TRAINING NEEDS OF ARABLE CROP FARMERS ON CLIMATE CHANGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES IN OYO STATE, NIGERIA.

Abstract

The adverse impacts of climate change on arable crop production necessitated an evaluation of the training needs of farmers on adaptation strategies in Oyo State, Nigeria. Hence, this study assessed the training needs of arable crop farmers on climate change adaptation strategies of Oyo State, Nigeria. Amultistage sampling technique was employed for the selection of respondents for the study. The first stage involved a random selection of 50% of the agricultural zones from the four agricultural zones in the state, which were Ogbomoso and Oyo Agricultural zones. The second stage involved a random selection of 40% of the blocks from the selected zones. Therefore, Oriire and Surulere LGAs wereselected from Ogbomoso Agricultural zone, while Afijio and Iseyin Local Government Areas were selected from the Oyo Agricultural zone. The third stage involved selecting 10% of the randomly selected villages. The fourth stage involves randomly selecting (20%) arable crop farmers from the registered list in each village. Thus, a total of 205 respondents were used for the study. Descriptive statistics such as frequency counts, percentages and Weighted Mean Score (WMS) were used to describe the socio-economic characteristics of the arable crop farmers, examine the specific areas of training needs, determine the level of training needs on climate change adaptation strategies, T-test analysis was used to test the hypothesis of the study. The study concluded that respondents needed training mainly on adjusting crop planting dates. It recommended that training programs recognize and incorporate these indigenous practices while introducing scientifically proven methods to enhance productivity among arable crop farmers.