Published in Scientific Papers. Series "Management, Economic Engineering in Agriculture and rural development", Vol. 22 ISSUE 4
Written by Abdulmuthallib Isa UMAR, Sikiru Adekunle OLAYIWOLA, Maryanne Odufa EGBEADUMAH, Kokorimam KEFAS, Jeffrey Calvin ALAHIRA

The study assessed the effects of information and Communication Technology usage among poultry farmers in Jalingo local government area of Taraba State, Nigeria. The data was collected using well-structured questionnaires and inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Multi-stage random and purposive sampling techniques were used to select ninety (90) respondents using for the study. Socio-economic characteristics of the respondents showed that 84.4% were male and 15.5% were female and 40.5% of them were within their productive age while 53.6% were married and majority was literate. The study also revealed that the most accessible and used ICT facilities in the area included: radio, mobile phones and television. The access and use of ICTs in the study area was also high. Some of the constraints associated with usage of ICT facilities were identified in the study include high cost, inconveniences, lack of availability and reliability. The major sources of information for farmers in the study area were telephone calls, radios, televisions, words of mouth, text messages and training. The main factors affecting the use of ICT facilities by poultry farmers in the study area were Sex, age, educational status and source of income. Based on these findings, the study recommended that relevant policies aimed at improving agricultural productivity should ensure farmers have adequate access to ICT facilities. Extension workers should also help to improve farmer’s knowledge and skills of ICT facilities to enhance adoption of ICT facilities by farmers and thus improve productivity.

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