ANALYSIS OF AGRO-INFORMATICS NEED AMONGST RICE FARMERS AMIDST INSECURITIES IN PLATEAU AND NASARAWA STATES, NIGERIA

The study analyzed agro-informatics needs amongst rice farmers amidst insecurities in Plateau and Nasarawa States, Nigeria. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to select 360 respondents for the study. Data were collected using questionnaires and the data collected were analyzed by employing both descriptive and inferential statistics. The results show that 74% of the respondents were male, while 75% were married. The mean household size of the farmers was 7. It further showed that 62.7% of the respondents had post-secondary education. The average age of the farmers was 41 years; the mean farming experience was 9 years, and the farmers had an average farm size of 3 hectares. The result of the logistic regression analysis revealed that educational qualification (p = 0.01), farm size (p = 0.01), and income (p = 0.01) all had significant influences on access to ICT by rice farmers in the study area. The study further revealed that “other farmers” (70%) were the major source of information among rice farmers in the study area. Also, the most available ICT tool among farmers in the study area was radio, as indicated by 70% of the respondents. However, the most required ICT tools among them were laptops (62.5%), mobile phones (61.9%), and digital cameras (60%). The findings further revealed that herdsmen attacks and kidnapping were the biggest insecurity challenges faced by the farmers. The regression result shows that educational level, farm size, farming experience, and income significantly influenced access to ICT. It was recommended that relevant government agencies should improve on security measures to safeguard the lives and properties of the farmers. This will provide an enabling environment for farmers to freely pursue their endeavours and improve their chances of accessing innovations such as information and communication technology.