CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1Background Information

According to the business dictionary, information is defined as a “Data that has been verified to be accurate and timely. It is specific, organized for a purpose and presented within a context that gives its meaning and relevance which can lead to an increase in understanding and decrease in uncertainty .Reits (2010)defines information need as a gap in a person’s knowledge that,when experienced at the conscious level as a question, gives rise to a search for an answer .information is a fact or knowledge provided or learned as a result of research or study(smith 2001). It is the fact and knowledge needed to answer some question faced by people in their daily life

The world Encyclopedia defines information as an ordered sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message. Information is any kind of event that affects the state of a dynamic system. The value of information lies solely in its ability to affect a behaviour, decision or outcome e. a piece of information is considered valueless if, after receiving it, things remain unchanged. Agriculture play an essential role in everyday human activities ranging from the provision of primary needs like food, clothing and shelter to secondary needs like construction, manufacturing etc. while much of the world is still stuck in subsistence agriculture practiced majorly in remote part of the country, a little proportion of agriculture is just being practiced under the light of civilization and modernization. That is to say, farmers in the remote part need to be constantly fed with information, idea, knowledge and skills developed from the Research Institute for better farming practice and eventual increase in yield. Information might be inform of new technology like storage facilities,better farming system like mechanization,access to credit facilities.e.t.c For Agricultural information to be effective, after the information has been conveyed from the donor,i.e Ministry of Agriculture and its subordinate like Research Institute, Agriculture Development Project (ADP) etc, to the target (farmers), a feedback from the receiver to the donor of the information must be accomplished.

New information

Feedback

Ministry of Agriculture

Farmers

Agricultural information

Agric information tends to connect the Ministry of Agriculture and the farmers. It can be represented in a Venn diagram as below.

Also Agricultural information tend to connect the different Departments of Agriculture by elaborating on how judiciously individual department bye-products can be utilize by another department which will eventually increase the yield of one another. For example, Nitrogen is naturally fixed to the soil by some legumes like Callopogonium Mucunoide. Which will eventually increase the nutritive value of livestock that feed on them. While the excreta of the livestock is used as manure for crops to increase their yield. It can be represented sectorially as below.

Crop Science

Agricultural information

Animal Science

Horticulture

Natural

Science

Fisheries

Soil Science

The means of transferring Agriculture may be through Extension Agent or through mass media. Media transmit their information electronically with Television, Film, Radio, Movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles. Alternatively, print media uses a physical object as a means of sending their information such as Newspaper, Magazine, Brochures, Newsletters, books, leaflets and pamphlets. Outdoor media is also a form of mass media which comprises billboards, signs, placards placed inside and outside of commercial buildings like Shops/Buses. Public Speaking and event organizing e.g. Demonstration are also considered as mass media.

Mass media have been acclaimed to be a very effective medium for diffusing the scientific knowledge, innovation and technology to the masses. In a country like Nigeria, precisely Edo State, where farmers’ literacy level is low, the choice of communication medium is of vital importance. Radio for example because of its cost (low) and its affordability by virtually all classes of income earners, it can transfer modern Agricultural technology to both literate and illiterate farmers even in interior or remote areas, within short time. Television could serve as a suitable medium of dissemination of farm information and latest technical know-how. The farmers can easily understand the operations, technology and instruction through television. The print media widened the scope of communication. It is cheap and farmers can afford to buy and read them at their convenience. It is a permanent medium in that the message are imprinted permanently with high storage value which makes them suitable for reference and research.

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) as the specific name implies is naturally found along the guinea gulf of West Africa which include countries like Cameroon, Cote d’vore, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, and the equatorial region of Angola and the Congo (FAO)1986. Oil palm is a perennial crop that originated in the South America and Asia in the 16th and 17th Century respectively. It is one of the most productive oil crop and its products ranked high in the list of world’s leading agricultural commodities. Oil palm gives the highest output value compared to major oil seeds like rapeseed, soya bean and sunflower. Rhett (2006) predicted that a single hectare of oil palm may yield 50000 kilograms of crude oil or nearly 6000 litres of crude oil, while soya bean generate only 446 litres per hectare.

Oil palm serves social, economic and environmental purposes. The product which include palm oil, palm kernel oil, palm kernel caked, the palm frond, palm kernel shell etc. These products particularly palm oil is becoming an increasingly important agricultural products for most tropical countries around the world as crude oil prices top $70/barrel. Basiron (2007) observed that palm oil is now the major source of sustainable and renewable raw material for the world’s food, chemical and bio fuel industries. Palm oil can be consumed domestically or serve as raw material for many Agro-based industries for the production of soap, margarine and other ally industries. After the oil has been extracted from the palm kernel, the remains known as the palm kernel cake is used as livestock feed. Also a refreshing drink generally known as palm wine can be tapped from the oil palm tree.

Organic farming has made us realize that the oil palm fruit bunches after being burnt to ashes is good for improving soil alkalinity as against the use of inorganic chemicals which can easily contaminate the edaphic environment and underground water table.

1. 1. This material content is developed to serve as a GUIDE for students to conduct academic research work
2. 2. As a source for additional understanding of the subject.
3. 3. As a source for ideas for your own research work (if properly referenced).
4. 4. For PROPER paraphrasing (see your university definition of plagiarism and acceptable paraphrase)
5. 5. Direct citing (if referenced properly)
Thank you so much for your respect to the authors copyright.