Information Availability and Agricultural Productivity of Rural Farmers in Niger State

Abstract

This paper investigated the effect of lack of necessary information on agricultural productivity in Niger State. In carrying out this study six research questions were posed. The entire population which consisted of all the 300 chief farmers in Niger State were used because of the small size of the population. The instrument used for data collection in this study was questionnaire. Research questions were answered using frequency and percentages. The major findings of the study showed that rural farmers in Niger State obtained information about farming activities from within themselves. That the rural farmers also depend on radio houses for needed information about their farm work. That unavailability of agricultural extension workers, high level of illiteracy among the rural farmers, lack of libraries and information centre constitute the major problems militating against effective access and utilization of information resources. Based on the above findings, it was recommended that Niger State ministry of agriculture should introduce adult education programme for the rural farmers, employ agricultural extension workers and provide library and information centre as strategies to overcome the problem.