggested that major constraint to agricultural information dissemination is the inadequacy of existing extension programmes. Some of these programmes are conceived without well planed and are prepared in a hurry without the farmers whose attitudes are to be changed making any input. Such agricultural information package can either sustain the farmers interest or effect the desired attitudinal change. Farmers interests are disregarded even more as most of the agricultural innovation are written and broadcast in English instead of local language.
The problem here was, when the local language is used, emphasis is often on the three major Nigeria language, Hausa, Ibo and Yoruba. These programmes are broadcasted when the farmer after the days toils. Majority of these farmer do not own their own radio set.
Ozowa (1995) pointed that:
One of the obvious constraints in the information media in Nigeria is poorly reception quality and the area covered. The message carried are not tailored needs of rural population. Even when the information is relevant, it is seldom at the proper time and newsletter as message carries are of limited use in reaching illiterate farmers.
Technical language used in communication information is incomprehensible to the farmers and therefore does not get to the targeted audience.
This problem is what led to ignorance of the local farmers in the local villages because ignorant farmer cannot improve in area where he or they not well informed about the new method of improved farm techniques.
Okudo A.I (1995:7) state that:
“Modern science of agriculture has shows that crops development is related to micro-climatic condition of the area where the crop is cultivate.
Online Resources: Agricultural and farm information system for Kerala
