ENTREPRENEURIAL SKILLS NEEDED BY UNDERGRADUATES OF AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION FOR ENTRY INTO POULTRY PRODUCTION IN DELTA STATE

Abstract

This research was carried out to identify the entrepreneurial skills needed by undergraduates of agricultural education for entry into poultry production. Agriculture undergraduates of the Faculties of agriculture and agricultural education of Delta State University for the 2013/2014 session were purposely selected for the study. Three research questions guided the study. A-35 item entrepreneurial skill questionnaire was designed from literature to elicit information from the respondents. Three experts, two in the Department of Vocational Education and one in the Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, Delta State University Abraka validated the instrument, 30 graduating students in the Department of Vocational Education for the 2012/2013 session were used for the trial study. A test re-test method was used to establish the reliability and a coefficient of 0.81 was obtained using the Cronbach Alpha. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions. The results showed that the entire 35 of entrepreneurial skills items were rated as needed by the respondents. It was therefore recommended that all the identified entrepreneurial skills be included in the curriculum of the undergraduate agricultural education programme of Delta State University to enable the students obtain the relevant entrepreneurial skills prior to their graduation.