Information Needs of Cassava Farmers in Ilorin East Local Government Area of Kwara State Nigeria

The study examined the information needs of cassava farmers in Ilorin East LGA, Kwara State, Nigeria. One hundred and twenty (120) respondents were randomly selected for the study. Data were collected using structured interview schedule and were analyzed through the use of frequency count, simple percentages and pearson product moment correlation. The result showed that majority (46.7%) of the respondents were between the ages of 51-75 with the mean age being 54.2. Also, majority of the respondents were males (65%) with 84.2% being married. Marketing information (MS = 4.63), Use of pesticide (MS = 4.58), and Weed control (MS = 4.46) were the major information needs of cassava farmers in the study area. major constraints faced by farmers in accessing information are inadequate information training materials, high rate of illiteracy, bad road network, lack of personal interest, and bad internet connectivity. Age (r= -0.188; p=0.040), gender (r=0.309; 0.001), membership of cooperative (r=0.241; p=0.008) and contact with extension agent (r= -0.213; p=0.024) were found to be significantly related with the information needs of farmers. The study concluded that the farmers need various types of information for their cassava production. It was recommended that educational programs be designed for farmers so that they could use media and tools of agricultural information easily and become information literate.