Perception and Practice of Organic Farming among Secondary School Teachers in Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria
A. G. Iyagba *
Department of Agricultural Science, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
C. B. Ekpete
Department of Agricultural Science, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, Port Harcourt, Nigeria
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to determine the perception and practice of Organic Farming (OF) by secondary school Agricultural Science teachers in Ahoada East Local Government of Rivers State, Nigeria. A descriptive design with a structured questionnaire was used for data collection. Ten out of the seventeen secondary schools in the Local Government Area were randomly selected and eight questionnaires per school were administered to the secondary school Agricultural Science teachers. The results indicated that majority (72.5%) of the teachers have been in the teaching profession for less than 10 years and most of them grew up in the semi urban/ urban setting, 40% aware of OF, 10% and 52.5% of the respondents agreed having high and moderate perception of OF respectively and seldom practice it. A greater percentage (85.9%) of the teachers agreed to practice OF, most planted crop in the schools is cassava (38.8%), majorly practiced intercropping and 31.2% of the respondents unwilling to inform their co-teachers of the benefits of OF. The respondents also accepted the need for elaborate knowledge and in-service training on OF, inadequate Agricultural Science curriculum to teach OF as well as better facilities and teaching methods.
Keywords: Ahoada, organic farming, perception, practice, secondary school teachers, sustainable agriculture