Farm Management Practice Improvement Needs of Teachers of Agricultural Science in Operating Secondary School Farms in Adamawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study determined farm management practice improvement needs of teachers of Agricultural Science in operating secondary school farms in Adamawa State. Descriptive survey research design was used for the study. Two objectives, two research questions, and one hypothesis were used for the study. The population for the study is 1266, which was made up of 1173 teachers of Agricultural Science and 93 extension agents across the state. The sample for this study was 303, made up of 93 agricultural extension agents and 210 teachers of Agricultural Science. The sample size was obtained using the Taro Yamane formula. All 93 extension agents were used for the study, while stratified random sampling technique was used to select 210 teachers for the study. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire titled Farm Practice Needs of Teachers of Agricultural Science Questionnaire (FPINTASQ). The instrument was face- and content-validated by five experts: three from the Department of Agricultural Education, one from the Department of Measurement and Evaluation, and one from the Department of Agricultural Extension and Communication, all from Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University, Makurdi. The reliability of the instrument was trial-tested on 30 teachers of Agricultural Science and 11 extension agents in Taraba State. Data collected from the trial testing were analysed using the Cronbach Alpha reliability method, which gave a coefficient of 0.85 and 0.81 for need and performance, respectively, indicating that the instruments were reliable. The instrument was administered by the researcher with the help of three (3) research assistants in the study area. 303 copies of questionnaires were administered to the respondents and were collected immediately. A rating scale of four points was used as response options (HN highly needed=4; MN moderately needed=3; SN slightly needed=2; NN not needed; and HP high performed=4; AP average performed =3; Low performed-2; and NP no performed-1) for need and performance categories, respectively. Data collected was analysed using mean and improvement need index (INI) to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test the null hypothesis at .05 level of significance. Based on the findings of the study, it was discovered that teachers of Agricultural Science in secondary schools need improvement in animal feed production and management as well as keeping of farm records. It was therefore concluded that the improvement needs identified in the study should be used to prepare the in-service training organised by the school management in collaboration with the State Secondary Education Board for the training of teachers.