Abstract
The study was conducted to identify the information needs by Secondary School Agricultural Science Graduates on organic farming for Self-Reliance in Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, Nigeria. A descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study which was carried out in FCT Abuja, Nigeria. Three research questions were formulated to guide the study. The population of the study was 176 respondents consisting of 140 Agricultural Secondary School Teachers and 36 Extension Agents in FCT Abuja. Due to the manageable size of the population, the entire population was used for the study. Structured questionnaire was employed as instrument for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts one, from University of Abuja and two from University of Nigeria Nsukka. Cronbach Alpha reliability test was used to determine the internal consistency of the instrument which yielded a coefficient of 0.76. Data collected were analyzed using mean and standard deviation to answering the research questions. The study identified 7 information needs in methods and materials adopted in organic farming, 10 information needs in principles guiding organic farming and 8 information needs on skills/competence in organic farming for Agricultural Science Graduates on organic farming. It was recommended among others that; the curriculum planners in secondary schools such as NERDC should integrate the information needs in various organic farming areas into the secondary school curriculum, government should provide adequate funds for training and retraining of extension agents and agricultural science teachers on the information needs of students in organic farming.
Keywords: Agriculture, Organic farming, Information Needs and self-Reliance
Publication Date: 2024-12-08