Auto – Delivery Strategies Required to Mobilize Farmers to Adopt the Use of Organic Fertilizers in South-East Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract

The study was carried out to identify the auto – delivery strategies required to mobilize farmers to adopt the use of organic fertilizers in South-East Nigeria. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study was 1,812. This is made up of 1250 Registered Farmers, 384 Extension Agents, and 178 Lecturers. The sample for the study is 912. In arriving at the sample, all 384 Agricultural Extension Agents and 178 Lecturers of Agriculture was used for the study. For the 1250 Registered Farmers in the population, proportionate random sampling technique was used to select 20% of the Registered Farmers from each state with an expected total of 350. The instrument used for collecting data was questionnaire titled Auto-delivery Strategies Questionnaire (ASQ). The instrument was developed by the researcher and it was validated by five experts. The instrument was tested for reliability using kuder-Richardson (K-20) formula and the reliability index was 0.75. The instrument was administered through the help of five research assistants. The instrument was distributed and collected after three weeks and all were returned representing 100% retrieval rate. The data collected were analyzed using Mean, and Standard Deviation. The result shows that the auto – delivery strategies required to mobilize farmers to adopt the use of organic fertilizers in South-East Nigeria include offering grants and incentives to farmers; conducting educational awareness programmes about the importance of using organic fertilizers; organizing training for farmers on the use of organic fertilizers;  advocacy on the importance of organic fertilizers in protecting the environment; policy intervention to regulate the use of chemical fertilizer; and 33 others. It was recommended that the different levels of government in South-East Nigeria should develop the strategies into training programmes for farmers; more farmers should be trained on how to handle computers to improve their ability to utilize internet of things among three others.