JOURNAL OF LIAONING TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

KNOWLEDGE LEVEL OF NATIONAL YOUTH SERVICE CORP MEMBERS ON AGRICULTURAL MOBILE APPLICATIONS USAGE IN OYO STATE NIGERIA

Oyetoro John Oyewole * and Alabi Afusat

ABSTRACT

Youths and technology usually move together. The commonest medium of technology transfer is usage of smartphones. Youths cannot do without using mobile phones. Information for capacity building through agriculture are always available on mobile phones through internet. The need to marry innovation in the agricultural sector with mass unemployment among Nigeria youths becomes imperative in making the sector attractive and productive. The study therefore analyzed knowledge level of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members on Agricultural mobile applications usage in Oyo state Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was administrated to 252 respondents. It was discovered that WhatsApp, Facebook and Hello Tractor were the most mobile agricultural applications being aware and knowledgeable by the respondents. Poor awareness and high cost of data subscription were major constraints limiting the usage of agricultural mobile applications. Pearson Correlation analysis shows that age (r= 0.615, p = 0.001), Class of degree obtained (r=0.413, p= 0.001), working experience (r=0.511, p= 0.000) are significantly related to knowledge level of using agricultural mobile apps. The study concluded that that NYSC members had low awareness and knowledge about using agricultural mobile apps in the study area. It is recommended that agricultural related CD groups should be giving attention and priority to increase awareness and usage of agricultural mobile apps. This will ensure improvement in agricultural investments and food security in the country.