TRAINING NEEDS OF RURAL FARMERS ON BEST PRACTICES IN THE USE OF AGROCHEMICALS IN AGUATA AGRICULTURAL ZONE OF ANAMBRA STATE

Abstract

This study was designed to find out the training needs of rural farmers on best practices in the use of agrochemicals. Three research questions were posed to guide the study in line with the purposes of the study. The study was carried out in Aguata agricultural zone of Anambra State. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population for the study was 870 made up of 20 extension officers and 850 registered farmers in the zone. Simple random sampling was used to select 430 registered farmers and all the extension officers were used because of the manageable size making a total of 450. The instrument for data collection was structured questionnaire rated on a four (4) point response scale of Strongly Agree (SA), Agree (A), Disagree (D) and Strongly Disagree (SD). The instrument was subjected to face validation by three experts and the internal consistency of the instrument was established using cronbach Alpha method and this yielded a reliability coefficient of 0.77. Data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The study revealed that the rural farmers are not awa re of some of the health risks associated with improper use of agrochemicals like cancer, allergy, reproductive problem, asthma, neurological disorders among others. Also revealed in the study was that a lot of factors militate against farmers’ awareness on health risks associated with improper use of agrochemicals. It was further revealed that farmers require  training  in  the  following  areas:      Before  application  of  agrochemical,  during  application and   after application. Based on the findings some of the recommendations made include that: the state government through the Ministry of Agriculture should occasionally organize seminars for the farmers using indigenous language, the Ministry of Agriculture should be organizing training for the rural farmers from time to time and the extension officers in the rural areas should assist in the training of the rural farmers since they are closer to them.