AWARENESS LEVEL AND APPROACHES ADOPTED BY FARMERS IN MITIGATING THE IMPACT OF GLOBAL WARMING IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN BENUE STATE

Abstract

The study determined the level of awareness and approaches adopted by Farmers in mitigating the impact of global warming on agricultural production in Benue State. Two research questions were developed to guide the study while two null hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population for the study was 30,942 made up of 30,782 registered farmers and 142 extension agents while the simple size was 3,102 respondents. Multistage sampling technique was employed to obtain 3,100 registered farmers while 132 extension agents were involved in the study. A structured questionnaire called Global Warning Awareness and Mitigation Questionnaire (GAM) containing 20 questionnaire items was used for data collection. The instrument was validated by three experts, two in the Department of Agricultural Education and one from Department of Science Education, all from University of Agriculture, Makurdi. The validated instrument was trial tested on 30 respondents using Cronbach alpha method and reliability coefficient of 0.80 was obtained. Mean and t-test statistical tools were adopted for data analysis. The findings revealed that farmers were aware of 10 impacts of global warming and adopted 10 approaches in mitigating them. It was recommended that these approaches in mitigating the impact of global warming be taught to prospective farmers to increase their knowledge of global warming mitigation. Also, extension agents should educate farmers on approaches that are less costly and easy to increase their level of adoption and food production for national development.