IDENTIFICATION OF FARMERS’ SKILLS NEED FOR EFFECTIVE COMMERCIAL PLANTAIN PRODUCTION IN AKWA IBOM STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was conducted to identify farmers’ skills need for effective commercial plantain production in Akwa Ibom State. Three research questions and three null hypotheses guided the study. Survey research design was used for the study. The population of the study was 196 registered plantain farmers in all the six agricultural zones of Akwa Ibom state Agricultural Development Programme (AKADEP) and 16 Agricultural Extension agents. Simple random sampling techniques was used to select 148 plantain farmers and 12 Agricultural extension agents from the six zones to constitute the sample size. The researcher developed an 88-item instrument titled “Farmers’ skills need for effective commercial plantain production questionnaire (FSNECPPQ)” which was used to gather data for the study. Split half was used to determine the reliability and was established using Cronbach’s alpha which yielded a coefficient index of 0.875. Mean was used to answer the research questions while t-test statistic was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that, the skills need of plantain nursery establishment, main plantain plantation development and plantation maintenance, are highly needed by the farmers. The t-test results revealed that extension agents and plantain farmers do not differ significantly in their responses of skills needed by farmers for effective commercial plantain production. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended among others that government of Akwa Ibom State, through Ministry of Agriculture via AKADEP with the Agricultural extension agents should organize workshops and seminars to train the unskilled farmers to acquire the identified requisite skills needed for effective commercial plantain production.